"Jesse!"

Orlan stretched out his hand and stood in front of the Fallen One: "Let him finish his words first." ”

Zero looked at Jesse and shook his head, "I'm just assuming. We've got a lot of stories about Sauron, and a man like that is never a good ally, that's why we're going through Ishtar. Coincidentally, I rescued Franklin, who was floating on the surface of the sea at the time, who is now my co-captain. ”

"So, Captain Zero has already seen Ista and is he disappointed. Orlan smiled self-deprecatingly: "Now we are in a hurry to escape from this place like lost dogs." ”

"I can't talk about disappointment, I can only say surprise. I wonder what you two plan to do in the future?"

Alan replied, Jesse grabbed the conversation and said: "Of course, it is to seek revenge on Sauron, as long as the comrades from all over the mainland know that Lord Ulsen died in battle, then everyone will definitely be able to fight the same enemy and capture the city of New Rome in one go!"

"Is that so?"

Zero nodded: "I see, then I wish you all the best." He looked at Franklin again and said, "Let's go, I've already bid farewell to Ulson, you shouldn't have any regrets." ”

Franklin was slightly surprised, and Orlan was also surprised by the sudden change in his attitude, and immediately said, "Captain Zero, I thought we could work together. ”

"Cooperation?" Zero smiled faintly, "yes, I thought so before that." Presumably, the Orlans also saw that we have someone. Not ordinary people, but really strong people, which is exactly what you Ishtar lacks. You also have people, a large number of soldiers, and that's what we need. After all, you can't have a single senior to do everything, so we can take what we need and cooperate strategically and in other ways. ”

"It's just a pity that I wouldn't let my team work with an army that was ready to commit suicide. I can say that there is another form of businessman, and a businessman is not going to make an investment without a return. ”

"Fart!" Jesse said angrily, "Who's going to kill themselves?

Zero snorted, "You're the one who doesn't know what's going on!, yes, Ista hasn't reached the point where he has no power to resist." But now the main base has been destroyed and the leader has been killed. Once the news gets out, have you ever wondered what the consequences would be? Hatred of the same enemy? That's just your one-sided idea. Believe me, when this news comes out, as long as the Sauron side makes a gesture, your other comrades hiding on the mainland will definitely lose their fighting spirit!"

"Let me guess again, with your strength, it is impossible to compete with the Papal Hall for so long. You are far inferior in terms of the number of troops, the number of weapons and equipment, and the number of capable people. The reason why you have been able to resist until now is because of Iztar's special geographical location, secondly, because there are pirates to contain you, and thirdly, I am afraid that there are also people who are dissatisfied with Sauron in the Papal Hall who are funding you and even exchanging information, right?" Zero sneered: "Now that Ista no longer exists, Sauron is only afraid that he will take the pirates next." In such a situation, if your funders feel that they have no chance of winning, will they continue to invest? Please tell me, it's not suicide what is!"

Jesse's face was blue and white, and he looked very excited, and he couldn't refute what he said. Oran sighed secretly, Jesse was still too naïve and immature in his thoughts. In any way, he could not compare with the young man in front of him who was about his age. The watchman humbly said, "Then according to Captain Zero, what should we do?"

Zero sighed and said, "We are always outsiders, and we have limited information at the moment, but we know a general situation in the Western Continent. Many of these details are not clear, and you are not qualified to dictate them. I can only advise you not to divulge the death of Ulsen as much as possible, and only to find someone who looks a little similar to Ulsen to make a gesture to show the outside world that you are only wounded and not killed. Then even if Sauron spreads the news, it will not be too much of a blow to your other comrades on the mainland and the funders within the Papal Chamber, so that you still have hope. ”

"As for more, I'm sorry that the information is limited, so I can't make more detailed recommendations. ”

With that, Zero glanced at Franklin. The latter nodded, and left the Tower of Plenty after Zero.

On the other side of the sea, night begins to fall. While the remnants of the sky were still shining on the ruins of the building, Jesse muttered, "You don't believe him, do you? He's just an outsider and doesn't know anything." That so-called illusion is not feasible at all, Oran, you think about it with your brain, once the truth is known, it will only be more disadvantageous to us!"

Perhaps, but admittedly, it will get us through the most difficult of these days. Orlan said as he looked at Assassin and Ulson's tall hats.

Jesse's chest rose and fell violently, and Zuihou said, "If you're going to do this, then unfortunately, I won't be acting on your orders anymore!"

He brushed his sleeves away, and Oran was the only one left on the rooftop.

The light of the sky shone on Orlan's face from the side, and the flat glasses on the watchman's face reflected the afterglow, and it was impossible to see her eyes, but a drop of crystalline liquid slipped down from the glasses, and then floated to the ground, and fell next to the dark destruction. At this moment, Oran showed the weakness of the end, she was like any woman who suddenly lost her support, hesitant and confused.

She sat down beside the Darkness, tears rolling down her face, but Orlan seemed unaware. With only this lonely thin sword in his eyes, Oran Silver Tooth bit secretly, stretched out and pulled out the thin sword and said softly: "I'm sorry, Ulsen." Just fight with us for a while, I swear, I'll never let Ishtar disappear like that. I will inherit your legacy!"

Standing up again, Orlan took off his glasses, wiped his eyes, and changed back to his cold appearance. She picked up the assassination and left the building, and on the roof of the building, only Ulson's tall hat remained. It weighs down on a stone and shakes gently in the wind.

When I returned to the pier, a touch of sky light quietly disappeared at dusk. At night, the hull of the Destiny occasionally had a flame of light flowing along some kind of loop. Zero and Franklin get on the boat and tell Kaede to assemble in the meeting room. Cinderella also arrives, and she appears with Leah. The two women with very different personalities have gotten along quite well these days, thanks to Leah's generosity. As the first woman of Zero, she knows that her current Liliang can't keep up with Zero's pace, and all Leah can do is try her best to improve her ability and not restrain Zero's pace.

So she identified with Beonlis, and now with Cinderella. The former is able to help zero in terms of economy and management, while the latter has a strong Liliang and the local advantage of the Western Continent. In the past few days of getting along, Leah knows that Zero and she have not yet had a physical relationship. But when Cinderella described the wonderful spiritual exchange between the two, Leah knew that it was no different from having a physical relationship, and even more capable of conquering Cinderella's heart.

This also knows Zero's mind from the other side.

After knowing Zero for so long, Leah still knew that this man was in some ways a conservative person. It's like having a relationship with Cinderella on some level after less than 24 hours of knowing each other, which is something that is unique to Zero. The only possibility, is to prioritize Cinderella's Liliang and her identity, this woman will be a key to Zero's access to the Western Continent.

It's exploitation, that's right. But Zero's choice to communicate with her mentally rather than simply sharing physical happiness also shows that Zero will reciprocate with his own emotions. After all, spiritual communication is a two-way street, and when Zero explores Cinderella, he also opens his mind. The resonance of the two parties in the heart and spirit will be deeper than the worldly emotion.

Zero has planted the seed, and the seed will eventually grow into a towering tree. In the future, the affection between Cinderella and Zero will not be much less than that between him and Leah and Beonlis. If the tree does not break by accident.

Leah understood Zero's intentions, and knew that no matter how unwilling she was, Zero had already made a choice. She couldn't reverse this outcome, so she had to go with the flow of things and accept Cinderella into the clique. It's just that she understands it, but there is a trace of grief between Leah's eyebrows unconsciously.

As she and Cinderella walked in, Zero noticed. It's just that now is not the time for the two to make friends, not to mention that he has more important things to deal with, so he can only put it aside for the time being. Soon, all the important people on board had arrived. In addition to the core team members such as Kaede, Su, and Berrien, Billy, Dr. Ji Ya, and even several operators in the control room were also able to observe.

Everybody knew that Zero was doing that, so what happened next must be very important, so everyone pricked up their ears.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Zero stood up and said, "You must also know that I originally planned to cooperate with Ishta. Unfortunately, Ista is now unrecognizable, and I met both of their leaders just now. I was disappointed by the words and actions of one of them, so tomorrow we will leave Ishta. ”

"Although we haven't really set foot on the Western Continent yet, judging from what we've heard, heard, and known, I don't know if you've noticed a very special phenomenon. Zero's gaze swept among the people below, and he didn't sell it, and said directly: "There are few capable people!" Yes, I don't know the situation in the Pope's Hall, but we have seen it on the side of the anti-judgment army. There are only three of their leaders who can be called masters, among which the Warden Oran does not seem to be a combat-type ability, and may be a high-level in the perception domain. And the soldiers below should be very clear to those who have carried out landing operations, and there are very few people with abilities above the sixth order, and at most they are about three to four orders. ”

"With such a rare group of capable people, it can fight against the Papal Hall for so long, leaving aside some third-party factors, such as the rebel eyeliner inside the Pope's Hall, etc. What is certain is that even if there are more capable people in the Papal Hall than on the Ista side, the number will be extremely limited. Probably only the regiment commander level has reached the high-level level, and the middle-level ability will be very rare, and generally the third and fourth order ability should be the majority. This is completely different from the continent we are in. ”

Zero looked at Cinderella again: "Interestingly, in the past few days, I have learned through Captain Cinderella that the alien race in the Western Continent is also very rare. Even the terrestrial mutant beasts are very limited in terms of species, so it is humans who dominate this continent, and humans have an incomparable advantage. Personally, I suspect that the scarcity of alien races has led to a lack of competitors in the evolutionary path of the humans in the Western Continent, resulting in a corresponding shortage of capable people in the human race. On the other hand, their technology is not to be taken lightly. ”

"Captain Franklin fought with the powerhouses of the Pope's Hall on Istta, and according to Franklin, the other party operated a mech. And it's a large mecha of more than ten meters."

As soon as these words came out, there was a small commotion in the meeting room. Zero coughed dryly and said, "Everyone knows that on our continent, the power mecha has only been developed in recent years, and it is a single weapon developed to allow ordinary people to have Liliang against low-level abilities. For us, this is already a very cutting-edge technological product, but as far as the Western Continent is concerned, our so-called cutting-edge mecha is estimated to be an old antique that can be destroyed in their eyes. ”

"Captain Franklin also told me about his fight with the other armies in the Papal Hall. In it, two other forms of mecha appeared. One is the Green Capital-like Marauders, which are bulky but equipped with heavy firepower such as machine guns. The other is a light mecha with low-altitude flight capability and guided missiles as the main means of attack. Coupled with the large mechs that appeared in the Battle of Istta, then the Pope's Hall has at least three different types of power mechs, and that's just what we know. If there are no accidents, they will have at least one or two secret mechs. In other words, the scientific and technological civilization of the Western Continent will overpower the civilization of the era of the ability. ”

Zero emphasized: "But don't underestimate the scientific and technological civilization of the Pope Hall because of this. Both Captain Franklin and Ulsen, the leader of Istana's fallen battle, possessed a high-ranking Liliang, and according to Mr. Franklin, Sauron was piloting a large mech to fight against two. The end result was that Ulson was killed and Franklin was seriously wounded. From this, it can be seen that the high-level mecha in the Pope's Hall actually has the strength to match, or even surpass the ordinary high-level!"

"And our opponent is such a kingdom of technology! Ironically, such a cutting-edge mecha civilization has been developed, but this kingdom believes in divine power, so I have to say that this is really a deformed country. Zero shook his head.

After summarizing the general situation of the Western Continent, Zero clapped his palms and said, "The basic situation is like this, and more information needs to be further collected to know." So let's talk about it. Now that Ista is no longer able to cooperate, let's talk about how we can get involved in this dispute in the Western Continent. ”

After Zero finished speaking, Leah muttered, "From my conversations with Sister Cinderella in the last few days, I have roughly learned that the pirates of the Western Continent were originally composed of people who did not want to be oppressed by Sauron. In the beginning, pirates plundered mostly military merchant ships that traveled between the city of Rome and the colonial islands. It's only now that some of the newer pirates have become free. They are not allowed to confront the Papal Chamber, and at the same time, they will attack the civilians of the outer islands, and they belong to a completely unrestrained group. ”

"I'm wondering if Ishtar can't cooperate, if we can co-opt these pirates and turn them into an army of our own?"

After Leah finished speaking, Su shook her head and said, "I'm afraid not, the original intention of the leader is not to overthrow the Pope's Hall and become the master of this continent himself." As I said before, we are outsiders, and even if we can do this, we will be ostracized because of it. By the same token, if these lawless pirates were to be activated, we would probably be considered by others as just another larger group of pirates. ”

"Su is right, but Leah's approach may not be really unworkable. Kaede smiled: "If those guys are unpopular, then let's buy people's hearts." Everyone has also seen in the Yellow Sand Island before, the people on the outer islands are living very hard, and the city of Rome does not treat them as its own people, and even does not treat the civilians on the colonial island. Instead, they are left to fend for themselves, and if we show favor and bring these people on our ships, it will naturally blur the perception that they cannot be pirates, right?"

Driven by these people, the discussion gradually entered a climax. Everyone put forward their own suggestions, some of which were indeed naïve and immature, but some of which were very pertinent and constructive. Zero has been smiling and silent, letting the people below play while he himself silently collects everyone's opinions, corrects them and gradually forms a clear line of thought.

As a person at the top, the style of leadership varies from person to person. In terms of the power structure of this era, most of the people in power would adopt the methods of dictators. The advantage of this technique is that there is always only one voice, and the disadvantage is the one-sidedness of the strategy. Zero doesn't like it, but he doesn't currently approve of a democracy that leaves decisions to the vote.

The former is too authoritarian, the latter is decentralized. In this era, if one of these two methods can only be chosen, then it is clear that the first one is more appropriate. But Zero has his own style, and he is more inclined to lead. After sifting through the opinions of the people, they refer to them and guide them in the direction they have planned. In this way, there is no sense of arbitrariness, and there is no excessive decentralization of power, which makes the entire command system too bloated and cumbersome.

What's more, the orders issued by him personally after the people below have been guided, and everyone will have a feeling of being involved, so they will naturally work harder to implement them. This is a royal method, and it is also one of the results of a thorough exchange with Zero before Sith travels to the City of Dawn.

After everyone had their opinions, Zero stood up and naturally focused everyone's attention on him. He swept over everyone's face and said, "According to the opinions put forward by everyone, I have picked out some of them that are pertinent and feasible, plus some of my own ideas, to roughly form a relatively clear jihua." This jihua will be divided into several parts, and the first part is, as Leah said, Liliang who co-opted the pirates. But not just the pirates, but all!"

"Yes, according to the rules of the pirate world, I will challenge the captains of all pirate ships. I want them to be king!"

There was silence in the room, and Cinderella quietly lowered her head, a wry smile on her face. She could already predict that the turbulent undercurrent of this continent was about to be completely boiled by the birth of zero. Just near Istta, which Zoro destroyed with his own hands, his strongest opponent is quietly rising!

The future direction of the Western Continent, no one could have predicted it when Zero made this decision.