Lord: I can see loyalty.

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Glenn's main militia force soon took over from Vio and his men, completely taking control of the port.

Vio gained a lot from this battle.

Apart from the ships that were beyond repair, Vio's fleet gained seven more warships and nearly ten fast ships!

It can be said that Vio's southern naval force is currently the largest in the entire Kingdom of Rovia, excluding the Kingdom's navy.

After gaining complete control of all the pirates in the port, Vio quickly launched a reconstruction operation in Freedore, while also attracting more residents of the South to Freedore.

Vio knew very well that this once important port connecting the western and southern borders would be of great use in the future, and its development would be no problem at all.

……

Several kilometers away from Frido, at a dock that was significantly smaller, several small warships hastily landed.

"Where are Derek and Timothy?!"

Philip smoothed his disheveled mustache, then tugged at his crumpled clothes, his face grim.

"My lord... Derek has arrived at Martinburg with two men, and Timothy seems to have arrived as well." A pirate who had been waiting hurriedly stepped forward to greet him, not daring to look up at Philip.

Martinburg, once a noble castle in Port-Marie, has been uninhabited since Philippe's occupation, with only Philippe occasionally returning to stay there temporarily.

Philip was furious, and his usual composure could no longer be maintained. He quickly headed towards Martinburg under the escort of several pirates.

Philippe's rule in Port-Marie was not obvious, and some local residents were unaware of it, so Philippe and his entourage attracted many onlookers.

"What are you looking at! Get out of the way!"

The pirates were driving away the people. Normally, Philip would have pretended to stop them, but he had no intention of doing so now.

As the castle's large wooden doors were pushed open, Philip entered and, upon seeing who it was, shouted, "Derek! Timothy! You two...!"

"Calm down, Philip."

Derek was standing next to the noble chair in Martinburg, admiring the longsword hanging beside him, and spoke without even turning his head.

"I've heard the news. How about that? I was right, wasn't I?" Seemingly sensing the anger behind him, Derek finally put down his longsword and turned around.

"No, this is much more humiliating than I described. I thought we'd only lose a few warships at most, but you lost an entire port."

"Derek!" Philip was furious and about to speak in his defense when a woman's voice from the shadows interrupted him.

"Don't yell, Philip." Timothy poked his head out from the shadows, his face grim.

"Tell me first, is that thing still there?"

Upon hearing this, Philip's expression changed, but only for a moment before he quickly regained his composure and said fiercely, "Of course! But if you bastard don't make a move soon, don't blame me..."

"Philip, you need to understand your place now." Timothy, however, remained calm, as if he had expected this. "You've lost a major port, leaving you with only this place and a few small fishing villages, and less than five warships."

"Do you think you still have the right to sit down and negotiate with us?"

Upon hearing this, Philip's expression finally lost its composure.

He finally understood why, even though he had already used that thing to threaten her, the woman was still reluctant to send troops.

She did it on purpose!

She's stalling, waiting for her own strength to be weakened, which would make the negotiations more advantageous for her.

Even if that thing falls into someone else's hands, she can simply abandon the deal with her enemy and instead cooperate with other people with whom she has no enmity!

Or perhaps the other party never intended to attack the Southern Territory from the beginning, but was just encouraging him!

Timothy! You... "!" Philip's face was angry, but he didn't have much confidence.

Because he is now truly in the most difficult situation, he really didn't bring that thing with him!

"You dare threaten me? Aren't you afraid I'll destroy that thing?!"

"Destroyed?" Timothy's expressionless face finally broke into a cold smile. "Then destroy it. It's just a useless thing left over from hundreds of years ago anyway. I'd only take it as a souvenir."

Philip's face darkened further, revealing a look that suggested he wanted to devour the other man, but he hesitated to retaliate.

"Come on, you two."

Just then, Derek, who had been silent for a while, finally spoke, shaking his head helplessly.

"Everyone says I'm the most reckless of the five, but I think I'm the most level-headed one." Derek's expression changed slightly, and his voice lowered, becoming serious: "Is this the time to discuss this?"

"At a time like this, you're still thinking about infighting and your own personal matters?"

He stood up and walked down the steps of the noble chair. His imposing figure made Philip look rather thin. He stopped and stood between the two of them.

"I heard there's been some trouble in the capital, which means they won't be attacking us for the time being." Derek paused, then looked at the still somewhat annoyed Philip. "In other words, now is our best chance to find a way out."

"As long as we deal with that Southern Earl before we settle down in the capital, we will have the resources to compete with the capital, instead of relying on this coastal area in the West to drag things out with them."

"You know, when it comes to dragging things out, we can't possibly compete with the capital city, which has the backing of the entire kingdom." Derek's gaze swept over Philip, who had calmed down, and then moved to Timothy's face.

"Timothy, haven't you been harassing the North all this time? You should know better than me what happened in the capital recently."

Timothy slightly raised his eyes, and Qing Tong looked at Derek with some surprise, not expecting the other party to have such extensive intelligence and connections.

She didn't hide anything, but spoke in a nonchalant tone: "That's right, it's said that a large family in the capital couldn't hold back any longer. Although it's not completely in turmoil like before, it's not much better."

Philip slammed his fist on the wooden table in front of him, barely able to contain his anger: "So you're still playing these underhanded tricks on me! And you, Derek, since you know the situation, why don't you send more men to help me!"

"Don't rush, Philip."

Derek, however, remained nonchalant, continuing, "It's all your fault for being too hasty and looking down on him. He's a First-Rank Earl, after all; how could his combat strength be weak?"

"In my opinion, we should contact the other two first. There's no need to say anything about old man Finn; he probably won't pay any attention to us. But Ulysses is different; he has quite a few knights under his command, so we won't lose our advantage in the ground battle."

They all understood that Finn was secretive and cautious, and most likely wouldn't agree to their plan, but Ulysses was a good ally. As a noble knight, he also kept many knights from the West.

"You mean, you're telling me to lose so many warships and ports for nothing, and then wait for you to make contact with those two and cooperate before you can retaliate?"

"No, no, no, it wasn't a complete loss. You at least got us a lot of intelligence, didn't you?" Derek still smiled, but his expression was somewhat ferocious.

"By then, that Earl of the Southern Border will have already taken over this territory! You bunch of bastards..."

"Don't worry, Philip, wait for our good news. You'll be fine." Derek didn't look at him, but turned his face away.

"Get out of here! Go back to your own territory!"

Philip spat viciously, pushed Derek aside, and walked toward his noble chair.

Timothy didn't speak, but simply got up and left with his two trusted aides. Derek shrugged helplessly and smiled at Philip again, saying:

"Remember this, Philip. Stay tuned for our good news!"

"roll!"

Sitting on the high chair, Philip covered his face, his expression extremely unpleasant. Only when he was the only one left in the entire castle did he grit his teeth and slowly speak.

"A bunch of bastards, they all tried to scheme against me..." He paused, a look of despair in his eyes.

Even if they manage to gather and kill the Earl to occupy the southern border, what then? By then, my status and identity will probably be far less than before.

He might not even be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with the four of them anymore.

This is probably the situation Derek wanted to see.

"Damn it..."