Chapter Summaries

The Northern Duchy's battlecruiser headed toward the colony as Duke Harrington tightened his grip on the council and prepared to remove Sanger from office. The chapter ended with Harrington presiding over a council meeting while Sanger approached headquarters, unknown to those gathered.

• Councilor Joey watched the Northern Duchy's enormous battlecruiser arrive and wondered how Duke Harrington would respond to its power.
• Councilman White learned that Harrington had gained council seats, acquired factories, and declared that Sanger and Joey should lose their positions.
• Duke Harrington celebrated his growing influence and ordered his allies to propose removing Sanger from the council.
• The Colonial Fleet traveled quickly, bringing Sanger close to headquarters while the local council convened without knowing he was near.
• A councilor proposed removing Sanger, and Duke Harrington invited him to explain the motion.

The council’s dispute over removing Sanger was interrupted by reports that a gigantic black warship from the Northern Duchy had arrived. Councilman White and Duke Harrington went to the docks, where the Northern Duchy’s fleet had taken control and left the councilors stunned.

• Councilman White tried to block the motion against Sanger, while Duke Harrington mocked him and urged the councilors to press their advantage.
• A messenger reported that a huge black warship from the Northern Duchy had arrived, and other representatives warned that it had already docked.
• Councilman White ordered an investigation and an evacuation plan, while Duke Harrington dismissed the reports and headed for his flagship.
• Councilman White and the councilors reached the docks and found the Northern Duchy’s fleet occupying the berths and key positions.
• The black warship’s turrets pointed toward shore, leaving the councilors overwhelmed by its size and firepower.

Count Little Jefferies used his battlecruiser to pressure the Lionheart Kingdom’s council and demanded that its highest-ranking representative come aboard. Councilman White maneuvered Duke Harrington into the role, and Harrington boarded expecting a trap.

• Count Little Jefferies stayed aboard his battlecruiser and waited while the Lionheart Kingdom’s vessels surrendered.
• The Count’s guards beat the council’s envoy, then ordered the port to send its highest-ranking person aboard or face shelling.
• Councilman White realized the threat was aimed at Duke Harrington and persuaded him that going aboard would protect the colonists and help his bid to become Speaker.
• White and the other councilors pushed Duke Harrington onto the ship, then hurried away as he cursed them.
• Duke Harrington straightened his clothes and prepared to face Count Little Jefferies, convinced the meeting was a trap.

Count Little Jefferies demonstrated the speed of a Northland Knight to Duke Harrington, who challenged his claims and then lost a pistol duel against Knight Rand. Harrington accepted his defeat and pledged to abide by the count’s decision.

• Duke Harrington overheard Count Little Jefferies boast about brutal executions and hunting foreign nobles, then joined the group on deck.
• Harrington questioned whether warriors could truly outmatch guns, and Jefferies handed him a pistol to test.
• Harrington fired six shots into the sky, while Councilor Joey and Councilor Sanger feared he would shoot them.
• Jefferies called on Knight Rand to demonstrate a Northland Knight’s speed, offering him a bottle of thirty-year reserve wine.
• Rand grabbed Harrington’s wrist and redirected his final shot before Harrington could fire at the count.
• Harrington knelt, admitted defeat, and told Jefferies he would abide by the count’s decision.

Count Little Jefferies arrived in the Lionheart Kingdom and used his military power to humiliate Duke Harrington and impose himself on the local council. As he toured the streets in comfort, the Lionheart Kingdom’s soldiers were left clearing the way, and public resentment grew.

• Little Governor Jefferies made Duke Harrington lead his horse, while soldiers from his warship took over security.
• Councilman White welcomed Little Governor Jefferies on behalf of the local council and arranged a lavish reception.
• Little Governor Jefferies accepted wine, pleasures, and the carefully selected women offered to him, while Duke Harrington was treated like a slave.
• Count Little Jefferies toured the streets in an open carriage with Duke Harrington as his coachman, and the Lionheart Kingdom’s soldiers shoved people and disrupted stalls to clear the way.

Knight Rand killed four attackers who tried to assassinate Count Little Jefferies, and the count’s guards responded with a violent sweep of the area. After the warship shelled the harbor, Councilman White and Councilor Sanger came aboard to negotiate, where Little Jefferies offered to let the local council investigate if it accepted his conditions.

• Knight Rand shot and killed four young men who attacked Count Little Jefferies’s carriage, then revealed his gun was fast and accurate at close range.
• Count Little Jefferies ordered his guards to arrest suspects and search for the mastermind, and they tortured people while making little progress.
• The battlecruiser fired shells at the harbor, silencing local opposition and prompting the council to meet and plan a response.
• Councilman White and Councilor Sanger boarded the warship and found Count Little Jefferies relaxing with women despite his claimed trauma.
• Count Little Jefferies rejected Councilman White’s request to stop the guards, then agreed to let the council investigate if it accepted his conditions.

Count Little Jefferies forced Councilman White to accept the Northern Duchy’s demands, including control over its citizens and trade tariffs, then demanded fresh merchandise. White retaliated by targeting mainlanders and framing Duke Harrington, plunging the colony into chaos while Sanger strengthened his ties to the Northern Duchy and Benjamin regretted his exile.

• Count Little Jefferies demanded that Councilman White hand over the would-be assassins’ families, grant the Northern Duchy an Overseas Yamen, and let it control trade tariffs, and White reluctantly agreed under threat of naval force.
• Count Little Jefferies asked Councilman White to provide fresh merchandise before the two men departed.
• Councilman White traced the assassins to mainland drifters, ordered their relatives arrested, and told his subordinates to blame Duke Harrington.
• Duke Harrington responded by sending troops to make arrests of his own, and the rival accusations and raids threw the colony into chaos.
• Sanger continued bringing gifts to Count Little Jefferies and resolved to tie himself to the Northern Duchy, while Benjamin lamented his decision to live abroad.

Benjamin drunkenly complained about Derek and Sanger to an interested guest, while Councilman White and Duke Harrington ended their feud by framing neutral councilors. The two leaders took their revised evidence aboard a warship.

• Benjamin drank heavily and told a White Woman that Derek’s rule had cost him his chance to become a noble lord.
• An honored guest joined Benjamin, listened to his grievances about Sanger and Little Jefferies, and suggested they could work together.
• Count Little Jefferies predicted that Councilman White and Duke Harrington would settle their conflict, then told Sanger he planned to leave.
• Sanger declined to abandon his businesses in the Lionheart Kingdom but resolved to pursue a title in the Northern Duchy.
• Councilman White and Duke Harrington stopped fighting, changed the confessions and witness statements, and arrested several neutral councilors as scapegoats.
• The next day, Councilman White and Duke Harrington brought their evidence aboard a warship.

Count Little Jefferies accepted a fabricated case settlement and returned to the colony, where he learned the nation was about to become an Empire. As preparations continued, Derek showed Qin how aircraft and telegraphy could help the monarch extend influence across vast distances, leaving the Empire poised to expand beyond the Southern Continent.

• Count Little Jefferies approved closing the case by hanging a scapegoat, then prepared to return to the colony.
• Lawrence told Count Little Jefferies that His Majesty had decided to elevate the nation's title, and they set off for the Southern Continent after resupplying.
• Derek taught Qin that a monarch maintained influence by winning people's hearts and overcoming distance.
• Derek demonstrated a biplane to Qin and explained how air power could bring the army to any corner of the world.
• Derek let Qin exchange a telegram with Andrew in Digen Port, showing how instant communication could bring distant places under the monarch's watch.

After returning from overseas, Count Little Jefferies witnessed Derek crown himself Emperor of the Xia Empire and declare his ambition to conquer the world. As the Empire reorganized its government and military, Count Little Jefferies and Lawrence received new assignments and departed to begin their work.

• Count Little Jefferies returned to Pulan City, learned about telegrams, and hurried home before the founding ceremony.
• Derek crowned himself Emperor before the assembled officials, nobles, and citizens, and proclaimed his plans for the Empire.
• The Empire celebrated for a month as Derek established new government and military institutions and expanded central control.
• Count Little Jefferies learned he would serve another term as Colonial Governor, while Lawrence was assigned to expand the Colonial Fleet.
• Count Little Jefferies and Lawrence left the homeland together to take up their assignments.

Derek launched the Sea Suppressor and ordered expanded shipbuilding while the Colonial Fleet received new warships and divided into separate fleets. Duke Fernandes, alarmed by Great Xia’s growing naval presence and his kingdom’s population crisis, decided to obtain white-skinned settlers by any means.

• Derek watched the Sea Suppressor launch, then ordered Adrian to expand shipbuilding and directed new ships to Lawrence.
• Lawrence split the Colonial Fleet and established new naval bases after receiving warships from the homeland.
• Duke Fernandes saw a Great Xia fleet sail past the New Holy Cross Kingdom and realized his small kingdom could barely produce modern warships.
• Duke Fernandes grew angry at the Tool Mute children in his household and concluded that their population could not solve his kingdom’s problems.
• Duke Fernandes decided to procure white-skinned people through coercion, deception, or persuasion.

Duke Fernandes traveled to the Great Xia Empire's Overseas Colony and was impressed by its prosperity, strengthening his resolve to restore his kingdom. There, he devised a scam targeting White Women, and Jenny was deceived into boarding a ship bound for another colony.

• King Bruno supported Duke Fernandes's plan to restore their kingdom, and Fernandes set out as a merchant for Golden Mountain Port.
• Duke Fernandes and his men sold goods, bought supplies, and traveled inland to Silver City.
• Duke Fernandes saw Governor Jefferies's authority and the Overseas Colony's prosperity, which made him more determined to restore his kingdom.
• Duke Fernandes noticed the White Women arriving in the colony and came up with a pig-butchering scam.
• Jenny abandoned hopes of earning a living through hard work after a client promised her a small farm in another colony.
• Jenny boarded the ship and discovered that its crew had taken control of the passengers, revealing she had been deceived.

Fernandez abandoned his plan to stir up trouble in the Great Xia Colony and sailed to Lionheart Kingdom territory to sell a shipment of smuggled weapons. After seeing the Great Xia Empire’s battlecruisers and clearing customs, he prepared to negotiate with a local buyer.

• Fernandez decided to leave the Great Xia Colony and seek opportunities in the white colonies of the south.
• After stopping at Gemstone Port, Fernandez watched the Great Xia Empire’s battlecruisers and doubted he could restore his homeland.
• Fernandez sailed to the Lionheart Kingdom Colony with sensitive cargo, using supply ships to avoid Great Xia customs inspections.
• At the Lionheart Kingdom customs office, Fernandez learned of new tax rules and submitted a detailed manifest for his cargo.
• William visited Fernandez that night and offered to buy the smuggled weapons for fifty percent above market price.

Fernandez negotiated a deal with William for white slaves and smuggled weapons, then opened a trading company in the colony. Meanwhile, Councilor Sanger worried that Great Xia Empire goods were eroding his business and turned to Benjamin for help.

• Fernandez refused William’s offer to settle in cash and agreed to pay five times the price for white slaves.
• William arranged for a tax officer to approve Fernandez’s smuggled weapons without collecting taxes, then unloaded the cargo himself.
• Fernandez opened Cross Trading Company across from one of Sanger’s shops and sought white women willing to travel to the Great Xia Empire.
• Sanger learned that customers preferred Great Xia Empire goods and ordered an investigation into the manager’s wife as well as the customers’ attitudes.
• Sanger told his attendant to take him to Benjamin with a batch of fresh goods, hoping Benjamin’s technical team could help his business compete.

Benjamin joined Councilor Sanger at a club, where a burst of gunfire killed Councilman George and several others. Sanger found firearms that might have come from his factory and began to suspect the attack was a trap aimed at him.

• Benjamin resolved to quit drinking, but Sanger invited him to the club and he agreed to go.
• Sanger and Benjamin relaxed in a private room until gunfire erupted, and Benjamin stayed behind while Sanger went to investigate.
• Sanger inspected the scene and learned that the attackers had used unmarked Great Xia rifles and pistols.
• A bodyguard identified the dead councilman as George, a supporter of Duke Harrington.
• Security officers arrived, and Sanger described the scene while suspecting that the attack had been staged to frame him.

Duke Harrington arranged George's assassination and planned to blame Sanger, then sought an alliance with Duke Fernandes after learning about his firearms. Sanger found suspicious discrepancies in Benjamin's spending and, unsure how to investigate, decided to seek help from the Overseas Yamen.

• Sanger left the crime scene to investigate whether the firearms had come from his factory, while the assassins disposed of their disguises and escaped.
• The assassin leader met Duke Harrington, who said Sanger could be blamed for George's murder and praised the firearms taken from the scene.
• Duke Harrington invited the Cross Trading Company to meet and offered Duke Fernandes one hundred female slaves, giving Fernandes confidence in a possible alliance.
• Sanger found no evidence that Benjamin had secretly manufactured firearms, but discovered that Benjamin's spending far exceeded his income.
• Sanger resisted having Benjamin arrested and tortured, then remembered his big brother's advice to turn to the Overseas Yamen for help.

Rogers used the Ninth Investigation Department’s files to persuade Councilor Sanger to join the Great Xia Empire. After Sanger left, Rogers revealed that several files were unsupported by evidence and turned his attention to Fernandez and Duke Harrington.

• Rogers showed Sanger detailed files on Benjamin and the local council members, exposing their crimes and secrets.
• Sanger realized his rivals were a threat and agreed to join the Great Xia Empire in exchange for its protection and support.
• After Sanger left, Rogers admitted that most of the files beyond Benjamin’s had little or no evidence behind them.
• Rogers focused on keeping watch over Fernandez and Duke Harrington, who were causing him trouble.

Sanger’s resources helped the Ninth Investigation Department establish influence in the customs office while the Great Xia Empire continued modernizing under Derek. After an Attendant Officer was killed during a secret inspection, Derek ordered an investigation and military preparations, and a radio found at the scene suggested the incident had much greater significance.

• Rogers used Sanger’s connections and his own position in the customs office to recruit operatives and gain influence over its authority.
• Derek toured the newly completed First Automobile Factory, where Little Tru learned that it could produce at least five hundred trucks a month.
• Derek received news that an Attendant Officer had been ambushed and killed, then ordered Virut to investigate and Simon to mobilize three Guard Divisions.
• Virut promised the Attendant Officers that he would uncover the killers and set out to investigate the incident in the south.
• A local security officer found a radio beside the dead fugitive, and his subordinates discovered identification documents in the basement.

Chief Constable Fick discovered that the dead man was a Third-Rank Attendant Officer from the Imperial Attendant Office and refused to hand over the body to the Tulu Family. Young Master Baderick realized the victim’s identity was extraordinary, while Fick feared the leaked news would bring the Empire’s reckoning down on them all.

• A constable showed Chief Constable Fick the dead man’s identification card, revealing his Imperial Attendant Office rank and leaving Fick alarmed.
• Fick ordered the scene secured and said he would report the killing to his superiors, unaware that one of his subordinates had slipped away.
• Young Master Baderick arrived with Tulu Family men and asked Fick to hand over the body, but Fick refused because the investigation was unfinished.
• Baderick privately asked Fick whether the dead man’s identity was a problem, and Fick’s troubled reaction convinced him the victim had high status.
• Fick weighed his fear of the Tulu Family against the consequences of the Empire learning what had happened, and resolved not to be drawn into their scheme.

Baderick pressured security officer Fick into concealing the Tulu Family’s role in an Attendant Officer’s disappearance, while the family tried to cover up the crime and secure its connections. Virut arrived with Simon and three Guards divisions already positioned nearby, then heard Fick’s account and began to suspect Derek had sent him to investigate more than the missing officer.

• Baderick learned the dead man was an Attendant Officer and persuaded Fick to stay silent by threatening him and promising the Tulu Family’s support.
• Fick agreed to let the Tulu Family take the body but kept his men watching the scene.
• Baderick returned to the Tulu Family, whose leaders hid the news, dealt with the body, executed people involved, and bribed officials.
• Virut arrived in the city after Simon and three Guards divisions had secretly disembarked nearby.
• Virut questioned Fick, who revealed that he had preserved the radio and had evidence of what happened.
• Virut concluded that the telegram and Fick’s account made the Tulu Family’s involvement clear, but wondered whether Derek’s orders concealed a deeper purpose.