Seeing Todd deep in thought, Emerson rubbed his aching lower back, walked to his desk, and looked at the list thoughtfully: "Hareding... that surname sounds familiar."

Todd then summoned Brother Joe, who was in charge of resident registration, and ordered him to fetch the population register of Twilight City.

After some effort, he finally found a few words introducing this southern heretic in the thick pages of the book.

Aisha Springhall, a member of the Abbasid Caliphate, was a maritime merchant who settled on November 17, 1171 (the Catholic calendar)...

Todd looked at the bottom of the page, where the following passage was clearly written.

Guarantor: Abu Ben Sabah Kendi; Relationship to Registrant: Maternal relative

One hour later.

Kendi stood in the center between the kings, his hands trembling as he held the list of names, his lips pale and cold sweat pouring down his face: "This...this liar! She promised me she would behave herself and not use her real name! How dare she take the kingdom's official examination!"

Todd slammed his hand on the table and shouted, "Who exactly is she?!"

Kendi jumped in fright, nearly dropping the document in his hand, and mumbled out a single word.

"pirate"

With Kendi's confession and the additions from others, Todd finally understood the general outline of the matter.

Sailing south along the western coast of Muxi, past the reefs and cliffs of Lonely Rock City, and continuing south, one enters a sea area commonly known as the "Golden Crossroads".

Heading south from there, one can enter the territorial waters of the Southern Empire; while choosing to head west will lead through a narrow estuary into a vast sea surrounded by land.

Using this "inland sea" as a dividing line, the north is the diocese of the Church of God and the Orthodox Church, while the south is a foreign land that believes in Allah.

In this sea area, there are no fewer than a thousand pirate forces of varying sizes. The smaller ones consist of only a single-masted sailing ship, while the largest pirate forces can easily wipe out a small country. Among the pirates active in the Mediterranean is a man named Hayreddin, who originally engaged in maritime trade, but later raised the skull and crossbones flag and started a business of plundering from landing ships.

In recent years, he has accomplished two major feats in the Mediterranean region, which have brought him great fame.

His first act was to launch a surprise attack on a troop transport ship from Lone Rock at dawn in early winter of 1165, taking advantage of the thick fog and capturing 30 knights and 190 soldiers on board.

The second thing is that, over the past four years, Hayreddin has traveled back and forth across the Mediterranean, helping thousands of Allah believers escape persecution in their parishes and return safely to the Abbasid Caliphate.

Of the two incidents, the second one in particular brought Hayreddin great fame. Southern Christians called him Baba Oru.ccedil because of this, which translates to "Father," while people in the church-controlled areas transliterated it as Barbarossa.

According to Kendi's testimony, the young woman named Aisha was Barbarossa's daughter.

As Todd watched the servants unearth Aisha's exam paper, the first thing he saw reminded him of the profound impression he had when he graded it.

The handwriting on the paper reveals the owner's unfamiliarity with standard written language, yet it also reflects their serious attitude. The answer is well-structured, logically rigorous, and even uses examples to support certain arguments.

Todd originally thought the owner of the exam paper was an elderly male scholar, but he never expected that the examinee would be a woman who was only 22 years old, as Kendi had described.

Todd put down his test paper and looked at the bewildered Kendi: "How did you get involved with this female pirate?"

Kendi replied with a wry smile, “Years ago, I planned to go to the North Island for archaeological research, but after asking around the Imperial ports, not a single captain was willing to go to that barren land. After a series of inquiries, someone took me to meet a girl who was not yet 18 years old. She said she could take me to the North Island. At first, I didn't believe her, but after seeing her ship, I believed her. After that, I tried everything I could, using my family connections, to get her a sea pass…”

Kendi paused for a moment, then cried out to Todd, "Your Majesty! I swear, at first, I really didn't know she was a pirate!"

Upon hearing this, Todd interrupted Kendi: "After she got the pass, she just sent you to the North Island safely like that? Why didn't she kill you during the voyage?"

The latter scratched his head and said in a low voice, "I can use a sextant, draw nautical charts, and speak five languages. I guess she wants to use me to help her navigate."

Todd nodded noncommittally: "Go on."

"Later, I stayed at the North Island ruins to do archaeology, and she said she wanted to continue sailing north to accomplish something." Kendi looked up at the King: "Then you appeared and took me to Muxi Town."

Todd thought for a moment, then said, "You've missed some crucial things. First, how did she settle in Twilight City?"

Kendi glanced at the King furtively; the King's face was expressionless. He swallowed hard. "About six months ago, Aisha suddenly came to Muxi City and found me. She said she wanted to settle in the city and hoped I would become her resident guarantor. At first, I thought she was after the tax exemption for residents doing business, and since she had indeed helped me before, I agreed to her request."

"Then, she adopted the alias 'Aisha Springhall,' pretended to be your relative, and bought property to obtain residency. Another question: how did you know she was a pirate?"

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