Capturing the Fishermen

Afterwards, Edmund cleaned himself up, shaved, changed his clothes, and when he reappeared on the deck, he saw that the whole ship was already busy.

Most of the sailors were cleaning the deck; some were carrying water to rinse it, some were mopping the floor, and others were tidying up the tangled ropes. Everything was in good order.

Edmund carefully avoided the sailors. He had changed into his uniform, a dark blue thick canvas long coat paired with loose straight-leg trousers, and looked much neater than before.

He found Bertley, who was directing, and asked, "Thank you for your hard work, Bertley. I'll take care of the rest. You can go and tidy up too."

Seeing Edmund had changed his clothes, Bertley quickly refused, "Sir, you should stay away from here. You'll only get your clothes dirty. Leave this to me!"

"What are you talking about? I am the fleet commander, and you are just the First Mate temporarily in charge. Listen to orders now."

After the two lingered for a while, Bertley finally persuaded Edmund to leave. Bethel went back to pack up, while Edmund stayed on deck to continue directing the sailors.

Once the ship was mostly cleaned up, Edmund ordered the sailors to leave in shifts to go back and shower, while the rest stayed on deck to continue working. Fortunately, the ship had slowed down by then and was sailing with only half a sail, so the remaining crew was able to control the ship.

After several hours, Edmund's Leiban was finally cleaned up and even the sailors were given new clothes. Just looking at the sailors, you could feel the powerful aura of the Kingdom Navy.

Just then, a sailor ran up to report that a small boat had been spotted ahead, and Edmund took it very seriously.

He quickly led Bertley to the bow of the ship, raised his binoculars and began to look. Sure enough, they spotted a small boat about seven or eight kilometers away from the fleet. It looked very old and was a simple fishing boat with three people fishing on it. However, the people on the fishing boat had already spotted them and were in a panic. They started paddling and running towards the shore.

Edmund quickly ordered the fleet to increase its speed to seize the fishing boat as soon as possible, as he did not want his fleet to be exposed so soon.

Thus, the Leiban took the lead and charged out, with the other ships in the fleet following suit, their sails raised and their oars accelerating.

The fishermen on the fishing boat grew increasingly frightened as they watched the massive fleet approaching them. They rowed faster, but the difference in speed was too great, and the distance between them only grew closer.

Just when the Leiban was only a few hundred meters away from them, the fishermen on the small fishing boat, seeing the coast still far away, finally gave up struggling. Two people stayed on the boat, and one person jumped into the sea to swim ashore.

They had thought that this would at least allow one person to escape, but Edmund noticed the fisherman who had jumped into the sea. Soon, the Leiban also launched a small boat and chased after the fleeing fisherman.

Bertley was also on that small boat, rowing with the sailors. He remembered what Edmund had said before he left, "Bertley, try not to kill anyone. We are not pirates, we are the Kingdom Navy."

He didn't quite understand Edmund's orders. In his opinion, the best way to deal with such an uncooperative guy was to just harpoon him and throw him to the bottom of the sea to feed the fish. However, since it was Captain Edmund's order, he was willing to listen.

Not long after he left, the Leiban caught up with the small fishing boat. The sailors jumped onto the fishing boat along the cable, took the two fishermen with their weapons, and then used the cable to tow the small fishing boat behind the Leiban.

After the two fishermen were brought aboard, Edmund had the sailors bring them to him. When Edmund saw the two men, he realized they were indeed dressed like ordinary fishermen, shirtless, with ripped pants, and their skin was tanned dark. They looked very thin, but fishing had increased their physical activity, and their lean bodies had a streamlined and muscular feel.

The two fishermen, one old and one young, looked to be nearly fifty and no more than twenty. They had similar features, Edmund judged that they were father and son. The two stood timidly in front of him, appearing very frightened.

As Edmund sized them up, the two fishermen were also glancing at Edmund. Edmund was so different from the rude sailors who had brought them aboard. His clothes were nice, and his skin wasn't tanned; it was a wheatish color. He didn't look like the pirates who made a living at sea, and his attitude was very friendly.

Immediately, the older fisherman knelt down and shouted, "Sir, please let us go! We are just fishermen, we have no money." Then another younger fisherman also knelt down.

Edmund looked at the two men and said amicably, "Don't be afraid. I don't intend to hurt you. As long as you answer my questions obediently and cooperate with us, I can even grant you a life of wealth and honor."

After saying that, Edmund took out a money bag from his pocket, took out two gold coins from it, and waved them in front of the two of them.

The two fishermen swallowed hard as they looked at the gold coins that gleamed alluringly in the Sun. Although they had never seen such gold coins before, they knew that they were very valuable and were filled with anticipation for what Edmund had said.

Edmund, seeing that their attention was drawn to the gold coins, nodded in satisfaction, then put the coins away and asked, "Very good. Now, I ask you, what are your names, and which territory do you live in?"

The old fisherman was somewhat reluctant to see the gold coins disappear. Upon hearing Edmund's question, he quickly replied, "Sir, my name is Karask, this is my son Gaita, and the one who ran away is Hashim, my brother. We come from Lord Benn's territory."

Edmund asked curiously, "Ben what? What's his last name?"

However, this question seemed to stump Karask. He and his son Gaita exchanged glances and hesitantly said, "Lord Benn is Lord Benn. We don't know his surname."

Edmund touched his face. He had heard that some old-fashioned nobles liked to maintain an air of mystery in front of the people of their territory, never revealing their surnames, and even avoiding mentioning them. But he never expected to encounter one this time.

Just then, Karask suddenly said, "My brother Hashim might know; he used to work in Lord Benn's castle."

Hearing this, Edmund nodded, it seemed that he hadn't come away empty-handed. He was just waiting for Bertley to bring back the escaped fisherman. He then asked, "Why did you run away when you saw my fleet?"

"We didn't want to run away, we were just too scared. It was the first time we had ever seen such a big ship."

"Haven't you seen this before?"

"Yes."

Edmund understood after hearing this; this place was probably not where the Kingdom Navy had been before, otherwise these fishermen would have remembered the Kingdom Navy.

Just then, Bertley and his men returned. Edmund temporarily put aside his interrogation of the fishermen and began to focus on the outcome of Bertley's operation.

Bertley quickly returned to the ship with the sailors. Edmund noticed that Bertley was soaking wet and had a bruise on his face, while the fisherman he had tied up with rope also had a bruised and swollen face.

Bertley led the fisherman to Edmund and said, "My lord, I've brought him back!"

Edmund laughed, "How come you're injured? Is my First Mate having so much trouble dealing with a fisherman?"

Bertley blushed and stammered, "I accidentally fell and hurt myself. How could he have hurt me?"

Just then, the fisherman suddenly spoke up, "If it weren't for the fact that there are so many of you, you wouldn't be able to catch me."

Bertley was furious and shoved him onto the deck. Karask and Gaita quickly caught him and covered his mouth to stop him from speaking.

Edmund patted Bertley on the shoulder to calm him down, then turned to the fisherman. "Hashim, right? If you're willing to answer the questions, I'll not only set you free, but I'll also give you some money as compensation."

Who knew that Hashim was very uncooperative, saying, "Who can believe you noble lords? You'll probably be executed right after answering the questions."