The empty door was open, and a trail of blood ran down the cracks in the stone until it disappeared into the door.

The faint smell of blood, which can be smelled even from a distance, is uncomfortable, and the sight of a corpse upon entering the room makes the discomfort even more intense.

In fact, this scene could have been predicted when he saw the corpses of the guards hidden in the corner outside the tower, but when he saw it with his own eyes, Alexander couldn't help but breathe deeply.

The body was not Mordillo, it was a stranger, with a very ordinary face and wide open eyes that seemed to say that the deceased did not understand what had happened until he died.

The fatal wound was a very flat cut in the throat, as if it had been pierced directly from the front, as evidenced by the blood stains left by the window on the cell door, and it was clear that the man had been killed by a sword stabbed through the window.

Cleanly and unobtrusive, a truly terrifying assassin.

Flomenza stared at the room with an ugly face, and he felt that he no longer knew how to describe what had happened.

The Count of Montina who suddenly appeared, the Modillo who disappeared inexplicably, and this person who no one has ever seen is what happened, where did Modillo go?

The Doge looked at Gonzalo, who was also full of playfulness, with a gloomy face, and knew that if it hadn't been all too hasty, perhaps Gonzalo would have suspected that he was playing a trick in the shadows to prevent Modillo's release.

If it could, Flomenza really wanted to prevent the release of Modillo, but now Modillo suddenly disappeared, and a corpse appeared in the room, which made Flomenza suddenly passive and even embarrassed.

"What's going on, or is it that the Governor is not safe in your house?" Gonzalo asked in a mocking tone, and seeing that Flomenza's face was gloomy and terrifying, he didn't care about it, but continued, "Maybe we should all put on the inner armor, you know, just now we almost had someone break their heads with a musket." ”

Gonzalo's cynicism annoyed Flomenza, but he couldn't answer, and he looked at Alexander angrily, wondering what the two men were talking about.

Alexander was also surprised, he ventured into Sicily not entirely to rescue Count Mordillo, but it was certainly important, but now Mordillo has suddenly disappeared, and the corpse in front of him makes things strange and complicated.

For a moment he suspected that this might be Flomensa's trick, but a glance at the blood stains on the ground that had begun to congagulate knew that the man must have been dead for some time, and it was clear that Flomenza would not have time to prepare for all this, unless he knew the prophet.

"Governor, I would like you to explain what is going on, Count Mordillo is the uncle of the Queen Regent of Naples, the noble Count of Naples, but now that I am seeing this scene, how do you think I should understand what is happening in front of me?"

Alexander stared at Flomenza sternly, and before he could speak, he continued: "Either you think that what I have said before is a hollow intimidation of you, or you think that you can avoid what I said by imprisoning me like the Count, if so, I can stay and be your prisoner now, but please remember that you will be responsible for what is coming." ”

Flomenza's lips twitched, he didn't know what Gonzalo had just whispered, but he knew that he had hit him in the soft underbelly from Alexander's threat of attacking Sardinia and Corsica, or even by attacking Venice to push the Ottomans into the western shores of the Mediterranean.

Whether Sicily would be able to withstand a direct attack from the Ottomans, this Flomenza was well aware, and knowing that it was almost impossible, he feared more than anyone else that Alexander's threat would become a reality.

If that were the case, it would be pointless to imprison Alexander, because by then the Ottoman fleet would have been overwhelming, and a complete catastrophe would await them.

As for using Alexander to blackmail Naples or Wallachia, the idea was only fleeting and Flomenza was left behind.

He didn't think it would be useful, not that the Count of Montina in front of him was not important enough, but that he could hardly believe that someone would change his strategy for the sake of one person in such a near-annihilating battle.

Naples probably won't, and Wallachia will give up if it has the opportunity to invade rich Venice?

Flomenza panicked.

"Seal off the palace!"

The governor's roar was a bit out of tune at this moment, although the whole palace had been on guard since Alexander's appearance, but with Flomenza's order, a large number of guards still began to search the palace.

"Find the Count, dead or alive." Flomenza felt that when he said this, his throat was burning hot, and it seemed like it was going to burn at any moment.

"Earl, maybe we can go to a more comfortable place and wait for news," Gonzalo picked up a woman's dress from the chair next to him with his fingers, looked at it, and threw it away, "It's not a good place, but it's not convenient to talk here." ”

Flomenza's face was hot, and in order to get more information from Modillo that could be used to make a handle, he did not hesitate to give the prisoner preferential treatment, and even provided him with women, of course he could get the same thing by torture, but if that was maybe Modillo would not be so willing to provide something he didn't know, but now it seems that all this has become a great irony.

Alexander also noticed the woman's dress, which reassured him a little, that since the Count had been able to live so comfortably as a prisoner, whoever had robbed Mordillo would never have been worse off than he had now.

Gonzalo was clearly not very concerned about the whereabouts of Count Mordillo, and he was more concerned about the idea of Crete that Alexander had proposed to him.

Since the fall of Constantinople, Crete has been a place of refuge for the remnants of Eastern Rome, and the Venetians have also established themselves in Crete through centuries of hard work, from the many small strongholds that have gradually been built along the large archipelago in the southwestern Aegean Sea, to the opening of large colonies in Crete.

The conquest of Crete seemed like a good idea, at least to Gonzalo's eyes, because Crete, the largest island on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, would almost push the Ottomans to the border, but also because Gonzalo knew that Alexander had a special interest in Crete.

And this is more or less closely related to Gonzalo.

Power and wealth, this is the goal that people will always strive for in any era, and Gonzalo does not think that he will be exempt from vulgarity, on the contrary, he may not ask for much power, but he has a greater interest in wealth than ordinary people.

The idea that the conquest of Crete would mean possession of almost half of the Mediterranean's wealth is an exaggeration, but at least the perfume business provided by Alexander has made his family a fortune in Iberia, and what makes Gonzalo more concerned than perfume is the enormous power of the trade unions.

Compared to the latter, the perfume business is insignificant, and if Crete can be taken, perhaps the Mediterranean may indeed become his family's treasury for a long time.

Gonzalo was tempted, and the Ottoman invasion, though terrifying to Europeans, seemed to him to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Alexander was well aware of Gonzalo's thoughts, or perhaps he dared to take the risk because he knew it would come to an end.

Gonzalo de Córdoba was indeed a military genius of his time, but that doesn't hide that he was also a money-hungry man.

The pursuit of wealth through war was a common problem among soldiers in this era, and Gonzalo took this greed to the extreme.

This was one of the things that eventually led him to break with Ferdinand soon after, and after enduring his countless arrogant and insatiable demands, Ferdinand could no longer tolerate him.

And all Alexander has to do now is to bring the process forward a bit.

Flomenza wondered what the two men were planning, and he thought he might find out about a big conspiracy, but Modillo's disappearance forced him to mobilize a manpower to hunt him down, after all, the incident had disgraced him, and Alexander's threats were still in his ears, which forced him to do everything in his power to find Modillo's whereabouts.

Alexander's presence in the Sicilian palace was obviously somewhat embarrassing, especially since his kidnapping of the governor made the Sicilians feel very embarrassed when they saw him.

The palace had been completely cordoned off, and the guards were looking for clues, but everyone was vaguely uneasy, because the sudden appearance of Alexander's men had alerted them, and no one knew if Alexander's men were still hidden in the city defense of Palermo, except for Flomenza's own Aragonese soldiers, which made the Sicilians suspicious of each other.

Flomenza apparently thought the same way, and he ordered all the Palermo city defenses to be withdrawn from the palace, and then ordered the Aragonese soldiers to occupy all the key posts throughout the palace.

Interestingly, even as this made the already small number of palace soldiers even more understaffed, Flomenza did not ask Gonzalo to mobilize the army he had brought with him.

The results of the search soon came out, and disappointingly, the only suspicious person seemed to be a very inconspicuous delivery vendor, who had left the palace in the delivery carriage before the accident, and when asked about the kitchen, no one could tell where the man came from.

It was clear that Count Mordillo had been taken away by this man, but no one could say what happened to the corpse that appeared in the cell.

It was clear that there were two different groups of people, one of whom had taken the Count and the other seemed to have come to assassinate Mordillo, but the Assassin was unlucky that he had not been able to kill the Count but was killed by the delivery dealer who had infiltrated beforehand.

It's just that the origin of these two groups of people, and why they are so interested in Count Mordillo, is not clear for a while.

Flomenza, of course, was not happy with this result, and he angrily denounced the incompetence of his men, but he was helpless.

What worries him even more is the apparent conspiracy between Alexander and Gonzalo.

Flomenza was sure that his guess was right, and he couldn't help but think of why the king had sent Gonzalo out.

Although Gonzalo did not have to worry about the worst of things happening because he was leading Aragon's army, that Gombray made a deep impression on Flomenza.

That man was now able to sit in his palace and make a fuss, as he had forced with a musket not long ago.

This made Flomenza feel that if the man really said that Gonzalo, he would not be surprised at all.

Flomenza's concern was clearly not a whim, or he simply didn't realize that it was not a concern, but had become a reality.

"Count, I have to admit that I never understood you as a person, I thought you were a shrewd businessman, or a good soldier, but now you surprised me to find that you are still a very good diplomat," Gonzalo sat comfortably in his chair and raised his glass to Alexander opposite, "Crete? Tell me what you think, or have you been planning all this from the beginning, I mean you were already planning to do it to Crete the last time you suggested that our friend Kotschach take over Crete's sugar business? ”

Alexander only smiled noncommittally at Gonzalo's questioning, knowing that Gonzalo would agree to negotiate with him because he was indeed impressed by Crete's plan.

The Cretan Project was the result of Alexander's unceasing efforts.

Despite its defeat on land, the Ottoman fleet remained the world's most powerful maritime power.

For nearly two centuries to come, the Ottoman fleet would launch a series of invasions on the western shores of the Mediterranean.

This undoubtedly led to an inevitable conflict between them and the Venetians.

For nearly two centuries, Venice would gradually decline as the last savings of its treasury were drained by the long war with the Ottomans, and the Ottomans' maritime power would be gradually depleted in each conflict.

It was in this back-and-forth that Crete finally fell into the hands of the Ottomans.

But Cretan's revolt never stopped, and for the next few long years, the Ottomans would have to commit the necessary troops in Crete again and again to guard against any possible uprising, which also annoyed the Ottoman Empire.

At present, Crete has not yet fallen, and even though the Ottomans have forcibly landed in eastern Crete and built several stubborn fortresses, none of this has happened.

It was this time that Alexander was waiting for.

"Tell me what you're going to do, Count," Gonzalo urged, he wasn't a reckless man, and in fact his patience and perseverance on the battlefield were intimidating to his enemies, "maybe it's just an excuse for you to delay, and if that is not good for you." ”

"Help the Venetians."

"What did you say?"

"Help the Venetians," Alexander repeated, "now Venice is under threat, all their colonies in the Mediterranean are in danger of falling, and you can be Venice's savior." ”

"And then they'll give me Crete obediently?" Gonzalo asked sarcastically.

"No, but this can be an opportunity and an excuse for you to intervene in every piece of Venetian territory, as for Crete, it is not only the territory of the Venetians, for you you are the Venice of your aid, but the occupation of the territory of the territory has lost its owner, and this is the reward you deserve."

Listening to Alexander's words, Gonzalo's slightly long chin also moved gently as if he had something in his mouth, and then he made a sound of "oh~oh~oh~~", which sounded like a cow waiting to give birth.

It wasn't until a moment later that Gonzalo seemed to wake up from the bright prospect described by Alexander, and he nodded his right index finger at Alexander, and his tone was full of playfulness: "I know this is your little trick Earl, we all know that Crete has your business, if Crete falls to you, how much will your loss be?" I don't think it will be a good idea that I won't bankrupt you, so you're encouraging me to take Crete for you, isn't it? ”

"Our business, General, to be exact," Alexander corrected slightly, "how much do you think the profits of those perfumes will be there, or how much of the dessert wine business that your family and my agents in Aragon have done for you will bring you so good returns?" Alexander looked at Gonzalo's expression and slowly became serious, "General, whether from the courts of the German princes in the north or the ports of the Atlantic, including Aragon and Castile, our business is much bigger than you can imagine, and I can assure you that any sweet on the table of every court and nobleman in the whole of Europe may be seasoned with cane sugar from our plantations, and this is only a part of all our business." So General, you have to understand that your choices today will not only affect how many Florins, Ducats, or Radía you will get by the end of the year, but what you will get in the future. ”

Gonzalo listened to Alexander's words in silence, his mouth still making the same meaningless "oh, oh, oh" moan, but his gaze gradually sharpened.

"You came to Sicily for this?" Gonzalo suddenly asked, seeing that Alexander was silently acquiescing, he stood up and walked back and forth, then stopped and looked down into Alexander's eyes as he sat there, "Tell me, what are you doing all this for?" ”

Under Gonzalo's suspicious gaze, Alexander raised his glass, looked down at the red wine in the glass, smiled silently, and then said in a sarcastic tone, "Would you believe me if I told you that all this was forced by a little jailer?" ”

Seeing Gonzalo's somewhat stunned appearance, Alexander grinned and drank the wine in his glass: "You heard it right, what I said is true." ”