On the last day of August of the twenty-second year after the Dark Door opened, Edwin? Van Cleef woke up early and arrived at City Hall in the center of Long Beach Harbor, where he was probably going to be busy all day on the day of tax settlement.

It's a town hall, but for a town that barely counts as a small port, the two-story building, with only one hall and two offices, is made of wood and masonry, and is far from comparable to the opulent marble town halls of the big cities.

He flipped through the tax record book for the month and nodded in satisfaction. The lord left in a hurry and did not leave him enough money, but after half a year of development, the scale of the port of Long Beach has changed a lot, and it has become more prosperous, and the tax revenue alone can meet all expenses. Not only that, but the castle of the lords under Dagger Ridge in the distance was not delayed, the main castle has been completed, and only the ancillary facilities such as stables, kitchens, bathrooms and wine cellars are still under construction. The former Brotherhood of Defia, who received their salaries, were enthusiastic and mined solid granite from Dagger Ridge to make the castle stronger than the royal palace.

The Port of Long Beach was also being built faster than he expected, and two new streets had been built in the town this month alone, but they were still not enough to meet the demands of the merchants who were planning to open their shops—the merchants who had come to the Wild West with the Lord had already traveled back and forth between Stormwind and the Port of Long Beach several times, and some discerning merchants had already bought shops here and planned to settle and do business here for a long time.

Near the sea, the dock area has also been fully built, with high booms, a full flow of people, and long trestle bridges extending into the sea, which can berth ten small merchant ships and five medium-sized ships at the same time, but because of the depth of the water, it is not possible to dock large ships now, which makes him very regretful.

As the halfway point between the shipping routes between Stormwind and Treasure Bay, the Port of Long Beach is strategically located to attract many small and medium-sized merchant ships. This new port made it possible for merchant ships running this route to load as few supplies as possible to make room to load more cargo.

The arrival of a large number of merchants and sailors also brought money and people to the area. The Port of Long Beach has built public buildings such as hotels and warehouses, but they are often overcrowded. In short supply.

In fact, what is not known is that the black market in the Port of Long Beach is also very thriving, which has somewhat boosted the business of the port - Mayor Van Cleve's former friends in the dark, such as Craven? Black marketeers like Moltvik also desperately need a safe place to sell their stolen goods.

Van Cleef carefully planned on papyrus what to do with the tax: the lord's castle was almost finished. But the remaining part still needs at least five hundred gold coins, and as for increasing the defense of the port, he knows that he does not have this power, even if there is a rumor that a group of pirates have already targeted this place, there is nothing he can do.

"Maybe it's time to find Harry? Burgard and Grian? Stallman had a reason, and if the port was sacked by pirates, no one would be able to account for the return of the lord. He groaned inwardly.

Just then, the door to his office was pushed open from the outside. An old man with a stern expression walked in from outside.

"Hey, Grian, how did you know I was looking for you?" He said with some surprise.

"Actually, I don't know," said Stallman, unceremoniously sitting down in the chair at his desk, worriedly, "I've come to tell you something, and we're in big trouble." ”

"Oh?" Van Cleef leaned over and asked curiously, he had a hunch. Stallman was probably exactly what he was thinking.

"The vigilantes have captured a spy, and according to him, we have been targeted by pirates, and this time it is not just a rumor. They're going to come to the real thing. Stallman said in a deep voice.

"I'm afraid it's not just this one spy, those pirates are more pervasive than flies." Van Cleef stood up from his chair and looked out from the second-floor window to see the streets bustling with people. Everywhere there were sailors who went ashore to have fun, coolies pushing wagons. The fisherman with the scroll on his back, the merchant shouting for the sale, who can tell who is the spies sent by the pirates?

"We must begin to prepare for war, time is running out for us, but this order must be unanimously agreed upon by the three of us," Grian said. This is a special explanation in the letter from the lord to them, and the three of them are responsible for their own affairs, but some important decisions must be unanimously approved by the three of them before they can be passed, "I'm going to send someone to find Harry?" Bogard! ”

"No, I'm already here," just then, a loud voice rang out outside the door, and Grian looked back to see Harry? Burgard walked in through the door, "A few of my friends who are still mercenaries have sent me news that a group of pirates are recruiting and want to try their luck with us. ”

This is not an uncommon thing, not every mercenary has the good fortune of being favored by the nobles and accepted as a retainer, and some unsatisfactory mercenaries have become bandits and plunder. Many times, forced by life, knowing that he was going to be a pirate, he joined the gang head-on.

"So, everyone agrees to be ready for war?" Van Cleef asked.

"Agreed."

"Agreed."

The other two agreed. After making a decision, several people began to discuss what to do next.

"I'll go check on Mortvik and see if he has any news about the pirates, if only I could get any information on when the pirates will attack," Van Cleef said, "and hopefully we still have time." ”

"It shouldn't be that soon." Bogard said that he was not saying this without reason, but with a well-founded basis. Because piracy has never been a child's play, every time before going to sea, you have to choose a raiding target, intelligence gathering, supply preparation, ship repair ......, there are so many things, there is no one who can't go out for a month. You know, most of the merchant ships that sail in the Endless Sea are equipped with artillery, even if they are not escorted by gunboats, and if the pirates are not well prepared, they may be bitten back. The pirates who did what they said and pulled up their men and horses were eliminated in the unsuccessful robbery operations one after another.

"We are a little short of manpower, and the combined number of people in the escort team and the security team is less than a hundred, which is too few." Stallman said with a frown. The vigilante was originally composed mainly of militia, and after the surrender of the Brotherhood, some were added, but only eighty people. Completely unable to compete with pirates who have artillery.

"Bogard, you can contact your mercenary friends, if they are reliable, you can hire them for a while, and if the lord is satisfied, maybe you can recruit them into the territorial guard." Van Cleef built yì road.

"I will, and I'll go to Mayor Solomon of Mooncreek and ask him to send us some of the gold mine guards." Bogard nodded and said.

"The fight with the pirates is unlike any of my previous battles, and we must prepare to build a few stone watchtowers in the docklands to house artillery and crossbows." Stallman said that although he had not participated in any naval battles, the battle-hardened veteran at least knew how to lay out the coastal defenses.

"I'll let Edith? Blom went to help, the Copperbeard Dwarves were the best at this, and they must be strong enough. "We can't let them ruin our efforts, it has to be at the forefront of everything we do." ”

“……”

They discussed enthusiastically, and one after another countermeasures were freshly released, and gradually, several people's hearts felt much more settled. The situation doesn't seem to be as bad as it seems. (To be continued.) )