Chapter 397: Traitor

Kaierluosi spread his wings, and a massive shadow shrouded the ships below.

Even though no one boarded the ships, and even though the actions of most pirates were not restricted, in the face of Luoning and the dragon, they did not even have the courage to resist.

Luoning pressed his longsword against Dick's throat, "Who is Qiaosi?"

"He is an Honorary Knight of Viscount Mailun, he is a knight of Screaming Island!"

Dick did not dare to hide anything at all and confessed everything.

"Last November, Lord Qiaosi issued an order. We were to let go of any ships coming from Jiliu Island heading south, but for any ships from Jiliu Island heading in other directions, as long as we saw them, we were to destroy them with Magic Cannons."

Luoning sneered: "It really was him."

At this moment, he also had an impression of Qiaosi.

If his guess was correct, this person was the knight who stood by Viscount Mailun's side at all times.

"Selling me ships on one hand, purchasing cheap timber from me on the other, and then ordering people to destroy my ships so I would continue to buy from you—Mailun's business sense is really not bad!"

Luoning had only just earned over seven hundred gold coins from Screaming Island, and now he was going to lose two ships, a loss of nearly ten thousand.

If he were to purchase from Screaming Island again, he would have to shell out another ten thousand gold coins or so.

Back and forth, that was equivalent to a loss of twenty thousand gold.

Mailun's operation was meant to make Luoning earn money from Screaming Island only to spend it on Screaming Island, not letting a single cent be taken out.

No, he clearly wanted to make Jiliu Island a bottomless pit to drain all of Luoning's family fortune.

"What is the relationship between the Blood Sail, Ghost Tide, and White Whale, these three major pirate groups of the Screaming Sea?" Luoning asked.

"We were all cultivated by Screaming Island."

Dick confessed cleanly: "I, Hede of the White Whale Pirate Group, and Selkan of the Blood Sail Pirate Group are all knights secretly cultivated by Screaming Island. You can view us as a whole, only we fly different flags when acting, just like the Knight Orders of the Marquis Territory have their own designations."

"You certainly speak in detail."

Luoning laughed: "I am curious, how did you know that Jiliu Island had ships passing through here recently? Don't tell me you have nothing better to do every day than sail around on the sea."

"It, it was information sent by the Letter Bird from Crescent Island."

Luoning had heard of the name of this island; it was mainly because the island lord, Partridge, was a Meteor Knight, and he was a vassal of the Earl of Screaming Island.

He frowned.

The distance between Crescent Island and Jiliu Island was not short; how did the other party accurately grasp the movements of Jiliu Island?

"Who sent the message to Crescent Island?"

Luoning narrowed his eyes, releasing the aura from his body; the powerful pressure of his Battle Qi made Dick feel extremely uneasy.

"It was Laen, it was Laen from Jiliu Island!"

Dick said in a panic: "As far as I know, Laen has long been in contact with Lord Partridge. Only he could have passed the information out."

Hearing this name, Luoning was somewhat annoyed.

When he led the team to pacify Jiliu Island, because Laen had not been as excessive as the White Flower Society, Luoning had thought to take the other party into his own service, which was why Laen had escaped judgment and saved his life.

He did not expect this guy to actually bite the hand that fed him and get involved with the people of Screaming Island.

No wonder the other party was rated as a troublemaker by Kalada; was he perhaps hoping that Kalada and the others would be buried at sea so he could replace them in managing Jiliu Island?

"Since that is the case, you don't need to live either."

These words scared Dick so much he wet himself, and he begged for mercy in terror.

Luoning explained: "That last sentence was directed at Laen."

Hearing this, Dick's mood eased slightly, "My lord, you scared me; as long as you spare my life, I will absolutely follow you to the death!"

Luoning shook his head, "I have no good feelings for you pirates, and I have even less for traitors. Laen does not need to live, and neither do you."

A flash of sword light passed, fresh blood sprayed, and Dick's head rolled on the deck.

It is not that enemies cannot be taken into one's service; for example, Tangmu and Qiaofuli were good examples.

But some people's composition is very complex, and they have committed too many acts of burning, killing, and looting; I fear the word 'loyalty' does not exist in such people's minds.

It would be fine if only a Laen betrayed him, as he was only a Bronze Knight.

But Dick was a Golden Knight; if he were to suddenly defect, the losses would be immense.

With Laen's betrayal as a precedent, Luoning did not want the allegiance of such people.

As Dick was killed, the aura of death shrouded everyone on the ship; they wanted to escape, but they could not.

Even if some thought their swimming skills were decent, jumping into the sea here would only lead to death.

With a few flashes of sword light, Luoning ended the lives of several knights nearby using Dick's longsword, though he did not touch those captains and crew members.

The ships of Jiliu Island approached, and Lusen and several knights under his command boarded the ship.

They looked at the corpses of the pirate knights lying in pools of blood all over the deck; among these people were many Golden Knights and Silver Knights, yet they had been killed without any power to resist in front of the Lord.

Standing beside Luoning now, even though the other party did not release any pressure, they still felt no small amount of strain.

Lusen gathered his courage and asked: "My lord, how should the remaining people be dealt with?"

"Order them to sail the ships and follow us back to Wubei Territory."

Luoning said: "The construction of Wubei Port needs more laborers; they are very suitable."

"Yes!"

After some reorganization, the two pirate ships sailed together with the ships of Jiliu Island toward Wubei Territory, and the knights also finished their search of the ships.

"My lord, other than finding over one hundred and twenty gold coins on the ship, we did not find anything else of value."

Luoning waved his hand, "These gold coins, you and the knights and Weike and the others can split them."

Lusen was stunned for a moment, then happily saluted: "Thank you, my lord!"

Luoning did not care for these gold coins, but people of humble origins like Lusen valued them highly.

To Luoning, these two ships and the two Magic Cannons in front of him were worth much more than these few gold coins.

He now had four Magic Cannons in his possession, the strongest of which was the Fire Dragon Swallowing Heaven gifted to him by Lulansi, and the remaining three were all seized from pirate groups.

Now that Ruidar is already a Blazing Sun Knight, and with Maiken assisting from the side, the value of this Level 6 Magic Cannon is negligible.

Luoning plans to take it to Jiliu Island and hand it over to Kalada.

"When we return, I will have Lisi take some men with you to wipe out the base of the Ghost Tide Pirate Group."

"It is our honor to fight for you!"

Lusen did not expect that they would be able to fight for the Lord so soon on the sea; this is a good thing.

"My Lord, what about Laen?"

Lusen asked, "Should we wait until the pirate group is wiped out before returning to Jiliu Island to deal with him?"

"Kaierluosi has already taken my letter to find Kalada; I do not need to give a traitor any chances."

Lusen could not help but look at the sky; no wonder the dragon's figure was no longer visible, it turned out it had gone to deliver a letter.

Thinking of Laen's fate, Lusen felt a wave of satisfaction; that guy had repeatedly ignored arrangements and liked to act specially, and he had long been unable to stand him.

Now, the entire Jiliu Island can be considered his own people, and implementing the Lord's plans will become much smoother.

"My Lord, will we go to war with Screaming Island?"

Ever since Lusen and Kalada learned that the Lord had a dragon, they guessed that this Lord would absolutely not be content with mediocrity, and in the future, they would have vast room to display their talents.

However, they did not know what Luoning was thinking.

Today, they were plotted against by Screaming Island; although the opponent's pirate group was wiped out, the mastermind did not suffer any harm.

Luoning asked with a smile, "Do you think I should go to war?"

"Yes!"

Lusen said immediately, but he seemed to realize that saying this was somewhat inappropriate, so he immediately lowered his head and changed his words.

"I just feel that since the other party dared to make a move against you and wanted to kill you on the high seas, this grudge cannot go unavenged! Of course, everything depends on your choice, and our longswords will only be swung for you!"

Luoning laughed, "No need to be so reserved."

Actually, he could launch an attack on Screaming Island by having Kaierluosi carry Ruidar and Maiken.

But according to the principle that every debt has a debtor, he could at most kill Qiaosi and Mailun, and it was not appropriate to take action against the entire Fleming Family.

In other words, the territory of Screaming Island still has an owner.

And even if the Fleming Family were wiped out, those lands would ultimately belong to the Auduin Royal Family.

For a moment, Luoning suddenly understood why there are always people who fear the world might be too peaceful.

Sometimes, peace can indeed become a stumbling block for ambitious people.

He shook his head and thought to himself, "I am no ambitious person; I am just a farmer."

Luoning patted Lusen on the shoulder: "Focus on improving yourself; there will come a day when your value will be put to use."

A flash of light passed through Lusen's eyes, and he struck his chest heavily: "Yes, my Lord!" (End of this chapter)