Shortly after, the door opened. The waiter poked his head out, nodded at Wilder, and stepped aside. Wilder entered with little Aisha.
The tavern had warm hues, an overall dim yellow ambiance. It was very quiet, with only a few people scattered among the less than five round tables.
Wilder saw a tall man sitting in a chair in the corner, directly facing the entrance. He wore a greenish-brown robe, the hood-like part lowered, revealing a face full of imposing aura. The left side of his face bore a cross-shaped tattoo, extending from above down to near his chin. It was a rugged face, with a broad, open smile, his eyes fixed on Wilder who had just entered.
"Dragon?"
"You must be Mr. Morass, then?" Dragon grinned at Wilder, his voice magnetic with a touch of boldness.
"You want to discuss business with me?" Direct and to the point. Dragon looked calmly at Wilder, gestured with an open palm towards the chair beside him, inviting him to sit. As for little Aisha at his side, Dragon merely glanced at her briefly, smiled, and also invited her to sit.
The eyes within Wilder's black cloak lit up. He liked doing business with people like this.
"Perhaps we can cooperate, Mr. Revolutionary," Wilder said in a low voice.
"How so?" Dragon looked at Wilder with curiosity and interest, his gaze seemingly trying to penetrate the black cloak and see the person within.
"I have two proposals. One is to continue providing arms and backup resources to support the Revolutionary Army's activities. The other is to provide manpower support for the Revolutionary Army—that is… hire me."
"Why?" Dragon asked seriously.
"Five nations are too few, aren't they? For the entire East Blue…" Wilder looked up, their gazes met, and in an instant, the atmosphere turned solemn.
Time slipped by quietly. From outside, at some unknown point, the sounds of cannon fire and battle cries could be heard. The people in the tavern were incredibly quiet, their calm eyes holding a dangerous readiness to strike at any moment, glancing towards that table. It was unknown when their conversation resumed. No one knew what the two discussed, until Wilder stood up, took little Aisha, and left the place.
It was hard to say whose status was higher. Profit never concerned itself with such things. If they could acknowledge each other, they naturally had the capital for a transaction.
War erupted simultaneously in five nations, instantly attracting widespread attention. And while all eyes were drawn to the war, Fish Scale Island began its frenzied, covert development and expansion. Every day, another island was secretly brought under its banner, controlled by forces covertly supported by Fish Scale Island. Personnel recruitment entered an explosive phase. Countless talented individuals and ordinary members were brought in through various means and channels. At the same time, trade in the sea areas around Fish Scale Island gradually opened up. And these trading islands and sea regions, without exception, had all become subsidiary forces of the Black Serpent, or at least… within its strong sphere of control.
Although all this happened rapidly, it was conducted in secret. Because they possessed absolute suppressive power, it didn't stir up much commotion, and any disturbances that did arise were quickly quelled. Silently, a vast power had grown.
But it wasn't enough… At least, not for Wilder. At most, they were merely at the peak of the East Blue, far from being crowned its true lord. To reach that step depended on whether the subsequent plans proceeded smoothly. And all of that hinged on Wilder's conversation with Dragon.
Both had the same goal: to sweep a great wind across the entire East Blue without anyone noticing. By then, everything would be set in stone. However, before this, one of them had only dared to think it, lacking the means to realize it. After their talk, both recognized the opportunity.
Regardless of the Revolutionary Army's righteousness, purely from a development perspective, certain special methods were indispensable. It was the same for every faction. Perhaps the ultimate goal was good, was great, but the process of achieving it inevitably involved getting one's hands dirty. This was an unavoidable and necessary means or process.
The war continued, unlikely to cease in the short term. After issuing a series of commands, Wilder didn't interfere much further. Aside from daily reports on the war's progress delivered to him, all other matters were left to Vice and the others to manage. And even Vice and his group, unless absolutely necessary, wouldn't directly participate in actions. If it was truly unavoidable, they would wear masks and conceal their identities when operating.
The number of officer-level personnel, through recent recruitment, had reached fifty-eight. This could already be considered a formidable force. And this was just for now; after a period of integration, once they were fully assimilated into the Black Serpent, this force would likely become even more potent. The promotion system was very successful. Of the fifty-eight officer-level members, besides the twelve recruited earlier and Jacks whom Wilder had promoted, of the remaining forty-five, only thirty-one were recruited externally; all the others had become officers through promotion.
The war in the five nations raged fiercely. Wilder used this time to calm down and focus on his training. At the same time, preliminary preparations following that conversation with Dragon also began. Of course, these had nothing to do with Wilder; he only needed to order his personnel to expedite arms production. The rest was not within his scope of involvement. The matters of those nations would naturally be handled by the "fervent" elements of the Revolutionary Army. He only needed to complete the "mission" entrusted by his "employer" when the time came.
In that conversation, without going into specifics, Dragon chose the first and second options Wilder proposed, but for the second, Dragon requested that Wilder alone participate. Wilder agreed. This was beneficial for both sides. In this transaction, Wilder's only goal was to make money; he didn't care about anything else. If there were truly any other objectives… those would have to be viewed from a much more profound perspective. No one knew what agreement the two had truly reached in secret.
BANG!
In the courtyard, a tree so thick it would take three people to encircle it trembled violently. Then… with a harsh creaking sound, the tree split right down the middle and crashed to the ground.
Wilder, bare-chested, his face as calm as usual, retracted his fist. For his current self, this was merely a warm-up.
Wilder wore weighted items that restricted his movements, yet even so, his speed was still too fast to be seen. With each move, the ground shook continuously, dust billowed upwards, and fist imprints appeared one after another in quick succession. In the blink of an eye, not a single spot in the entire clearing was untouched; it was completely covered in Wilder's fist imprints. And these fist imprints had one characteristic: they were deep! There was no expansion; the imprint was the size of his fist, just deep. With one strike, while Wilder's fist might still be at the surface, the imprint had already penetrated downwards, at least half a meter deep.
This was a new physical technique Wilder had developed, combining Life Return, aspects of the Six Powers, and a heavy Iron Body-like concentration. It was similar to Lucci's Rokuogan from the original story, but neither its power nor other aspects were comparable. This was, to date, Wilder's strongest offensive technique outside of his swamp abilities! A purely physical technique!
After finishing, Wilder stood quietly on the spot, calming the surging qi and blood within him. When the dust settled, little Aisha, watching from not far away, was completely dumbfounded.
"So... so strong..." Her awestruck and dazed expression persisted for a long time. She didn't even notice the half-eaten "stupid lamb leg" fall from her hand to the ground. Only when Wilder walked over to her did the little one snap out of it. Her eyes immediately lit up, and she stared at Wilder with extreme adoration.
"Eat your stupid lamb leg," Wilder said, glancing at her faintly, then walked towards the bathhouse.
After his bath, Wilder, with only a pure white towel draped over his upper body, sat on the corridor outside the bungalow door, practicing his daily internal swamp manipulation while waiting for news.
More than half a month had passed since the war in the five nations began, and it was gradually nearing its end.
Little Aisha pestered him, her big, dark, glossy eyes looking pitiful as she earnestly begged Wilder to buy her another "stupid lamb leg." Since discovering Wilder had a lot of money, little Aisha had gradually let go of her inhibitions and would ask for food when she wanted it. Of course, this was limited to food; at least so far, Wilder hadn't heard her ask for anything else. However, she wasn't entirely without scruples. At least, whenever she asked for food, she would ask Wilder to make a request of her in return. All in all, a very easy child to raise.
"Stupid lamb leg! Stupid lamb leg! Stupid lamb leg! Mister, stupid lamb leg!"
"..." Damn it! A vein throbbed uncontrollably on Wilder's forehead.
"I have things to do," he finally couldn't help but say.
"Oh." Little Aisha immediately stopped clamoring and ran to sit by herself in the middle of the courtyard.
Wilder glanced briefly at her back, then turned his head and resumed his practice.
However, not long after he began training, Wilder's concentration was broken. A piece of news was delivered to him.
The war in the first nation had ended. The other four were also nearing their conclusions; it was believed they would end soon. Wilder wasn't too surprised by this. The war had lasted over half a month. With the Revolutionary Army's covert manipulation, this was actually already quite late. If the Revolutionary Army had acted directly without regard for exposure, it wouldn't have taken nearly this long. But obviously, that was impossible, because then there would be no subsequent cooperation between Wilder and the Revolutionary Army.
"Looks like it will begin soon," Wilder couldn't help but grin, a deep chuckle rumbling.
Sure enough, less than half an hour after receiving this news, Wilder's Den Den Mushi rang.
"Purupuru… Purupuru… Katcha!" The Den Den Mushi was answered. The person on the other end was, unsurprisingly, exactly who Wilder expected—a liaison from the Revolutionary Army.
"Is this Mr. Morass?" the voice on the other side was low, almost mechanical.
"Yes. And who is this?" Wilder replied. This was the contact method they had agreed upon to avoid mix-ups.
"Revolutionary Army." A mechanical tone, yet it confirmed their identities to each other.
"The operation can begin. Please ensure the arms are delivered to these locations within ten days…" The person on the other end listed twenty nations and the required armaments. After Wilder responded, the other party continued, "Regarding Mr. Morass's mission, we will notify you of the specifics later. The timing will depend on the delivery status of the arms under your command."
"Understood." Wilder hung up.
After ending the call, Wilder didn't immediately put the Den Den Mushi away but instead dialed the Black Serpent headquarters.
"Claire, I need two heavy machine guns and a large quantity of ammunition," Wilder said immediately upon connection. The heavy machine gun had been developed half a month ago and had undergone practical trials. Its power, accuracy, range, and rate of fire were all astonishing, causing a stir among the high-ranking officers at the time. However, manufacturing such a weapon was not easy; everything had to be done by hand. Currently, only twenty-three heavy machine guns had been produced in total, making each one incredibly precious. So far, only Ashin and Franpetar had each been issued one; no one else had any. Back then, Vice had been itching to try one but couldn't. But for Wilder, of course, no matter how precious, it could be provided.
Soon, Claire's sweet voice came from the other end: "Yes, sir."
"Additionally, continue expediting arms production without stopping. Convene a meeting of all high-ranking officers."
Hanging up the Den Den Mushi, Wilder revealed an excited smile. "Since I need to stay hidden, this is a good chance for it to see some action."
...
Ship after ship, laden with tightly packed crates, continuously departed from Fish Scale Island's docks, heading in different directions. Each ship was guarded by officer-level members and above, equipped with precision gear, taking turns on watch. Large quantities of arms set out from Fish Scale Island, heading to various locations. Their movements en route were covert, with guardian ships patrolling and monitoring the surrounding sea areas, providing advance intelligence.
The merchant ships responsible for transporting these arms were entirely black, even their flags were plain black, without any insignia. And the personnel aboard, without exception, were all clad in black robes, each wearing a mask. The masks were white and featureless, except for a single character inscribed on the temple. There was the character "斗" (Dou - Fight/Battle), "泽" (Ze - Marsh), and also "暗" (Àn - Dark/Shadow)… but "泽" was the most numerous.
Only a portion of these members were selected from the original Black Serpent; the rest were recruited later to participate in regional training, graduates from the training ground, and moreover, the best among them, the elites. And they were fundamentally different from the Black Serpent because… from now on, they were responsible only to "Morass," members of Morass's faction.
Ship after ship sped towards the nations indicated in the confidential dispatches, arriving and docking one after another. Soon after, personnel who had landed in advance were there to receive them.
Ten days passed quickly.
On this day, Wilder received the first call from the Revolutionary Army in ten days.
"Two days from now, operation begins. Target: Shield Card Kingdom. Enemy… the Royal Army." Though not a short message, only these few keywords registered in Wilder's ears.
Hanging up, Wilder, in his black cloak and a white mask, left the courtyard house with little Aisha.