Chapter 333: Smooth Landing on the Island

At the crude wooden pier of Beluga Island, five pirates rowed a small dinghy, casting nets into the shallows near the shore for fish.

Though a few patches of farmland dotted the island, they were largely sown with vegetables; for the corsairs residing on Beluga Island, seafood was their lifeblood, while provisions like bread and wheat required regular replenishment from the outside world.

They had expected today to be another listless afternoon of drifting and fishing, never anticipating the sudden spectacle that would shatter their routine.

"Look... look over there!"

One pirate shrieked in panic, thrusting a finger toward the distant horizon.

His companions followed his gaze, only to see four massive vessels cleaving through the waves, bearing down directly upon Beluga Island.

As men of the sea, their prowess in recognizing the banners of nobility was second only to their lethality in boarding actions.

"It is the royal fleet!"

"And the colors of House Blackmountain and House Dennis!"

"The lords are coming to wipe us out!"

The five men paddled frantically toward the shallows, desperate to touch land first and find a place to hide.

Yet they had drifted too far from the safety of the coast, and by the time their boots hit dry land, the noble warships were less than a hundred yards away.

Just then, a white gryphon took to the sky, and Misi swept ashore from above.

Upon closer inspection, Kalada was clinging to the creature's talons, making his landfall in a rather peculiar fashion.

Whish!

The gryphon quickly soared above the five pirates, dropping altitude with terrifying speed; when it hovered barely a dozen meters off the ground, Kalada released his grip, plummeting through the air to land heavily and squarely before them.

Lightning crackled along his longsword; eschewing any complex martial techniques, he let the raw energy of his lightning battle-qi floor the foremost pirate with a single strike.

"Surrender on your knees if you wish to live!"

The remaining four pirates, sensing the futility of resistance, broke and fled in all directions, but the gryphon circled down from the skies, grazing the crowns of their heads at blinding speed as the resulting gale knocked them flat into the dirt.

Aboard the royal flagship, Ronin watched this minimalist beachhead operation with a touch of wry irony.

On the voyage over, he had envisioned all manner of bloody spectacles for the taking of Beluga Island.

He had imagined raining arrows from the shore, or perhaps a desperate melee where his men would have to leap onto the docks to breach the enemy's defenses.

To that end, Ronin had even hauled out the fourth-tier Ice Spike magic cannon they had previously seized, pairing it with the ship's own sixth-tier magic cannon to minimize the risk of the landing.

Yet he had never dreamed the assault would unfold with such effortless ease.

He doubted whether they would have met any resistance at all, even without the coordinated display from Kalada and Misi.

As the four grand vessels moored alongside the ramshackle pier, Ronin and his retinue stepped onto the shore one after another.

At that moment, Baron Melonica, who had been utterly consumed by his meditations, opportunely emerged, stepping into the contested territory to begin his duties.

Ronin could not help but chuckle, "You have finally seen fit to leave your chambers."

Melonica was in high spirits, "A modest breakthrough. Once the matters here are settled, I shall find a clearing to test my hand properly."

A true zealot of the martial path, Ronin thought to himself.

He began to survey his surroundings, his gaze lingering particularly on the crude wooden pier beneath his boots.

Such a rudimentary structure was built entirely of timber, requiring little time, minimal skill, and negligible cost to construct.

Perhaps before the official harbor of the North Territory was completed, Ronin could consider erecting a few temporary piers like this to bridge the gap.

In doing so, the North Territory would possess the means to train its own naval forces, sparing them the thousand-mile journey to borrow the Dennis Port.

Ronin walked over to Kalada, just as Knight Misi guided the gryphon down from the skies to settle on the earth.

"The two of you coordinate with remarkable synergy."

Ronin smiled, asking, "Have you practiced that before?"

Misi offered no reply, while Kalada rubbed the back of his neck, muttering with some embarrassment, "It was merely an impulse of the moment."

Shortly thereafter, Ronin and his men interrogated the captured pirates, gleaning a basic understanding of the situation on Beluga Island.

It appeared that just a day prior, the chieftain of the pirate band had taken a handful of core members and departed the island aboard three large vessels, claiming it was for a special operation, leaving the remaining crew entirely ignorant of when he might return.

Hearing this, Luqi of Sharp-Horn City could not help but remark, "What special operation? The man has clearly abandoned the island and fled."

Ronin nodded in agreement.

It was obvious their chieftain possessed internal intelligence and had learned of the royal deployment ahead of time.

This meant the Beluga Pirates enjoyed the backing of someone highly placed.

"Victor," Ronin called out.

Captain Victor, who had been waiting on the periphery, came trotting over the moment he heard his name.

He now held Ronin in absolute reverence.

The captives taken at Ox-Horn Bay remained under lock and key, facing either the gallows or the permanent brand of a slave at the trading markets.

Only Victor and two other seasoned mariners had escaped punishment entirely unscathed.

Victor knew well that he owed his skin entirely to the benevolence of the young noble before him.

"My Lord, Victor is ever at your service!"

Ronin inquired, "Do the Beluga Pirates possess any other strongholds?"

Victor shook his head, "I have sailed these waters for many years, My Lord. Aside from raiding ships, we have only ever put into other island ports for provisions. There is no second base."

After a moment's reflection, Ronin commanded, "Then let Baron Luqi assign a few hands to watch the ships. The rest shall march on the pirates' living quarters and round them all up."

The assembly raised no objections to the order, and the hunt for the remaining pirates quickly got underway.

It was a tedious task, yet entirely devoid of danger.

It took the knights best part of half a day to finally herd every pirate and slave on the island into a single clearing.

The interrogations revealed that only three extraordinary knights had been left behind to guard Beluga Island, and all of them were mere novices; the rest were ordinary commoners.

Led by Victor, David and Tom conducted a thorough sweep of the primary timber longhouses.

"My Lord, we have searched the quarters. Aside from a few scattered silver and copper pieces, there is not a single gold coin to be found."

"Furthermore, we did uncover some grain stores in the warehouses. We understand the pirate chief hauled away a vast quantity upon his departure, but he likely ran short on time and could not manage the rest."

Ronin nodded slowly.

The chieftain, Beluga, had stripped the island of his core crew, his finest vessels, and his primary wealth; he had clearly resolved to forsake this stronghold entirely.

Ronin had originally intended to tarry here for two days to wait out any returning ships, but it now seemed entirely pointless.

"Go and catalog the details of those captives. See if there are any useful talents among them—artisans and seasoned sailors in particular."

Ronin instructed, "If there are, set them aside to be brought back to the North Territory."

"Understood, My Lord!"

The North Territory was sorely lacking in souls familiar with the deep sea. Though this rabble on Beluga Island were outlaws, it was undeniable that they knew the rhythms of the ocean.

Ronin could easily absorb them into his domain.

Even if they served no grand purpose, they could at least provide invaluable instruction and experience to the knights and guards of the North Territory.

As for whether they had spies among other nobles, Luo Ning didn’t care.

As long as this group couldn’t reach the core positions, that was all that mattered. (End of chapter)