Chapter 692: Volume Nineteen: Lost Horizon - Twenty: Self-Defilement
Xifnos Island is situated at the edge of the Southern Mediterranean and the Storm Ocean. Due to its proximity to the Storm Ocean, the wild, humid easterly winds collide with the cool, pleasant westerly winds in this area, creating a climate that is complex and changeable. To the west, one can enter the throats of the three major bays of the Southern Mediterranean, with the Moria Peninsula and Sisonia Peninsula embracing the bays like two enormous pincers.
Komer was fond of this unique location. Although geographically it indeed posed some dangers, the threats Komer actually faced were singular, namely the Demisheme Pirate Group. Neither the Carter Fleet nor the Collins City-state Alliance Navy posed a danger; Komer had no intention of disregarding the sovereignty of Tilo City-State. After gaining Katrina’s recognition, Komer planned to acquire ownership of the island through redemption. To Tilo City-State, whose main business was maritime trade, this somewhat remote island was more of a burden. Both the Demisheme Pirates and the Carter Fleet were fears they could never dispel. If a good price could be obtained, they wouldn’t mind transferring the sovereignty of the island.
Komer didn’t rush to make contact with Caucasus and Leon. In his view, as long as Puber was still there, the policies he had set would not change significantly. Komer had always been curious about why the legend of his adventures on the Mang Continent had spread, but since even Rebury had disappeared, it proved to be a scheme of the Church of Light.
After much consideration, Komer concluded that the Church of Light was currently not on good terms with the Kingdom of Nicosia or with Homer and needed to justify their claim of being remnants of the Dark Forces without any proof.
Rebury alone proved nothing. If they tried to use Rebury’s behavior to prove their point, they risked implicating the Church itself. In such a case, it was better to ambiguously use an inexplicable legend to cover things up; after all, it couldn’t be verified. To the members of the Court, they probably thought Komer was already banished to some Different World, never to return. Rumors with no possibility of validation were most suitable for this.
Now, Komer’s primary goal was to secure ownership of Xifnos Island. Although Katrina had already approved, to actually establish a maritime force of his own here, it was essential to gain the recognition of the true masters of the island—the Tilo People.
Tilo City-State was a member of the Corinth City-state Alliance, which originated from the Tilo Alliance. However, as the city of Tilo declined and the city of Corinth rose, the second city-state union of the Southern Mediterranean was renamed the Corinth City-state Alliance due to its convening in Corinth.
When Komer, as a SuSoer Merchant from the Northern Continent’s inland, proposed to obtain Xifnos Island as a transshipment warehouse in the Tilo City Council, the request was almost unopposed and was promptly approved. 300,000 gold coins were neither large nor small for Tilo City, but for an island of little worth like Xifnos, it felt to the Tilo People as if they had picked up 300,000 gold coins for nothing. To them, the foreign merchant seemed like a fool who couldn’t be cheated enough, planning to use Xifnos Island as a transshipment warehouse between the Mang Continent and the Southern Mediterranean. The Carter Fleet and the Demisheme Pirates could tear everything of this fool to shreds within an hour.
Komer had been worried that someone would see through his intentions, but he soon realized he was unnecessarily anxious. The Carter Fleet may have been considered a principled bandit within the Corinth City-state Alliance, but those Demisheme were undoubtedly out-and-out ruffians, and their unpredictable movements left the mighty navy of the Corinth City-state Alliance helpless.