Chapter 430 -430-Handling Internal Affairs
Once all the immediate matters had been dealt with, the next priority was internal administration.
John planned to completely reorganize the structure of his fleet, placing all of his trusted men in command positions over the pirates beneath him.
He now needed to control an army numbering in the hundreds of thousands.
And rather than splitting them apart, he intended to gather them all on a single island.
At this point, aside from the Naval Corps of the various Maritime Kingdoms, John had already become the leader of the strongest naval force on the seas.
Even so, he did not let his guard down in the slightest.
He had already decided on his next objective—
Spend money.
Buy more battleships.
John understood better than anyone that if he truly wanted to contend with the Maritime Kingdoms, his current assets were nowhere near enough.
Every Maritime Kingdom possessed several battleships. Generally speaking, each would have three or four currently in active service, with another one or two under construction.
John immediately took a two-pronged approach.
He sent men to the major Maritime Kingdoms carrying enormous quantities of gold coins, with orders to bribe high-ranking officials directly.
You don’t want to sell?
Then how about one million gold coins?
Still don’t dare sell?
Fine.
Ten million.
He refused to believe they would still say no at that price.
And if ten million still wasn’t enough?
John had plenty more money.
One hundred million gold coins!
He could throw the money right in their faces.
He refused to believe there was anyone who still wouldn’t be tempted.
Under this overwhelming assault of money, Karen’s side was the first to cave.
The two battleships still under construction were directly written off on paper and sold to John for a total price of only twenty million gold coins.
As for how much Karen himself managed to pocket from the deal...
That was his own business.
John made gains in the other Maritime Kingdoms as well.
In total, he spent two billion gold coins and secured eight battleships currently being constructed by various kingdoms.
Of course, those eight battleships would only truly belong to him once their construction was complete.
But considering the efficiency those corrupt officials tended to display whenever money was involved, John doubted he would have to wait too long.
After finishing all of this, John confirmed his next objective.
Find the other members of Valhalla.
At the same time, John did not intend merely to search for his companions.
He also planned to invade the pirate territories of the other Maritime Kingdoms and absorb their forces into his own.
His ambition had never been limited to becoming merely the Pirate King of the Lather Kingdom.
He wanted to become—
the one and only king of all the seas!
...
This only further confirmed Hilt’s earlier suspicions.
So when she heard the pirate chiefs asking the Erlong Pirates to join forces with them against John, she smiled.
Even so, she agreed.
After all, if she refused...
how was she supposed to wipe out all the pirates of the Leiper Kingdom in one fell swoop?
"I’ve heard of the King’s Edge Pirates as well," Hilt said.
"Their strength is indeed superior to that of our Erlong Pirates."
"So if the Erlong Pirates fight them alone, we definitely won’t be their match."
"I’m willing to accept your proposal for an alliance."
"But only if you agree to several conditions."
When the pirate chiefs heard that Hilt was willing to join them, they immediately told her to name her terms.
As long as they were not too excessive, they were willing to accept them.
"First."
"I will hold absolute command over every Pirate Crew participating in this war."
Hilt continued calmly,
"I will also have the authority to decide the life and death of anyone within those Pirate Crews."
"Other than the chiefs themselves, everyone must obey my orders."
"Anyone who refuses... dies."
She swept her gaze across the gathered pirate chiefs.
"You people are nothing more than a rabble. In your current state, you’ll never accomplish anything."
"The grand Pirate Alliance of the Lather Kingdom is the perfect example."
"They had seven hundred thousand men, yet they still lost to the much weaker King’s Edge Pirates."
"Why?"
"Because they had no unified command."
The pirate chiefs thought about it.
That actually made sense.
Besides, they were only handing over command temporarily.
It wasn’t as though they were permanently surrendering their forces to her.
So what did it matter?
One after another, the chiefs voiced their agreement.
"That condition isn’t excessive. We can accept it."
"Indeed. A disorganized mob doesn’t increase combat strength—it only becomes a liability. We have no reason to reject the Chief’s condition."
"We aren’t shortsighted fools either. This condition should be accepted."
Seeing that everyone had agreed, Hilt raised her second condition.
"Second."
"During the battle, every chief must remain aboard the flagship with me."
"That way, we rise together and fall together."
On the surface, there did not seem to be anything wrong with this condition either.
So naturally, they agreed once again.
After that, Hilt raised several more conditions.
Each one sounded simple and reasonable.
Yet in reality, step by step, they stripped the various pirate chiefs of their authority.
But with John’s enormous army bearing down on them, the chiefs had little room to object.
One by one, they accepted every condition.
And thus—
the Grand Pirate Alliance of the Leiper Kingdom was officially formed.
Their opponent was the strongest Pirate Crew of the Lather Kingdom.
A force so powerful that some had begun calling it the Sixth Lan Sea Duchy—
the King’s Edge Pirates!
...
John read the letter of challenge sent by Hilt and smiled faintly.
Facing the envoy of the Pirate Alliance, he said calmly,
"Go back and tell your Alliance Leader."
"I, John..."
"accept the challenge!"
The envoy hurried back and relayed John’s words to Hilt.
The instant she heard the name John, she understood everything.
Without exposing anything, she summoned her trusted subordinates and began preparing for the decisive battle.
This battle would be a war between the pirates of two kingdoms.
At the same time...
it would also be a showdown between the strongest Pirate Crews of their respective kingdoms.
The King’s Edge Pirates possessed more than a thousand warships, five hundred thousand men, and over ten thousand cannons.
Their strength was terrifying.
And most importantly, their commander remained mysterious and unfathomable.
On the other side stood the strongest pirate alliance of the Leiper Kingdom.
It had gathered more than half of all the pirates in the kingdom.
On paper, its overall strength was slightly inferior to the King’s Edge Pirates.
But the difference was not so great that they had no chance of winning.
They were still a force that could not be underestimated.
Especially because their Alliance Leader was a legendary figure in the pirate world.
A pirate who had risen step by step from absolute obscurity to become one of the great pirates of the seas—
Wild Rose.
Wild Rose had accomplished things no one else could.
She had never suffered a defeat.
Her record was practically one hundred victories in one hundred battles.
So even when facing the overwhelmingly powerful King’s Edge Pirates, the pirates of the Leiper Kingdom still believed that, under Wild Rose’s leadership...
they would not lose.
Both sides tacitly began preparing for war.
The site of the decisive battle was chosen to be a vast, open stretch of sea.
The waters there were spacious enough for both colossal forces to fully deploy their fleets and maneuver without restriction.
Before the battle, both sides dispatched reconnaissance ships to survey the area.
The terrain.
The currents.
The water conditions.
The temperature.
The wind direction.
Every possible factor was investigated.
The decisive battle was scheduled for six o’clock in the morning—
just as the sun rose over the horizon.
From top to bottom, both factions threw themselves completely into preparing for the coming battle.
They all understood.
This would be the battle that decided their fate.
If the King’s Edge Pirates won, John would become the ruler of a colossal force spanning two Lan Sea Duchies, commanding the pirates of both territories.
He would accomplish something that had never been achieved in the entire history of piracy.
And if the Pirate Alliance lost...
then the pirates of the Leiper Kingdom would have nowhere left to run.
This battle concerned far more than pirates alone.
It represented the rise of a truly enormous power.
Naturally, countless eyes were drawn toward it.
No one knew who the final victor would be.
But everyone understood one thing.
No matter which side won...
the balance of power across the entire sea would undergo an earth-shattering transformation!
Perhaps, for the first time in history...
a true Pirate King of the Entire Sea was about to be born.