Splash! Splash!
A massive battleship sailed across the sea like a colossal ocean beast, cleaving straight through the waves before it.
The seawater split apart on either side of its hull, surging violently outward as countless trails of white foam rose in its wake.
Along the sides of the battleship, rows of pitch-black cannon muzzles gleamed coldly beneath the sunlight.
This was a T0-class warship—
a Loren-class battleship.
The Sea Demon.
A warship that had once haunted the nightmares of countless pirates was now about to change hands.
The Sea Demon arrived at Cloudspire Harbor in the Lothar Kingdom without incident.
Meanwhile, on that very same day, two completely insignificant jailers died unexpectedly.
According to the investigators’ subsequent report, the two men had simply consumed too much alcohol and gotten into a fight.
During the struggle, both suffered severe blood loss and eventually died.
A thin, pale-faced young man who clearly had not seen sunlight for years bowed slightly before John.
"My lord, everything has been taken care of."
John raised an eyebrow.
He gave Izer beside him a meaningful glance.
Izer immediately understood.
He took out two gold coins and handed them to the young man.
The youth’s eyes lit up.
He accepted the reward and respectfully withdrew.
"Thank you for your generosity, my lord."
John nodded faintly and watched him disappear from sight.
Naturally, the mysterious deaths of those two jailers had been this young man’s handiwork.
After he made his move, even experienced investigators had been unable to detect anything suspicious.
Thus, the deaths of the two jailers had simply been classified as an unfortunate accident.
John had never been the type to show mercy to those who offended him.
If he did not eliminate those two men now, was he supposed to leave them alive so they could become future problems?
Izer watched the young man leave and could not help sighing inwardly.
"That guy is definitely an assassin among assassins."
"If we fought face-to-face, I could probably exchange ten moves with him without falling behind."
"But when it comes to assassination..."
"Even ten Izers combined would never match his level of expertise."
John spoke calmly.
"We seem to have recruited quite a lot of people over the past few days."
"How many do we have now?"
Izer immediately replied,
"My lord, we currently have more than five hundred and fifty people."
"That is already enough personnel to begin replacing the key sailors aboard a fleet."
In only a single day, John had not even needed to advertise.
The events inside the tavern had already spread throughout Cloudspire Harbor.
Everyone had heard that a mysterious tycoon had suddenly appeared.
The man was so absurdly wealthy that he seemingly did not even carry silver coins.
Whenever he paid for something, gold coins came out instead.
Anyone who successfully joined him would immediately receive one gold coin as an advance payment.
And the salaries he offered were even more outrageous.
If converted into the standards of Blue Planet, it was like meeting someone who carried no small bills at all—only stacks of hundred-yuan notes.
And the moment someone passed the interview, he would immediately hand them one hundred thousand yuan as a signing bonus.
One could easily imagine just how extravagant such a wealthy employer appeared.
Naturally, countless talented people flocked toward him.
John did not recruit indiscriminately.
He accepted only those who were qualified enough to pass his interviews or who already possessed some reputation as elite-grade professionals.
Yet even with such strict requirements, he still managed to recruit more than five hundred and fifty people in an extremely short period of time.
John silently calculated.
"According to the public information, a Loren-class battleship requires fifteen hundred elite naval soldiers."
"In addition, it needs another fifteen hundred ordinary sailors and support personnel."
"If I only replace the key elite personnel, then these five hundred or so recruits should already be enough for me to firmly seize control of the Loren-class battleship."
...
At the harbor.
Cullen did not personally appear.
Instead, one of his attendants escorted John into the port.
Within his field of vision, the enormous hull of the Sea Demon towered like a mountain.
Even while lying quietly at anchor, the colossal vessel exuded tremendous pressure.
John had no idea how Cullen had accomplished it.
Nor did he care.
All he knew was that every member of the Sea Demon’s lower-level management structure...
had already been transferred elsewhere.
As for the fifteen hundred elite naval soldiers and fifteen hundred sailors originally assigned to the ship, Cullen had arranged for every single one of them to be dismissed from active service.
They were now free agents.
Izer followed behind John while carrying a heavy iron chest in both arms.
Every time he took a step, his feet sank deeply into the soft ground, leaving clear footprints behind.
John stopped.
Izer stopped as well.
Both men silently looked toward the three thousand soldiers and sailors standing in neat formation before them.
"Lord John, everything has been arranged."
Cullen’s attendant handed John a document with a flattering smile.
"This is your Letter of Marque."
"With this document, you are legally permitted to arm your vessel and raid merchant ships belonging to foreign kingdoms."
"Of course, you must bear any losses yourself, while a portion of the profits must be submitted to Parliament."
"However..."
"In exchange, every port and city belonging to the Lothar Kingdom will provide you with access to supplies."
John raised an eyebrow.
He accepted the document with a smile.
"This document is extremely useful."
"Thank you."
"By the way, you already explained my terms to the soldiers and sailors, correct?"
"Yes, yes."
The attendant hurriedly nodded.
"Seven gold coins per week for the naval soldiers."
"One gold coin per week for the sailors."
"They are extremely grateful to you and are more than willing to join your forces."
The standard salary within the Lothar Kingdom’s naval forces was one gold coin per month for a naval soldier.
Ordinary sailors earned only ten silver coins per month.
The wages John offered...
were many times higher than the kingdom’s standard compensation.
It was equivalent to a government position paying five thousand per month while John’s private company offered one hundred thousand for doing exactly the same job.
Anyone with a functioning brain knew which one they would choose.
More importantly, they would work hard to keep this position.
Once they lost such a high-paying job, they might never encounter an employer as generous as John again.
John nodded after hearing the report.
He looked at the three thousand men before him without giving some grand speech.
Instead, he simply nodded toward Izer.
Izer immediately understood.
Grunting under the weight, he carried the iron chest to the front of the three thousand men and dropped it heavily onto the ground.
"Open it."
"Pay them."
John gave the order directly.
Izer opened the iron chest.
A dazzling pile of silver coins was instantly exposed to the air.
Countless eyes immediately locked onto the money.
John’s way of doing things had always been simple, direct, and brutally practical.
Could a few beautiful speeches really make people loyal?
Nonsense.
Money was what gave people the greatest sense of security.
Money was what gave them motivation to fight.
John believed that once these people received his money—and knew that an enormous salary awaited them afterward—he would not need to worry about their loyalty or willingness to work hard.
John personally watched every soldier and sailor receive their share of the benefits.
He made absolutely certain that no one would dare embezzle even a single coin belonging to him.