The First Magic World War

Charles gazed at the disappearing fifth page of "Agmilas's Labyrinth," and felt the force of destiny, so enigmatic and irresistible that he found himself on the perpetual path of maze-ification.

He suddenly remembered that The Lord of Radiance also governed luck, and although not as adept as the Serpent of Destiny in manipulating fate, was still a True God capable of influencing destiny.

"As a follower of The Lord of Radiance, could the Augusladin High Priest possess some 'tricks' to meddle with fate?" he wondered.

"Is all this arranged by the high priest?"

At this thought, Charles shuddered and said to himself, "Even though Sacred Order possesses vast divine powers, they surely cannot achieve this, I must be overthinking."

He felt the intent emanating from the diary: the task of acquiring eighteen middle-sized ships or larger was indeed difficult. Even though Cappadocia was a port city, there weren't many ships docked there—after all, it was only a small city with a population of a few thousand.

Charles even doubted that without the dark trade of slave trafficking, there might be even fewer ships docking in this small city.

Knowing he had little time left, he armed his soldiers with weapons from the quartermaster's stockpile and hurriedly rushed to the port.

Unfortunately, he was too late.

Two merchant ships had already set sail and left the port of Cappadocia.

Charles indeed had a way to chase down the two merchant ships on his own. With the Bloodflame Transformation Art and the bustling worldly distractions at his disposal, he was confident he could subdue the two vessels. However, after hesitating for a moment, he decided to order the rising of Byron's flag over Cappadocia City, abandoning the pursuit of the slave ships.

Looking at the fluttering flag of Byron, Charles thought to himself, "I hope this crude tactic can be of some use."

Protagora was a person of Fars, so his Bloody Glory Secret Technique was only hidden in the four universities of Fars. Now, few practiced Bloody Glory in these universities, which is why it wasn't the first time Charles had been mistaken for someone of the Blood Clan, and he felt he needed to exploit this misunderstanding.

Although Charles was a transmigrator and the Fars Empire was far from perfect, he had not lived here long, but he had already made acquaintances, many friends, and even relatively loyal subordinates, which made it impossible for him to retain a sense of detachment from this world.

Although still not loyal to the Axel Royal Family, he found himself wanting to do something for the people of this nation, and if it were possible to quell more wars and allow more people to enjoy peace, he was willing to struggle and make an effort for it.

Now, including the White Tea, only four merchant ships were docked at Cappadocia, but the diary's report on the maze-ification progress was only (1/18).

Charles made a decisive decision, commanding the newly acquired army to seize the three merchant ships. To him, the vessels docked at the harbor were like fish on the chopping board, and all resistance was trivial.

Once he captured the three ships, the progress of maze-ification reported by the diary indeed reached (4/18).

The captains of the three merchant ships were furious. Although driven to the docks, they dared not confront the might of seven Transcendents and an army of over a thousand soldiers, yet they still had the courage to express their dissatisfaction verbally.

One captain shouted angrily, "No one will come to Cappadocia anymore after what you've done!"

Charles replied with a faint smile, "I don't care!" Find adventures on My Virtual Library Empire

"I'm here to ask you now, has anyone been involved in slave trading?"

The three captains looked at each other, all seasoned veterans aware of Cappadocia City's "specialty" and cognizant of the fact that the two ships that had just departed were engaged in the slave trade. They all shook their heads in unison and said, "We are all legitimate merchants and have never dealt with the slave trade."

Charles immediately summoned the Patrol Army Superintendent of Cappadocia to come over and asked, "Are they lying?"

The superintendent replied in a low voice, "Indeed, they are all legitimate merchants, none engaged in slave trading."

Pleased with the answer, Charles said, "Since none of you trade in slaves, you have a choice: join my army or be executed by me."

The three captains were furious, but faced with the dark muzzles of the Westwind Knights' soldiers' guns, they all chose to bow their heads for the time being and agreed to enlist.

Charles then repeated the "trick" he had performed not long ago; however, the dried fish he initially received from the little girl was too small, so this time, he only gave the captains and first mates of the three merchant ships the dried fish version of the "legs-stiff eyes-staring pill."

After securing the "loyalty" of the three captains, Charles immediately disbanded the sailors of the three merchant ships into his own forces and promoted the three merchant ship captains and the defecting Patrol Army Superintendent of Cappadocia to the rank of captain.

By now the two fugitive slave ships had vanished without a trace, and Charles ordered the removal of Byron's flag, for its presence would likely prevent other merchant ships from approaching.

As for whether the escaped slave ships would spread the news, Charles was unconcerned. Given the primitive means of communication of the era, it was a very long time before he would need to worry about the issue.

Charles appointed Taoles, Anatasiya, and Belisa as the new captains of the three merchant ships. As for the original four captains, even after they had consumed the dried fish version of the "legs-stiff, eyes-staring" pill, he did not trust them enough to let them return to their ships, for that substance was merely salty and truly non-toxic, and would not cause anyone to explode.

Cappadocia City was different from the previous two cities. Machu Picchu was a ruined fortress devoid of people, and Silver Pigeon Fort had not belonged to him—it was merely that the old master had died, and no new master had arrived, leaving a brief vacancy.

But now, Cappadocia City could be considered entirely his, though not from a legal standpoint.

Without hesitation, Charles issued a decree to abolish all taxes, relieving all residents of debts to the government, and returned all the taxes stored in the civil servant's office, collected over the previous two months, to the residents of Cappadocia City. The taxes collected before that period had been sent to Notruden, and Charles had no way to retrieve them.

After abolishing the taxes, Charles did not forget to zealously promote the measure and even had the over six hundred natives rescued from Song Spirit Island testify to their experience, painting himself as a "messianic savior."

Charles knew that once the Inglima Empire realized someone had occupied territory belonging to them, they would inevitably send troops to retake Cappadocia City.

The tax exemption he had promised would be doubled and collected back by the Inglima Empire's tax officers.

Therefore, he needed to secure as much trust as possible before this small seaside city completed its maze-ification, after which he would take these people to Machu Picchu.

At that moment, the emissary group from the Fars Empire had already arrived at Notruden Port and had been sent to the Inglima Empire's summer palace specifically reserved for receiving foreign guests!

Upon disembarking, the Augusladin High Priest immediately went to visit Notruden's Temple of the Lord of Light and met with the local High Priest. The two High Priests cordially spent an afternoon together, and as for what they discussed, only they and The Lord of Radiance knew.