Chapter 553: The Seventh Major City

The Screaming Island, whose lord had already fled, was now a scattered mess.

Led by Aierlong, Kalada, and Lisi, the Jiliu Island naval forces encountered small-scale resistance at the port of Screaming Island, but relying on their unstoppable momentum, they easily captured this long-renowned harbor.

The island was not small in area, with four or five cities of varying sizes on it, in addition to many small towns and villages.

Even though some Knights laid down their arms and surrendered upon seeing that their lord was gone and resistance was futile, it would still take considerable effort for Luoning's forces to take over the entire island; in the end, it was a matter of insufficient manpower.

Fortunately, other noble armies had landed on the island alongside the Jiliu Island naval forces, and they occupied many towns, which spared Luoning the trouble of governing them; he only needed to focus his main energy on a few cities like Blue Sea City.

Of course, it was not the case that whoever occupied a piece of land would own it permanently.

According to the deliberations of the War Council, until a new King appeared, these lands would temporarily belong to whoever conquered them.

Once a new King appeared, the lands would be redistributed based on a comprehensive consideration of merits, influence, and other factors.

Under such a policy, many nobles held the attitude of plundering as much as they could, scraping the occupied villages, towns, and cities to the extreme, and transferring all movable property to their own territories.

At the same time, they increased the exploitation of the people in their territories, forcing them to work day and night, cultivating more land and crops like flax, striving to earn as much wealth as possible before the new King appeared.

Of course, Luoning would not drain the pond to catch the fish like that; in his view, no matter who the new King was, the cities he conquered belonged to him, as did the wealth and the subjects within them, and they would not be redistributed later.

Precisely because of this, he did not adopt an attitude of scraping, plundering, and squeezing.

His requirements for Kalada and the others were the same as those for Ruidar: unless they encountered resistance, they were not to lay a hand on the common people, and they were to maintain order as much as possible to restore production in the occupied cities and towns at an early date.

As the fleeing refugees spread the word, Luoning gained titles like "the kind Duke" and "the benevolent army," which, in turn, attracted many refugees to flee toward the territories under his occupation.

Luoning did not overly interfere with the bandit-like behavior of the other nobles; after all, these people were nobles of the Auduin Kingdom, not his vassals.

Although noble titles varied in size, on a certain level, their status was equal.

Furthermore, neither the War Council nor the Six Ministries had given him the authority to manage the private affairs of other nobles.

However, Luoning was not doing nothing; he sent people to record what these nobles had done.

When he encountered resistance while pushing for reforms one day in the future, he could bring these things out to use reasonably, providing him with an excuse to deal with this group of nobles.

Of course, it would be best if these nobles were sensible enough to actively submit to the reforms.

Unknowingly, time had already reached July; after four months of campaigning, the Noble Allied Forces had not only captured all the towns and villages on Screaming Island, but Aierlong and the others had also fully taken over towns like Blue Sea City, Luomanuosi, and Aoke.

Although Luoning did not seize things from commoners or surrendering nobles, the wealth of the Fleming Family alone had filled him up in this war.

Setting aside money, the captured warships numbered as many as twenty-two, and there were over thirty merchant ships!

Although the Wubei Territory possessed iron ships, making Luoning look down on these sailing ships, before iron ships were popularized, the value of these sailing ships was still not insignificant.

On the 6th, Luoning was invited to the main castle of the Fleming Family in Blue Sea City.

Standing above the towering Magic tower, Luoning could overlook the sea in the far distance.

"The Fleming Family calls itself a 'Magic family'; this Magic tower is indeed quite distinctive."

"Yes, I see there are many Magic research materials and notes inside the tower, and their value is not low," Aierlong said. "My Lord, I would like to take these things back to the Wubei Magic Academy to enrich the academy's teaching and research materials."

"You may!"

Luoning smiled and said, "This Magic tower is also handed over to you."

He turned around; standing behind him, besides Kalada, Lisi, Partridge, and others, were the clerks Aierlong had recently selected on Screaming Island.

They were equivalent to newcomers who had just started their jobs, and the first task they completed was the population census of Blue Sea City.

"Kalada, I intend to appoint you as 'Grand Governor,' in overall charge of the political and military affairs of Screaming Island and all territories in the Screaming Sea that belong to the Conqueror Duke. Lusen, you are promoted to Governor of Jiliu Island, replacing Kalada to manage the affairs of Jiliu Island."

The two looked at each other, their eyes full of joy.

For Kalada, he had always wanted to become a noble and shed his commoner status.

Although he had not yet obtained a noble title, he already possessed considerable power.

Even though such power was restricted compared to that of the nobles, his status was already completely different.

As for Lusen, he was originally just Kalada's deputy; now that he had become a deputy governor, it could be considered entering the core circle.

"Willing to serve you!"

"Many thanks for the promotion, my Lord!"

The two bowed in unison.

Luoning nodded slightly, "Additionally, Partridge."

The Viscount of Crescent Island, having his name called, had his expression turn solemn, and he could not help but stiffen his body.

The pressure Luoning exerted on him was truly too strong; even though he was a Meteor Knight, he only dared to behave properly when standing in front of the other.

"Duke, please give your orders!"

Luoning nodded: "Although I have stripped you of your status as Viscount of Crescent Island, your performance this time was good, so I am still appointing you as the Governor of Crescent Island to manage the affairs there."

Although Partridge was unwilling in his heart—after all, a noble status was not easily come by—he knew he had no right to refuse.

Now that the Fleming Family had been wiped out by Luoning, it was already very good that his Hunter family could be preserved.

"Thank you for your trust, my Lord; I will manage Crescent Island according to your will!" Partridge bowed and said.

Luoning nodded.

"Although we have now taken Screaming Island, there are still many islands in the Screaming Sea that once belonged to the Fleming Family that have not been recovered; next, Partridge, list the islands with high value."

Luoning said: "Aierlong and Kaierluosi have other matters and will no longer stay on Jiliu Island; the next phase of the conquest operation will be directly responsible by Kalada. Although he is currently only a Golden Knight, here with me, while strength is important, it is not the only standard of judgment; I hope everyone will cooperate."

Partridge bowed and agreed; although Luoning did not state it explicitly, he was the only Meteor Knight present, so these words were naturally meant for him to hear.

Regarding this, Kalada felt both grateful and pressured.

He had already become a Golden Knight two years ago, and his strength at the Golden level was basically second to none now.

But the Meteor Knight was a major threshold, and it was not easy to challenge across levels, not to mention that the other party had once been a Viscount.

When facing Partridge, Kalada was a little weak in terms of aura.

Therefore, even though Luoning said that strength was not the only standard, Kalada still felt that it was very necessary to reach the Meteor level as soon as possible.

Next, Luoning gave some further instructions, mainly involving the principles of getting along with other nobles on the island, as well as the fact that he would later transfer tax and political officials from the Wubei Territory to Screaming Island and Crescent Island to assist the governors in handling political affairs, and so on.

After finishing all this, Luoning took Aierlong and Kaierluosi and left Screaming Island.

Kalada gazed at the black dot of the Duke disappearing into the sky, his heart filled with admiration and worship.

Who could have imagined that the opponent who once fought him to a standstill had now become an existence he needed to look up to.

"Congratulations, Grand Governor!"

After Luoning left, Partridge's nervous mood eased, and he walked forward with a smile to offer his congratulations.

"I will list all the islands in the sea by value tonight and submit them to you first thing tomorrow morning."

"Then thank you for your hard work!"

Kalada said politely, "I hope we can cooperate with each other to restore order to the Screaming Sea as soon as possible. After all, the war is far from over, and the Duke's goal is the Telixiya Kingdom."

"If we delay here for too long, it might be difficult for us to have a presence on the main battlefield when the time comes."

Partridge deeply agreed.

The Screaming Sea was just a minor skirmish; if he wanted to restore his former status, he needed to struggle once more just like when he was young, and his figure could not be missing from the battlefield of the Telixiya Kingdom.

Kalada had the same thought. (End of chapter)