880 Follow-up

Although Fang Yuan's clothes were the same as before, his body was entirely different.

Also, he was no longer a Magical Clone. Instead, he now had his true body.

It could be said that he had silently succeeded in his plot.

Because his true body broke the seal and became a Demon God, everything was different.

For example, the shell necklace in his hand represented partial control over Sea God.

However, with a mere thought, Fang Yuan took over Sea God's highest jurisdiction. Even if Kingsman revived, he could do nothing about it.

Additionally, there was King's Throne.

Although it was currently following his orders through the contract, Fang Yuan did not have the highest jurisdiction over this legendary ship. Once a new Pirate King was crowned, the ownership would immediately transfer to the new Pirate King.

However, now that his true body was in this world, he would not allow such things to happen. Silently, he corroded the basis of King's Throne, and he would eventually bend this symbol of the Pirate King to his will.

All was going well in Pirate King City.

Because many pirate governors had died and the five old pirates were eliminated, the reorganization process went smoothly with the help of Edward and Aeoris. The shifting process proceeded without a hitch as well.

Although it was a slight pity that they had to abandon the status and profit of being a transit hub, their survival was much more important.

Besides, they could always come back.

"Your Excellency Pirate King!"

When night came, everything was on the right track.

The two pirate governors entered. "The ships and men under Balmain and the remaining forces of the Mermaid Pirates have submitted to us… But some merfolk are still making noise. They wish to have their princess back!"

"That's naturally impossible. However, you can tell them that as long as they wait patiently, I'll make her the Coral Ocean's pirate governor!"

The Mermaid Pirates had their forces rooted deeply in the Coral Ocean. Even if Fang Yuan wanted to meddle with it, he did not have any means to do so. Having someone that supported him become its pirate governor was the best course of action.

"On top of that, there's a small surprise. Bring him in!"

Fang Yuan clapped. Butcher and Bill proudly escorted in a pirate wearing oriental clothing.

"Pirate governor of the East, captain of Five Mountains, His Excellency Wang Zhi!"

Edward and Aeoris looked at the old pirate coldly.

In the turn of events at the conference earlier , Aeoris had barely escaped using his legendary item, but this old geezer was even more cunning. He had been using a clone for the entirety of the conference.

Now, one could see the wisdom in Fang Yuan's decision to let Aeoris live.

If he had killed Aeoris, then there would have been two voters left: Edward and Wang Zhi. Even if Edward fully supported him, he would not have been able to become the Pirate King through the ancient contract by obtaining the majority vote.

This old geezer had been waiting at the side, hoping to get some freebies. But once he saw the four legendary pirate ships had all come under Fang Yuan's command, he knew that all was lost and tried to escape.

However, he could only choose to surrender under the gazes of so many sea monsters.

Since he was extremely scared of dying, submitting to Fang Yuan was the natural choice.

Fang Yuan was still very pleased with this news.

After all, a Pirate King required enough men under him, as well as admirals who were able to handle things by themselves.

If he really killed all the pirate governors, the disorganized men under him would be hard to control.

Now that three governors remained, it was easy to centralize the chain of command.

Roar! Roar!

Fang Yuan boarded King's Throne and grabbed the helm.

Before long, Pirate King City set off again. The Island Turtle King extended its limbs and paddled slowly, leaving this territory.

…

Next morning.

It was a clear day, and over ten columns of black smoke slowly floated forward from afar.

The whistles of the steam engines echoed, and over a dozen enormous chimneys that were spraying flames into the air came into view, as though they were connected to hell.

"Commander, according to the nautical chart, this is the location of Pirate King City!"

On the biggest flagship, Fearless, the lookouts exchanged glances with one another before sending an unfortunate soul over to report to Admiral Philip, Vice Admiral Norton, and the other officers.

"Hmm?"

Norton took a glance at his surroundings and saw that nothing but seawater surrounded them. He frowned.

"Looks like the intelligence was right. The pirates clashed and then shifted Pirate King City…"

Philip could not help but sigh.

While it was good news to them that the pirates had internal strife, it would be a different matter if a Pirate King was born.

"But something as large as Pirate King City…" Vice Admiral Norton was still found it hard to believe. "Unless that rumored island turtle really exists!"

He had taken it as a joke when he first heard the tale.

But as things stood, he was the one who was a joke.

"Even our kingdom's top scholars can't predict the physical forms that sea monsters have. Furthermore, the enemy now has King's Throne!"

Philip licked his lips and then ordered the men to bring out a portrait. "From today onward, this Pirate King is our enemy!"

"Roche?" Norton was even more shocked. "Shouldn't it be one of the other pirate governors…"

"This Arcane Trickster is something else. Not only did he tame Specter Ship, but he also participated in the battle to annihilate Blackbeard and even saved him from our clutches!" Philip sighed. "We rushed here in hopes of exterminating the pirates, but he was smart enough to not give us the opportunity!"

"Regardless, removing Pirate King City and extending our forces beyond the Solomon Strait to here can be considered an achievement," said the experienced Vice Admiral Norton. "We only need to construct a port in the vicinity to cut off this greatest source of income for the pirates while providing benefits for the kingdom…"

"I've thought about this plan as well…" Philip chuckled wryly upon hearing Norton's plan. "The vicinity is rife with danger, and it's infamous for the huge number of sea monsters. In addition, there aren't any islands around suited to build a big port on. Pirate King City remained safe here only because of the Island Turtle King, who could scare off ordinary sea monsters. If a really powerful sea monster appeared, King's Throne would set out to try to establish a contract with it…"

"You mean… unless King's Throne is in our hands, there's no hope of building a transit hub here?" Norton immediately understood the situation.

"That's right… The war with the pirates is sure to last a while. However, I believe that Ettoman will eventually emerge victorious!" Philip looked at the mist ahead solemnly.

…

Somewhere near the Solomon Strait.

Pirates were going about their business.

Splash!

Suddenly, a large number of giant tentacles covered with suction cups appeared from the depths of the ocean. Like the hands of an underwater hades, it gripped a merchant ship flying the Cecil flag.

"Sea monster!"

"Giant octopus! Prepare for battle!"

"That's… Deep Sea Hades!!!"

…

The morale of the sailors aboard the merchant ship was all but eliminated when they saw a ship flying the flag of the Octopus Marauder Team suddenly surface from the depths of the ocean.

Orlando stood at the ship's helm and roared, "Attack!"

Mermaid was now his flagship.

"Kill!"

As Mermaid surfaced extremely close to the merchant ship, numerous pirates jumped over onto its deck from Mermaid and killed everything in sight.

It was not long before they started robbing crate after crate of treasures and carrying them back onto Mermaid.

The merchant ship then sank into the ocean at the hands of the giant octopus.

"As expected, pillages are always fruitful when Mermaid and the giant octopus cooperate!"

However, Orlando did not look all too happy about what had happened.

As a privateer captain, even though he had Ettoman's support, he simply could not do as he pleased.

The other thing that was troubling him were the legends about Arcane Trickster Roche.

Although Orlando was now a pirate who was famous throughout the Nightmare Ocean and the Golden Ocean, he was nothing compared to the Pirate King.

Furthermore, a few of those legends struck fear into him.

He took out the insignia that had helped him acquire the Pirate System.

A row of data appeared before his eyes.

"Name: Orlando

Level: Civilian Level five, Sorcerer Level five

Strength: 3

Speed: 3

Physique: 2.5

Psyche: 7

Identity: Privateer Captain (Under Ettoman's command)

Title: Deep Sea Hades

Specialization:Sailing (Proficient), Firearms Manipulation (Proficient), Cutlass Techniques (Master), Battle Casting (Proficient), Sorcery (Proficient)

Experience: 100 (Experience required before reaching the next level: 8000)"

…

This was the beginning of his rise to power. If it was not for the Pirate System, Orlando would still be the third officer of the Octopus Marauder Team.

However, the secrets about this 'Dream and Armament Master' were surfacing more and more recently.

Ettoman aside, with only the praise from the greatly renowned economist Donald, the Dream and Armament Master has gained many followers.

As for Donald, he had abandoned his scholarly pursuits. Now, he was more like the head of a religion.

This was, however, in line with the tradition shared by many scholars from Ettoman, which was becoming engrossed in theology in their later years.

What really struck fear into Orlando was Arcane Trickster Roche.

According to what he had gathered secretly, Roche was extremely crafty and had numerous methods. He had also once prayed to a certain god before a battle.

Although his spies were not core members of the crew and were unable to get a close look, they could confirm that the insignia that Roche had once taken out was very similar to the insignia of the Dream and Armament Master.

Orlando had felt a constant sense of unease after hearing this.

What did this Evil God who reigned in the past want by interfering with matters at sea?

Furthermore, the Dream and Armament Master seemed to like the Pirate King much more than him. Was the master preparing to abandon him?