Chapter 6: The Power Of Reputation
Colonel Susa was ultimately disappointed.
His Majesty the King did not come in person; the one who disembarked from the ship was Crown Prince Elus.
“Your Highness Elus, the Northern Legion Whale Tail Island branch respectfully welcomes you!” Enduring the disappointment in his heart, Colonel Susa welcomed Elus’s arrival with the most deferential attitude. After all, having reinforcements was better than none, and upon closer thought, the one who came was the Crown Prince—how could he possibly lack strong persons for protection?
Thinking of this, the disappointment gradually receded, and the sprout of hope broke through the soil once again.
“Colonel Susa?”
Elus sized up the uniformed man standing at the forefront of the crowd.
The Eckmond Kingdom’s military system was modeled after the Navy under the World Government, but some modifications were made to avoid confusion with the World Government. The army’s ranks at the base level were still divided into first-, second-, and third-class soldiers, non-commissioned officers into upper, middle, and lower classes, and officers into Second Lieutenant, First Lieutenant, and Captain.
At the colonel level, it was Major, Lieutenant Colonel, and Colonel without distinction, but in addition, there was a Senior Colonel, superior to Colonel, set as the highest rank among colonel-level officers.
Higher up, there was no distinction of Brigadier General, Rear Admiral, Vice Admiral, Admiral, or General—only a single General Rank.
Yes, the highest was General Rank.
In the current Eckmond Kingdom, there were only two Generals: the Navy Minister and the Imperial Guard Commander, while high officials at the Senior Colonel level numbered only about ten in total, including the Imperial Guard Deputy Commander, the legion commanders of the four major legions, the fleet commanders of the various major fleets, and so on.
By calculation, Colonel was already an absolute mainstay force in the Eckmond Kingdom.
One more point: military rank was not entirely distinguished based on individual martial power. Certainly, if individual martial power was high enough, one would naturally be promoted, but even if individual martial power was not outstanding, solid meritorious service could still lead to advancement.
Colonel Susa was considered a strength faction, and moreover, a direct lineage nurtured by the Eckmond Kingdom.
His individual martial power was quite good; even in the Navy, with a bit of good luck, he could easily become a Brigadier General. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been placed on Whale Tail Island to guard the final gate among the northern three portals.
Looking at the troops behind Colonel Susa—standing as straight as pines, in perfect formation, and so quiet not a single extraneous sound could be heard—Elus’s eyes flashed with a hint of appreciation.
He was a talent who knew how to train troops!
This was much rarer than officers who could fight.
“Colonel Susa, I heard General Foy mention you. You’re very good at training troops. In the four major legions’ joint military exercise five years ago, you represented the Northern Legion and took first place. Seeing you today, your reputation is well-deserved. Your subordinates are excellent.”
“You flatter me. It’s my duty; it’s all what I should do.”
Susa was not dazzled by such light praise.
As a qualified soldier, his thoughts were still on how to deal with the incoming enemy. The corner of his eye kept scanning Elus’s attendants, trying to spot the strong person protecting Elus.
“Colonel Susa, do any of my subordinates here look familiar to you?”
Susa’s overly clumsy little movements did not escape Elus’s eyes. He turned back to glance at the aide-de-camp following behind him and the other assorted subordinates.
“Ah? No······ Sorry, Your Highness Elus, please forgive my rudeness. I’m still thinking about how to fight the upcoming battle.” Susa simply stopped concealing it. Compared to being subtle and roundabout, being direct suited his personality better. He just widened his eyes and scanned Elus’s attendants behind him, speaking bluntly to Elus:
“I’m not good with words, but I still have to say it: this time’s enemy is coming with great momentum. Without true strong persons, we absolutely cannot hold them off with just guns and fortresses.”
These words were actually quite damaging to a soldier’s pride.
But given the state of the world, aside from levels like the Four Emperors and the Three Admirals, any Great Pirate with a bounty over 100 million Beli was a fierce person who could unleash unmatched devastation amid thousands of troops. No matter how many ordinary rifle-bearing soldiers there were, it meant nothing.
The prominence of individual martial power had shaped different laws of war.
Soldier against soldier, general against general—that was the standard playbook in this world. Of course, if one side lacked strong persons, they could only fill the gap with the lives of their soldiers.
And Susa had not seen a single famous strong person from the kingdom among Elus’s attendants.
They were all some young people he had hardly seen before.
“I see.”
Elus nodded, indicating understanding.
He had thought there might be someone among his subordinates whom Colonel Susa recognized, but it turned out the man was looking for whether there were any big shots hidden among them.
So,
this was the effect of reputation.
His Majesty the King and the various ministers had personally witnessed the Crown Prince’s capabilities, so they confidently entrusted the war to Elus. But for someone like Colonel Susa, he didn’t know how fierce the always low-key Crown Prince was; he only knew those renowned strong persons in the kingdom.
“I understand your concerns, but······ Colonel Susa, don’t worry. This war will end soon.” Elus revealed a smile and reached out to pat the other’s shoulder. This Colonel Susa wasn’t very tall at 197 centimeters, making it easy to pat his shoulder.
The aide-de-camps behind Elus also revealed bright smiles, chuckling as they looked at Colonel Susa.
Colonel Susa furrowed his brows in some confusion.
Could there be some mysterious expert among these people that he didn’t know about?
————
Whale Tail Island was true to its name.
The island was completely shaped like a whale’s tail, somewhat like a stunted three-leaf clover, with the protruding tailstock pointing toward Whale Belly Island in the north, and the forked tail fluke forming a natural good port facing south in the middle. Moreover, Whale Tail Island had only this one port. Whether coming from the south or the north, to land on a large scale, they had to go around to Whale Tail Port.
Therefore,
once war broke out, Whale Tail Port would often become the main battlefield.
Elus merely disembarked to meet Colonel Susa and boost the morale of the troops on the island.
In the end, he still returned to his flagship.
He did not move his residence to the island. As Crown Prince, the interior decoration of his flagship was far more luxurious than any manor or hotel provided by Whale Tail Island—this much Elus was confident about. Staying comfortably on the ship, there was no need to move back and forth.
Just like this, waiting for the Amento Kingdom’s fleet to deliver itself, then heading north after the battle to reclaim Whale Belly Island and Whale Head Island—and depending on the situation, perhaps going even farther.
On the deck.
A large parasol was set up.
Elus leaned on the lying chair, flipping through the information his father had given him before departure.
“Ghost Sword, Venkura, bounty 150 million Beli······ This guy has been quite active in recent years. I didn’t expect him to be Umit’s man. Plus Skull Hunter Demon, Magic Ball Sorcerer, Strangling Ghost, Black Beast······ King of Maritime Transport, truly formidable strength!”
Every name represented a Great Pirate with a bounty over 100 million.
Moreover, these people had no overt ties to Umit on the surface, meaning all these pirates were Umit’s hidden pawns known to few. If the Eckmond Kingdom hadn’t spent a fortune buying intelligence from the Queen of the Red Light District, they might not have known Umit was the mastermind behind it.
Just looking at these hidden pawns, one couldn’t help but sigh that the giants of the Dark World were no joke—they were no paper tigers.
Umit dared to reach out to the Eckmond Kingdom precisely because he had the foundation for it.
“However, reaching out recklessly carries risk.”
Elus tossed aside the document, gazing at the sunset gradually sinking toward the sea horizon, the vast sea waves dyed with a layer of dim yellow glow.
At that moment,
The Den Den Mushi rang.
