When the Aragon fleet crossed the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean, Barbarossa Hayreddin's fleet was cruising in the sea not far from the coast of North Africa.

Today, Hayreddin does not have a nickname for Redbeard, which now belongs to his older brother Schoen, and although Hyreddin is also famous, he is not yet the head of the entire family.

His two elder brothers held the main power of the entire family, and Hayreddin was the third son in the family, and his men were only a part of the pirate family.

Khareddin's ambitions are stronger than his brothers', and he sees farther, so he wants more to be able to get his hands on.

Cooperation with the Mamluks gave the family a few good positions on the coast of Africa, with which they could quickly attack or hide, but Hareddin was not satisfied with the current situation.

This is because he has always felt that relying on others is not so reliable, not to mention that the Mamluks themselves are now too busy to take care of themselves, and the pressure on the Ottomans is increasing, especially in order to compete for the throne of the Sultan, the two sons of Bayezid II are frantically expanding their strength, and now Mehmet has regarded the conquest of the Mamluks in Egypt as an important bargaining chip for his own struggle for the throne, so Haireddin feels that he should find a more reliable backer as soon as possible.

He didn't go out to sea to rob today, because he was waiting for a very important guest, and this guest was able to provide him with much more help than the Mamluks who just gave up a few barren harbors as their shelters, although he also knew that the other party must have his own purpose, but this did not prevent Haireddin from dealing with that man.

A large Clark sailboat approached from a distance, and the ship cautiously anchored at a distance from Hayreddin's fleet, the three mainmasts were already half-down, but a few of the spinnakers were only biased in the direction of the wind, and even if they were far away, Hyreddin could see the wary and cautious appearance of the other party.

But it's no wonder that they are notorious pirates, and there is no such thing as promise and credit, and if the conversation is not right, he will not hesitate to order a robbery, capture, or simply sink the other party's ship, so Hereddin doesn't mind seeing the ship cautious.

A small boat rowed slowly, and despite the calm of the sea, the boat was still bumpy, which made Hyreddin wonder how the men on the other boat had the courage to meet him alone, until the soft ladder was lowered, and with a climb a woman boarded his boat with the help of the sailors.

"Dear Hayreddin, I'm glad you agreed to meet with me, I had hoped to meet with your brothers, but they all refused me." Lady Connie bowed to the famous pirate leader, bowing her head cautiously, not meeting his gaze.

Years of experience in the East had taught Connie that even though she had the money and weapons these people craved, the arrogant Orientals still treated her with a condescending attitude, not because of race or faith, but because she was a woman.

"I know this, don't worry, I'm not like my brothers, they are the best warriors, but they are a little short-sighted, I won't despise you just because you are a woman, the news you revealed to me before helped me a lot, but I want to thank you for this."

Connie smiled, knowing that Hyreddin was talking about his previous successful attack on the Sicilian tax fleet.

After waiting for the conclusive news, Hayreddin's pirate fleet unexpectedly attacked the Sicilian convoy in the waters very close to the northern shore of the Mediterranean, a move that completely shocked the Europeans on the Mediterranean coast, because they did not speak of the audacity of those terrible pirates to attack so close to the continent.

Connie was about to say something, but before she could speak, Hereddin, who had a smile on her face, suddenly turned gloomy, stared at her and said, "But those are in the past, if you deceive me next, I will kill you mercilessly." ”

Khareddin stared at the woman in front of him, of course he did not treat all women equally, as he said, but the one in front of him was obviously an exception, this woman was said to have a great backer, she was able to get a large number of weapons and even artillery from Europe, and then transported these goods to the East through many dangers, I heard that she even had dealings with the Safavid Order in Tabriz, and even Khareddin himself had taken care of her fleet passing through her own territory more than once.

And the one who sent the message to let them go with this woman's merchant ship was a great Ottoman nobleman who was said to be very influential in Constantinople.

Of course, it is not easy for such a woman who can eat everywhere, so when he heard that she had offered to contact her own family, Hayreddin was very happy.

It's just that his brothers turned down this rare opportunity, and after hearing about this result, Hereddin was very annoyed, and he wanted to stop this stupid decision immediately, but in order to take into account the thoughts of his brothers, he had to quietly send someone to contact this woman.

To Hayreddin's surprise, the woman named Connie immediately agreed to meet him privately, and really went to the appointment quickly.

"I admire your guts," said Hayreddin to Conneo, who did not dare to deal with pirates, let alone a woman, which made him pay more attention to Connie and those behind her, "I know you have a good relationship with the Sicilians, and you should know a man named Grogenen." ”

"Of course, he's my business partner, just like you and everyone else." Connie Eu confessed that, as she had said, the conflict with Groganin did not affect their cooperation, although she knew that Groganin was rapidly developing his own power with his network in the Mediterranean, but it had nothing to do with her, and her cooperation with Alexander seemed to be going well now, and now she was not only a guest of honor in the Safavid court of Tabriz, but also took the opportunity to get in touch with the Mamluks.

"We have some business with that Grogenin, too," Hareddin nodded, he knew that this woman was not simple, but now it seemed to be more powerful than he had thought, "Tell me what you can give me?" ”

"The best muskets, the guns that can be loaded on your ship, and the reliable way to sell the stolen goods, after all, you are going to exchange the loot for what you need, I can assure you that it is all safe, and ......" Conio stepped forward and whispered, "I can provide you with all kinds of information about Sicily and Aragon, for example, as far as I know, Ferdinand of Aragon has ordered his fleet to enter the Mediterranean, maybe you really him off this time, I think this news is more important to you than weapons." ”

Hereddin looked at this woman silently, the conditions offered to him by the other party were too generous, which could not help but make him cautious.

I don't know what he needs to pay behind such generous conditions, but it must not be easy to think about.

"We can help you gain a foothold on the coast of Africa," Connie continued, knowing that Hyreddin must be hesitant, and that she didn't come with the luxury of negotiating a single deal, but they had worked well before, and at least the success of this raid on the tax fleet on the Sicily-Aragon route showed that the pirate had greater ambitions than his brothers, "I'm not talking about just helping you find a few hiding places like now, Rather, it can provide you with the help to truly establish your power. ”

Listening to Coniono's words, Hayreddin's expression was still calm, but only he knew that the waves in his heart were about to catch up with the rough waves in the sea.

It was Hayreddin's dream to build his own power, or even a country, and he had spoken freely about it with his brothers, only to be met with their jokes.

His brothers thought that life was already good, that they had a sea power that many people longed to befriend them, that they robbed the merchant ships that came and went from time to time, and that they could raid a coastal port city if they wished, and return to the sea to freedom after robbing a large fortune, and that life had reached the point where they could hardly ask for anything else, so the unrealistic idea of building a state seemed to them to be purely the whims of Hayreddin.

And even Hayreddin himself knew how far away his dream was, and it was one thing to wreak havoc with a bunch of pirates, but it was another thing to actually build a country.

No one wants to see the birth of a new power, let alone the fact that they have curbed the coastal artery from the eastern shore of the Mediterranean to the interior of Africa, but this is enough to make many people see them as a thorn in their side, maybe those countries can tolerate a group of pirates, but they must not tolerate a country's navy occupying such a sea area that is extremely important to everyone for a long time.

So Hayreddin knew very well how difficult it would be for him to realize this dream, and he could not guarantee that anyone would be his formidable enemy on this path, whether it was the Mamluks with whom he was now working closely or the Ottomans, who would immediately and mercilessly cut off his ambitions as soon as they noticed him.

As for the woman in front of him, Hyreddin believed that she must have been ordered by some great European nobles to meet him, and he thought about it and thought that the possibility of that trade alliance was very high.

He had previously worked with them, and his pirates were tasked with striking down merchant ships that were not part of the Trade Alliance, ensuring that the Alliance had a monopoly market in Europe, and they paid him handsomely.

Only now, that trade alliance seems to have an even greater appetite, have they reached the point of propping up a country?

What Hayreddin was now pondering was what the shrewd businessmen wanted him to do, and he knew that they were willing to spend so much money, and their terms should be just as harsh.

"What do you want?" Hayreddin asked, he couldn't think of what the plans of these merchants would be behind such a big deal.

"Help us contain the fleet of the Aragonese," Connie made her offer, and she shook her head at the slightly surprised look on Hyreddin's expression, "Don't think it's a very simple matter, Ferdinand has gone mad, you attacked his tax ship, not only to make him lose a lot of money, but also to make him lose face, the king of Aragon has vowed to take revenge on you with a severe crackdown on pirates, so your current situation is not very good." ”

Hereddin stared at the woman in front of him with a gloomy face, he knew that Connie was right, he had indeed completely angered Ferdinand, which made him even suspicious

From the very beginning the woman had little kind of intention to tell him about the Sicilian tax ship, but it was too late to say it.

The Aragonese fleet has reached the Mediterranean, and their life will definitely be very difficult in the future, and if they turn against this woman again at this time, then they may really be in a bad situation.

"Help us contain the Aragones, and we provide you with sufficient assistance," Connie said to Hayreddin, "and it is a good option for all of us, and trust me that you will not regret your choice today." ”

Hearing Connie say this, Hayreddin couldn't help but stretch out her right hand and stroke the thick beard on her chin to look at the woman carefully.

He was now certain that the people behind this woman were brewing a bigger and crazier plan than he had guessed.

Just as he is always keenly aware of valuable prey when hunting at sea, Hyreddin seems to smell wealth and opportunity.

He felt that he should get involved, and whatever the people were up to, they would definitely have more to gain than he thought, and since there was no reason for him to face the Aragonese alone, and then leave him aside.

And he felt that he was qualified to work with the people behind this woman, not only did he have a powerful pirate fleet of his own, but their brother also had a firm grip on the vast seas off the coast of North Africa, and whatever those people had in the future, as long as they wanted to do business in the Mediterranean, they had to deal with their family.

Connie O, too, looked at the pirate leader in front of her.

According to Alexander's arrangement, after making contact with Safavid, Connieo provided the young Safavid Imam with a large number of firearms, and the little boy whom she had not been very optimistic about immediately showed extraordinary abilities that surprised her.

Just at the beginning of the year, the army of the young Ismaili I had swept away the Kuinu tribe, an arch-rival tribe far away in Azerbaijan, and after avenging the death of his brother, the young imam had set his sights on the Ottomans, who posed a great threat to his western borders.

But what really excited Mrs. Connieo was the arrival of Pedro Caderon.

When he saw Caderon, who had been delivered to him like a cargo, Connie was so excited by surprise and joy that he couldn't help but hug the beautiful young man and kiss him.

But when Caderon thought that he might be lucky enough to approach Lady Connieo with his beautiful appearance, he was ruthlessly rejected.

Connie knew very well what this Jem's bastard could do, and he knew who could really bring her enough benefits.

So not only was she not seduced by Cadron at all, but on the contrary, she made it clear to him that his mission was to play a prince in distress.

However, as the long-brewing plan had begun, the reliance on communication in the Mediterranean became even stronger, which was the main reason why Lady Conneo decided to take the risk of negotiating with the notorious pirate herself.

She needed to secure communication with the European continent, and more importantly, to ensure that the pirate could keep the Aragonese fleet in the Mediterranean as they hoped.

It was not so much that she was loyal to her promise to Alexander, but that only then would she be able to get more support from Sicily.

And as a smart person, Connie could clearly sense that Alexander's ambitions were much greater than she had imagined, and even if Hayreddin was only keenly aware of the possible benefits of this and immediately thought about how to get a share of it, Connie would certainly not let go of such a good opportunity that could be a golden once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

A negotiation went on for a long time, and it was not until the man on the boat in the distance, who was beginning to feel worried, sent a small boat close to Hyreddin's boat to inquire about the news, and Connie O's cheerfully boarded the boat that had come to pick her up, with a result that was satisfactory to both parties.

Looking at the Clark sailboat that was moving away, Hayreddin pondered the agreement he had just made with the woman.

This woman would provide him with a large number of the most advanced firearms in Europe, and all he had to do was do his job, constantly attacking and harassing the maritime traffic between Aragon and Sicily, which was really a good thing for him.

Convinced that he was right, he had a hunch that something big might happen in Sicily, and that he could take advantage of it.

Connie was laughing as well, not only did she fulfill Alexander's promise to reach a Sicily agreement with Hayreddin, but she also received a promise from the pirate to support her operations on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean.

This overjoyed Connie O and gave him greater confidence in using Cadron to grow his influence in the East.

In mid-October, a large-scale maritime conflict broke out near the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean, far from the European continent.

The Portuguese attacked the Castilian merchant fleet with 16 armed merchant ships, which were also in the same area.

In a battle at sea, which had been geared up for both sides, the Portuguese destroyed and captured 11 merchant ships laden with pepper, ivory, and gold plundered from the new colonies at the cost of three Clavel galleons.

This huge loss made Queen Isabella of Castile, who was sick in bed, furious, and she dragged her tired body to hold a small royal council in her living room.

At the meeting, Isabella ordered that Gonzalo, who was confronting the French on the border, give him the power to go to war if he wanted to assemble the Portuguese troops on the border between the two countries.

At the same time, Isabella wrote a letter to King Egmund III of Navarre, asking him to leave the border between the two countries within a week and retreat back beyond the Castilian threat, otherwise she would see the French and Navarre armies as interfering in Castilian affairs.

The Queen's tough attitude made the people of Castile cheer, while the populace was overjoyed by another piece of news.

After more than half a year of turmoil, the coalition of Andalusian nobles in the south finally sent their official negotiators.

At about the same time, in the Mediterranean, a large number of pirates suddenly became more and more rampant.

They frantically attacked merchant ships coming and going at sea, especially ships related to Sicily were the main targets of their looting and destruction, and in just a few days, several merchant ships were attacked, and two ships were directly sunk by pirates.

For a time, the merchants of Sicily suffered heavy losses, and the governor Flomenza had to ask the Aragonese fleet, which had just arrived in Sicily, to attack and exterminate the pirates as soon as possible.

On 17 October, the rested Aragonese fleet finally sailed from the port of Pachino in southern Sicily, targeting the vast expanse of the North African coast on the opposite coast of the Mediterranean, where piracy was most rampant.

Two days later, the queen of Naples, Josa, received a secret report from Sicily, and looking at the contents of the secret report, a sweet smile appeared on her face.