Annie

Novia smiled. "You mean a guild of assassins? That might be tricky. Even if I can recruit people here, can you make sure they can carry out the kills?"

Jiang Chuan scratched his head. "I don't think there should be a problem."

Novia smiled. "What if I told you to kill Gangplank? You need to set some limits."

Novia had a point. Many people had enemies Jiang Chuan either didn't want to kill or couldn't kill. If they followed his original idea, there would be too many problems.

Jiang Chuan thought it over, then said, "You're right. We can set some limits: the organization can refuse any contract. That way, we can avoid taking jobs we can't or don't want to carry out."

Novia nodded. "That works, too. But do you have a way to find assassins?"

Jiang Chuan smiled. "I think Pyke is an excellent assassin. My men can handle the simpler jobs."

Novia said, "All right. I can help you, and we'll split the earnings fifty-fifty."

Jiang Chuan drained his glass and said calmly, "Of course. Now that we've decided, I'll get going. There's still a lot to do on the island."

Novia looked at Jiang Chuan and smiled. "When will your island be ready?"

Jiang Chuan did the math. "Building a castle will take too long. Even with fast construction materials, it'll take two or three months. I think we need to change our plans. There's no profit in building a tavern on the island. We can open one in Rat Town and one on Butcher's Bridge. If we make the island our base, opening tavern branches there won't make much sense."

Novia frowned. "Then how will we pass messages back and forth?"

Jiang Chuan smiled. "Jenny. Or I can come see you in person. The Black Rose isn't as scary as we thought."

Novia smiled. "Are you sure you can face the Black Rose?"

Jiang Chuan smiled back. "I'm not afraid of the Black Rose on my own. But what if they try some trick we don't know about? Better to bring things out into the open. Has the Black Rose ever forbidden you from doing business in Bilgewater?"

Novia shook her head. "No."

Jiang Chuan shrugged. "Then there's no problem. We're business partners, not some secretive alliance. Even if we really do unite Bilgewater one day, the Black Rose won't have a chance to interfere by then."

Novia thought it over. "Then why didn't you say that earlier?"

Jiang Chuan scratched his head sheepishly. "It didn't occur to me."

Novia said nothing.

Jiang Chuan and Novia decided to open a branch in Rat Town in a week or two. After Rat Town, they would expand to the docks and the harbor. Novia's tavern was already popular, so this would let them control the channels for spreading information while earning a considerable profit.

Jiang Chuan rowed back to the island. Most of the buildings there had been repaired, and the walls and castle were beginning to take shape. Master Nuo had also finished most of the Fortress Cannon parts. They needed to start making cannonballs, too. Jiang Chuan had also been wanting to mass-produce Steam Engines; otherwise, it would be hard to explain things to Demacia. That meant steel was essential. If they couldn't refine it soon, everything else would be nothing but talk. Steel was the key to researching ships, weapons, and other things. The matter was urgent.

Jiang Chuan called Laurie over and told him to take a few crates of Gold Coins to Novia's tavern with some of the workers. After giving his orders, Jiang Chuan sat in his office and considered how to refine steel on a large scale.

Throughout history, people had used many different methods to refine steel. The simplest was to melt iron, then keep feeding iron and scrap steel into one end of the furnace without separating the batches, while letting molten steel flow out the other end. But the technology Jiang Chuan had at his disposal wasn't advanced enough to reach the temperatures needed for steelmaking—over 1,500 degrees, or even 2,000. No amount of firewood could reach that heat, not even if you burned it for a lifetime.

Jiang Chuan looked at the blueprint he had drawn and smiled. "Looks like I'll need some help. But who?"

"Brand? Forget it. He's a lunatic who only knows how to plunder."

"Annie? Child labor's probably illegal. She's still too young."

"Ornn? Forget it. That damn guy's a demigod!"

After thinking it through, Jiang Chuan decided to summon Annie. Ornn was a demigod; if he summoned him, it was hard to say whether Ornn would end up studying him or he would be studying Ornn. As for Brand, no one knew what kind of creature he was. Jiang Chuan only knew that he was a lunatic who did nothing but plunder. He couldn't be sure he could control Brand.

With the temperature problem solved, Jiang Chuan and Master Nuo began making the machine parts.

Night fell. Nuo put out the furnace and looked at Jiang Chuan. "I can finish these parts tomorrow. Go get some rest. You haven't slept in two days."

It was only after Nuo brought it up that Jiang Chuan realized he hadn't rested for two days. He set down his hammer and smiled. "I'll leave it to you, then."

Back in his office, Jiang Chuan had someone bring him something to eat, then collapsed into bed. He slept soundly and didn't wake up until noon the next day.

Jiang Chuan got up, washed, and went to Master Nuo's forge. Seeing the parts scattered all over the floor, he smiled with delight. "Now we can refine steel on a large scale!"

Nuo stared at him in surprise. "You found a Mage?"

Jiang Chuan smiled. "Of course. It was simple. Let's assemble it first."

Jiang Chuan called Laurie over and had him carry the parts to the Blast Furnace built a few days earlier. After he and Nuo installed the machine, Jiang Chuan dismissed the others and sent them back to their posts. Nuo stood behind him, ready to see whether the machine worked as Jiang Chuan had claimed.

Jiang Chuan snapped his fingers and summoned Annie. A flash of light appeared, and a little girl clutching a teddy bear and sucking on a lollipop appeared in front of him.

Jiang Chuan stared at Annie's clothes and the lollipop in her mouth, completely stunned!

Annie was clearly wearing clothes from Earth! Jiang Chuan trembled and tried to speak as calmly as possible. "Master Nuo, something's gone wrong here. Go back for now, and don't tell anyone what you saw today."

Nuo shrugged and left the Blast Furnace for his forge. It was normal for his lord to have a few little quirks, so he didn't think much of it.

Annie wasn't frightened by the man in front of her. She held up the little bear in her hand and simply watched Jiang Chuan.

"Huff." "Huff."

Jiang Chuan tried to steady his breathing. "Little girl, tell me your name."

Annie answered in a childish voice, "Jiang Yun Chuan."

Jiang Chuan did his best to keep his voice calm. "Isn't your real name Annie?"

Flames flickered in Annie's hand as she looked at Jiang Chuan. "My name is Jiang Yun Chuan!"

Jiang Chuan crouched in front of Annie. "All right. Then who is Jiang An Ping to you?"

"He's my grandpa. Who are you, and how did I get here? I can call the police, you know!"

Jiang Chuan trembled with excitement. He dropped to his knees and gasped for breath. He knew who Annie was. Before he died, he had once saved a little girl whose parents were both dead. She had been clutching a teddy bear, too. Back then, he had been a spirit and vaguely remembered that his father adopted her. When Annie said her name was Jiang Yun Chuan, Jiang Chuan was certain she was the little girl he had saved!