The Game of Global Mining-Chapter 512 - 380: Pirate King? No, Lord of the Nether Sea!
PM Golden Continent time, Silver City offshore.
A hundred ships from the Silver City fleet set out to search for the missing Golden Maryland Guard Ship. Sariel and Remia, along with the officers and soldiers of the original guard ship, gathered in the flagship Silver Queen to command the search.
Although Sariel successfully delayed by half an hour for convenience of evading responsibility, after all, it’s a warship of the Golden Empire, so the Silver City Lord places high importance on it. Not only did he dispatch almost the entire city’s fleet, but he also sought permission from the Merfolk to send out the Giant Whale for search.
The situation reached this point, Sariel seriously suspects the City Lord wants to seize this opportunity to launch an attack on the Sea of a Thousand Islands and initiate a total assault on the pirates! 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦
After all, be it "defection" or "robbery," it could only be related to pirates. But if you really want to attack the pirates, how do you deal with the Sirens? Wouldn’t it make sense to bring the Merfolk along? But since the Merfolk is a Guardian God, in principle, they can’t attack mortals. Bringing the Merfolk along also seems inappropriate...
Sariel is quite troubled. Because the entire operation is led by the City Lord and the derelict captain, he himself, being a Sage, doesn’t have the decision-making authority, at least not now!
As for Remia, her expression remained somber throughout.
Sariel doesn’t quite understand, even if losing the warship entails significant responsibility for Silver City, the impact on her doesn’t seem particularly great. Is she merely worried about her father, the City Lord? But as the Empire’s most esteemed cultural envoy, and the Church’s fair and just Saintess, she doesn’t seem to be the type to worry...
The forward ships once again sent a report: "Outside the sea, a Sea Serpent Treasure Hunting Ship was found, claiming not to have seen the missing warship."
Sariel suddenly felt something was wrong: "Sea Serpent? The two ships encountered earlier were?"
The butler replied: "Jellyfish, Sea Otter!"
Sariel felt a sense of déjà vu, immediately flipping through the sailing log from half a month ago, the day just after catching the Merfolk. On the return journey, several treasure hunting ships were also found nearby.
Upon checking the records, it was indeed those few ships!
Especially this Sea Otter, the most suspicious one! Could it be the Pirate King? Only the Pirate King would have the qualification to intervene as an NPC in the Mermaid package robbery, but the Pirate King didn’t act at that time. Now that the Empire’s guard ship is missing, only the Pirate King has the capability!
Then another report came: "A Sponge Treasure Hunting Ship was found again, claiming not to have discovered..."
Sponge! All four ships are here!
Sariel saw it as an opportunity not to be missed: "Captain, I think these four treasure hunting ships are very suspicious!"
At this point, Sariel glanced at Remia, her somber expression visibly eased, and she looked at him with anticipation in her eyes!
Sariel was confident: "We should capture all four of these treasure hunting ships we encountered!"
The derelict captain was already in a panic: "Capture! Hurry up and capture them! Better to capture by mistake than to let them go!"
The Silver Queen captain issued an order: "Attention all fleets, encircle the four treasure hunting ships – Sea Sponge, Sea Serpent, Jellyfish, and Sea Otter – prepare for capture..."
With the order issued, there came flashes of fire from the pitch-black ocean!
The command center erupted in commotion: "Report, the other side enforced light control and launched the Fog Concealment Technique..."
"Report! Sea Otter is accelerating to escape..."
"Report! Sea Serpent is firing flash grenades at our ship..."
Sariel got excited: "The other side is clearly prepared, it’s indeed them!"
The captain didn’t hesitate: "All ships, advance at full speed!!"
At this point, Sariel felt his role was fully realized, as for whether the Pirate King could be caught, and whether the guard ship could be recovered—is something Sariel still hoped wouldn’t happen, considering only if the guard ship falls into pirate hands could critical equipment technology be acquired. Of course, he didn’t believe the Pirate King could be so easily caught.
So this battle should also delay quite some time, letting the guard ship escape more smoothly...
And then, Sariel felt Michael should act: "Boss..."
Michael felt helpless: "I know."
...
Golden Divine Throne.
Michael first came out from the airship modification factory, satisfied with the progress, and it was expected to set sail in one day.
Then he went to the library, seeing Mr. Clown and Gauss immersed in discussion by the math bookshelf, feeling relieved and decided not to disturb them.
Finally, following Sariel’s request, he went to the Heroic Spirit Hall, once more transforming into a butler to enter Remia’s mansion.
This time entering was completely out of sync, as the real Remia wasn’t in the mansion, she was on the ship.
So Michael decided to ask no questions, just quietly wait for results to see her actions. If she just sleeps without any actions... Michael could only wait until tomorrow night. Or visit the Bronze Flower mansion.
Luckily, Remia wasn’t sleeping, she was pacing anxiously in the hall, clearly affected by the frontline battle.
Michael exhaled in relief; her anxious state is indeed when she’s most likely to "speak truth in her dreams."
Upon seeing the butler appear, Remia greeted, "Butler, make a pot of Lauder Coffee for me."
Michael naturally had to say something helpful: "Miss, drinking coffee at night affects sleep."
Remia sighed: "Anyway, I can’t sleep, might as well stay awake."
"Miss, please wait a moment."
Michael brewed coffee, still waiting nearby, not asking a single question proactively. Asking could very likely lead to trouble; not asking might instead provoke her desire to confide, prompting her to speak voluntarily.
He waited, waited for over ten minutes, Remia drinking Lauder Coffee one sip after another, showing no sign of speaking.
Michael kept his patience, still serving with no presence. Michael felt helpless; unless absolutely necessary, he really didn’t want to come here.
Just then, the sea battle on Sariel’s side produced results: all four Treasure Hunting Ships escaped!
In the command room, Remia’s face, full of anticipation and tension, suddenly looked forlorn!
At the same time, Remia, who was having coffee in the Heroic Spirit Hall, had her cup tip over.
Michael immediately went over to wipe the table: "Miss, be careful."
Remia sighed helplessly: "What should we do about this..."
Michael spoke with nervous caution: "Perhaps I might help the Miss think of a way?"
Remia said helplessly, "Even though I’ve tried to steer the incident towards a defection of the Empire’s navy, the scene left behind the aura of a powerful Evil Spirit. Could it be the Pirate King?"
Watching the live broadcast beside her, Sariel became excited: "She has indeed discovered the Evil Spirit aura; her thoughts are just like mine!"
Gabriel said irritably: "Don’t make noise, don’t disturb the boss’s thinking!"
Luckily, Michael remained clear-headed: "Miss, if ordinary pirates stole the warship, we would indeed bear an unavoidable responsibility, but he’s the Pirate King! We can widely publicize this, exaggerate the Pirate King’s power, dormant for a hundred years, and give him a formidable folk nickname, one that would even frighten the Empire upon hearing it. This way, we have no fault, and even if it’s defection, it can be explained as the powerful mental constraint of the Pirate King, reducing the responsibility of the officers and crew on the guard ship to the minimum; they will definitely cooperate with us!"
Remia was surprised: "Exaggerate the Pirate King’s power? What kind of nickname would be impressive?"
Michael thought for a moment: "How about the Lord of the Nether Sea?"
Remia took a sip of coffee, finally calming her emotions: "Makes sense! You always have a way!"
Michael felt gratified and, while she was happy, boldly asked the main point: "And how are things handled at the Evil Spirit Mine Area, Miss?"
Remia sighed heavily: "I made a mistake; it’s handled terribly."
Michael’s heart was shocked, but he remained calm to soothe her emotions: "No matter how bad the matter is, it’s simply the warship being stolen; all the other minor issues needn’t concern the Miss."
Remia shook her head and sighed: "I feel very remorseful; what if the warship theft is because of my mistake?"
Michael was incredulous: "How could it be, Miss?"
Remia said in a deep voice: "I have a serious suspicion that Chun conspired with the Pirate King, inside and outside, to set free the entirely of the Evil Spirits in the mine area!"
Michael was shocked: "The Evil Spirits got away?!"
Remia sighed: "Then the Pirate King and that group of escaped Evil Spirits stole the warship!"
Michael hurriedly asked: "Why would the Pirate King save those Evil Spirits?"
Remia said: "Because the Evil Spirits’ Mithril, hidden a hundred years ago, wasn’t buried in the mine pit at all, but was smuggled out through a collusion with the Pirate King."
Michael asked in shock: "Miss, do you have any evidence of this matter?"
Remia sighed: "There is no evidence! It’s just that I’ve always been suspicious. Since Chun hinted at a connection with the Pirate King, I placed Chun into the Evil Spirit Mine Pit. It just so happens that, as a Blasphemer, he would be seen as a kindred spirit by the Evil Spirits, facilitating the investigation."
It was then that Michael understood: "So, the final result confirmed Miss’s suspicion!"
Remia sighed: "It seems so!"
Michael had no choice but to comfort: "Miss, this is actually good news! First, it confirms the direction of the Mithril, so there’s no need to be on edge about keeping the mine pit secret. Otherwise, it would be troublesome for the Empire to find out. Second, releasing these Evil Spirits could be seen as removing a city’s hidden danger, and we can still continue to explore the mine area."
Remia nodded: "Actually, that’s what I think too."
Michael laughed: "So the Miss hasn’t done anything wrong at all! The warship theft was merely due to the Empire’s navy corruption itself. On the contrary, this incident can serve as a wake-up call for the Empire; Miss has secretly done a great good deed. There’s no need for guilt at all."
Remia’s expression instantly relaxed: "There’s some truth to that! With the steward saying so, I feel at ease immediately. That’s good, I can finally get a good night’s sleep."
Michael smiled: "Good night, Miss."
At that moment, a group of bigwigs watching the live chat suddenly realized!
Sariel sighed: "I finally understand why she seemed the most panicked, yet she actually has no responsibility; so that’s it!"
Gabriel exclaimed: "It seems that this Heroic Spirit Hall is really necessary! Last time, she only mentioned letting Chun’s Blasphemous Body check the Mithril, without bringing up the Pirate King factor."
Michael sighed: "So the intelligence of this NPC is layered secrets upon layered secrets, like onion skins."
Sariel was a bit nervous: "If a group of powerful Evil Spirits from a hundred years ago stole a warship, wouldn’t that be equivalent to the emergence of a new pirate power? Would it become Chun’s force?"
Metatron laughed: "Become his force? Is that overestimating him? Even we Sages have difficulty mastering the basics of each of our cities."
Michael asked: "What’s Chun’s current situation?"
Metatron laughed: "He just woke up again and is continuing to sweep the tunnels."
Michael said: "Stay alert!"
