Alfonso stood in front of Irene, looking down at the somewhat frail little bird.
"Where were you when we burned Victoria's fleet and threw the Lion King's honor into the lake?
Where were you when I personally paved the entire Salt Wind City with ship-borne red gold?
And where were you when the legion's grand formation, like a black cloud, obscured Leithanien's dawn?"
One question after another suppressed Irene's momentum to its lowest point.
Before she could even open her mouth to retort, she saw the man in front of her raise his head proudly again.
"I am Alfonso, Duke of Old Iberia, Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Fleet, Captain of the Stultifera Navis, and my own king. And you, an insignificant Inquisitor, you dare to question me!"
It was clear that Irene's previous words had greatly angered him. Even the strange Seaborn beside him shook her head at Irene after Alfonso finished speaking, indicating how ridiculous her questioning seemed to them both.
"The ignorant Church of the States finally dared to cross the sea to find me. Should I praise you for it? Go back, no matter how you came. The Fools Ship does not welcome you. Since you haven't harmed Garcia, I won't hold it against you. But your blood will sooner or later be spilled upon this sea."
As if having vented his anger, the tall man turned to comfort the Seaborn he called "Garcia" beside him.
"Insulting The Inquisition is a grave crime in Iberia."
"Do I need to repeat myself? Do you not understand my words? Get out, everyone on this ship is dead, old Iberians." The man was displeased by Irene's defiance. He pointed towards the door, asserting his sovereignty over this place, this naval warship.
"We have paid countless prices… not to seek your permission." Recalling the countless sacrifices The Inquisition had made for the sea of Iberia, to reclaim its past glory, Irene's small hand holding the lantern trembled incessantly, but she still showed no intention of lowering it.
"...People of the Church of the States are always so annoying... As for insult, a grave crime? The Church of the States, helpless even against the cowardly royal family, your judgment cannot reach this sea!"
Looking at the defiant little bird before him, Alfonso once again stood in front of her.
Meanwhile, not far away, Kanna held a camera she had pulled out from who knows where, recording the scene. Skadi, like a director, wore sunglasses and chewed on a Pocky stick, nodding repeatedly at the drama unfolding in the distance.
"I say, aren't you going to help that poor little bird?" Specter walked over and squatted down. When the captain appeared, she thought Kanna would intervene, but was surprised to see Kanna retreat behind everyone, pull out a camera, and start recording the situation.
"This Captain won't harm Irene, at least not now. Don't you think his situation is very valuable for reference? He's been isolated overseas for over sixty years, feeding on Seaborn, and despite such severe assimilation, he still maintains his consciousness. I believe this footage will bring countless benefits to Iberia and Rhodes Island. Moreover, Irene has always been under the protection of The Inquisition and Dario. Now she has officially broken free from that protection and is facing the outside world directly. This Captain, as a 'storm,' will be the best gift for her to spread her wings and fly."
Currently, Irene is still that somewhat rigid little bird who relies on books and dossiers for reference. Of course, this is also related to her tragic past.
And this meeting and confrontation with the Captain is the best opportunity to break through that barrier. The person she faces is a legend from sixty years ago, a top figure who could stand shoulder to shoulder with Carmen, and the only man in Iberia who dared to show absolutely no respect to the Church of the States.
"Speaking of which, who is the current Pope? Carmen?" Just then, Alfonso, not far away, suddenly lowered his demeanor and inquired about the situation in Iberia.
"You know Saint Carmen's name?" Irene was somewhat surprised by his question, not expecting that the old man who disappeared sixty years ago would know Saint Carmen.
"Saint? Saint... Pfft! Hahahaha…" Alfonso, after hearing Irene call Carmen a Saint, was first stunned, then suddenly burst into laughter. Of course, everyone understood how mocking that laughter was.
"Doesn't he feel ashamed? Does he not even have the courage to become Pope? No wonder it took you sixty years to find this place. It seems the disaster has made Old Iberia cowardly. But it doesn't matter, the old ship doctor and I speculated about the current state of Old Iberia before he turned into coral. I already guessed it..."
Alfonso looked at the damaged hole in the ceiling, as if recalling something, muttering about lost companions. Suddenly, his aura rose again.
"But now, the floor you stand on, this spotless golden hall, is the Iberia of my memory! The nation you speak of is extremely narrow, only the part you are willing to see and understand, bah!
How could a country that once dared to traverse the mainland become so cowardly! So cowardly that it took sixty years to find me here."
Alfonso took a step forward, and Irene took a step back. Her hand holding the lantern trembled incessantly, showing that her faith was on the verge of collapse during her verbal confrontation with Alfonso.
"Hmm? Why are there two Aegir and a Little Draco here? My Iberia does not welcome Aegir." Just as Irene was about to retreat to Kanna and her group, Alfonso, who had been focused on the little bird, finally shifted his attention from the Inquisitor before him.
"No offense, Captain, we were merely hunting some disgusting monsters and mistook them for you and your first mate." Specter's words, now lucid, were like singing, and very artful.
Compared to her, Skadi was much more direct. She sized up the Seaborn-assimilated Captain, "How have you lived here for so long..."
If it were an Abyssal Hunter, surviving on this ship might not be impossible, but this man before them clearly resisted the Seaborn assimilation. So, in this Seaborn-infested sea fortress, how did he manage to be an enemy of the Seaborn and still live for over sixty years? Skadi was very curious.
"You've hit the nail on the head, Aegir fool." Alfonso looked outside the door.
"My hunting game with it has been going on for a long time. Today or tomorrow should have been my day of harvest. But you drove away my prey — wait... wait!"
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