The White Flower Association had many members, but once their leader, Marcelo, was captured, the rest were nothing more than a disorganized mob. They could neither mount an organized resistance nor find a place to flee, so they could only hide in dilapidated houses, praying to be overlooked.

Soon, this group, which offered almost no resistance, was rounded up and brought under the Knights’ control.

Ronin couldn’t possibly take so many people back to Golden Feather City. For one thing, the ships couldn’t hold them all, and for another, there was no need.

Besides, if these people stayed on Rapids Island, they would one day become his subjects and serve him.

So he stood on a high slope and loudly declared his purpose for coming to Rapids Island. He stated that this operation would only target Marcelo and his accomplices. As for everyone else, as long as they followed orders, behaved themselves, and completed the tasks assigned by Wally Knight, they could continue to live on this land without any danger.

This announcement helped to ease the tense atmosphere somewhat. Ronin took the opportunity to briefly survey the people and noticed some disturbing things.

Many among them were disabled, and some had intellectual deficiencies.

For example, some had poor eyesight, some walked with a limp, some who should have been in their teens had the bodies of people decades older, and some in their twenties had the mental capacity of a five or six-year-old.

According to Wally, many of them were born this way.

It was already a feat that this group could survive, understand speech, and perform simple tasks. Many others had died just days after birth.

This was the punishment sent down by the Seven Gods for the sins of their ancestors.

Ronin, however, had his own theory.

The White Flower Association lacked any normal social order, so their methods of procreation were bound to be more chaotic than in the outside world.

Even inbreeding among nobles produced offspring with congenital deformities, to say nothing of the far more chaotic social environment of the White Flower Association.

’When I take over Rapids Island, I’ll probably need to establish some standards for marriage. Can’t just throw a man and a woman together. I’ll need to avoid inbreeding as much as possible to prevent more children with congenital defects.’

While the men were being secured, a search was conducted simultaneously.

Soon, the dock that Ronin had spotted earlier was discovered.

Wally stared at the scene before him, seething with anger.

He was responsible for supervising all of Rapids Island. It was one thing for these islanders to become increasingly uncontrollable, but he never expected them to secretly build a dock and establish contact with the outside world.

Looking at the stockpiled lumber, he knew Marcelo had been smuggling.

If his superiors decided to investigate this, he would inevitably be held accountable.

"These damned criminals!"

Wally cursed under his breath. In front of Ronin and the members of the Royal Griffin Knight Order, he had no way to escape responsibility. Nor did he have enough clout to convince these nobles to cover it up for him.

"Count, what are your plans now?"

Ronin pondered for a moment before replying, "This dock was clearly used by the White Flower Association for smuggling. I’d like you to take charge of interrogating Marcelo and the others. Try to find out who they were smuggling lumber with, how long this partnership has been going on, how much lumber has been shipped, and so on."

Ronin’s words pulled Wally from his thoughts. He quickly responded, "Rest assured, my lord. I will get results from the interrogation."

"Just remember not to endanger their lives."

Ronin added, "Whether they live or die is a matter for His Majesty the King. Our mission is to deliver them to Golden Feather City alive."

To prevent any rash actions on Wally’s part, he assigned Tom and one of Missy’s Knights to assist.

Fortunately, the captives’ lips were not as sealed as one might have expected.

Clifford, the man Ronin had defeated, was a prime example. After just an afternoon of simple threats from Wally, he obediently confessed everything.

According to Clifford, he came from the Blood Sail Pirate Gang, the largest in the Screaming Sea. He was one of the gang’s three leaders.

Clifford had taken up residence on Rapids Island to help Marcelo oppose Wally, and also to eventually take over the White Flower Association for himself in pursuit of greater wealth.

He had assumed such a remote area wouldn’t attract the attention of important people—at least, not so quickly.

Clifford never imagined that the authorities would arrive so swiftly and forcefully, giving him no time to react.

"Ronin, do you believe what Clifford told you?" Missy asked.

As the leader of the royal squad, Missy represented His Majesty the King to a certain degree.

When she returned to Golden Feather City, she would be reporting everything she had witnessed to Bruno.

In response to her question, Ronin first nodded thoughtfully, then shook his head.

"I believe his story about his origins. The Blood Sail Pirate Gang is certainly capable of something like this. However, I remain skeptical about whether they are the only other party involved."

During the afternoon’s search, Ronin had found a large number of well-made logging tools: machetes, axes, and the like.

This suggested that Clifford and his men were planning a large-scale operation on Rapids Island and already had a stable sales channel.

’It’s hard to believe there wasn’t a partner involved in the entire process, from felling the trees to shipping, transport, and sales.’

’Who could their partner be?’

Ronin’s thoughts naturally turned to the noble houses on the shores of the Screaming Sea, the most prominent of which was the Fleming Clan, home to the Earl of the Screaming Sea.

’But this is just speculation,’ he thought. ’I have no concrete evidence to prove it, and I won’t mention it to Missy. Being accused of slander and framing by another noble would be a huge hassle.’

Ronin was slightly worried. Now that he had cut off the Blood Sail Pirate Gang’s source of income, would they try to retaliate and attack Rapids Island after he officially took it over?

An isolated island was not nearly as secure as his Wubei Territory.

If he mishandled this, a single heavy blow could cause him devastating losses.

’Until Wubei Territory has sufficient naval Power, perhaps setting aside disputes and cooperating for mutual benefit is an option?’

Ronin and his party rested for a night in the White Flower Association’s mountain stronghold.

Early the next morning, Wally Knight left a few Knights and a contingent of Infantry to continue managing the area. The rest, along with Ronin, escorted Marcelo and Clifford back to the port on Rapids Island.

Now, the only troublesome faction left on Rapids Island was the Laren Association.

They had dealt with the White Flower Association easily; the weaker Laren Association would be even simpler.

「On the morning of the third day」, Ronin led his troops out once more.

Communication on Rapids Island was clearly inefficient. When Ronin’s forces arrived outside the Laren Association’s territory, their leader, Laren Knight, was just being startled from his sleep. Only then did he learn that the head of the White Flower Association had been captured.

Under these circumstances, he surrendered without any resistance. Ronin’s men took control of the area with virtually no fighting.

And just like that, the two rebellious factions on Rapids Island were suppressed without making a single ripple. All Ronin had to do now was escort Marcelo and his group to Horn Bay, and this merit-earning expedition would come to a successful conclusion.

On a quiet evening, Ronin stood by his window, looking down at the port of Horn Bay.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK...

A knock sounded at the door, and Karda entered.

"My lord, we’ve brought the man you wanted to see."

"Bring him in."

Flanked by Tom and David, a bald man in shackles was escorted into the study.