"The sea breeze is getting cold," said Garcia Wimbledon, as he brushed his windswept hair, looking at the endless ocean.

"Because winter is coming," replied a handsome man behind her, "though this is the South, it is not the Far South. Only the sandfolk do not understand what winter is. ”

"Our fleet can't leave the port in the winter, and the currents make it difficult for them to move an inch. So this should be the last voyage. The woman looked back, "Farion, how long has it been since Black Sail was out?"

"Two months and four days," said the man without hesitation, "if nothing else, they will arrive in three days." ”

Garcia laughed, "I hope they can surprise me enough." ”

Farrien Cobain looked at the flamboyant woman in front of him and felt a lot of emotion. Her long gray hair shone silver in the autumn sun, her eyes were light green, the corners of her eyes were narrow, and she had an indescribable sense of oppression when she stared at people. After spending a long time at the beach, her skin was slightly rough, not as fair as the other women of the royal family, but Farion didn't care about it at all. In his eyes, Garcia possesses a temperament that eclipses any beauty.

Unlike the inbred idiots in the Grey Keep, the three Wimbledon daughters are true geniuses. She has the wisdom and pride of an aristocracy, but she is not as conventionally conventional as an aristocracy, and in this respect she is even a bit of a commoner - full of anticipation and adventurous spirit to break the ordinary.

Of course, no commoner would have such height and vision as her, and even dukes and princes seemed short-sighted in front of her. Being able to invest all the trade income of the blue water harbor in the construction of the fleet, and not leaving a single coin in his own treasury, this alone is far beyond the reach of the misers.

"These golden dragons don't make any sense when they're hidden in a cupboard, they're like stones when not in use. Only when you spend it can it reflect its own value. The point is, spending it is not the same as losing it, and as long as you use it properly, you will get a reward far more than itself. —Farrion still remembers what she said to herself, almost as if it were an initiation that had broken through the preconceived notions that had been formed in his mind for so long.

Compared to the royal nobles who spend their days counting how much their savings have grown, Farion feels that this is the style of a ruler.

So he threw himself into Garcia's command without hesitation and followed her to the clear water port.

And when she arrived, she realized that the Three Princesses had done much more than that—she had not only ideas, but also actions. She developed the Black Sails Plan around this core, and executed it methodically step by step. Five years earlier, Garcia's forces had infiltrated the Waters to form a fleet of black sailing ships - and at that time, Wimbledon III had not yet issued a decree to fight for the king. In other words, she has long been ahead of all the heirs.

"Go back to the house, it's getting windy," Garcia said, tilting her head. Her palace is located at the southernmost tip of Clear Water Harbour, above Salmon Harbour. The tower-like structure resembles a watchman stationed on the shore, and at the top of the tower is a circular terrace with a bird's-eye view of the entire harbor and the merchant ships passing through it.

Now, after five years of operation, the trade in Bishui Harbor has begun to take shape, and a three-masted galleon is launched every six months in the dockyard, and he has gained the initial trust of the other party. Taking advantage of the fact that the Three Princesses seemed to be in a good mood, Farion hesitated to ask the biggest doubt in his heart in the past few months.

"Your Highness, I don't understand one thing," he said, closing the door, keeping the howling sea breeze out of the house.

"You say," she smiled and nodded.

"Why did you know all this before the king issued the edict?" he had wondered if Wimbledon III had told her in advance, but after careful scrutiny, he knew that it was impossible. Everyone knows that the second prince is the king's most valued heir, and the royal order is set up for him, which can be seen from the second prince's fiefdom Jinsui City.

But she guessed all of this on her own, and started laying it out five years ago, and she was only eighteen years old at the time!

"Foresight?" she said with a funny look, "do you think I'm a witch? I don't have the ability to pretend to be a ghost." ”

"Uh, but ......"

"I didn't know that my father would come up with such a bad idea as fighting for the king's order to pave the way for his precious second son. In fact, what does it have to do with what I did?"

Farrion suddenly seemed to realize something, and his mouth widened in surprise.

Seeing the incredulous expression on Farien Corban's face, Garcia smiled, "Do I have to wait for my father to say that I can fight for the throne before I have the right to fight? ”

I see, Farrion muttered, that her fleet was not built purely for possessions. This fleet, which belonged to the Three Kings, would change into black sails far from the harbor after running out of trade, and rob the merchant ships of other cities or countries. In the same way, the Three Kings encouraged her subjects to sail and participate in the Black Sails Project. She promised that any looted goods would belong to the shipowner, and that the port would never collect taxes on its profits.

This brought her a great deal of wealth, so this time she simply ordered the Black Galleons to go straight south to plunder any ships that passed through the Endless Cape, as well as the sandfolk of the south.

And these initiatives are not just for the money. Instead of using the looted wealth to build cities or expand overland trade, Garcia simply put it into the shipyard and continued to build more large ships.

In the intervening years, she gained a large number of experienced sailors, fierce warriors, and the hearts and minds of the people, and if she did not continue to rule, all the thugs who participated in the plunder would be sent to the gallows.

"The one who governs the city best will surely be able to sit on the throne of the Grey Keep?" No, Farion now knows that the one who can sit on the throne is a man of ships and soldiers who can go up the Three Bays River to Garcia Wimbledon under the Golden Spike.

"Do you know you're going to be assigned to Clear Waterport?"

"This was an accident, just an addition to a deal," Garcia shrugged, "I thought the church was fooling me......

Seeing that the other party didn't continue, Farrion didn't dare to ask. But he knew that even if Garcia didn't come to the Clearwater Harbor, the place would follow her will and continue in the direction she wanted.

"Put that aside," she said, pouring herself a cup of tea, "and the little trick seems to have failed." ”

"Ah, yes," Farion quickly retracted his thoughts and replied, "Only news has come from Frontier Town, reporting that the pill is no longer working. There is not even news anywhere else. ”

"There's no news, I guess I was killed by my brothers, that's to be expected. It was originally a random chess piece, which has nothing to do with the overall situation, but is just used to kill the time of waiting. However......" she changed her words, "it's normal for other chess pieces to fail, but I didn't expect that even the fourth brother would be safe and sound." To be honest, I'm a little disappointed. ”

"Kingfisher said in the secret letter that the pill was indeed eaten, but it was ......"

"Failure is failure, I don't want to hear an explanation," Garcia interrupted, "It won't be long before the Demon Moon comes, and our lovely prince will take refuge in the Changge Fortress, right? You write to her and ask her to take advantage of the opportunity. I want to see if Lady Luck will be on the side of the fourth brother this time?"

"Yes, Your Highness. ”

"Go down," Garcia waved his hand, and just as Farion was about to leave, the third princess stopped him again, "Ah, yes. I remember that pill was bought from the alchemist Embiter, right?"

Farion nodded.

"What did he say at the time? colorless and odorless, melts like water, dies if you take it, incurable, or is it his latest alchemical achievement?" Garcia yawned, "hang him." ”