Black Sail
Chapter 302: CCCII. Military Tribunal

Chapter 302: CCCII. Military Tribunal

Before Weber had the chance to administer the imperial examination to the Merfolk, they realized that the ship’s captain was Ox, and their expressions varied: surprise, fear, anxiety, contemplation.

But there was one common thread—the hostility was gone.

The year had passed, and the events of January 2nd at Heaven Port had gradually reached the ears of every small leader in the East Sea.

Ox’s current identity was that of the Second Officer with the Black Sail Pirate Group, opposing Doringger.

And since Dead Man Bay belonged to Doringger’s territory, the lord of the bay, the Merfolk Witch Pawel, was obliged to pay tribute to Doringger every month.

Now, with Ox arriving with a large group of humans, the situation became quite delicate.

"What are you back for?"

A Merfolk couldn’t help but ask. Ox’s influence in the Mirror Sea was immeasurable, and the incident from three years ago only intensified the Alliance’s division.

"I’m here to take away certain things that shouldn’t be owned."

Ox spoke calmly.

After he spoke, the varying expressions of the Merfolk gradually converged towards two extremes, either excited or solemn.

When Ox had first arrived, Pawel was too insignificant to accommodate others, supported by Doringger to rise in power. Indeed, many Merfolk were dissatisfied; had he raised the flag of rebellion at that time, he would have had boundless support. But now, the island’s inhabitants had tasted the fruits of success.

Doringger was the biggest drug lord in the East Sea, wholesaling hallucinogenic substances by the ton to snake heads on the Western Continent.

And the Mirror Sea grew special aquatic plants, whose extracted essence was potent, used to create a powder called Sky Dream for consumption.

Pawel’s monthly tribute involved transporting massive quantities of these aquatic plants.

And Pawel received a small portion of the dirty money processed through Doringger’s trafficking operations.

But this was a lot for him; over the years, Pawel’s influence was deeply rooted on the island, he and his confidants ruled over Dead Man Bay, dealing with outsiders from the Western Continent and their own people who trade outside of the Mirror Sea.

The Mirror Sea Alliance didn’t eradicate them for two reasons: one, these criminals and the expelled did indeed catch and punish outsiders attempting to poach; and two, because of Doringger.

In this network of aquatic plant trafficking, a significant portion of Doringger’s dirty money was given to some high-ranking officials of the Mirror Sea Alliance, still following the old rules of Heaven Port, taking a forty percent cut.

Thus, Dead Man Bay was a particularly delicate location, where various interests intertwined to solidify its social structure, turning it into an impregnable hub for the drug raw material transfer.

For Ox to stir trouble now meant... offending all three parties; unless he could replace Pawel’s position and continue the drug raw material shipment.

To the Merfolk, this carried no guilt whatsoever; as the Western Continent people came to the Mirror Sea to poach Mermaids, they too deserved to be poisoned.

Half an hour later.

Ox was negotiating important matters with the captains of two ships in the navigation room.

The previously tension-fraught atmosphere had also gradually settled.

A multitude of Merfolk on deck was quite intrigued by the tiny Elf, having never seen such a peculiar creature. Lu was having some difficulty flying in such a damp environment and stood atop a wooden barrel, becoming an unfeeling answering machine.

Just as humans yearned for the mysterious allure of the Mirror Sea, the Merfolk loved to hear stories from inland, each adventurer providing a different tale.

Weber also kept busy, inquiring about Ox among the Merfolk, as the Black Sail Pirates were an exceedingly outlandish group; normal teams need to thoroughly know each other to trust one another.

Under Liszt’s leadership, the Black Sail was bound entirely by interests and trapped in schemes, drawn in like a UFO, everyone with their own hidden depths, if Liszt were to suddenly die, it would all be over.

Asking around can be startling; one discovers the extent and reach of Ox’s influence in the Mirror Sea Alliance.

Despite being wanted as a Level 1 war criminal, he was, in reality, the Loyal Caller of Dead Man Bay, the Timely Rain of the Great Mirror Sea.

"That was thirty years ago. A highly respected man rose during the external wars of the Mirror Sea, regarded as Ox’s mentor.

After the external wars ended.

He continually advocated for peace among the nations... until a few years ago."

The power struggle around the Mirror Sea Holy City, along with the exploding population, led the nations to gradually fall into an irreversible Malthus Trap.

The reason it’s irreversible...

Within the Mirror Sea, there was no talk of crops and farmland, only fisheries and the very limited pasturelands on the islands.

This also meant endless geopolitical conflicts and contradictions concerning the ownership of resource-rich lands.

The ongoing slaughter eventually morphed into generational feuds.

The Mirror Sea lacked the advantages of the Great Wetland. Sub-dragon people could easily slip into the Wetland jungles, using the terrain to their advantage, casting a shadow over the heart of the Western Continent. The Merfolk couldn’t survive on the continent for extended periods. The water quality in other regions was starkly different from the Mirror Sea. Only the Mirror Sea was their promised land.

Under the accumulation of contradictions, what followed was a full-scale war.

The influence of alliances formed in external wars began to wane, unless there was another external conflict.

However, with the development of Magic Energy Industry, Western Continent people’s interest in the Mirror Sea gradually diminished. It was a hard nut to crack, and even if conquered, what was there to gain? And even if there were underwater resources and minerals, they had no idea how to harvest them.

This place became a "paradise" exclusively for aquatic races.

Only their own kind would cut down their own kind.

The Mirror Sea Alliance and the nations of the Mirror Sea were separate, the Alliance being akin to the United Nations.

The Alliance’s leaders, in an attempt to prevent such a situation, proposed the "Pan East Sea Theory," which had many details. But the core idea was simple: surplus populations from various nations should be relocated elsewhere.

After all, there were plenty of unclaimed international waters in the world.

But what the Mirror Sea represented was clear; its waters were so transparent that they reflected the sky. Beyond this area, exile was a given, and no one wished to relocate to dark, dreary places and suffer.

The water of the Mirror Sea was endowed with the magic of great sages, enduring for untold years. Even at depths of six miles, sunlight could penetrate. Even the deeper parts of the sea floor had the giant luminescent plants endemic to the Mirror Sea. This region was tailor-made for the Merfolk.

No one really wanted to relocate.

The "Pan East Sea Theory" faced widespread opposition.

Dangerous undercurrents were fermenting. The head of the Alliance hatched a terrifying plan: to kill all of the Royal Families and forcibly unify the Mirror Sea under one banner, restoring the influence of the Alliance to implement the "Pan East Sea Theory," regardless of the cost, to stave off the imminent Hell.

It was indeed a plan of terror.

It was difficult to discern whether the action was for the sake of the whole Mirror Sea or the power of the Alliance.

The Alliance’s military, separate from the national armies, began to carry out this action, but their orders were false. The higher-ups simply ordered them to suppress the rebel party, to kill everyone at the designated location indiscriminately, with no knowledge that they were to kill the Royal Family.

The war hero from thirty years ago was among them.

Including one of the generals of the Alliance’s military, a student of the war hero, Ox, also in the ranks.

The matters involved were too complicated.

Perhaps even those who experienced it couldn’t articulate what actually transpired.

Naturally, the plan ultimately failed.

In the end, the war hero and his fellow commanders were brought before the military tribunal for trial.

After the suicide of the Alliance’s leader, all the blame fell on the war hero. He became the focal point of all hatred.

The Alliance definitely couldn’t disband; there was the day of external war to consider. However, the old Alliance had to be destroyed. Its power was too great; it had carved too much of the Mirror Sea for itself. A new Alliance had to be formed. His death marked the beginning of a new era.

To prove they were merely executing a misguided mission, the convicted criminals shifted blame onto the war hero, including one of his own former students.

And to protect their teacher’s reputation, but more so to carry on a certain lifelong obsession, to not accept the end of something.

In court,

Ox, who had only been following orders, took all the blame upon himself and cut off... his dorsal fin.

Yet no ruler... could accept this outcome.

The war hero was still executed.

At the scene, countless people aligned with the Alliance rioted, clashing with the judges of this absurd trial and the Guard Team.

Ox was also escorted by his former comrades, exiling themselves overseas.

And from that moment on,

The Mirror Sea saw the birth of a new organization, the New! Mirror Sea Alliance!—to revive the natural order of things.

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