I reign supreme in the Western fantasy world for eternity.

"That's not strange at all, is it?"

Ji Tian, ​​who also likes to define everything based on online literature knowledge, is quite understanding of his fellow villager's behavior.

Lilith gave a vague "hmm" in agreement.

More interested in the story of the Pirate King and the Seven Sea Lords than in this, she braced herself on the edge of the table, almost standing up from her chair, her purple eyes filled with curiosity.

"Captain, what about the current Pirate King? Are they still around? Or were they wiped out long ago? Who are the Seven Sea Lords now? Will they really help the kingdom fight pirates? Are they considered pirates themselves? Or are they now legitimate nobles? They—"

Evelyn raised a hand, making a "stop" gesture, a helpless smile on her lips:

"You're asking so many questions at once, which one should I answer first?"

Lilith then realized she had been somewhat out of line, shrank back into her chair, placed her hands neatly on her knees, and let her long, silvery-white hair slip down her shoulders.

"Um...please speak slowly, I'm not in a hurry."

Captain Evelyn was clearly swayed by Lilith's charm, and after thinking carefully, she spoke:

"There are now six of the Seven Sea Lords. For the past few decades, the position of the Seventh Sea Lord has remained vacant, with no one able to hold it firmly. The Kingdom's intention is not to forcibly fill the vacancy, preferring it to remain empty rather than allow someone unqualified to occupy it."

The main reason is that Haijue is aiming to be the Pirate King. If he is not strong enough, he will easily be killed by those pirates who want to become king.

"What about the remaining six? What kind of people are they? Who recruited them? Are they still at sea?"

The captain began to recount his story:

"The Seven Sea Lords of today... are indeed ruthless characters. Most of them are old pirates who fought at sea for decades and were recruited by the kingdom to go ashore after being laundered."

First Duke, "Anchor" Hawke.

He is the second most senior among the Seven Seas Lords, and is said to be almost ninety years old this year.

For over thirty years, he roamed the northern seas, plundering more than a hundred merchant ships. After being recruited, he guarded the northern shipping route for the kingdom and wiped out seventy or eighty percent of the pirates along the northern coast.

He is now a proper earl, reportedly retired at home, occasionally going to the docks to watch ships come and go. It's certain he no longer goes to sea, meaning his vacancy remains unfilled for the time being.

Lilith listened attentively, then asked, "And the Second Duke?"

"The second noble is 'White Wave' Karina, a female elf. She used to be a ranger in the Elven Royal Court, but for some reason she left the court and went to sea."

She was the first of the contemporary Sea Lords to be recruited into the government, and is also one of the few magic swordsmen of our time, currently responsible for protecting the southern shipping routes. It is said that she strikes swiftly, never giving her opponent a second chance.

"Elves become pirates too?" Lilith was a little surprised.

The captain smiled. "Elves are living beings too, and they also have times when they want to 'change their way of life.' She rarely takes action herself these days; she spends most of her time managing the merchant guilds in the southern ports. She owns several shipping companies, and her fleet is quite large."

"The Third Duke, 'Reef' Aug, a human."

He used to be a miner in the Southern Mountains, but he ran away to make a living after the mines in his hometown dried up. Somehow, he ended up on a pirate ship and worked his way up from a sailor to a captain.

He was skilled at ambushing passing merchant ships from those rocky areas; after being recruited, his task was to clear the shipping lanes along the kingdom's coast.

"The Fourth Lord, Finn the Grey Raven, a human."

This man was said to have offended someone he shouldn't have in the army, became a deserter, and had nowhere to go after escaping, so he boarded a pirate ship.

He was very clever, skilled in planning and disguise; he once forged the flag of a kingdom's fleet to bypass the blockade. After being recruited, he worked for the kingdom in intelligence, specifically tasked with investigating pirate strongholds that refused to submit.

Lilith counted on her fingers: "That's four already... how many more are there?"

Evelyn smiled: "The Fifth Noble, 'Long Song' Celine, is an elf, about my age. She used to be a bard in the Elven court, but she offended a high-ranking nobleman by writing a long poem criticizing the royal family and had to leave the court."

She had spent many years at sea, writing her experiences into ballads that spread far and wide than her sword. After being granted amnesty, she was responsible for recording and disseminating the kingdom's maritime laws, and occasionally helped the kingdom appease the common people in coastal villages.

"The Sixth Duke, 'Forged Fire' Renn, is a half-dwarf, and therefore much taller than a typical dwarf."

He was skilled in both blacksmithing and helmsmanship. After being granted amnesty, he repaired and refitted the kingdom's naval vessels. When they docked, he would open a shop to mend fishing gear for the fishermen.

"The Seventh Duke is 'Anchor' Valen, a human, and he is not a pirate who was recruited."

He was originally an officer in the Kingdom's navy. It is said that he disobeyed his superior's orders during an operation. Although he was proven to be right, he was still stripped of his rank and sent to the port to do a sinecure.

Later, for some reason, he began to fight pirates in his own way, and after the battles, he would distribute the spoils to the poor people along the coast, taking nothing for himself.

The nobles both hated and respected him; they hated his disobedience but respected his undeniable abilities. Later, when the new king ascended the throne, he recognized his talent and granted him a special seat among the Seven Sea Lords, preserving all his freedom of action.

Lilith listened intently, then pressed for an answer: "And what about the current Pirate King?"

The captain shook his head: "The current Pirate King and the Seven Sea Lords are not in the same system. The Seven Sea Lords are subordinate to the kingdom, have official positions, titles, and stipends, and are assigned fixed patrol areas. The Pirate King, on the other hand, is a king still at sea, someone the kingdom wants to capture but cannot, and someone it wants to negotiate with but cannot reach an agreement with."

"Are there four or five current Pirate Kings?"

The captain ate a sea puffin to moisten his throat and continued, "You seem to know quite a lot. There are indeed four current pirate kings, each occupying a territory. They occasionally clash with each other, but overall they maintain a tacit balance:

They knew that if they actually went to war, the Kingdom's navy would benefit from it.

Let me start by talking about the pirate kings, beginning with the dwarf pirate king.

"A dwarf pirate king? Aren't dwarves supposed to live in the mountains?"

Lilith thought it was strange enough that a half-dwarf was the captain, but what if a dwarf was the captain? Wouldn't he be unable to reach the rudder?

"There are exceptions," the captain smiled and continued.

The Dwarf Pirate King was known as "Hammerhead." He was originally a master blacksmith from the Dwarf Mountains. In his youth, dissatisfied with the conservative atmosphere of the clan's elders, he angrily took a batch of fine weapons he had forged and left the mountains, heading south to sea.

After plundering merchant ships, he wouldn't slaughter the prisoners, but he would make them swear never to tell dwarf jokes again, placing a curse of a kind on them. He would then give them money for their journey and let them go; those who violated this oath would be burned by iron objects on their bodies. Of course, if anyone dared to tell dwarf jokes to his face, he wouldn't hesitate to throw them into the sea to feed the fish.