If the soul does not have a definite purpose, it loses itself, because as the saying goes, being everywhere equals nowhere else, and he who is at home everywhere has nowhere to call home.

- Horace (founder and founder of Roman classicism)

Whether it was Roberts's sincerity or Kidd's stiffness, Oscar felt the gratitude they expressed; After a brief greeting, Oscar asked the guards standing beside him to arrange for Kidd and Roberts to go down to rest, and told them to be at ease, and when they were rested, he would personally negotiate with them about the appointment in the terms.

After the two were taken down to rest, Anne also cooperated with Shi Xiu to deal with the two captured pirate warships and the six warships that had surrendered; Of the eight warships, only six could be left behind for further use, and two of the battleships under the command of Kidd and Roberts were really completely attacked.

If we continue to advance with these two twin ships, it will inevitably greatly affect the speed of the entire fleet; Therefore, after consulting Oscar's opinion on these two twin battleships, Shi Xiu sent someone to scuttle them. The remaining six warships were relatively intact, and after Anne and Shi Xiu each sent some warriors and sailors to board these ships, they were also included in the fleet.

Looking at Raqqa, who was also helping on the battleship, Oscar and Mary began to negotiate the specific arrangements for Kidd and Roberts; When Oscar decided to offer favorable terms to recruit Kidd and Roberts, he already had a preliminary idea of how to arrange them. Under Mary's inquiry, Oscar slowly expressed his thoughts:

"Mary. You know that, too. We of the House of Augustus are very short of admirals who can stand alone; Not to mention the Greek city-states of admirals like Pallas. Even Hannibal's admiral, Theopodides, is no match for the admirals of our family.

Even if we have a family naval academy to train talents for the navy on a large scale, it will take time; Moreover, these so-called talents who graduated from the Naval Academy are too far from the real admirals. We simply can't wait for these trained talents to grow up, and our enemies won't give us that time.

Therefore, we of the House of Augustus want to build a strong enough naval fleet; In addition to ensuring a fleet of a certain size, it is also imperative to recruit more and better admirals. Otherwise, would the navy of our House of Augustus be supported only by two women and the commander of a transport fleet? ”

Mary nodded nondeniably at Oscar's words. But Mary would still have made some suggestions: "But, Oscar, don't you think it's too hasty to promote these two pirate leaders who have just surrendered?" We don't know them at all, and we don't know what they want; Do you really believe that they surrendered just to thank you?

If this is the case, then it will naturally be a happy situation; But what if not? If they surrender to us for other purposes, then it is too early to include them in our family's naval fleet, and to join them as admirals; If something unexpected happens, it will deal a fatal blow to our already not powerful naval fleet! ”

Mary's worries are not unreasonable, but Oscar is confident enough in this regard; Oscar confidently explained to Mary: "You can rest assured of this, Mary; Even if I appoint them as commanders of one of my family's fleets. Nor will they have a chance to continue commanding the pirates who are loyal to them.

You know, on the naval warships of our family. Each captain had studied at the family naval academy; As time goes on, soon we will have a large number of newly graduated naval officers to be added to the mid-level officer positions on each ship. This means that, in addition to these generals who command the fleet; The captain and principal officers of each warship will be loyal to the family.

Without the support of the captain and mid-ranking officers of the battleship, even if the commander of the naval fleet wants to betray our family, he will not be able to take a battleship with him! Besides, it's not the first time this has happened, right? Whether it's Anne or Shi Xiu; Aren't they all pirates? Don't I still trust them the same and hand over a large fleet to them? ”

When Oscar brought the topic to Anne and Shi Xiu, Mary had already decided in Oscar's heart to reuse Kidd and Roberts; So, Mary had no choice but to say, "Well, since you have said so, then do what you think." However, the specific implementation will have to wait until the return to Sardinia; Now we can't afford to spread our strength. ”

Seeing that Mary finally agreed with his idea, Oscar also said happily: "That's natural, I won't scatter the fleet to anyone until I return to Sardinia!" By the way, Kidd and Roberts must have almost rested; I'm going to talk to them, so come along. ”

This time, Mary refused Oscar's request, and instead offered to accompany Anne to deal with the affairs of the fleet; Oscar knew that this was Mary's dissatisfaction with her stubbornness, so she didn't force it, so she agreed to Mary. After Mary was gone, Oscar stayed where he was and considered the wording; Oscar then left for the conference room and ordered the attendants to bring Kidd and Roberts as well.

Less than a minute after Oscar sat down in the conference room, Kidd and Roberts each appeared in front of Oscar in a neat and tidy Augustus family naval uniform; Seeing that these two people were more heroic in well-fitting military uniforms, Oscar couldn't help but praise:

"This military uniform of our Augustus family seems to be tailor-made for the two of you, and even I, the leader of the family, wear this military uniform without the heroic strength of the two of you!"

Oscar's praise made Kidd blush a little embarrassed, but Roberts on the side said respectfully to Oscar: "Your Excellency the leader said that you are laughing!" His Excellency's reputation for being a prowess and genius has long since spread throughout the Western Mediterranean; Who doesn't know that the House of Augustus, under the leadership of His Excellency the leader, is growing stronger at an unusually rapid pace.

So, compared to His Excellency the Leader, Kidd and I are too incompetent. You know, when we are twenty years old, we are still living in the chaos of nothing. Even now, we haven't accomplished a single thing. Your Excellency, the leader, is different, since you took over the family at the age of twenty, you have already shocked the Mediterranean in just over a year, and I am really ashamed! ”

Well, although Roberts knew that this was a sycophant, he still listened to it very comfortably! Who wants to hear others flatter themselves? Not to mention that Oscar, a young man who is only twenty-one years old, is willing to hear flattery even if he is seventy or eighty years old; Still, Oscar is a little sane.

After Roberts's sycophant was filmed, Oscar also let out a burst of laughter; Then he exclaimed, "Roberts, no wonder others call you the generous Pirate Prince; With your mouth that speaks better than a true nobleman, you are worthy of the name of your pirate prince! ”

Before Roberts could explain anything, Oscar first restrained his smile and waved his hand to signal Roberts not to speak; Then he sat down solemnly and said, "Roberts, Kidd; As you know, I am the leader of the House of Augustus, and the terms I have promised you will not deceive you. This time, our family's fleet is going to Rome mainland for an important matter, so we can't give you the fleet first.

But you can rest assured; As soon as we are done in Rome, we will return to Sardinia. When I return to Sardinia, I will naturally give each of you a strong enough fleet to command; And give you absolute trust! Before you do that, you have to answer me two questions.

First, why are you willing to surrender to my House Augustus, and don't say anything prevarication to thank you for saving your life, I hope you will be open and honest with me; It will also be a crucial factor in whether or not I reuse you. Second, why did the two of you join forces and engage in a fierce battle with Edward Blackbeard and Calico Jack? ”

After Oscar said these two questions, he leaned back in his chair slightly, quietly waiting for Kidd and Roberts to answer; This time, Kidd didn't continue to be wooden, and Roberts didn't have a hearty direct answer. After a brief eye contact, Roberts nodded toward Kidd; Then Kidd replied to Oscar:

"Your Excellency, the reason why we did not choose to flee and surrendered to the House of Augustus so easily; It's just that we don't want to continue to be pirates. In fact, the so-called pirates did not live a chic and pleasant life as people think; Instead, it's more like living a life of fear and constant struggle for survival.

Of course, this is only for the vast majority of people who are forced to become pirates; There aren't many pirates like Blackbeard Edward, Calico Jack, and the Redbeard Brothers who really want to be pirates. However, many people are forced to become pirates, and it is difficult for them to return to their old lives; This is mainly because no country or power is willing to accept us notorious pirates.

However, this situation was only before Anne and Shi Xiu surrendered to the Augustan family; Ever since the leaders of Anne and Shixiu surrendered to the Augustus family and were entrusted with important tasks, this incident has caused a great deal of repercussions among the pirates. Many pirates, including us, wanted to surrender to the House of Augustus, but they were afraid to act for fear of not being accepted.

It just so happened that we were saved by the Augustus family's fleet by chance, and the Augustus family's fleet did not attack us indiscriminately; In this way, we were born with the idea of surrendering to the House of Augustus. That's why we didn't run away and chose to stay and surrender, we never wanted to be pirates, that's all! ”

Ask for tickets and subscriptions, please! (To be continued.) )