"Set out immediately for the Bodi Archipelago and find someone!"
Leilin looked at Karen, who still seemed utterly clueless, and couldn't help but give her a hint.
"Who?" Karen's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that their master had other arrangements on the enemy side? Did this mean she was losing his trust? The moment she thought of the consequences of being abandoned, Karen's body couldn't help but tremble.
This reaction made Leilin laugh inwardly.
"Find Viscount Dim, reveal your identity honestly, and tell him that I'm willing to ally with him — even support him in taking the Marquis's position!"
Leilin sneered, looking every bit like a demon.
"Viscount Dim?" Karen was shocked, and couldn't help but look up involuntarily. After joining Leilin's side, she had heard countless stories about the Farolan Family. How could she not know that this man was the mastermind behind coveting the Farolan Family's territory?
In fact, the Crimson Tiger Pirate Group's greatest enemy at the very beginning had also been this very viscount. How had it suddenly come to a handshake for peace?
"Carry out the order!" Leilin waved his hand. Karen bowed respectfully, and her figure vanished into the darkness.
"That's politics for you... an enemy of your enemy is a friend. Even if yesterday you were fighting tooth and nail, wishing you could tear each other apart, you still have to join hands against a common foe..."
Although the spy planted on the Bodi Archipelago could only relay the simplest bits of information, Leilin still gleaned a great deal from these reports — for instance, the discord between Marquis Louis and Viscount Dim, and the outstanding performance of the legitimate son, William.
Given Leilin's understanding of human nature, if he reached out to the other party now, the chances of success were better than fifty percent!
Such an opportunity was more than enough to warrant a try.
After all, there was nothing to lose even if he failed, right?
…
Several days later, after much deliberation, the Gold Coin Priestess Zuona finally accepted Leilin's conditions and agreed to sign the agreement.
In exchange for three years of cooperation and protection of the Farolan Family, she obtained the sugar purification technology from Leilin.
Both parties to this transaction felt very satisfied, though the actual profits and losses likely wouldn't become apparent for a long time.
Once all these matters were settled, a magnificent temple rose up at Morningstar Port.
Since she had plenty of money on hand, this spendthrift of a woman Zuona was practically hurling gold coins at the construction progress, and the results were nothing short of astonishing.
In less than ten days, the main body of the temple already had its framework in place — a pace several times faster than when Leilin had built the City Hall!
Of course, this was partly thanks to those priests. Their divine magic replenished itself with daily devout prayer, so there was no fear of depletion. They freely used it on construction, a sight that even made Leilin somewhat envious.
On the day the temple was completed, Zuona personally conducted a prayer and even managed to bring down a divine blessing from the Goddess of Wealth.
Although the deity's avatar did not appear, the temporary bestowal of luck, eloquence, and rapid calculation upon all the believers in the port was more than enough to ensure these people would rake in profits for the foreseeable future.
Of course, that sensation of divine grace like an ocean and divine might like a prison left an extremely deep impression on Leilin as well.
The Goddess of Wealth was merely a mid-tier deity, essentially the same level as an eighth-tier existence in the Wizard World, but to Leilin, she felt far more terrifying than many eighth-tier beings.
This might have been partly due to fighting on her home turf, but the impact she had on Leilin was still enormous.
When the power of faith combined with the laws of one's own domain, it could produce such a terrifying qualitative transformation — this gave Leilin considerable inspiration.
Among the crowd, however, some discordant voices also emerged.
The priest of the God of Suffering said nothing. After all, his faith catered to the lower classes — slaves, laborers, farmers — and he couldn't care less about a merchant goddess. In truth, all of their worldly possessions combined probably weren't worth a single gold krona!
But for Tabris, the bishop of the God of Knowledge here, the arrival of the Goddess of Wealth's clergy was a tremendous challenge!
Although he still sent someone over to offer congratulations, he gave Baron Jonas a cold shoulder.
On this matter, both Leilin and Baron Jonas paid it little mind.
As the local representative of secular royal authority, there were certain key interests that simply could not be conceded under any circumstances.
Leilin stayed here for a while longer. Only after the fish floss technology trade was completed and everything at Morningstar Port had returned to normal did he retire to seclusion, plunging straight into his laboratory.
In truth, what he intended to do was never a secret among the family's upper echelons. Baron Jonas even personally provided cover for him.
The azure sea, carrying the damp and clean scent of sea salt on its breeze.
A dark shadow howled past, sending ripples across the water's surface.
Not far on the horizon, a massive pirate fleet lay at anchor, its flagpoles bearing a terrifying pirate flag — a crimson backdrop with daggers and skulls dancing together!
The Crimson Tiger Pirate Group! The pirate crew that had recently risen to fame throughout the coastal waters, their strength rivalling the three established powers that came before them.
According to rumor, this pirate crew's leader — the Crimson Witch — was a demon from the Abyss, who even liked to bathe in the blood of her enemies. Her fearsome reputation was said to be enough to stop children from crying at night on the open seas.
But at this moment, the rumored "Crimson Witch" — Leilin's cousin Isabelle — stood on the deck alongside the other pirate executives, as if awaiting their true leader.