Summer nights are still hot.

Outside the window, the bustling port of Stuart has also returned to its due quiet at night.

The conference hall of Stuart Castle is still brightly lit.

After taking a sip of the drink, seeing off the Medici III and saying goodbye to Roderick, Ranton travels to the imperial capital as originally planned, but the new emperor Nick August is now under house arrest, and Steven Casedeley, who is in power, will not allow uncontrolled people to appear.

He didn't want to work for the domineering Steven Cassdeley, so he returned to the Northlands.

Because he became the Minister of Commerce specially established by the emperor, he was also in charge of the Royal Chamber of Commerce and earned a lot of gold coins.

Lanton went from being a pioneer knight outside the Northlands to being a guest of honor at the meeting.

However, the reason is not only his earning power.

and Duchess Isabella Stuart, assassinated by the Assassins!

Three times in a row!

With the sound of hurried footsteps, Jaime Lannister entered the conference hall and reported to the Duchess Isabella, her advisor Tywin, the Earl of Whackley Woodford, and others.

"I'm sorry ladies and gentlemen, but I can't stop those assassins from suddenly poisoning themselves. ”

"And... While chasing down the last Assassin, Lord Talia was wounded. ”

"Sister Talia is hurt?"

Hearing this, Duchess Isabella, who was waiting for the news, suddenly couldn't sit still: "Take me to see her immediately!"

"No, I don't. Talia walked in slowly, her shoulders bandaged.

"I'm fine. ”

Isabella, who was concerned about her safety, immediately breathed a sigh of relief when she saw this: "It's okay." ”

Wakeley Woodford's eyes rolled and he took the opportunity to say, "Sir Jaime, Lady Thalia, I don't mean anything else, but Sister Isabella has too few knights and guards around, and I suggest a few more transcendents to protect you." ”

Isabella's face was expressionless: "Count Bulao is worried, I will take care of my own safety." ”

Knowing that the Duchess's trust in Talia and Artemisia was extraordinary, and that another proposal to increase the guard had failed, Wickley nodded and said nothing.

Tywin: "So, who's behind this?"

Everyone who heard the news said that they had no clue for the time being.

Artemisia: "I have issued a curfew decree ordering the port and the city walls to go under martial law. ”

Langton shook his head: "I don't think it's necessary. ”

"In addition to causing economic losses, martial law can also cause unrest among the city's residents. ”

"Although it is possible to guard against the Assassins, the situation in the Empire is now volatile, and it is difficult to catch the mastermind. ”

Tywin: "You want to bring the people behind the scenes?"

Lanton nodded.

The situation in the north is not optimistic, but the population of the huge land is less than 100,000, which perfectly explains what it means to be vast and sparsely populated.

Although most of the territory was taken over by the Lanton Chamber of Commerce, it was cultivated and produced with migrant workers.

But now it's only a little bit of recovery.

As long as some careerists don't dislike the cold temperature here.

You can take a few bites on this big piece of fat!

But......

Who will this careerist be?

Because of the death of the first emperor, the second prince successfully usurped the throne, and the ambitious Steven Casdeley controlled the court and put the new emperor under house arrest, becoming the biggest winner in his hands, and everyone saw an opportunity from it.

Let budding ambitions grow wildly in the Empire!

Of course, behind all this, Loki's covert actions are absolutely indispensable.

The council ended, and the people dispersed.

But before Langton left the hall, Isabella and Tywin returned without Whackley Woodford.

"Gabry, I want to know what you think of the Northland and the Stuart family!"

Isabella gets straight to the point.

Langton couldn't help frowning: "The Duchess suspects me of having something to do with the assassination?"

Tywin: "By all indications, you are most likely to assassinate the Duchess and then take advantage of the chaos to annex the Northlands from the open seas. ”

"......" Langton was a little speechless.

However, Tywin's explanation of the matter also shows that Isabella still trusts herself and does not believe that she is behind the assassination.

"Duchess, ever since I chose to become a pioneer knight, I have had no intention of making any intentions towards the Northlands. ”

"It won't hurt you. ”

"I can swear!"

"Because I control Rock Island, Skull Island, Trembling Bay, and Cold Iceland. ”

"Already outside the Raiders. ”

“... Although the progress is not ideal, the Cypriot barbarians do not like to be ruled by outsiders. ”

"However, I have almost no control over the territory and power of the Northlands. ”

"The ontology is studying in the different planes, and as the only doppelganger left in the empire, I want to manage Rock Island, I want to manage the Chamber of Commerce, and I want to manage the territory outside the fortress......"

"I really don't have the time or the ability to do more. ”

Isabella knows Lanton well, and his eldest brother, Christian Lanton, is also loyal to him.

This time, the focus of the conversation was not on how to prove innocence.

Instead, he asked about Langton's attitude.

"I believe in you. ”

"But...... When did you control a territory as big as the Northlands?"

"Those barbarians are really willing to listen to you?"

Langton smiled bitterly: "I used the Chamber of Commerce to let the barbarians outside the Cypriots exchange their work for living materials, of course they are willing to listen to me, as for the time of control, in fact, it is not long, just a few months ago." ”

"Really?"

He lives in the Northland, and to the north is outside the Saiwai.

Isabella had heard a lot about the Saiwai barbarians, and that there had been six Northland Grand Dukes in history who had tried to conquer and rule the Saiwai.

However, they end up getting nothing.

Because the Cypriot barbarians are very stubborn.

"Are you sure those Cypriot barbarians aren't using your rule for resources?"

"After all, my ancestors... I've done the same thing as you. ”

"And none of them succeeded. ”

Lanton: "I'm different. ”

Isabella shook her head when she heard this, and said with a smile: "Okay, let's not dwell on this topic, who do you think is most likely to send an assassin to assassinate me?"

"This..."Langton: "I've just come back, so I can't judge for a while." ”

Isabella didn't believe it: "Gabry, you're not telling the truth. ”

"No one has said it, but I know that you have taken control of all the civilians of the Northlands, because they are all your employees. ”

"No matter where you are, there are people with you!"

"Uh..."Langton: "I do have some guesses, but if I say it, I might be misleading you." ”

"The Duchess had better find out these things herself. ”

Isabella was a little displeased: "I can get the answer directly, why waste time investigating and taking risks?"

"I know you're trying to develop my abilities. ”

"But now is clearly not the time!"

"Lord Tywin, didn't you say you were going to make good use of everything?"

Hearing this, Ranton looked at Tywin, and seeing that he had no objection, he said, "I am somewhat suspicious of those royal lords and the nobles of the center. ”

"Even if they join the Northlands, they are still outsiders. ”

"The biggest of them is likely to be ......"

......

......

July is approaching autumn, and the weather will soon turn cooler, even if the heat is unbearable now, some civilian families in Port Stuart have begun to prepare for the winter, drying some cotton clothes and quilts, ready to use when the weather is cold.

On the balcony of the castle, looking at the busy people in the city, Langton looked out to sea in boredom.

Unexpectedly.

A fleet of ships with pirate skull flags has appeared on the sea!

It's six pirate ships.

"Bell Bell Bell ~"

The sentry also sounded the alarm bell at this time.

Langton took Rock Island, then captured Shivering Bay, took Skull Island and Cold Iceland, and there were no other pirate forces off the coast of Northland except for a few fish that slipped through the net.

So, these pirate ships belong to the skull island's stray fish?

Or is it an alien force?

Confused, Langton left the balcony and walked to the small fortress next to the docks.

The arrow towers and turrets on the shore were full of soldiers who had been summoned, and Chris, Dowling, Artemisia and others also commanded their men to prepare for battle.

"Gabriel Langton, didn't you say that you had cleared the pirates of the Northlands?"

Seeing Langton, Wakeley Woodford asked loudly.

"You lied?"

Langton: "Do you know the pirate flags of these ships?"

"Are they pirates from the open sea?"

Chris suddenly realized: "So, these pirates are all foreign?"

"Who knows. ”

Wickley had a bit of a yin and yang aura, giving the impression that Lanton was playing some kind of machiatric trick to make his fleet pretend to be these pirates.

"Enough, all ready to fight!"

Isabella frowned, she didn't like that Wickley was always targeting Langton, Tywin, Talia and others.

It's not fun to make a fuss like this!

Artemisia loudly commanded the fortress's artillery, waiting for the pirate ship to enter the bay before sinking it directly.

But Ranton stopped her: "I think we can let these pirates in." ”

"Ask where they're from. ”

"From that route to the Northland. ”

Isabella, who was next to her, felt that it made sense, nodded to Artemisia, and motioned for her to do the same.

Artemisia immediately commanded an order to prohibit the battery from firing.

Have all the soldiers ready for melee combat.

Six pirate ships were under the brink of turrets, crossbows, and catapults, and soon approached the docks, where dirty pirates roared and jumped off the docks, swinging their scimitars at the array.

The strength of this group of people is not weak, and there are more than ten bronze-level transcendents among the six boat people.

There are more than forty people in the Black Iron Rank!

The defensive line formed by ordinary soldiers at the docks may not be able to stop the concentrated charge of so many transcendents.

However.

Artemisia, Dowling, Chris, and others have endured numerous wars.

Especially counterinsurgency and crusades.

The Emperor's reward for his exploits has allowed Chris, Dowling, and Jaime to successfully break through the silver!

And Talia and Artemisia had already learned the Dou Qi cultivation method provided by Langton.

Break through to the Golden Tier!

Little bronze?

It's just a bunch of scum!

Without waiting for the pirates to rush into the ranks of soldiers, Chris drew his sword and leaped, crashing into the crowd of pirates in an instant, and then the blades of the sword danced wildly, and the blood was spilled by the silver brush, and in the blink of an eye, the fierce sea robbers were frightened.

"Your opponent is me!"

At this moment, a pirate who looked like a captain on the pirate ship rushed quickly.

Scimitar swings out the rainbow!

Pity.

Even if the captains of the six pirate ships are all Silver Rank, and they don't have the Gold Rank of Fighting Qi, they will still end up defeating!

Artemisia, Talia and Lanton weren't looking.

The dock forms a forbidden area.

Without magic, Ranton can abuse a group of Silver Tier with a single stick.

Seeing that the attacking pirates were easily defeated, Artemisia would only be able to board the pirate ship to seize control, and the strongest silver rank was trampled under the feet of Lanton, Rams, who had always been a transparent little follower, immediately saw the opportunity.

"My lord, I can interrogate them for a while!"

"Absolutely satisfying the adults!"

Ranton would be so obliged that he didn't need to interrogate the pirates to find out why they had come to the Northlands and which route they had taken to avoid the defense fleet on Rock Island.

However, this spell cannot be exposed.

"Very well, I'll leave the pirates to you, and ask me which route they came into the Northlands. ”

"And whether there is someone behind them colluding with them. ”

"Guaranteed to complete the mission!"

Browns Burton Jr. finally has a job where he can express his abilities.

Poor pirate.

Now they will pay the price for their burning, killing and looting.

......

......

No matter what kind of world it is, everything happens without chance and necessity.

And most of them are accidental coincidences.

There is inevitability!

Isabella Stuart had been assassinated a few days earlier, so all vassals were urgently recalled, a curfew was imposed in the port of Stuart, and even the port was blocked.

However.

Suddenly there are foreign pirates attacking the port today!

This is happening today.

Not necessarily a coincidence!

After the Celestial Mind's observation, Langton was already sure of this, except that someone had to pay for their bad decisions.

And Rams has been very comfortable in recent years, and it is okay to give him a chance.

Pirates are murderers.

But they only knew about it when it fell into the hands of Rams, who was from the Skinners family, and was nailed to a crossed wooden frame.

How terrible it is for a real wicked person to become a stage!

The torture of skinning is unbearable for ordinary people, people with poor hearts.

And.

They were not punished, but nailed to a crossed wooden frame, and watched the people in front of them or next to them being skinned, listening to the screams and wails, and their hearts were greatly affected.

Rams knows that the world is supreme.

Never slackened when it came to learning.

Because he didn't dare!

Don't dare to be left behind too much by Chris, Dowling, Artemisia, Talia and others.

Otherwise, it becomes waste and is discarded by Langton.

With the fact that he has no noble status and has betrayed the Duchess of the Northland several times, it is difficult to survive in this world.

He has worked hard, and now he has been rewarded.

Although the strength did not break through the gold, it was only the first to enter the silver.

But through hard work.

Also mastered a Sauron to teach spells.

- Dread!

It can amplify the fear, fear, and other emotions in the target's heart.

Match peeling.

The silver-tier pirates can't hide the secret in front of him!

"So, are these pirates really recruited by the nobles who swore allegiance to me?" Hearing Rams's report in the conference hall, Isabella's face was gloomy, and her eyes were full of anger: "I have been betrayed again?"

Danvers Hota, who had watched Rams's interrogation the whole time, nodded with reluctance.

"The captain didn't lie.

The person who contacted him was indeed Count Li from the imperial territory. ”

Wickley's brows furrowed when he heard this, and his heart was no less angry than the Duchess, he never imagined that Earl Lee, the imperial lord who had regained his fiefdom with his help, would collude with pirates to attack Port Stuart.

Even if this matter has nothing to do with me, as a referral and guarantor.

Also innocently implicated!

"Perhaps, it's just a misunderstanding......"

Hearing this, Rams saw another opportunity to perform: "Duchess, it's easy to judge if it's a misunderstanding.

Just cause a little accident and get the pirate captain out of the dungeon.

He will definitely find an acquaintance for help!"

...... To be continued......