The First Magic World War

Charles broke out in a cold sweat in an instant.

After circling around the merchant ship seven or eight times, he still saw no sign of Julian Asilo, and his heart suddenly missed a beat.

Gazing out at the sea, the warship carrying the Augusladin High Priest had long disappeared from view. Being much faster than the merchant ship, even if he were to give chase now, it would be impossible to catch up before the ship reached the Inglima Empire.

Charles bit his lip, wisely deciding to abandon the chase and to remind the Augusladin High Priest that a spy from the Byron Empire had snuck aboard his ship.

If he didn't go and warn them, he could still claim to have no knowledge of this matter. If he did catch up, how could he explain knowing that Julian Asilo had infiltrated the group? Surely he couldn't say that he was the one who brought him in?

Moreover, if there were to be an incident, it would have already occurred by now; there was truly no way to change anything.

Charles saluted in the direction of the distant horizon, praying for the Augusladin High Priest and for Julian as well—after all, if the two were to meet, at least one would get hurt.

Who cares?

As long as it's not him, Charles Mecklen, who gets hurt.

Charles steadied himself, ignoring the ghostly stares of Taoles, Anatasiya, and Belisa, and asked, "Where is the captain?"

The captain of this merchant ship was named Simon, who, upon hearing the call, emerged and said, "Officer, what can I do for you?" Charles's earlier erratic behavior, darting about the ship, had caught his eye, leading to several speculations, though none were fully confirmed.

Charles asked, "How many days will it take to reach Cappadocia City?"

The captain answered, "About five days."

Charles pondered for a while then inquired, "In which country is your merchant ship registered?"

Captain Simon shrugged and replied, "This is an unregistered merchant ship."

Charles's eyes lit up, and he declared, "From today onward, I am the captain of this ship."

Simon smiled faintly and said, "I am not only the captain but also the owner of this ship. If you want to become the captain, you can buy it off me."

Charles drew the newly acquired Silver Knight and placed it against the captain's forehead, stating, "Please rephrase that."

Simon's expression turned extremely ugly as he said, "Kill me, and you won't survive on the high seas either!"

Charles replied, "We won't survive if we don't kill you."

"So, do you choose death for all of us, or do you choose for us all to survive together?"

Simon exclaimed in shock and anger, "No one is out to get you. I am just fulfilling my agreement with the Augusladin High Priest to take you to Cappadocia City."

"If you don't want to go to Cappadocia City, I can take you to another port on Song Spirit Island."

Charles said, "I will die the moment I set foot on Song Spirit Island, so you choose!"

Simon looked at Charles as if he were insane, and the other sailors on the ship also drew their weapons. The ship was a medium-sized merchant vessel, about one hundred tons according to Earth's standards, and with merely sixty to seventy sailors aboard. Although they outnumbered them, their strength was clearly no match for Charles's side.

Charles, Taoles, Anatasiya, Belisa, Hundred Bear Chief, Bear Tyrant, and Bear Sweet—on Charles's side, there were seven Transcendents. Aside from Belisa, nearly every one of them could single-handedly slaughter the entire merchant ship.

In the end, Simon chose to submit, saying resentfully, "Fine! The ship is at your command."

Charles put away the Silver Knight and smiled, saying, "You're a wise man indeed."

He was just looking for a reason to turn hostile, the nonsense about dying upon arriving at Song Spirit Island was completely made up on the spur of the moment.

Charles was a transmigrator, not an indigenous person bound by rules and traditions.

Given the opportunity to play a real-life version of grand maritime exploration, why not play it?

If there was an opportunity to do something, why not go for it?

He had to control this merchant ship to make a big move in Cappadocia City.

Aboard the ship, no one understood what Charles was thinking.

Even Taoles, Anatasiya, and Belisa thought he was a bit crazy. Your journey continues at My Virtual Library Empire

After gaining control of the merchant ship, the first thing Charles did was integrate its crew with his own Westwind Knights; though the sailors and his team numbered just over a hundred in total, he formed five combat teams with himself, Taoles, Anatasiya, Belisa, and Captain Simon each leading one.

Captain Simon had secretly resolved to find an opportunity to throw him overboard.

Charles knew that such heavy-handed methods wouldn't win everyone's approval, but with his Insight Ability, monitoring the whole merchant ship wasn't a problem and he was not afraid of resistance.

Under Charles's command, the merchant ship named 'White Tea' sailed at an accelerated pace and entered the port of Cappadocia City in four and a half days.

This coastal city, which had once been a pirate's fortress because it was not on the main sea route, had now become an ordinary city for the same reason. The number of merchant ships entering and exiting Cappadocia's port normally didn't exceed five, and most of them were just stopping to unload cargo and restock provisions without staying long.

When White Tea entered Cappadocia City, everyone assumed it was just another ordinary merchant ship, and indeed, like a typical one, it began to unload goods. The "crew" also left the ship one after another to seek "entertainment" within the city.

The system of the Inglima Empire was about eighty to ninety percent similar to that of the Fars Empire. This small city was not the fief of any noble; Notruden had only assigned a municipal commissioner to manage it, and the city had only two hundred members of the Patrolling Army.

When Charles left the White Tea with Taoles and the others, Captain Simon secretly gathered the sailors who remained on the White Tea and said, "We have already delivered these people of Fars to Cappadocia. Our task is complete. Once we've resupplied with fresh water, we'll set sail immediately and leave these Fars crazies behind."

One sailor asked, "Should we report these people of Fars?"

Simon replied with a complex expression, "The Fars Empire and the Inglima Empire aren't at war. The two nations are allowed normal interaction, so what exactly can we report?"

"Are we to report that they're planning a surprise attack on Cappadocia?"

"Not to mention that there are only fifty of them!"

"Even if they took this small town, what could they achieve? Turn to piracy?"

The sailor sheepishly fell silent.

Simon still harbored a significant fear of Charles, after all, Charles had too many Transcendents under him, and the rest were elite warriors. All he wanted was to abandon these Fars madmen and return to the high seas.

While Simon was gathering his sailors, Charles was trying to maze-ify Cappadocia, but 'Agmillar's Labyrinth' provided no response for a long while, likely not meeting the requirements for maze-ification.

Charles wasn't surprised by this; Machu Picchu was a ruin and Silver Pigeon Fort was temporarily under his control, which was why they could undergo maze-ification. Cappadocia had its own commissioner and Patrolling Army, how could it be maze-ified?

But there was another thing he found peculiar—did the Augusladin High Priest know about this or not?