Chapter 817: Volume 25 Striking the Waters Midstream - 4 Great Achievements (3)
"Heh, it’s the first time someone has cautioned me like this, reminding me of the risks. Murad, my interest in you grows stronger by the moment. Setting aside the valuable things you could bring me, I firstly want to know what it is that I supposedly cannot bear." Komer nodded his head, well aware of the troubles that this Murad could bring to him. He also detected the provocative undertone in the other’s words, but that only piqued his interest more.
"Lord, you should be aware of our reputation in the Southern Mediterranean. Whether it’s the countries of the Corinthian Federation or the nations surrounding the Storm Ocean, they all loathe us to the bone. Though outwardly they treat us with respect but keep their distance, inwardly they are constantly scheming to cast us into hell. They’ve never had the opportunity, not until Hayreddin appeared." A strange expression surfaced on Murad’s gaunt, knife-like face, as if he was recalling how he ended up defeated by Hayreddin. "Now, Demisheme has become like forsaken dogs, fair game for anyone. No one will pass up this chance. You should realize, I, Murad, am not alone but represent a group. If you accept me, it’s as if you’re accepting the whole of Demisheme. This could make you face censure from the entire Southern Mediterranean and the Storm Ocean coastal countries—a decidedly unfavorable move."
"Murad, oh Murad, I didn’t realize you were so prescient. Knowing the bitter fruit that you, Demisheme, have sown, why didn’t you consider the consequences during your unchecked days?" Komer approached with a smile.
"Consider the consequences? Heh, Lord, we live off the sea and in such a manner—do you think we can consider the consequences? If we did, we wouldn’t be in this line of work! The moment we start to think about consequences, our Demisheme would have been finished long ago, and we certainly wouldn’t have roamed the Storm Ocean as we did for so long." Murad spoke sharply: "We’re not like the Carter Fleet, filled with talent, able to dominate on land just as at sea. We, hmph, are just a bunch of outcasts with no home, to be precise, just a bunch of garbage that people spit on. If we want to survive, we rely on one thing: cruelty. Only by being harsher and more venomous than others can we keep living in this ocean. But even so, we still failed, leading to the Murad you see before you now."
Murad’s last words carried a sense of desolation and helplessness. He knew very well that Demisheme, the target of many, would one day face such an end, just not that it would come so quickly.
Komer nodded silently, in agreement. Indeed, Demisheme’s secret to survival on the seas was to be ruthless and vicious, otherwise, either the Carter Fleet or the navies of the Southern Mediterranean would have buried them long ago. And now, this force laid before him; once he accepted them, he would also have to accept all the sins they had committed.
"Murad, I must thank you for your caution, though it may not be the most tactful. I think you know that before Hayreddin served me, he was also a murderer from Sparta, though he never did such a thing." Komer grinned, "I believe you’re also aware of the Church of Light’s position in the North, almost absolute, right? Yet the leaders of the Church Tribunal had once judged me as a heretic and demon and came personally to capture me. I can brazenly use dark powers to oppose them and yet here I sit, still enjoying everything as the Lord of the Caucasus, and have even obtained the position of Lord Homer. Do you think I care about the external pressures you’re worried about?"
Even Hayreddin was stunned by Komer’s unbridled speech. In the North, everyone clearly knew the fate of those declared heretical by the Church of Light. Even the powerful ones from the Religious Court came after this Lord. Recalling that time Komer left for the Southern Mediterranean, Hayreddin felt a deep upheaval in his heart, and now this Lord had stood back up in the Caucasus and had even assumed the role of Lord Homer. What did this mean? It meant he had overthrown the Church of Light’s dominion over this land, taking control of his own destiny!
Murad looked at the young Lord before him, seeing a trace of hauteur and defiance that was greater than his own reckless abandon—a confidence and arrogance that scorned all others. He did not know if this was the aura of a true sovereign power, but he knew he had never possessed it.