Six o'clock in the morning.

"Clatter~~Clatter~~~"

Waves beat against the shore, the west wind howled, and white seagulls circled freely in the blue sky.

"Dangdangdang~~~Set sail~Heave anchor~~~"

“Woo~~~~”

Amid the desolate sound of conch shells, three medium-sized flat-bottomed cargo ships fully loaded with cargo slowly sailed away from the Suijin Wharf in Xialin City.

There were no crowds to see him off, no flowers to pay tribute to him, and not even many people paying attention to him.

At the busy Suijin Wharf, this was just an ordinary voyage.

Even if he married the princess, he was still just a small baron, with barely 30,000 people under his rule, and his territory was a well-known barren island.

Not to mention the Natural Alliance with a population of hundreds of millions, even the giant island of Vilan with a population of 30 million, or even the Shire County with a population of one million, seems insignificant.

It's just a tiny flea attached to the giant beast. Even if it is illuminated by a spotlight, it cannot catch the eyes of the giant beast.

When the three cargo ships completely left the dock, the small ripples caused by the pebble falling into the pond also subsided quickly.

Suijin Wharf is as busy as ever. Everyone is busy making a living and no one will pay too much attention to things that are not important to them.

But in this world, not everyone focuses on the food in front of them. There are always people who look up into the distance.

In the second-floor guest room of the Golden Sturgeon Inn, Muradi, the brothel owner from Levender, stood at the window and watched the fleet go away.

There were two people standing beside him, one was a young wizard and the other was a warrior guard, both of whom were his trusted assistants.

The young wizard was a little confused.

"Sir, I admit that this baron is very good at Transfiguration, but just because of this, is it too risky to sell 30,000 Oggs of goods on credit?"

Muradi smiled faintly: "He is just a little baron now, but who knows what he will be like in the future~~"

The young wizard was stunned: "In the future? Can the princess return to the top of Weilan?"

Muradi withdrew his gaze from the distance, turned his head to look at the assistant beside him, and said seriously: "The phoenix has broken its wings. Of course, she can't fly back by herself, but I bet the baron will lift her up, and he will definitely do so."

"must?"

The young wizard was stunned again, then asked: "Master, does he have this ability?"

"I think he has."

The guard next to him laughed and said, "Master, you're betting a lot this time. What gives you such confidence?"

Muradi tapped gently on a victory chess piece placed haphazardly on the windowsill.

"Probably that wonderful victory chess game."

"ah?"

The two assistants didn't quite understand.

Muradi smiled slightly and said, "No more talking. Come on, who will play a game of chess with me?"

On the other side, with the help of the howling sea breeze, the fleet quickly sailed towards the White Sturgeon Island.

Today is a good day, with bright sunshine and clear skies. The visibility is extremely high. Looking toward the sea in the east, you can vaguely see the outline of the mountains in the sky.

After all, the Fengxi Strait is less than 60 kilometers wide, and the highest peak on the White Sturgeon Island, Longmian Snow Peak, has an altitude of nearly 3,000 meters.

At the current speed of the fleet, it will take less than three hours to cross the strait and reach the Sturgeon Pier on White Sturgeon Island before noon.

It was just a short cruise and everyone on board was relaxed.

But not Rosen.

In the cabin of the foreship, he was talking to 15 khal wizards.

The khal wizards have been hiding on the ship for several days.

The trauma of their souls had not yet fully healed, and after spending some time in the dungeon and feeling frightened on the ship, they couldn't eat or sleep well, and so they all became depressed.

They had complicated feelings towards Rosen. They had admiration for him as a fellow wizard, but also distrust of the lord as commoners, and resentment for having their plans ruined by him.

Rosen introduced himself first.

"I am Baron Rosen Saxon, and I am also the lord of our destination, White Sturgeon Island. I believe you all know me."

"My wife is Her Royal Highness Princess Selena Adrian, from Dawn City, and she is also a newly promoted master of magic."

"Our deeds are widely spread among the people of Weilan, so I won't go into details."

After a few brief introductions, he looked at the khal mages and said, "Now, tell me what you think."

The khal wizards all had dark faces and said nothing.

Rosen looked at Luwakado and said, "Master, what are your plans for the future?"

Luwakado glared at Rosen like a resentful woman and said in a resentful tone: "Since we are already on the Baron's ship, do our personal thoughts about the future matter?"

Rosen looked at the other khal wizards again, and each of them had a similar sad expression.

Of course this won't work, he's still counting on the other party to serve him.

So we need to understand it well.

"Master, if your scam is successful this time, how much money can you get?"

"What does this have to do with you?"

"Of course it does, because it has to do with the amount of compensation I will give you."

"Compensation. Amount?"

All the khao mages were stunned.

Luwakado was also stunned: "What do you mean?"

Rosen smiled: "I have ruined your good deeds. You hate me and don't trust me. This is reasonable."

"But if I compensate you with this amount, then there shouldn't be any grudges between us, right?"

"Uh~~~"

Luwakado was a little confused, and the other khal wizards looked at each other, unable to understand the intentions of the baron lord in front of them.

After a brief exchange of whispers, Luwakado said cautiously, "That bastard Nord promised that if the plan succeeds, he would give us 50,000 Oggs in the end."

Rosen smiled calmly: "Fifty thousand Ogg is not a small amount. Do you think, with Nord's character, you can really take this money and leave Shire County?"

Luwakado was silent.

He knew that Nord would definitely silence the witness because it would not cost money and would guarantee absolute safety.

Big shots like to do this. In their eyes, civilians are just tools that can be discarded at will.

At this time, the senior wizard who was proficient in arcane missiles and had a pair of bright brown-red eyes.

Rosen remembered his name as Gartland.

The man took a step forward and snorted coldly.

"Baron, we certainly know that Nords are not good people, but we also have our means of escape."

Rosen nodded in agreement: "That's right. I personally think that after some effort, you can at least take away 5,000 Oger's money. Is this inference correct?"

The khal wizards looked at each other, and finally nodded in agreement.

Markley, a senior mage who is proficient in creating low-level arcane crystals, nodded: "That's about right."

He didn't see clearly in the dungeon at that time, but then Rosen discovered that this guy actually had six fingers on each hand.

Very amazing.

Of course, this detail does not affect the negotiations. Rosen continued: "This is what I think."

"Once we get to the island, I will provide you with enough tools, materials, and a refining room, and you will help me build the Lightning Torrent Crossbow."

"If you really make it, I will give you a one-time bounty of 10,000 Ogg, plus 5,000 Ogg as compensation, a total of 15,000 Ogg."

"how?"

After these words were spoken, the khao mages looked at each other again.

But it was obvious that the resentment on their faces had mostly disappeared, and there was a lot more excitement and anticipation.

Obviously, for them who were born into a civilian family, an income of 15,000 Ogers was quite generous.

But there are also confusions.

Because what Rosen asked for was the lightning torrent, not the arcane torrent that they had studied so well.

Although it is just a difference of one word, they are completely different things.

A very handsome senior mage with a strong scholarly aura came out. It was the inscription mage Grank.

He pointed out: "Baron, we study arcane arts, not lightning."

"Swipe~"

Rosen directly handed over a spell book titled "Analysis of Similarities and Differences between Arcane and Lightning". The book was handwritten and exuded a strong scent of ink, obviously having just been written.

"I am familiar with lightning, and I am familiar with the arcane."

"I want to use Lightning Missiles instead of Arcane Missiles."

The three senior mages immediately came over to read the book.

The book is not thick, only twenty pages, and it is full of technical data related to practice.

These three people are indeed talented. After reading it quickly, I understood it.

After a low discussion, the Inscription Mage Gronk made a summary speech.

"If the contents of the spell book are true, then we can build a lightning torrent crossbow."

"But the crossbow's accuracy will be reduced. Its range will be shortened, perhaps to only two hundred meters at most."

"The benefit is that the power will increase. After all, lightning is much more powerful than arcane magic."

Rosen was very happy and asked again: "So, what are my conditions just now?"

"Let's discuss it."

As he spoke, Rosen clearly felt waves of magical power bursting out from the crowd, which were stimulated by the whispers of the mind.

He just listened to their whispers with an expressionless face.

About a quarter of an hour later, Master Luwakado spoke.

"We can serve the Baron, but we don't trust his credibility. What if we succeed but the Baron doesn't pay us and directly drives us away or even kills us?"

Rosen smiled faintly: "Gentlemen, first of all, I want to make it clear that I don't like killing, especially not taking the lives of my fellow mages."

“Mother Nature said that it takes only a moment to chop off a head full of wisdom, but it takes decades to put wisdom back into it.”

“I deeply agree with this.”

Luwakado's expression softened immediately, but he didn't believe it completely.

"Humph~ The noble lords are the best at lying. They say one thing and do another behind your back."

Rosen said again: "So, I will swear a sacred oath in the name of Mother Nature to prove my sincerity, how about that?"

As soon as these words came out, the expressions of the khao wizards showed a very obvious relaxation. After whispering and discussing for a while, Luwakado began to put forward conditions.

"We can work for you, but you are not allowed to abuse us. You must give us enough respect and a decent life."

Rosen nodded: "These will all be stated in the contract."

Luwakado had no objection: "Then let's sign the contract."

Rosen had already drafted the terms of the contract and handed them to Luwacardo.

Luwakado read it carefully, revised a few points, and then stamped his own spell mark on it. The other khal wizards followed suit.

Finally, Rosen and the Kao mages also swore sacred oaths to ensure the validity of the contract as much as possible.

After swearing the oath, all the khal wizards breathed a sigh of relief, with relaxed smiles on their faces.

Master Luvacardo was a little curious: "Baron, why do you believe that we can create the Arcane Torrent Crossbow? Aren't you afraid that we will deceive you again?"

Inscription Mage Grank said, "Yes, when we introduced ourselves to the Mage Guild in Shire County, they all thought our idea was ridiculous."

"Yeah, those bastards just said we were dreaming."

Rosen did not answer immediately. He asked Alia to open a few bottles of the best maple wine and poured a glass for each of the khal wizards in a fine crystal glass.

He took a sip first and said with a smile: "I am also a mage, and I always pay attention to the latest developments in magic. So, as soon as I heard it, I knew that your idea is very feasible."

Six-fingered Marklay laughed: "Baron, you are not the same as the average Weylan wizard."

Rosen also laughed: "Of course it's different. Other Weilan mages didn't marry Princess Dawn."

This immediately caused a burst of laughter, but as they laughed, the khal wizards gradually fell silent.

They gradually came to their senses, gradually realized the difficulty of a small baron competing with King Aaron for the princess, and gradually realized the terrifying ability of the baron in front of them.

It felt like there was an unfathomable aura emanating from this young baron, deeper than the ocean beneath the cargo ship.

Luwakado held the wine glass and asked carefully: "Baron, after we build the Torrent Crossbow for you, what are you going to do with us?"

"Then you are free to go wherever you want. It's all up to you."

"ah?"

Everyone looked at each other, not believing that the other party would be so easy to talk to. Their long-standing distrust of the noble lords resurfaced.

Something was wrong with the way he looked at Rosen again.

Rosen saw through their minds. He gently shook the clear amber wine, looked carefully at the faces of the khal wizards, and said in a gentle tone: "I can see that you all have the wildness of adventurers hidden in your hearts. You are eagles who like to soar in the sky, rather than hens who hide in the chicken coop and lay eggs."

"But the lack of money has constrained your nature, and when this constraint is removed, what you want to do most is to spread your wings and fly high."

"If I restrain you at this time, all I will gain is hatred, which is not a good thing for either of us."

"On the contrary, if I let you go free now, we will be friends. If we can cooperate once, there may be a second or third time."

"It would be good for both of us, wouldn't it?"

After these words, the khal wizards were silent. No one spoke, just drank quietly.

After a while, Master Luwakado suddenly raised his hand and wiped the corners of his eyes, and sighed: "No wonder the baron was able to marry the princess, it turns out that he has a pair of eyes that can see into people's hearts."

"We will definitely help you get this Lightning Torrent Crossbow as soon as possible!"

Other khal wizards also nodded, expressing similar ideas.

Rosen raised his glass and said, "Come, let us forget the troubles of the world, forget the differences in our identities, and toast to the pure friendship between mages~ Cheers~"

"To friendship~Cheers~~"

For a moment, the atmosphere in the cabin became very harmonious, as if old friends who had not seen each other for many years were reuniting.

(End of this chapter)