Belmont Subcontinent. A port under Count of Nehmor.
A two-masted ship decorated luxuriously stood on the side of the Military area of the Port.
"General Marce, Lord is expecting you to complete this mission without any mistake. He will be very unhappy if you mess this up."
"Steward Francis, don't worry. I will cut the head of the Lion Shark Pirate group Captain who has been terrorizing the with his heinous crimes of pirating and bring an end to his reign over the seas, after that, I will stay there for some time to destroy the rest of the remaining pirate's groups." The general with the name Marce replied with respect even though his rank and strength were higher than the person standing in front of him.
"Good, then you know what to do if any of those self-proclaimed Island Lords do not cooperate knowing ."
"Hehe, naturally I know. The count has given clear instructions on what to do in such kind of situation. You can be rest assured, not one of them has the courage to against the Count because they know the consequences of doing so will be their death."
General Marce was a tall man with buff muscles and chest hair covering his bare upper body. The steward was a middle-aged man with normal height but his aura to some soldiers standing near them dreaded this man more than their own General.
"Alright, enough dilly-dallying, go on prepare to sail. Steward Francis, please tell the count that I will finish the special side task properly and without any violence if possible."
Steward Francis nodded.
General Marce and his ship slowly turned to the port side as they sailed towards the fleet of ships already waiting at some distance away. The sheer size of the fleet that General Marce was taking with him brought terror to the spies of Island Lords watching while hiding.
They immediately used their own ways and methods to pass on the news to their affiliated forces. Count of Nehmor has sent his new Navy fleet commanded by General Marce, and possibly another general of his onboard towards their direction.
Word has been passed that the Count is doing this because the Lion Shark Pirate Group has raided some Merchant ships affiliated to the Count and now he is just retaliating.
Spies of other territories near the Counts also sent information about this development to their bosses.
Naturally, Alex who had already sent some of his men here came to know of this news instantly.
"My lord, from our analysis and the intel we have gathered, the count main goal is to acquire Seashell Island under the guise of annihilating the Lion Shark Pirate Group.
Lady Violette Angevine is also their target." Tagor then told Alex about the overall strength of the whole Fleet including General Marce and another General by the name Legonal. Not only that, but there also seems to be another person with strength unknown and set up in the Lion Shark Pirate group by the Count well before the formation of the pirate group.
Alex gained this knowledge after one of his spies aboard General Marce ship heard him talk about it with the other General.
"My Lord, the threat they pose is of Level B. We will have some casualties if we fight face to face with the Lion Shark Pirates and the Counts Navy Fleet. They will arrive in this region of the sea in two days."
Threat levels are something Alex developed to make things easier for himself. Level E and D are nothing serious as it can be taken care of by the Puppets. Starting from Level C, Alex will involve in planning and if needed will also participate. Level S disaster is something that is above Alex's overall strength.
"Threat levels can be lowered as long as we plan things right and it goes right. What I can guess now is that the Count of Nehmor wants to engulf the whole Lion Shark pirate group after eliminating Captain Torrento somehow and then attack us probably after giving some lame excuse or else his enemies would not let him gain expand his territories so easily... " Alex said.
"... Tagor spread this rumor around the Count's territory. After knowing that two of his Generals are away, his enemies would definitely want to take a bite from the Count's territory. Aside from that, try to help keep Captain Torrento's life safe for the time being and find about that hidden person as soon as possible. I'm sure he will not go down so easily, therefore, let him leave him to fight the Counts Navy. When both of their forces have widespread casualties or one side is going to lose at any time then you will launch the last plan we had discussed before. This will already lower the threat level to C."
"As you command, My Lord. But what about the plan related to the pirate Norr and the Vice Captains of Lion Shark Pirate Group."
"Hmm... If Norr really does send the letter like I had told him to do then he passes. Let him stay on the island and also bring his family here after the war ends. As for the Vice Captains, if they fight each other then its good for us, but now even if they don't and get along again it won't matter much since that can also help us in the end. They can help Torrento deal with the Count's Navy." Alex was sitting at the table eating lunch quietly with his family while taking with Tagor in his mind.
Tagor then went on to carry out Alex's orders one by one. While Alex took this day off to study the Demon Beast Contracting technique with the help of Anna since she insisted.
The eggs of the snake type demon Beast he had obtained months ago can be hatched anytime now with some supply of external Qi. Alex decided to contract with them today or by tomorrow.
"... In the last step, you use your blood as a medium and inscribe the formation you had built with the help of your Spiritual Sense. Also, remember this stage is very important because if the Demon Beast beast resists strongly then it's better to back away as it might cause bad repercussions to the soul."
Alex listened to Anna teaching him seriously while also injecting his Qi into the two eggs simultaneously. Selena, Ciera, her little sister Siera, Hank, and Tom were also listening to her by sitting on the sides.
"Thank You, Anna. You really teach well." Alex raised his hands to pat Anna's head.
Anna giggled happily. She always wanted to help her big brother Alex in something.
"Ah~ Alex, for us to use this technique is really impossible even if we understand it completely. The main thing is that we need to unlock our spiritual sense like Anna or else everything is just a waste of time." Hank sighed on the side about her sister's luck in unlocking her soul successfully some days ago. If not she wouldn't have been able to bind her soul with the fox so easily. Norman, was also not expecting Anna to suddenly unlock her soul. Being a druid he was also sensitive to soul power therefore he knew Anna would be able to unlock her as it was already showing signs of unlocking but he had thought it would take some years.
Spiritual Sense is very important since without it you cannot proceed to learn in any of secondary professions like Alchemists, inscription Master, and Beast Tamers.
"Don't worry, learning about this technique is also a huge gain, or else why would I tell Mr. Norman to teach others who do not have their soul unlocked. Also who might know, we can find some Soul stones in the future which might help you unlock your soul." Alex had some confidence while saying this because after unlocking the exchange section, Alex might be able to get some soul and Qi stones in exchange for some treasures embedded with a spiritual sense. But to gain such a treasure is also very difficult not to mention getting soul stone in exchange is even more difficult and depends entirely on luck. Whereas getting Qi stones will not be rare from the exchange function.
"Alex, you are discouraging me even further. I know how hard it is to find a soul stone in this world." Hank said while sulking in the corner.
Alex only smiled since he cannot explain it to them now.
But just then, Alex felt something move in one his hands which were holding Demon beast egg.
