"My Lord, the Bishop of Ilmater has fallen!"
A high-rank assassin respectfully reported to the figure beside him.
"You've done well!"
Standing next to him was none other than the high priest of the God of Murder from the Pirate's Port. At some point, he had made his way to the Bodi Archipelago and concealed himself in the shadows, slaying a regional bishop of the God of Suffering in a single decisive strike.
"O my Lord! Please accept this offering from your humble servant!"
Watching the light of the divine banner shatter amidst the inferno — that radiance belonging to the Temple of Suffering — the high priest of the God of Murder flushed with excitement and dropped to his knees in prayer.
In the unseen realm, it was as though a pair of immense eyes had turned their gaze toward this place. The high-rank assassin sensed it too — it was the power of the deity he served, the God of Murder,
At that moment, Cyric's gaze was filled with elation, the light of divine power flickering ceaselessly.
"Divine grace! It's the divine grace of permanent level advancement!!!"
The high-rank assassin watched the radiance blazing ever brighter from the bishop's body, and the increasingly formidable aura radiating outward. His eyes grew ever more fanatical, and he began to pray silently: "O my Lord Cyric, you are…"
……
The rampaging pirate raids continued for days on end.
The Crimson Tiger and the Barbarian Pirate Group split their forces, launching surprise attacks on every port and city across the Bodi Archipelago. Alongside them trailed a swarm of miscellaneous smaller pirate crews, their eyes wild with greed as they followed their leaders in wanton destruction, plundering everything in sight. It was a feast for pirates!
Moreover, hidden among these atrocities, it seemed the priests of that mighty deity — the God of Murder, Cyric — were conducting covert operations of their own, adding an unmistakable taint of conspiracy to the chaos.
There were even rumors that the carnage and destruction had drawn the attention of demons from the Abyss and devils from the Nine Hells!
Upon the ruined debris left in the wake of the disaster, witnesses claimed to have spotted the traces of both demons and devils!
This immediately threw the entire Kingdom of Danbres into a state of alarm. An elite investigation team composed of clerics and paladins of
Accompanying this investigation team was a royal envoy sent by the King himself. His mandate was twofold: to confirm whether any heirs of the Golden Thornflower Family survived, and to investigate the cause of Marquis Louis's death. Of course, these were merely the official objectives. What truly attracted attention was the Bodi Archipelago itself — a prosperous overseas territory.
Alas, they were destined for disappointment. Following the pirate raids, the Bodi Archipelago had lost more than fifty percent of its population, along with the vast majority of its accumulated wealth. Several ports and cities had been burned to ash, transformed into dead zones that no merchant would dare set foot in.
Trade across the outer seas was gradually shifting to the islands of other nobles. The Fairlane Family naturally claimed the lion's share, developing at a breathtaking pace. They had even begun attempting to fill the vacuum left by Marquis Louis, stepping into the slave trade.
At that moment, Leilin had gathered all of his subordinates aboard the Crimson Tiger and made an announcement.
"I'll be leaving for a time — to travel the mainland!"
Leilin's expression was grave as he looked around the captain's cabin at his trusted confidants. This was a decision he had made after careful deliberation.
There was no helping it. He had stirred up too much trouble this time and needed to lie low elsewhere for a while.
Besides, the outer seas were attracting more and more attention now — even the gaze of gods themselves. It was no longer suitable for him to remain hidden in the shadows.
"After my departure, command of the entire Crimson Tiger Pirate Group will pass to
Once the other crew members had left, Leilin kept Isabel behind.
"Are you really leaving?" Isabel gazed at Leilin's handsome face, a trace of reluctance flickering in her eyes.
"We have no choice. Our situation may look promising, but we must remain vigilant!"
Leilin locked eyes with Isabel and began to give his instructions.
"The links between the Crimson Tiger Pirate Group and the Fairlane Family have already been gradually severed on my end. This time, I've eliminated every last dissenter. Your control going forward should be unshakable — as long as the two of us are never caught, they'll never be able to obtain any concrete evidence!"
Right now, the only real connection between the Fairlane Family and the Crimson Tiger was Leilin himself. So long as he left, the investigators would have nothing to go on.
On the surface, the churches of the gods and the Kingdom were bound by the rules of evidence.
"Furthermore, behind the scenes, we've already effectively parted ways with the Barbarian Pirate Group. But I'm not the slightest bit worried about them — because we hold the advantage on the surface!"
"The advantage on the surface?" Isabel looked slightly puzzled.
"Yes. After I return, I plan to recommend that Father establish the family's own armed fleet. It's something those pirates could never accomplish!"
A gleam of assured strategy shone in Leilin's eyes.
"The outer seas really only have two sides — the bright side and the dark side. In the shadows, we compete with them through the Crimson Tiger. But on the surface, they can't even begin to match us. After all, a merchant consortium will never rival the power of nobility. With this advantage, we will inevitably crush them and become the next Marquis Louis, seizing dominion over the entire outer seas!"
Leilin laid out his grand strategy without reservation.
"Do you understand what I'm getting at?"
"So we just need to hold steady and advance step by step?" Isabel was, in truth, very sharp.
"Exactly. The key word is 'steady.' Once we've secured complete dominion over the outer seas, even if the temples know full well what we've been doing, they won't be able to pass judgment on us!"
"What do you mean?" Isabel started.
"Strength!" Leilin waved his hand. "Once the entire outer seas are under our control, those temples — in their quest to spread their faith — won't be able to condemn us, even if they know we're guilty!"
Was this not something Leilin had witnessed countless times in his vast experience of life?
"Look! Even Marquis Louis dipped his hands in the filthy slave trade, his hands soaked in blood — but because he controlled all the wealth of the outer seas and had countless ties to the Kingdom, not even the clerics of the God of Justice could bring him to account!"
The flames of ambition burned in Leilin's eyes. "Once the entire outer seas answer to us, even the temples will have to bow their heads!"
Of course, Leilin kept one thing to himself: in the early stages, it was fine to follow the path Marquis Louis had walked, but later on, he would need to change course. He already had a plan for that.
And to truly seize control of the outer seas, his own personal strength was indispensable.
In Leilin's estimation, having at least a Legendary-rank powerhouse stationed as a deterrent was the bare minimum requirement!
But if everything went according to plan, there was a very real possibility of achieving it all. By the time the family had grown to that level, he himself would likely have advanced to the Legendary realm.
The Legendary realm! That meant having a voice across the entire world of gods!
After all, the gods' true bodies could not descend to the mortal plane — they could only manifest as avatars, which were not significantly more powerful than a high Legendary cultivator.
Of course, it was only in the outer seas, where divine influence was weakest, that Leilin dared to play this game. Otherwise, it would be suicide!
"With all those small fry pirates we've dragged along as scapegoats, the temples won't be able to trace anything back to us at first. But a new round of anti-pirate campaigns is almost certainly inevitable. The Crimson Tiger will need to keep that in mind going forward!"
By Leilin's estimation, the Barbarian Pirate Group would not turn on them immediately after his departure. Instead, they would steadily absorb the smaller pirate crews around them, building up their strength.
But precisely because of that, they would attract far more attention — inadvertently drawing much of the heat away from the Crimson Tiger.
As for the Crimson Tiger's own trajectory, it lay in quietly accumulating strength while laying low, waiting for the perfect moment to rise!
Only after he had explained his plan in full did Leilin finally depart in peace.
Watching Leilin's figure soar through the sky until he shrank to a black dot on the horizon and finally vanished, Isabel turned around, her face as cold as a sheet of frost.
"Gather all the captains. We're retreating into the deep sea for a while!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
Ronald shrank back instinctively. He had a feeling that now that the boss was gone, the "Crimson Witch" — the one whose reputation alone had terrified every pirate on the outer seas — had returned in full force.
Knowing that at a time like this, Isabel wouldn't spare anyone regardless of their standing, Ronald didn't dare utter a single word of complaint and scurried off the deck at a jog.
Under Isabel's imposing command, the entire Crimson Tiger Pirate Group executed Leilin's plan with astonishing efficiency, retreating directly into the depths of the ocean.
The outer seas of Danbres were only a small fraction of the greater ocean. The deeper one ventured, the more dangerous it became.
It was even rumored that deep in the uncharted waters, there existed kingdoms established by indigenous peoples, equally protected by their own gods — though this was nothing more than a legend.
The Crimson Tiger's move shrewdly sidestepped the coming storm.
The combined forces of the outer seas' factions and the enraged nobles of the Kingdom of Danbres, bolstered by the power of the temples, launched a sweeping anti-pirate campaign. They did not hesitate to mobilize the Kingdom's navy.
Among their ranks, the clerics and paladins of the God of Justice could be seen operating openly.
The pirates who had only just begun to grow bold were struck by catastrophe before they could even dig in. Many were annihilated outright, and even the Barbarian Pirate Group suffered heavy losses, forced to go underground.
After all, the ocean was vast and boundless. The Kingdom of Danbres could not sustain the enormous cost of maintaining a massive naval fleet offshore indefinitely. Such campaigns could only serve as a temporary show of force — once the navy withdrew, the seas would belong to the pirates once more!
A new round of reshuffling continued to unfold, while the Fairlane Family, leveraging its noble status on the surface and two immensely profitable trades, gradually became the center of the outer seas. But that, of course, is a story for another time.