In the Name of the Queen

Winter Palace, the first rain of early summer arrived as expected.

Summer in St. Rurik Castle always comes later than other places. The moist sea breeze brings coolness and abundant rainfall, making it the most livable place in Vladimir, a bitterly cold place.

The Winter Palace is the emperor's bedroom, at least it used to be.

But now its owner is a foreigner.

Although this foreigner is now the cardinal minister of the empire, the Duke of Kazan, and also has the imperial citizenship appointed by the empress, the serious nationalism of the Rurik people still makes them habitually regard the owner of the Winter Palace as a foreigner.

Roland doesn't care about this.

Anyway, he just comes to work.

Sophia, the boss, treats him very well, so he works hard. There is no need to work hard for a few hundred dollars. The dukedom and the art treasure Winter Palace, even with Roland's "indifference to fame and fortune", can't be ignored.

He has always been very professional. He will do his job when he gets the money, and he will even work hard when the money is in place.

Living in this world-famous top palace, Roland felt at ease. Just because he helped to rectify the internal affairs of the empire, recovered the land owned by small landlords through various means, and gave freedom to serfs, he deserved this reward.

Not to mention that he once risked his life to go to the ice field to save his boss Sophia.

Listening to the drizzle outside the window, holding the newly ground coffee, sipping it carefully, Roland's mood was slightly relieved.

Just now, Angelina put the evidence of the butler Barov's crime in front of him and explained the whereabouts of most of the art treasures.

Ninety percent of the artworks have been recovered, and there is really no way to recover a small number of them.

In addition to recovering the artworks, there is another piece of news that is not surprising.

"The criminal Barov committed suicide on the eve of his trial."

This is the explanation from Angelina.

Roland expressed his understanding of this.

After all, Barov is the old butler of the royal family, and Sophia still has to save face.

Although it is not known whether the old man was being respectful on his own initiative or was being respectful, it is not important.

Roland could think that this was because he had served the royal family for many years. Even if he had no merit, he had worked hard. If he committed suicide on the eve of the trial, he would not have to bear the name of a criminal, and his children could inherit part of his property.

He probably took the initiative to be respectful. Although he was reluctant in his heart, he could give up his old body in order to protect his family.

Roland did not make any comments on this, but just quietly put away the investigation report.

In the face of the final divine punishment, the life and death of a loser is meaningless.

His eyes were cast on the towering wall, where a fairly clear world map was hung.

His mind had long surpassed these gains and losses, and looked to a farther place.

For example, the vast ocean.

Since the prophecy poem came out, the first two sentences have come true, which made Roland more worried about the last two sentences.

Sussex was the first naval power at that time, and it was leading by a gap, but compared with those monsters who grew up in the sea, the warships of this era were still a bit outdated.

The construction progress of full ironclad ships was slow, and the main force currently in service was still well-maintained old-fashioned battleships and semi-ironclad ships.

These things can show off their power in the human civil war, but the combat power and size of the deep-sea trolls are beyond imagination, far exceeding the upper limit of the combat power of the human navy.

When the deep-sea trolls awaken, the Sussex Navy must be the first to bear the brunt.

The sky falls, the tall ones hold it up, but unfortunately they are tall.

Fortunately, they still have an ally, the red-haired female pirate Catalina, or Catania.

Since the magic mirror believes that Catalina exists, she must exist.

As for why it was Catania who came to negotiate that day instead of Catalina, perhaps they had other ideas.

Roland is more inclined to believe that Catania and Catalina are the same person.

After all, super masters will not appear out of thin air, but women dressed as men or men changed into women can easily be mistaken for real people under certain circumstances.

In short, this is the private matter of the allies, and he is too lazy to ask.

Roland recalled the Battle of White Mountain, when the powerful pirate group had no one to participate. At that time, the referee said that all the strong people on land were "invited", which shows that the identity of the pirate group is mysterious.

Fortunately, the southern part of the new world they requested is very far away, so far that it is beyond Roland's control.

The last news he received from the ocean allies was that they were devouring the agreed sphere of influence.

The local natives and small countries may still be resisting, but it doesn't make much sense.

In this era when everyone is struggling for survival, the power of fists is far greater than reason.

Roland stared at the map in a trance. If the time sequence of the prophecy poem is followed, it will be the turn of the deep-sea trolls to appear next.

Humans have a natural fear of the ocean. Staring at the deep sea is like staring at the abyss.

A small cold in the ocean is a disaster for humans.

Even a powerful navy like the Sussex Navy lost half of its fleet in the attack of the Siren, which shows how weak human control over the ocean is.

Even in the modern era with rapid technological development, the ocean is still a huge blind spot for humans.

Ocean allies are very important, and Roland certainly hopes that they can eat the meat in the bowl as promised.

Unfortunately, the combat effectiveness of these pirates has obviously declined after landing, and they even fought with the natives of the local small countries.

After reading the war reports from the southern part of the New World, Roland's only comment was that it was a fight between chickens.

With his ability, he might be able to dominate the New World.

Roland even wrote a letter to the ocean allies, inviting them to select capable young officers to receive land warfare training.

Even if you can only learn the basics, it is easy to deal with the local natives after learning to maintain the line and three-stage shooting.

Unfortunately, his handwritten letter fell into the sea and never received a reply.

"It seems that it was treated coldly. These idiots don't know what they missed."

Roland even greeted the famous Pruden general Karma and asked him to prepare a team of instructors to teach these sea goods, but these idiots didn't respond.

Then you can't blame me.

Roland shook his head silently, dispelling his worries about his allies.

Just as he was about to leave the room for the study, the new butler hurried over and reported to him in a low voice.

"Master, the envoy from the deep sea wants to see you."

Roland's eyes lit up and the corners of his lips rose slightly.

These guys, pragmatism really defeated face.

That's right, can face be eaten? The excellent seamen who were lost are all elite warriors of Peiang for many years. Once lost, it will be difficult to replenish.

He opened his mouth, but the words turned into "Tell him to wait a moment, I will come to meet the guest after reading these documents."

I invited you warmly, but you didn't come. Now that I'm not warm anymore, of course I don't look happy.

Roland is certainly not acting on impulse, this is an attitude.

The basis of cooperation is mutual trust. If the marine allies think they can learn land warfare in a short time, then don't come.

I want to come but feel embarrassed, what's the point.

Leave it alone, you must leave it alone, wait until the seafood becomes dried squid.

Roland waved his hand to signal the butler to leave.

The new butler obviously learned the lesson of his predecessor, at least for now. He is very measured in doing things and has never overstepped the boundaries.

Although sometimes his mind is not very flexible, it is enough.

Roland doesn't like those slaves who try to figure out the boss's intentions. Once these people do this, they will most likely become the next Barov.

Barov even dares to fleece Sophia, what else can he not dare to do.

Butler, it's better to be honest.

Roland walked to the study, took out a marine food cooking manual, and flipped through it casually.

Just as he was enjoying reading, steady footsteps came from the corridor.

The new butler Vatudin rarely disturbed him when he was reading. Could there be something wrong?

He put down the book in his hand and looked at the door.

However, the butler's footsteps stopped outside the door and stopped abruptly.

Standing at the door without knocking, what does this mean?

Roland pushed the door open suspiciously and asked with his eyes.

Vatudin's tone was a little slow, but very clear.

"Master, the envoy from the deep sea said there was an emergency and wanted to see you as soon as possible, but you said not to disturb me, so I had to..."

I had to stand at the door.

The effect of footsteps was equal to knocking on the door, but without the urging of knocking on the door.

Roland thought to himself that he didn't realize that the new butler Vatudin looked honest on the outside, but was so delicate on the inside.

"Let him wait in the reception room, I'll be there soon."

Since there was an emergency, Roland couldn't put on airs.

Three minutes later, he came to the reception room. He saw from the corner of his eye that although the envoy was sitting comfortably, his expression on his face was three parts anxious and seven parts painful.

Something happened?

Roland's heart skipped a beat, and he put away the jokes he was about to make fun of the other party, and asked seriously:

"Mr. Envoy, what happened?"

Hearing Roland's voice, the envoy rushed over. Just as Roland silently opened his shield to prevent assassination, the envoy knelt down with a plop, crying.

"Lord Roland, save the big sister! Only you can save her!"

"Wait, talk slowly, who is the big sister, what happened to her, why can only I save her. I am not good at medicine, and I only know a little about healing. I am not suitable for saving people anyway."

Although the envoy was a little out of control because of worry, his thoughts were still clear. He quickly talked about Catalina's experience.

Half a month ago, Catalina sent a team of young officers to Rodinia at Roland's invitation, and then the fleet lost contact.

Hearing this, Roland's heart tightened, and he felt something was wrong.

Catalina did not hide her Tianmu identity when negotiating with him, and even mentioned that the power behind her was Marshal Sea Eye Pride.

The Sea King Palace was dormant because of the Sea King's slumber, and the actual ruler of the underwater world was Marshal Sea Eye Pride.

With such a huge force covering it, how could something go wrong at sea?

Roland vaguely smelled the conspiracy behind it.

The envoy continued to tell that after the accidental disappearance of the officers' group, Catalina was also very important. She went to Marshal Sea Eye's territory in person to complain to him.

However, she disappeared as soon as she left.

The adjutant of the pirate group felt that the situation was not good, and urgently contacted Marshal Sea Eye's messenger, and the conclusion was that he had never seen Catalina.

In short, a red-haired female pirate who traveled all over the world just disappeared without a trace.

Roland wanted to say that this story was not well made, but he vaguely felt that it was true.

After all, normal people would not dare to make up such an outrageous story.

After asking for some more details, Roland asked the butler to take the envoy down to rest and began to think about how to rescue Katarina.

Rescue is necessary. Roland has many allies. Selling out allies will affect his overall layout.

Regardless of whether the rescue is successful or not, at least we have to do our best.

After thinking for a while, Roland took out the endless letter and wrote the question on the front.

"Check Katarina's ranking on the female charm list."

The front of the endless letter communicates with Sif, and the back can communicate with Sophia.

In this era without 5G network and corded phones, only artifacts have the ability to communicate across thousands of miles.

Not long after, Sif responded.

"I can't find Katarina's ranking, but she has not been cancelled. I guess she is missing."

"Your guess is very accurate."

Roland shared the envoy's report with Sif, and then wrote the same content on the back to inform Sophia.

Sophia responded coldly as always.

It took a long time before she replied.

"You decide."

It was indeed a response full of Sophia's personality.

Roland didn't expect this hands-off boss to have any useful response, but he had to share important things with her.

The leader can choose not to express his opinion, but you must let him know.

Roland turned the letter over and happened to see Sif's response.

"What are you going to do, save her?"

"I will do my best within my power. If the enemy cannot resist, I can do nothing."

Roland's response was flawless. Compared with Katarina, his own safety was more important. After all, he was not alone. There were several women behind him.

Sif was silent for a long time and asked slowly, "How do you plan to collect intelligence?"

"I want to go to the underwater city to meet your young stepmother. Things under the sea, naturally, you have to go to the sea to find the answer."

"In the deep sea, the awakened trolls are ready to move." Sif did not directly object, but brought up Christine's prophecy poem.

Her meaning was very clear, the seabed is extremely dangerous now.

Perhaps to dispel Roland's idea, she volunteered to write: "I just don't have anything important to do recently, I want to see my father."

Sif's father is enjoying married life with the sea witch. Sif's meaning is very clear. She will go to see Adina on behalf of Roland.

"She is my stepmother after all. With my father around, she won't hurt me at least."

"No, absolutely not!" Roland's writing force could easily scratch the wooden board, but it didn't leave any marks on the endless letter.

"Why?" In the distant Hansa Palace, Sif wrote with one hand and supported her chin with the other hand, smiling and asking back.

She knew that Roland was worried about her and knew the reason, but she still asked.

You will never get tired of hearing caring words.

"Nonsense, your child is still hanging on the tree. If you die, your father can come back to inherit the throne in a dignified manner. Even if he cares about family affection, it is easy for Adina to create an accident at sea. Not to mention the mysterious troll."

Roland wrote for a while and suddenly laughed.

Of course, Sif didn't want to go by herself, but used this method to remind him not to take risks in person.

"Let's not go, please Raikkonen."

Roland thought that Raikkonen was the only child in the family, and added a sentence at the end.

"Please ask Raikkonen to send capable personnel." (End of this chapter)