The scale in Douglas's hand is just a key, Redd can change the lock at any time.
Douglas realized that his inner desire for power was a bit too much.
He controls the navy, slave army, and garrison, and 70% of the army in the nine Free Cities is under his control.
He wrested the military power from Theora and Marcus. At first he thought he was doing it smart, but now that he thinks about it, these two people should have realized this a long time ago.
They deliberately did not fight with him desperately.
It's not that Theora and Marcus are incapable of fighting, they chose to give in and concentrate military power in his hands, and then wait for the day when he expands beyond the limit, and wait for Redd to beat him personally.
He even doubted whether the two people had colluded long ago and joined forces to dig a hole for him.
They may have anticipated that this day would come, so they delegated all military power to him in advance, allowing him to be the focus of all military power, and then waited to see if he would cross the line.
If he crosses the line, Redd will deal with him first; if he does not cross the line, Theora and Marcus have nothing to lose. They just temporarily give up their military power. After Redd beats Douglas, the power will naturally be redistributed.
No matter what the outcome is, they will not lose.
Douglas Thinking of this, anger arose in his heart.
These two guys, Theora and Marcus, usually look calm and reckless, but they work together perfectly.
One was in charge of administration and the other was in charge of finance. They jointly handed over all military power to him and asked him to stand at the front and act as a target.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He clenched his fists on the table and his knuckles turned white.
He wanted to write a letter immediately to question them, wanted to argue with them face to face, and wanted to lay out their calculations in this matter on the table one by one.
But he took a deep breath and suppressed the fire. He told himself that now was not the time to settle accounts with the two.
The most important thing right now is not to find out who tricked whom, but how to adjust the power structure in your hands so that you no longer become the only target.
He must divide his power among Theora and Marcus, especially the army.
Only in this way can he distract Redd and let Redd see that power is redistributed among three people instead of being concentrated in the hands of one person.
Only in this way can he return to a safe position.
He must have the navy in his hands. This is the area he is most familiar with and it is also his core competency as a former pirate and naval commander.
The navy controls the sea routes of Free Cities, controls the transportation of materials between Volantis and the outside world, and controls the trade channels on the Narrow Sea.
If he surrendered control of the navy, he would lose direct influence over maritime supply lines and his unique position among the three.
Therefore, the navy cannot be handed over. Then the slave army and garrison army can only be divided between Theora and Marcus.
Although these two armies are large in number, their functions are more focused on garrisoning and maintaining order, rather than conducting external offensives or maritime operations.
After handing over these two armies, he will not lose control of the core combat power and at the same time can spread the risk.
However, he must retain part of these two armies.
It cannot be handed over completely, otherwise if Theora and Marcus turn against him, he will not have enough ground power to deal with the threat from within.
He needs to retain a capable force, commanded by his trusted aides, that can protect his safety or carry out his orders at critical moments.
At the same time, he still needs to bargain with the two people.
They will definitely impose conditions on the troops they receive, such as requiring specific commanders, specific station arrangements, and specific methods of material distribution.
He needs to protect his core interests in the negotiations while giving the other party enough sweetness to make them willing to take over these armies and share Redd's attention.
After thinking about it, he put his hand on the breastplate and felt the outline of the golden scales inside through the leather armor.
This is his greatest power, a power that the other two do not have.
Theora controls the administrative system, Marcus controls the financial lifeline, but only he can direct Demon Dragon.
That scale was given to him by Redd himself, and those Demon Dragon obeyed his orders. In his hands, the fifty Demon Dragon turned into flames that burned the city and an iron fist that suppressed the rebellion.
This power is given by Redd and can be taken back by Redd at any time.
But at least now, in his hands, it is real and available.
That's why he can't show too much weakness.
If he acts panicked after being beaten by Redd and gives up all the power in his hands, it will make Redd feel that he is either posturing or trying to evade responsibility.
The correct approach is to proactively adjust the distribution of power while retaining core strength to show Redd that he is still fulfilling his responsibilities while also correcting previous transgressions.
He stood up, walked to the table, took out a new piece of parchment, spread it out, picked up a quill, dipped it in ink, and started writing two letters.
The first letter is written to Theora, and the second letter is written to Marcus.
The wording and tone of the two letters were different, but the core content was the same - he asked the two to come to Volantis as soon as possible for a face-to-face consultation on Free Cities's power distribution and military reorganization.
In his letter, he particularly emphasized the complexity of the current situation - Redd has just left Volantis, and there are new instructions for Free Cities's current situation and future arrangements that need to be discussed by the three of them.
He did not mention Redd's knock on him in the letter, but only used vague but sufficient expressions such as "the new situation requires us to reorganize our respective responsibilities" to let the two people understand the necessity of this meeting.
He finished writing two letters, sealed them with wax, wrote the names and addresses of the two people on the cover, then called his close associates and asked them to send the letters as quickly as possible.
When Douglas wrote to contact the other two people, Redd had already flown over Disputed Lands on King Ghidorah.
He looked down at the land below through King Ghidorah's eyes from the air. The fields and villages that had been desolate because of the war were returning to life.
This area was known as a prosperous place during the Valyrian Freehold period.
The reason why it was renamed Disputed Lands is because after the fall of the Valyrian Freehold empire, the nine Free Citiess became independent. Among them, Lys, Myr and Tyrosh have been competing for control of the area, and sometimes Volantis will also participate in the competition.
Therefore, this area has never had a clear ownership, so it was renamed Disputed Lands.
After the nine trading houses City-States were conquered one by one by Redd, there was no dispute over the ownership of this area.
Although the name has not changed, it has begun to prosper again.