In the navigation room, a center bustling with middle-aged men playing chess and cards.

Except for Archer, everyone else had arrived.

“There are about forty people on the ship now, and Claude has over twenty highly skilled regular soldiers, all trained at the Arlan Military Academy. That’s nearly sixty people in total. Ideally, we want one hundred fifty to two hundred, so we’re still far from that,” Li Site urged the recruitment matter. Recruiting must be completed within ten days anyway.

The Fumark Vengeance was the largest among medium-sized fast ships, almost reaching the threshold of a large vessel. Compared to standard fast ships accommodating eighty to one hundred people, the required crew was significantly larger.

“Claude... the Arlan knights, more than twenty of them in one group, have arrived. So we don’t need to worry about those who used to be in the same group;

we can easily hire intermediaries to pull in people. That way, they can counterbalance each other on the ship,” Ox advocated. He had originally opposed bringing whole groups aboard, but since the door was opened, there was no need to bring it up again. Seeing that the eight people today were acceptable, they were accepted.

“That’s right. None of this matters. With us here, no wave is too big to calm. The main issue is the Count.” Fen had already informed that another thousand gold dragons would be delivered.

The room was thick with murderous intent, knowing this was a deadly job. This wasn’t stolen goods;

distributing to various middlemen for profit was net income—an honest thousand gold dragons.

“If I can have a round with Gloria, then dying is dying. Even as a ghost, it’d be glorious, dying alongside a big shot. My life would be worth it,” Micah said with extreme lack of ambition.

“The people haven’t even arrived yet. We haven’t seen what they look like. It’s just adventurer bragging, and you already want to have a round? If they arrive, what will you do?” Shadi really wondered how Micah would flatter the Moonwheel Swordsman if she got on board. A hero-level adventurer—there’s no way any man would be chosen by her unless it’s some miracle.

“I’m the captain;

it should be me,” Li Site said solemnly.

“Sorry, this is the only thing I can’t compromise on. We should start crew voting. I vote for myself,” Micah said coldly and seriously, not joking at all.

“Heh, voting isn’t for deciding such a stupid thing. Do you think anyone cares about you?” Li Site sneered, unconcerned.

“I vote for myself.”

Morrison, the tactical black-faced gunner, exploded with his own vote.

“I vote for myself too.”

Ren, another tactical black-faced crew member, said seriously.

Li Site was stunned. Are you guys serious? Ha, do you think you can beat me? Before setting sail, I’m the captain, but there are two votes.

Except for Fen and Ox who abstained, everyone voted for themselves.

Li Site was dumbfounded. Walman actually had the heart for this? Are you trying to kill everyone?

“Besides, what the hell are you mixing in for?”

Li Site looked at Haywood, this tool who dared to vote for himself. What guts! He was the only one on the entire Western Continent that dared to keep you;

otherwise, the Church would have taken you away for evil rituals already. How dare he rebel?

“Uh... just trying,” Haywood said calmly.

Only Shadi was left, the sole one who hadn’t voted yet.

“I vote for Micah. That way, the captain and ship doctor are tied two to two. Let’s follow the rules and keep the result,” Shadi sneered twice and added, “You can only rely on your own skills.”

The whole room was stunned.

Shadi’s face, which could seduce the Emperor’s daughter and cause Black Sails to conquer the Western Continent, was pure cheating.

Fen raised his hand to stop the commotion and said, “Alright, since the overall strategy of having a round with Gloria and the competition content has been decided, I now have some clarity on the main person to escort.”

“Just based on two guards, you already know who it is?”

Ox was more concerned about the Punisher Karoso. The Moonwheel Swordsman was a hired hand and didn’t matter much. The Holy Spirit Church was a widespread religious faction with a terrifying base. It wasn’t a small cult that could be pinpointed easily. There was no clue at all.

“I don’t know exactly who, but it must be someone who poses a threat to the Emperor. Everyone knows that the old King Bema died in a city on the East Coast. I checked—among the nobles who failed to relieve the siege that day, the Count we’re dealing with was one of them,” Fen stated his judgment.

“So the reason the Count helps arrange this voyage is to restore the kingdom?”

Ren was noncommittal. These nobles were so shady—opening secret ports, smuggling, evading tariffs, almost selling hallucinogens, yet they still had such noble intentions?

“What makes you say that?” Li Site asked.

“The Moonwheel Swordsman looks like a mercenary but isn’t. Her hometown is Catania on the Narrow Sea. Over ten years ago, the Emperor massacred it. Such a small country didn’t even qualify as a functional state. It was just a relay station built into the Arlan official road.” Fen’s memory was excellent. The Adventurers' Guild newspapers were full of gossip about famous adventurers, popping up every now and then, making it hard to forget.

“The Emperor allows other religious forces into Arlan. The most influential is the Holy Spirit Church. The Emperor seems to favor the Arlan national religion, preaching tolerance of all gods, but in reality, he wants to weaken the national religion’s influence. He just screwed up and caused the opposite effect. So, the current situation in Arlan is very complicated—Holy Spirit Church, Arlan national religion, the Emperor—each is a pair against the other two. Since this person is being escorted by the Church and poses a threat to the Emperor, it’s not necessarily about identity. It could be that he carries some powerful force, maybe really an apostle of the Holy Spirit or something like that.” Fen added.

“Damn, no wonder General Fen is so good at maneuvering the ship cabin, deciding victory from thousands of miles away.”

Ren felt it made perfect sense.

“So you mean it might come all the way to Lavender Town, and it’s very likely an official from Arlan?”

Li Site finally grasped the core of Fen’s argument.

“An Arlan person? I’ll go to Lavender Town to support.”

Walman volunteered. He felt uneasy if he didn’t kill an Arlan every day.

“No, you’re too big. The goal isn’t to kill people, but to transport them out. The other side is also Arlan. Claude is a capable person and a core member. Since the other side is also Arlan, Claude should handle it. That will be a complete break and closure, a pledge of allegiance, and he can earn his place on the ship.” Li Site said. This way, the ten gold dragons spent would be put to use. Those people were still waiting for him at the Dream Blue Hotel.

“We can let Claude scout first, but we still need two people. Gloria and Karoso know to look for pirates to set sail. They have our wanted poster. If they arrive and don’t find our people, it will cause mistakes.” Fen judged.

“Anyway, there are still ten days. We can discuss slowly. There will definitely be other changes in that time, so we must adapt.”

Ox believed that since it involved big shots, there would definitely be stirrings in Linden City these days.

“We are birds in a cage, fish in a net. If this order succeeds, we will be birds soaring into the blue sky, fish swimming into the vast sea, no longer shackled.”

Li Site began his classic repeat.