(MZ) “Bold as that statement is, it still holds that I have reason to believe some have been bribed into causing a ruckus.” Madam Zheng said as she sighed.

(BM) “Does that mean that you will purge all of these men after you regain all of your power again?” Baron asked.

(MZ) “No, as tempted as I am to resort to that kind of scare tactic, that would not be smart as some will take it upon themselves to distance themselves in fear of consequences.”

(BM) “That must be difficult to handle. Seeing the people who have fought for you for all those years just start doubting you like this.”

(MZ) “It is no walk in the park, that’s for sure. However, I think it is near miraculous that none have them have actually tried to defect to another faction yet, despite having many reasons to do so. I will reward those who serve me well with many riches and those who dare go behind me will learn of the harsh realities that they have with me in charge of their every move.”

(BM) “Right… so will we be going through with my plan then?”

(MZ) “I will figure that out later, Zi Ji Ge and Zi Bo!”

(ZJG) “Yes!” She replied.

(ZB) “...” He said nothing as he looked at Madam Zheng. He knew for all the brave faces that Madam Zheng put on, there would always be a few that would break her character.

(MZ) “I have a mission for the two of you, get the message across to some of the other elders within the other camp. I’ll send you a list of a few people that I still trust.”

(ZJG) “Yes, ma’am.”

(ZB) “...” He nodded.

(MZ) “Baron, for now, you and your two buddies will be in charge of their territory temporarily. I want you to wage war with the group that lies south of the Vesper faction. This is experience for you three so don’t screw it up.”

(BM) “You got it.”

(ZM) “Good, let’s go.”

A short few days passed by and nothing new happened, that is, until Baron and his two closest allies disturbed the peace and decided to go to war with the Mark alliance. This may have been an alliance, but they were sure not acting like one. Though they had some mighty capable people, none of which surpassed Zi Bo nor Zi Ji Ge, this newly formed group was not able to hold out long before being overwhelmed by Baron’s forces. This was to be expected, after all, some random nobody group could hope to best even a small branch of the most well known naval warfare faction in China.

It took only a few days of battle and the deed was done, there wasn’t too much land to take anyway as all the territory that they had owned were actually all in water. Around the same time that Baron, Yue Fei, and Guan Yu were out making a ruckus, Zi Bo and Zi Ji Ge left to go pay a visit to the elder faction that had been trapped behind enemy lines.

The reason that Madam Zheng sent these two siblings instead of messengers and spies, and simply radioing them was for the simple reason that those could be rather easily intercepted and their plans would be exposed in the process. A much safer, albeit time-consuming not to mention a waste of trusted resources.

The Zi siblings didn’t really care though since they would finally be getting to go meet with some of the other elders within the inner circle. So far, aside from a few elders, Madam Zheng, husband 1, and husband 2, they had not seen nor met the majority of the other bigwigs that helped to keep the Forever Pirates afloat. They were on a strictly covert operation and therefore stealth was of the utmost importance.

With this in mind, the two of them had to do everything in their power to not get caught by the people whose territory they were trespassing on and had decided to take a roundabout so that they could sneak past the territory that Baron was keeping occupied. The risk involved was seriously multiplied if they were to try to get past the Vesper faction and all their powerful ships and watchful eyes.

While they were delivering messages to the other elders, Baron and the few generals under him just went on to defeat one territory one after another. They were by no means experts yet, but the talent that had pledged allegiance to them were excellent advisors. Through all of this warfare and advised by the experts, Baron was able to become more and more familiar with naval warfare.

All this while they had to keep an eye on the Vesper faction as well. At the moment, they were the only force around them that could seriously pose a threat of wiping them off the map for good. Plus, after that stunt that Baron had pulled during the aerial tournament, they were most likely more than keen on revenge against him.

Slowly but surely they managed to push their way eastwards towards the other side of the map. This was crucial since it was preparation for the war that was coming. The naval tournament did not have as many participants as the aerial-based tournaments, but the quality of each strategist was far higher.

This meant that there wasn’t as much competition, but to get to the top would require more time since naval warfare has been prevalent for a long time like land warfare. Aerial warfare was only made common in the early 20th century while on land fighting had been common ever since man came to Earth, and naval fights going back probably into 2nd or 3rd millennium BC.

Baron’s actions didn’t go unnoticed and soon he had attracted the attention of one of the Vesper factions at the southernmost tip of the border of the Vesper’s.