I reign supreme in the Western fantasy world for eternity.

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking and a thin mist still shrouded the sea, Ji Tian was invited to the front courtyard of the manor, where the port city defense soldiers were already lined up.

Nearly a hundred soldiers dressed in dark blue standard armor stood on both sides of the tree-lined path outside the manor gate, with standard longswords at their waists and standing upright.

Several iron-barred prison wagons covered with dark canvas were parked at the front of the procession. Next to the wagons stood several military mages dressed in gray robes, holding staffs with crystals at their tips gleaming with a faint magical light.

Maximilian had already changed into a dark gray hunting outfit, with a longsword that didn't look like a decoration at his waist. He went to greet Ji Tian as soon as he came out.

"Brave warrior, the city defense forces are ready and we can set off at any time."

"Is it really necessary to mobilize hundreds of city guards and so many mages just to shut down an illegal cannon foundry?"

Maximilian admitted frankly, "It's not necessary, but to avoid any unnecessary doubts, we would still like to invite the hero to witness it in person."

"Let's go then."

Departing from Bai'ou Port, after sailing for most of the day in a north-northeast direction, Castro Island finally emerged from the vast sea.

From a distance, the island is covered with lush vegetation. In the northwest corner, there are traces of artificial logging. Several gray-white brick and stone buildings peek out from between the tree canopies, and very faint gray smoke is still rising from the chimneys.

About three or four hundred paces in front of the complex of buildings, a low rocky promontory juts out, separating the buildings from the open sea—it would be difficult to notice what was hidden behind them when passing by from the sea.

The city defense army's transport ship smoothly docked at a temporary wooden pier, and the soldiers orderly disembarked along the pier and lined up in formation on the open space of the island.

Maximilian was the first to jump off the ship, then addressed the rest of the hero's party:

"Hero and distinguished guests, please."

The terrain of Castro Island was more conducive to concealment than expected. Maximilian walked in front, explaining as they went:

"This island is low-lying and shrouded in mist year-round, making it an excellent hiding place, as foreign ships rarely approach. Without prior intelligence, even knowing it's on Castro Island would make it difficult to find the entrance."

It seems William's family is quite well-informed.

When the group reached a relatively open depression, their view suddenly became clear. Several brick and stone factory buildings stood in the center of the depression, with their iron gates tightly closed and two guards dressed in dark short-sleeved shirts standing in front of them.

When they saw the city defense soldiers emerging from behind the bushes, they immediately launched a counterattack, and some of them turned around and tried to rush into the factory, but were restrained in place by binding spells cast in advance by several accompanying mages.

The seizure process was even more efficient than expected.

The city defense soldiers scaled the walls from both sides of the iron gate and quickly took control of all the key passages.

The workers and supervisors inside the factory were pulled out of their positions and gathered in the open space in front of the factory, squatting down with their hands behind their heads.

After the accompanying mages entered the main factory, they quickly reaped the rewards: several unfinished new cannons were dragged out from the pile of semi-finished products.

The casting process on the surface of the cannon barrel is exquisite, and the rifling is neat, just like the ones I saw on the pirate ship before.

Ji Tian approached one of the cannons, squatted down, and began to examine it closely:

The texture is even and smooth, with no obvious traces of hand forging. Such a level of craftsmanship is indeed beyond what ordinary blacksmith shops can achieve. If you put it outside, he would believe it was made by dwarves.

"This factory isn't very large, but its equipment is very precise, so there must be a much larger supply chain providing it with raw materials."

Maximilian, standing beside him, picked up the conversation after hearing him say this:

"We've noticed this, which is why we're sealing it off as soon as possible to prevent more goods from leaving the country."

How many workers are there in the factory in total?

"There were seventy-four people counted, plus the foreman and several supervisors, making a total of eighty-three."

But Ji Tian's gaze stopped when it swept over the workers.

There are no orcs.

All those arrested in this factory were human workers.

This is not normal.

In the southern seas, orcs are the most common cheap labor force: they are physically strong, hardworking, and paid low wages.

Orcs are a common sight in free ports like Lionfang City, and there are many orc porters at the docks of White Gull Harbor, but here, without exception, they are all humans.

Could the mastermind behind this have ulterior motives?

He turned his head to look at Ophelia, who was standing in the corner observing the arrested workers. She seemed to have noticed the same thing and shook her head slightly.

Ji Tian kept the doubts in mind and continued to observe.

The sealing-off work was carried out in an orderly manner.

The city defense troops tied up all the workers, supervisors, and several leaders who appeared to be in charge, and put them on patrol boats.

All artillery parts were carefully inventoried and registered. The factory's ledgers, contracts, and correspondence were searched and filled three whole wooden crates.

Elena muttered, "Their movements are so swift, it's like they've practiced many times."

Looking at the dusty, silent workers, Ji Tian was thinking about something else entirely:

If the William family really wanted to cover something up, they certainly could, but what they're doing now seems more like putting on a show for Ji Tian, ​​pretending they've done their best to cooperate with the investigation.

Don't they care much about the so-called military factory being exposed?

On the return journey, Lilith squatted by the ship's railing, watching a gun carriage already towed to the stern being battered by waves, when she suddenly turned back and asked:

"Master, aren't the workers at that factory a bit strange?"

"You noticed that too?"

"Of course, even though Lilith is a demon, she knows that orcs work cheaply and are willing to put in a lot of effort in the factories in the Southern Territory. It's strange that there isn't even a single cat ear in that factory."

This is an example of how even a fool's thousand thoughts can sometimes yield a good result.

It was just past noon when we returned to William Estate.

The midday sun scorched the stone slabs in the courtyard. The butler, who had been waiting for some time at the stone steps leading to the manor, bowed as Ji Tian and his party approached and said:

"My lord, the carriage is ready. Also, the 'Old Black' you casually mentioned at the banquet last night has been invited and is waiting for you in the side hall."

Ji Tian stopped in his tracks and glanced at Maximilian.

The eldest son of the William family was speaking in hushed tones with a city garrison officer and seemed oblivious to the butler's words.

"I'll go take a look."

The furnishings in the side hall were much simpler than those in the main hall. The windows were half-open, and the sea breeze carried the scent of grass and trees.

"Old Black" sat at the table with his hands tied behind his back to the chair, but the way he was tied looked much more proper than at the police station, and it wasn't tied very tightly.

He looked to be around fifty years old, with an ordinary face, wearing a dark gray short-sleeved shirt, dark skin, and messy hair with a few strands of gray hair sticking to his forehead.

Judging from his appearance alone, he was no different from any other elderly porter on the street.

Old Hei had obviously been sitting here for a while. When Ji Tian entered, he looked up, his gaze lingering on the holy sword at the other's waist for a moment before moving away.

Ji Tian sat down opposite him: "You know why I contacted you, right?"

The middleman, nicknamed Dahei, was devastated. He had been a perfectly fine shady middleman, but now that he was planning to retire from the business, he was arrested.

"Hero, I'll only act as a middleman; I won't handle the goods!"

"I don't care whether you touch the goods or not, I just want to ask you one question."