Chapter 306: Followers

The deputy leader of the White Whale Pirate Group, Kalawei, was brought up bound, and was carefully interrogated by Luoning and Lisi.

It was just a pity that although the other party was a deputy leader, he did not know any confidential information.

He only knew that Mondo had taken the initiative to approach him for this matter; as for Mondo's identity and who exactly was behind the assassination of Luoning, Kalawei was not clear.

It was very obvious that the deputy leader of the White Whale Pirate Group was just a nominal position; the key figure was still the leader of this group of pirates, but the other party generally did not take action personally.

Although no useful information about this assassination was obtained, Luoning did gain a certain amount of understanding regarding the pirates of the Screaming Sea.

The White Whale Pirate Group could be considered a relatively large group; besides it, there were the Blood Sail and Ghost Tide, which were similar in scale. In the early days, the fleets of the Kingdom and the Earl of Screaming Island had even conducted suppression campaigns.

But the sea was so vast, and coupled with the fact that robbery could quickly yield rich profits, pirates could not be wiped out.

However, they generally only targeted merchant ships, and they would leave as long as they obtained property that satisfied them. It was rare to see an incident like today's, where they came up and directly rammed the Dennis No. 3 at the cost of one ship.

According to Kalamu's confession, the reason for choosing to ram the ship was, on one hand, to facilitate the assassination, and on the other hand, when nobles like the Royal Family or Wushan Castle investigated, it could be attributed to an accidental event like a ship collision, rather than turning the focus toward pirates.

After all, the grandson of the Wushan Family might also become the son-in-law of the King; once it was discovered that he was assassinated at sea, it would surely invite retaliation.

If it weren't for the fact that Luoning knew Magic, and if it weren't for his strength reaching the Golden Grade, it was truly possible that the other party would have succeeded.

The night sea breeze whipped against Luoning, who was standing at the bow of the ship, making him feel a trace of cold.

In this situation, if he had to spend the night in the seawater, he feared that even as a Golden Knight, he would suffer from hypothermia if he could not hold out for the night.

"Earl Luoning."

Knight Lisi walked over from the ship's cabin; although his expression still gave people a feeling of arrogance and indifference, his mood had undergone a fundamental change.

In the evening's naval battle, Luoning saved the lives of at least half the people on the Dennis No. 3, and this included Lisi himself.

The decisiveness, boldness, courage, and strength he displayed, while not enough to completely conquer Lisi, had already won the latter's respect.

Lisi walked over and leaned against the railing at the bow, "Who do you think is responsible for this assassination?"

Luoning shook his head; he did know which people wanted to kill him, but he could not determine who exactly had colluded with the White Whale Pirate Group to plot this assassination.

"I suspect it might have something to do with the Earl of Screaming Island."

Lisi stated his own guess.

"Earl Aifangsuo is a famous Level 7 Great Magus in the Kingdom, and the Fleming Family claims to be a family of Magic; they have the ability to manufacture Magic Cannons, and they have always regarded my Dennis Family as an enemy. These years, friction and conflict have never ceased."

"Now that they see your and my strong rise, they perceive that the situation in the Screaming Sea might change in the future. In order to protect the maritime interests of the Fleming Family, they have the motive to deal with us."

One operation to eliminate two threatening people from a rival family—this was a massive benefit.

"Your guess is very reasonable, but we cannot accuse people based solely on guesses, not to mention that Captain Maifu said the White Whale Pirate Group has robbed ships belonging to the Earl of Screaming Island's family. Even if the Magic Cannon really is the product of Great Magus Aifangsuo, the Fleming Family can also say it was stolen by the White Whale Pirate Group."

Luoning was going to meet His Majesty the King this time; if there were solid evidence, he could directly report it to the King and let the other party make the decision.

But in the current situation, he estimated he could only swallow this bitter pill.

Assassinating a noble was a serious crime, and slandering a noble was also a serious crime, especially when the other party was the hegemon of the Screaming Sea.

And in Luoning's view, compared to the Fleming Family, Aosen and Hesusu were more likely candidates.

Not to mention anything else, the Skull Society, to which the assassin Mondo whom Luoning had just killed belonged, likely had its origins within the territory of the Haide Family.

Last time, with a key figure like Leisen, they hadn't interrogated any results. This time, it would be even harder to drag a great noble into the water through Kalamu and the others who had been captured.

Rather than wasting time on such fruitless matters, it would be better to properly push forward the construction of the port and the naval fleet.

If it were proven in the future that this matter was truly related to the Earl of Screaming Island, then Luoning could unite with the Dennis Family to attack from the north and south and raid Screaming Island.

Weak nations have no diplomacy; this could actually be applied to the relationships between the various Duchies, Marquis Territories, and Earldoms within the Auduin Kingdom.

No matter when, strength is the foundation.

"When we arrive at Niujiao Bay, let the Royal Family's people take custody and try this group of people. At that time, you can write a letter to tell your father and Wushan Castle, and they will send people to handle it."

Lisi nodded slightly; it was fine to let him go fight someone, but he had little interest in handling such troublesome matters. He looked Luoning up and down, "It's time to talk about your affairs, Earl."

Luoning was startled, not quite understanding.

"My affairs?"

"What exactly is your strength now? Silver Grade? Or Golden Grade?"

Lisi asked: "Also, you are still a Magician; what level of Magician?"

Although the number of Magicians was far fewer than Knights, they were not so rare that one never had the chance to see them. At least when he was studying at the Royal Knight Academy, he had seen many Magicians; of course, most were Primary, Intermediate, or Advanced, and stronger Great Mages were relatively rare.

Lisi had witnessed Magicians casting Magic, and his intuition told him that the large-scale defensive spell Luoning used just now to block the arrows was definitely not the so-called Level 3 Magic Wind Wall that the latter spoke of.

But an eighteen-year-old Level 4 Great Mage—this sounded extremely absurd.

"Want to know?"

Luoning's mouth curled up slightly; he did not answer the other party's doubt, but instead said: "When you can defeat me, I will tell you."

Lisi took a deep breath, a sense of powerlessness and frustration flashing in his eyes.

If it were before today, he would still consider it possible to defeat Luoning, but after this naval battle today, having thoroughly seen the other party's strength, he knew in his heart that the possibility of wanting to defeat the other party was slim to none.

Lisi seemed to see the demeanor of Crown Prince Jialete in Luoning; perhaps in the future, only the two of them would be able to compete.

Luoning noticed the powerlessness and frustration revealed in the other party's eyes, thinking that perhaps today's battle had brought too much of a shock to the unyielding Lisi, so he patted the other party's shoulder and encouraged him:

"No matter what insurmountable peak you encounter, you must maintain a normal mindset, face it with a smile, keep it up!"

Lisi came back to his senses and pulled at the corners of his mouth; this fake smile seemed a bit more sincere.

"You said before that you wanted me to consider following you."

Luoning was stunned, then immediately revealed a look of joy, "What, are you willing to follow me?"

"With the calmness, courage, and strength you displayed in the naval battle just now, you are indeed worthy of me following you."

Lisi said seriously: "I will go back and discuss this matter with my father."

Unlike Luogena, the second son of Viscount Mawen, Lisi was the heir to the Dennis Family.

Whether he chose to serve under Luoning for a period of time or truly follow Luoning, this was not a matter for him alone; it needed to be discussed with the other members of the Dennis Family.

"Hahaha!"

Luoning heavily patted the soft armor on the other party's shoulder: "Wubei Territory welcomes your joining at any time, Knight Lisi!"

What he lacks right now are powerful Knights; he is short on Advanced, Bronze, and Silver ones alike.

For a talent like Lisi, who has potential, is not low in strength, and is also accustomed to naval warfare, he could not ask for more. (End of chapter)