I reign supreme in the Western fantasy world for eternity.

The Chamber of Commerce is located in a gray-white three-story stone building at the deepest part of Baiougang Commercial Street, with the words "Nanhai Trading Company" engraved on the lintel.

The building looked no different from any other inconspicuous trading firm in the port area. If one did not trace the flow of funds back through the ledgers of Castro Island, no one would have noticed it.

Maximilian stood in a restaurant across the street, holding a cup of coffee, his gaze falling over the rim of the cup onto the closed door.

Valen stood beside him, the collar of his old-fashioned navy coat turned up, obscuring half his face. If Ji Tian were here, he would surely think of Belikov from his high school textbook.

"It's the third day, and all those coming in and out are ordinary employees. What's the chairman's name again?"

"Jonas Clayton, 52 years old, a local, was a dock manager ten years ago, and somehow he made his fortune."

"Have you checked his background?"

"I checked. It's as clean as a deck washed with seawater. He has only one wife and two children. He doesn't gamble or visit prostitutes, and he rarely even drinks alcohol."

Valen frowned.

"This kind of person doesn't seem like someone who would get involved in the arms business."

"So either he's smart enough to erase all traces, or he doesn't even know what he's dealing with. Of course, it's also possible that he's greedy and can't swallow an elephant."

As the sun began to set, the guild's doors finally opened from the inside, and Jonas Clayton stepped out and boarded the carriage that was already waiting nearby.

"When will you make your move?"

"Wait until he gets to the suburbs; after all, this isn't a formal arrest."

As night fell, the president of the Bai'ou Port Chamber of Commerce was stopped by an unmarked carriage on his way home, and before he could react, he was plunged into darkness.

When Jonas woke up again, he found himself strapped to a cast iron chair.

All around were dark stone walls, and a magic lamp hung overhead, its light blinding.

He adjusted his eyes to the light and saw two people sitting opposite him:

Maximilian, the illustrious eldest son of the William family, and Warren, one of the Seven Lords of the Sea whose portraits were plastered all over the South Sea.

"You...you're taking this as a form of vigilante justice! I'm a law-abiding businessman, I have the right—"

"You have the right to remain silent, but the new artillery leaked from your chamber of commerce has already killed many people!" During the interrogation, Warren played the bad cop, and as he spoke, he raised his hand and punched him twice.

Maximilian, playing the white-faced role, stopped Valen after he had thrown two punches and showed no signs of stopping, before finally speaking:

"I have obtained the iron ore, the shipping records, and the middleman's testimony—every single piece points to you. Who is backing you?"

The chamber of commerce president is a seasoned veteran; he can easily see through the other party's scheme.

But what can you do if you can see it?

Faced with the William family and a legendary Lord Haydn, his carefully prepared rhetoric had lost its effectiveness.

Valen waved the ledger in front of the other man: "Those chambers of commerce under your control have transferred out nearly 20,000 platinum coins since last autumn. Where did that money go?"

"I...I'm just a businessman."

"Then you should know very well that 20,000 platinum coins is not a small amount, and platinum coins are usually only circulated in high society."

Jonas's shoulders began to tremble. He lowered his head, as if he had finally given up resisting: "That money... someone made me transfer it. Each time it was a different person who contacted me. The person giving the instructions and the person I was dealing with were all unfamiliar faces. I didn't know any of their identities."

"Then how do you know who to transfer it to?"

"They gave me a slip of paper with an account number and the amount written on it. I transferred the money according to the amount on the slip of paper and never asked where it went."

Maximilian and Valen exchanged a glance.

"Are those notes still there?"

"It was burned. Every time I transferred money, someone came to collect it."

……

The interrogation lasted for half an hour, and even a major healing spell was used, but there was still no progress.

Valen stared into his eyes, remained silent for a moment, then turned to Maximilian:

"He wasn't faking it; he genuinely didn't know any more information."

The bruised and battered chamber of commerce president felt a little relieved upon hearing this, but Valen's next words sent a chill down his spine.

"But his memory has been altered, and the method is very professional. There are very few people who can do it to this extent."

Valen had seen similar traces before:

A few years ago, during an investigation into a maritime smuggling network, a middleman who was arrested also experienced a similar memory lapse. He only recalled some vague fragments after being detained for three months, but they were no longer valid evidence.

Warren vaguely realized that this was no longer a simple large-scale arms deal.

I wonder if continuing the investigation will lead to...

Maximilian sent his family physician to treat Jonas, who was beaten to the point of near death, and after leaving the dungeon, he quickly walked through the corridor and into his father's study.

Earl William was reading an old book under the lamp. After listening to his son's report, he slowly closed the book and remained silent for a long time.

"I suspect the Augustus family is behind this; they want to use this incident to completely destroy me. First, they let that foolish nephew invest in the arms factory, and then they used the Chamber of Commerce's financial chain to pin the clues on me."

In this way, if the church or the kingdom finds out about this, they can say that the William family is secretly cultivating an excessive armed force with ulterior motives.

"So what should we do?"

Earl William stood up, walked to his desk, and took a blank parchment from the drawer.

"I will write a letter later and have the second brother personally deliver it to the capital and hand it over to His Majesty the King. The letter should detail all the clues we have found: the flow of the cannons, the intermediary's testimony, the evidence that the Chamber of Commerce president's memory has been altered, and my judgment on the whole matter."

The second son was Earl William's second son and the third young master of the William family. He was decisive in his work and had always been groomed as the second in line to inherit the throne.

The second son had a poor relationship with Earl William for various reasons, but was close to his elder brother.

"If the king does not respond after the letter is sent, it means that someone has indeed intercepted the message; if the king responds, we can determine whether it is the Augustus family pushing this matter alone, or whether there is a higher-ups cooperating."

Maximilian took the letter and nodded: "I told him to leave first thing tomorrow morning."

"There's one more thing."

Earl William raised his head, his gaze calm: "Have the younger archmage of the family take a magical artifact that can conceal their presence and escort my grandchildren away."

"This... Father, has things really developed to this point?"

"If it was done by another large family, or if the Wang family or the church were just giving us a little push for some bigger purpose, that would be fine. At most, the family would suffer some serious damage... But we must prepare for the worst."

Outside the window, the night was deep, and the sea breeze whistled through the palm tree canopy.