Elizabeth

At night, Roland returned to the house he rented, weary from the road.

He had spent nearly the entire day traveling. Since prices around Highland City were exorbitant, the Loyal Lion Mercenary Group had chosen Gomosa Town, a very distant location, to save on expenses.

The round trip had been over a hundred li. Fortunately, on his way back, Roland used the Levitation Spell on the carriage to increase its speed. Otherwise, he might not even have finished his meditation for the day.

Still, today's hardship had not been in vain.

From Roland's observations, the Loyal Lion Mercenary Group's actual circumstances were largely consistent with what O'Neal had told him.

Thus, he decisively signed a contract with the Loyal Lion Mercenary Group.

For one thousand gold coins per year, he hired the Loyal Lion Mercenary Group to protect him for a full year.

After resolving the mercenary group issue, Roland's preparations for opening up his territory were still not complete.

The next day, under Jonathan's guidance, he once again arrived at the Slave Trading Market on Bell Street and met with Manager Jon of the Shadow Merchant Guild.

This time, the two sides clearly held a more in-depth discussion. The broad smile on Manager Jon's face afterward undoubtedly proved that he had made quite a profit from this deal.

Hiring the mercenary group and purchasing slaves had nearly exhausted all of Roland's gold coins, so over the following days, he once again threw himself into intensive potion brewing.

At the same time, he continuously consumed Tier 4 Spirit Agility Potions to improve his strength.

Finally, one week before the three-month deadline, Roland received another invitation from Leslie one night.

Just as before, it was still that luxurious manor in the northern district of the city.

Unlike last time, Leslie had actually come to the entrance himself to greet Roland.

This left Roland somewhat flattered.

Their relationship could be called friendship, but Roland knew perfectly well that they were merely using each other. Leslie valued Roland's future, while Roland valued Leslie's present.

Given Leslie's current status, the fact that he had personally come out to welcome him truly left Roland unable to make sense of it.

Meanwhile, Leslie was beaming and overflowing with enthusiasm, treating Roland even more warmly than he had last time.

There was no other reason for his attitude. Over the past month or so, Roland had supplied him with thirty bottles of Tier 4 Spirit Agility Potion.

Thirty bottles of Tier 4 Spirit Agility Potion naturally meant little to Leslie, but based on the materials he had provided Roland, Leslie estimated that Roland, who had only recently become an Intermediate Apothecary, had raised his success rate in brewing Level 4 Potions to nearly thirty percent in just one month.

Such terrifying talent in potion-making immediately elevated Roland's standing in Leslie's eyes.

At Roland's rate of progress, becoming an Advanced Apothecary in the future was practically guaranteed. He even had an excellent chance of becoming a Master Apothecary.

Faced with Roland, who was highly likely to become a Master Apothecary in the future, how could Leslie remain indifferent? That was why he had personally come to the entrance this time—to deepen his relationship with Roland.

"My friend, long time no see," Leslie said warmly, then gave Roland a big hug.

It made Roland extremely uncomfortable. He did not like hugging men.

"Long time no see, Young Master Leslie."

"Call me Leslie from now on. We're friends, aren't we?" Leslie said with great seriousness.

Roland was somewhat surprised, but he still nodded.

"Come on, come on. Let me introduce you to a beautiful woman." As Leslie spoke, he grabbed Roland and headed into the manor.

"A beautiful woman?" Roland was immediately interested.

Roland had a fair amount of confidence in Leslie's taste, after all. The many maids in his manor were proof enough.

Led by Leslie, they soon arrived at a spacious meeting room deep within the manor.

When Roland entered the meeting room, he found that two young women were already inside, looking around at their surroundings.

One wore a pure white maid's dress. She was not very tall and looked adorably plump.

But when Roland looked at the other woman, a flash of amazement immediately appeared in his eyes.

She wore a lavish wine-red velvet gown. Its fitted tailoring perfectly outlined her graceful curves, while its deep V-shaped neckline revealed her fair skin and delicate collarbones.

Her deep blue eyes were as clear and bright as the sea. Golden curls cascaded over her shoulders like waves, with several loose strands resting casually beside her cheeks. Every movement she made radiated a unique charm that was impossible to resist.

This woman, as though she had stepped out of a painting, left Roland somewhat captivated.

But in the next moment, he seemed to recall something. His eyes immediately regained their clarity as he said in surprise, "Elizabeth, the Black Rose?"

Although this was Roland's first meeting with the young woman, he still accurately identified her background.

After receiving Leslie's advice before, Roland had put considerable effort into studying the various factions of the Sea of Ten Thousand Islands, as well as certain notable figures.

And the young woman before him was one of those people worthy of particular attention.

Elizabeth Fiknanndo, the only daughter of the Black Knight Pirates' captain, possessed not only astonishing beauty but also talent far beyond ordinary people. At just over twenty years old, she had already reached the rank of Advanced Warrior.

Countless pirates of the Sea of Ten Thousand Islands called her the Black Rose.

Roland's surprise was not actually due to her background, but because he had encountered her here.

No matter how high Elizabeth's status was in the Sea of Ten Thousand Islands, she was ultimately still a pirate. The Terra Kingdom had always taken a harsh, zero-tolerance stance toward pirates.

They had even issued numerous pirate wanted notices, offering gold coin bounties.

Yet here in Highland City, in the home of Leslie, the count's second-in-line heir, Roland saw Elizabeth openly present.

This made Roland begin to reassess the Oroko Family's position between the Terra Kingdom and the Sea of Ten Thousand Islands.

Roland's exclamation immediately drew the attention of the young woman across from him.

She slowly withdrew her gaze from the surroundings and looked at Roland, who stood by the entrance, for the first time.

A sharp glint flashed through her light blue eyes. She raised a brow and bluntly asked, "Who are you?"

Before Roland could answer, Leslie spoke first.

"Elizabeth, let me introduce him. This is my friend Roland, and he is also the Pioneer Knight I asked you to shelter." Leslie placed particular emphasis on the word "friend," seemingly hoping to use his own status to raise Roland's standing in her eyes.

Upon hearing this, Elizabeth did not know whether she had failed to catch the deeper meaning in Leslie's words or simply did not care. She directly withdrew her gaze from Roland, as if learning his identity had completely extinguished any interest she had in him.

Elizabeth lightly gestured with her lips toward the cute maid beside her.

The young maid immediately took out an exquisite small map from her bosom, then unfolded it across the table.

"Choose. Any island marked in green can be given to you to open up as your territory," the maid said in a soft, sweet voice that was pleasant to hear.

Roland immediately walked to the table and carefully examined the map the maid had laid out.

The map Elizabeth's maid had taken out was, in fact, the Black Knight Pirates' sphere of influence.

The Black Knight Pirates used Double Gate Island as their foundation and controlled a sea area of nearly one hundred thousand square kilometers.

It lay on the northwestern side of the Azure Sea Region, with its edge less than two hundred li from the Beastkin Empire.

The islands primarily marked in green were distributed around the outer borders of the Black Knight Pirates' territory.

Comparing it with the map recorded in the Chip, Roland sank into deep thought.

First, Roland definitely could not choose the eastern side of Double Gate Island, because the Mandy Family was located in the eastern Sea of Bolan. Caught between two major powers, Roland would probably not dare sleep without his clothes on.

He could not choose the northern side either. The Sea of Bolan was already the northernmost sea region of the Sea of Ten Thousand Islands and had been affected by the Frozen Realm in the north of the Saint Nor Continent.

If Roland chose the northernmost island Elizabeth offered, winter alone would last nine months of the year. Developing the territory would consume an unimaginable amount of effort.

After ruling out those two directions, only the south and west remained.

The southern islands were closest to Highland City and connected in all directions, with abundant trade. Their location was the best among the islands in all four directions.

But precisely because of that, small pirate groups and Pioneer Knights were everywhere there. According to the intelligence Roland had gathered, roughly a hundred small factions had gathered in that area.

With over a hundred factions of varying sizes concentrated in one place, including pirates, Pioneer Knights, and nobles from different nations, all with their own positions and objectives—

It was easy to imagine how chaotic that place was. There was no order to speak of, only endless contradictions and conflicts.

Wars over limited resources and territory had never ceased. No one knew how many Pioneer Knights and pirates had already fallen in those waters, and Roland had no desire to join that spectacle.

Thus, only the western islands remained before Roland.

But the western islands also had many drawbacks. For example, the trade environment was terrible. Although they bordered the Beastkin Empire, the Human Alliance strictly prohibited trade with the Beastkin Empire.

Among them, the Terra Kingdom was especially aggressive. Anyone who engaged in trade with the Beastkin Empire and strengthened the beastkin was no different from digging up the ancestral graves of the Terra Kingdom's royal family.

As a result, more than half of the Terra Kingdom's navy was concentrated in these waters. While applying maritime pressure on the Beastkin Empire, they also actively cracked down on all smuggling activities.

Just as Roland was wavering, Leslie suddenly walked over to his side and lightly tapped a spot on the map.

Roland followed the direction Leslie pointed and saw his finger settle gently on an island at the far western edge of the Black Knight Pirates' territory.

This island could be said to be the Black Knight Pirates' closest island to the Beastkin Empire. It was already located at the very edge of the sea region controlled by the Black Knight Pirates.

Although Roland was somewhat curious about why Leslie had chosen this place, the choice happened to align with his own thoughts.

So he said nothing more. Instead, he directly nodded to the maid and confirmed, "This one."

Roland's choice also caught Elizabeth's attention. When she saw the place he had selected, a trace of disdain immediately appeared on her face.

Although the expression vanished in an instant, Roland still caught it sharply. He was immediately curious, unable to understand why choosing an island to the west had earned Elizabeth's contempt.