Chapter Twenty-Three: The Pirate King’s Call to Arms!
The heavy rain continued to pour.
As the Saint’s Cataclysm approached, even the weather across various regions worsened significantly. The Overseas Islands had been besieged by storms for several days, and now it seemed the Frozen Kingdom was no exception; it likely wouldn’t stop within the next day or two. Soren moved forward through the downpour, accompanied by the rumbling sound of thunder, as lightning streaked across the sky. He leaped onto a rooftop, his silhouette gliding through the night sky, with a mere toe tap allowing him to cover more than ten meters, akin to the most skilled lightness martial artist.
Clap!
Soren landed atop a clock tower, looking up at the pitch-black sky as lightning cracked through the storm.
Ding, ding!
The crisp sounds echoed in all directions as he sat perched high above, gazing at Arendelle’s Royal Palace, gradually falling into deep thought. Soren was someone who valued promises, but the reality was that it wasn’t suitable for him to meet Princess Anna—not just because the timing was off but also because he couldn’t afford too many entanglements at the moment.
Soren was dangerous.
Those connected to him would also be in danger!
If the Princess hadn’t gone missing, it would have been different; even the deity-incarnated Saint’s arrival might not pose a threat to her. However, now that the Princess had mysteriously vanished, if anyone were to uncover Soren’s relationship with Princess Anna, especially in light of the upcoming potential war with the Church of the Deity, the threat to Anna would escalate significantly due to their close ties.
She was not Gloria.
Gloria was the powerful Northern Witch, a spellcaster poised to advance to the Legendary Domain.
But Princess Anna was merely an ordinary person.
Even though she was the heir of Arendelle, equivalent to a queen, her personal strength remained too weak.
Soren could not reveal himself.
He might even not be able to see her again!
Soren’s plans had already entered the domain of deities, and it was best not to let the outside world know of his close relationship with Princess Anna. He didn’t believe the Princess would fall in such a manner; perhaps when she returned and her safety was secured, only then could Soren rest assured about not dragging her into divine-level conflicts.
He was a very cautious person.
Soren had always been clear about what he would face in the future!
Boom.
He stood atop the bell tower, taking one last look at Arendelle’s Royal Palace before vanishing into the night.
Let everything conclude silently.
Perhaps she could guess who was behind all this, but it mustn’t come to light.
Inside the tavern room.
Soren spread open a document containing much information about the Vikings, along with details regarding Prince Hans’s blockade of Arendelle’s port. He was the heir to the Southern Islands, a coastal nation located to the southwest, whose wealth and power were inferior to Arendelle but comparable to a small principality. Soren laid out a simplified continental map, first circling Arendelle, then finding the Southern Coast at Taro Port, marking a circle there.
Overseas Islands, Taro Port. Snake Island, Shipwreck Bay.
These four locations were connected by Soren, and next he drew the Deepwater Port of the Northern Region. The North was actually located in the northwest part of the continent; the Frozen Kingdom lay directly to the north. The West Coast was where the rebellion took place; this route had little value. This area was controlled by the Dark Tide Deep Ones, and the pirate strength was primarily concentrated in the northwest.
Soren connected Shipwreck Bay to the Northern Deepwater Port with a line and then linked from the North down to the Southern Islands.
The Southern Islands were gradually approaching the South Pole.
Although the Material Plane was not a planet-like world, the coordinates of the north and south poles were somewhat similar. They were both very cold regions.
The Southern Islands bore some resemblance to the Overseas Islands, but were more akin to the Indonesian region on Earth.
They were like small landmass nations near the Pacific Ocean. This region was once part of the continent, but due to immense destruction, it had drifted from its original position. Continuing south from the Southern Islands was an endless expanse of cold territory, which was once a vast continent now covered by blue ice. There weren’t many living people on this land, but there were quite a few undead—a sentient species living in a different way yet having eyes that glowed with a blue light, almost resembling undead creatures.
They were the products of the catastrophic disasters wrought by the destruction of the Arcane Empire.
Soren had never been close to the polar regions but had seen information about them.
“Shipwreck Bay, Deepwater Port, Southern Islands.”
Soren drew a line on the map, then from the Southern Islands traced a line along the West Coast to reach Arendelle.
A cold glimmer appeared in his eyes as he said lowly, “If supplies keep up, we can obtain replenishments from the Deepwater Port through Gloria’s authority, and then directly attack the Southern Islands from the West Coast!”
Soren was definitely not a soft-hearted person.
Since Prince Hans of the Southern Islands dared to attack Arendelle, he must pay a terrible price!
Soren gazed at the map before him.
Finally, he marked a cross close to the capital of the Southern Islands, followed by a skull and crossed swords symbol.
Transcontinental Expedition!
The main force of the Southern Islands had blockaded Arendelle’s port, and Soren didn’t believe the Southern Islands had enough naval fleet left.
The distance for southern support to Arendelle was simply too far.
It was almost equivalent to crossing a continent, yet attacking the Southern Islands from Shipwreck Bay fell within Soren’s expedition range.
It was time to fight!
And take this opportunity to directly bring the northwestern coastline of the Northern Region into his territory.
Soren remained deep in thought for a long time before finally putting away the map and turning to walk outside. He was currently in Arendelle; to mobilize the fleet from the Southern Coast, he needed to approach the wizard’s means. He hadn’t yet mastered the messaging spells, so he would need to rely on the power of the Northern Witch. With three days left until the full-scale offense, he had ample time to prepare.
Three days quickly passed.
In the hall of Snake Island, the pirate leaders under Soren were gathered together.
“This is the order returned from Your Excellency.”
The red-haired pirate Adele Isabella was gazing at the others before producing a sealed document, saying solemnly, “It’s communicated by the Northern Witch Council! It shouldn’t have any mistakes!”
The Half-Elf First Mate was among them.
However, he was now the head of the Eastern Sea Route, commanding over a hundred warships. Soren’s trust and elevation had seemingly transformed him into the second-in-command within the pirate group.
Of course, this was without counting the young lady Vivian or the Northern Witch Gloria.
The two showed no interest in the internal power shifts among the pirates; their focus was wholly on the Overseas Islands, yet their status was obviously superior.
After all, both were powerful spellcasters!
“What’s the order!?”
The Half-Elf First Mate directly reached for the document, tearing open the seal. His actions inadvertently caused dissatisfaction in the red-haired pirate, though she held back her irritation. The Half-Elf had repeatedly performed feats, and he was clearly held in higher regard among the pirates than she was; this behavior didn’t displease the others present, but merely left the former second-in-command red-haired pirate feeling uncomfortable.
“Eh?”
The Half-Elf First Mate quickly glanced over it and then smiled with excitement and a bloodthirsty expression, saying solemnly, “Your Excellency has ordered us to attack the Southern Islands!…”
He handed the document to others, and soon all the pirate leaders present had read it.
The orders were simple.
Gather the fleets from Taro Port, Snake Island, and Shipwreck Bay to attack the Southern Islands, reach the Deepwater Port via the West Coast route, then obtain supplies from the Witch Council, and subsequently cut off the Southern Islands’ supply route, plundering and harassing their coastal cities. It also specifically appointed the Half-Elf First Mate to lead the Dragon Head Battleship in an offensive toward the capital of the Southern Islands; however, it was just a feint to make them feel threatened. The task’s focus was to take advantage of this opportunity to annex the West Coast, forcing Prince Hans to withdraw his troops from Arendelle.
“Your Excellency has issued the Pirate King’s Call to Arms!”
The red-haired pirate looked at the others and said solemnly, “All pirates within the Southern Coast can act together; the spoils obtained from plundering do not need to be offered and will all belong to them as private loot.”
The Southern Coast had the largest number of pirates.
Due to natural routing issues, the pirate community on the Southern Coast was the most active. (Eastern Sea Route, Overseas Route.)
These pirates were not all Soren’s subordinates; Soren was merely the strongest pirate among them; besides him, there were many large and small pirate groups in the Southern Coast. These pirates essentially made a living in Soren’s territory; they couldn’t plunder merchant ships freely and had to offer a portion of what they obtained.
Typically, this ratio was around seventy-thirty, with thirty percent of the spoils needing to be offered.
Now, many pirates in the Southern Coast had part-time jobs as merchants, yet private conflicts remained numerous, as robbing was far quicker than toiling at trade.
The call to arms issued by Soren.
Was equivalent to commanding other pirate groups to join the fight in the name of the Pirate King.
All the spoils belonged to them individually while the name of the plunder was under Soren’s banner; if the Southern Islands sought revenge in the future, they could only pursue a battle with Soren.
Simply put, they could never retaliate against the smaller pirate groups that fought alongside them.
It was a legitimate opportunity for robbery; they would respond to the call of the Pirate King without having to bear the consequences of plunder, or rather, the majority of the consequences would be borne by Soren. (Retaliation, clean-up, pirate laws, etc.)
(PS: Only two updates today.) (To be continued ~^~)
