The fleet, consisting of the Flying Zealander and Lübeck's merchant ships, broke down urgently before approaching the island.
"The transit point to Vinland is an extremely important strategic location. In order to allow the Pirate Kingdom to exclusively enjoy Vinland's interests, we must not only occupy this place, but also leak as little relevant information as possible."
Ella took Amy all the way to the bottom - she was going to see Janus to negotiate for their release.
"To be honest, these Lübeckers are of no use. Releasing them will not pose any threat to us. Rather than keeping them and letting them board Atlantis, it is better to release them early and replace them with something else." benefit."
"Other benefits?"
"The most important things on the sea are, first, food, and second, fresh water. Asking them to hand over some of their food and water and then letting them return is much more useful than keeping them."
Speaking, Ella nodded to herself.
"I must have had this consideration last night. Well, I didn't expect that I would be so thoughtful even when I was asleep!"
"Your Majesty, you obviously just thought of this, right?" Amy complained at the side, "Now they have seen where Atlantis is. If you let them return when you captured them, they would not You’ll know so much.”
"Gu...I have to find a reason to explain my behavior yesterday!"
Ella, who was exposed by Amy's words, held her head and cried.
"You can't let me admit that I have the habit of sleepwalking, and I'm still a rough idiot when I sleepwalk, right? Although it's a little late, the reason makes sense, right?"
"Your Majesty, I don't think we can release these Lübeckers no matter what."
Ella couldn't help but feel a little surprised when she heard Amy put forward strategic opinions to her so firmly: "How to say?"
"Although His Majesty is using the name of the Blackbeard Pirate and intends to refuse to admit that you did this, the political pressure on His Majesty must be as light as possible. Let them go now, and they will return to Lübeck to take care of this matter. As soon as the matter is revealed, the mayor of Lübeck will definitely come to Gotland to find you. It will be a bit disadvantageous for His Majesty to find that you are not here."
"According to this theory, even if I go back with them and imprison them, the news will leak out sooner or later, which will be detrimental to me, right?"
"The best way is actually to sink them all into the sea here. However, His Majesty is not someone who would do such a thing."
After a pause, Amy continued to state her thoughts in front of Ella:
"So, I think the best way to deal with them is to leave them in Vinland and let them die there. This will not leak the information of Vinland, nor will it be disadvantageous to His Majesty politically, let alone make His Majesty reluctantly To give cruel orders.”
Ella looked at Amy in surprise. That long gaze made Amy feel a little unnatural:
"Your Majesty? Is there something stuck on my face?"
"No... I just think you look a bit like a chief of staff, Amy."
"I've obviously always been giving you advice, okay?"
"I remember that there were always bad ideas, or unconstructive proposals like 'kill them all'..."
"What kind of image do you think of me in His Majesty's eyes?"
"Although I think exchanging some food is a good choice... but Amy, it's rare for you to come up with a valuable proposal, so I'll just do what you say." Ella nodded. "But in this case, there is no need to see the other party's captain. Let them continue to stay at the bottom and take care of our livestock."
Before he finished speaking, a pirate ran up from below. When he saw Ella, he immediately reported: "The King of Sweden, the captain of Lübeck died somehow!"
"?"
Ella followed the pirate to the bottom. Janus had been dragged out of the bear's cage. His first mate and the group of Lübeck sailors gathered around Janus, while he himself lay motionless on the ground.
"What happened?" Ella asked. "How did he die?"
Everyone shook their heads in unison.
"We have checked carefully and there are no injuries on his body. The ship's doctor has also been here. It is not poisoning." The pirate who brought Ella over said, "It's really strange. The person who was fine yesterday is gone today. "
His first mate's eyes were a little moist and he was whimpering when he spoke.
"Janus always looks like he doesn't care about life and death. He often makes dangerous decisions, but he can often save the day. He took our fleet several times to sail from Lübeck to the Mediterranean... This is very important to the pirate kingdom. It may not be anything, but in our eyes, he is a hero."
For some reason, Ella also felt a sense of sadness in her heart. Although she just met yesterday, she always felt that this person was her old friend for decades.
Ella glanced around and found that all the Lübeck sailors lowered their heads to their chests and were truly silent.
"He turned out to be such a beloved captain." Ella sighed, "In fact, he and I don't have any grudges. There is land ahead of us, so I will arrange for someone to bury him."
People around were a little surprised. However, no one said anything about it.
Although we have already seen land, that is because the view on the sea is vast, and it will take a long time to sail to the island.
During this time, Ella had the ship's carpenters put together a simple coffin from planks of wood. She asked people to cover the coffin with wool from the slaughtered sheep not long ago, put Janus's body in it, and then asked people to fetch his belongings from the ship in Lübeck and put them in together.
Janus was a man, but his relics contained many women's grooming utensils. Even many of his crew were surprised.
As it continued to approach, the island gradually grew larger in the eyes of the sailors. But since its outline can be clearly seen, it is just a huge island, not the legendary continent of Atlantis.
The large circle drawn by the Aztlan people on the chart was even larger than Britain, but presumably it was just a random mark and the scale was not strictly adhered to.
The funeral took place immediately after the ship successfully anchored. Ella attended and had her military band play a dirge.
Ella felt that these Lubeck sailors were somewhat closer to her. Come to think of it, they weren't even soldiers, they just followed orders and went to sea to find a land of opportunity called Vinland.
The first mate came to Ella wiping his tears.
"Rui...Captain Blackbeard, thank you for holding Janus's funeral. There is something I want to ask you. Can you tell me the truth?"
"What do you want to ask?"
"You said you have no grudge against Janus. So, can these sailors of Janus return to their hometown alive?"
Ella was stunned for a moment. She didn't want these Lubeck sailors to have false expectations, so she sighed and shook her head.
"I don't want the news about Vinland to leak out. Now that you are here, you can live there from now on."
The sailors in Lübeck began to sob. As prisoners, they had already prepared for the worst. Whether Ella's decision is good or bad, everyone has a different answer.
"In that case, I have something to ask you." The first mate looked at Ella sincerely, "Janus's home is next to the port of Lübeck. He has a yard in his house, and there is a fruit tree in the yard. There is a ring buried underneath. I hope you can send someone to take out the ring when you get back."
"ring?"
"He went to get this from a cave on Antilia a year ago," the first mate said. "He told me many times that if he had an accident one day, he would have to find someone to take this coin away from him." The ring was dug up and returned to Antilia.”
