Is this the trouble with happiness?
Lis found solace amid the hardship, continuing to ponder.
He knew very well the tactics of those Bodici nobles; after draining the Boditch Kingdom dry, they reaped a lot of wealth, but ultimately, they lost their noble titles and power.
Many of the Bodici nobles could not stand this; some chose to move to the more southern Human Kingdoms to start anew, but still, there were some who decided to stay within or around the territory of the Boditch Kingdom, planning to rely on the means they had previously arranged and stealthily seek even greater benefits.
This was quite normal; things might be a bit better in the Luou Peninsula, but out on the Pearl Sea, it was truly a devil's dance.
Like the time Lis killed Patrick on Giant Horn Island, which was a secret arrangement by those Bodici nobles.
Such situations were very common on the Pearl Sea.
The weakening of the naval strength of the Boditch Kingdom had allowed the chaotic forces led by pirates to grow increasingly rampant on the Pearl Sea.
And now, it was Lis who faced this problem.
As for abandoning the Pearl Sea, Lis completely disregarded that option.
A joke it was; he had chosen Danerluo Port precisely to better control the Pearl Sea; how could he possibly give it up?
Of course, there was a very simple solution to these problems, which was for Uncle Joyce to announce his identity as a Legendary Strongman and offer protection to Lis.
Although this wouldn't necessarily make those with ulterior motives who were in stealth give up, no one would dare to oppose Lis outright.
But after considering it, Lis still discarded this idea.
Uncle Joyce had already helped him a lot; Lis wasn't so helpless as to burden Uncle Joyce with the affairs of his territory.
Besides, Lis was quite confident in dealing with those evil spirits and demons.
After all, the reason those people chose to stay hidden was precisely because they were not strong enough.
As long as Lis maintained his current strength, solving these devilish issues was merely a matter of time.
Moreover, Lis's confidence in his breakthrough to become a Legendary Strongman was growing stronger and stronger.
Beyond these issues, Lis faced a very serious problem.
That was, he was running out of money!
Indeed, truly running out of money.
Since his rebirth, Lis had only once dealt with the financial difficulties of the Kane family. But with his later outstanding performance and personal operations, he never worried about similar issues again.
Especially after leaving Bright City to gain experience, the wealth he accumulated along the way and the gifts from the Dillon Kingdom had quickly inflated Lis's purse, at one point surpassing half a million Gold Coins in his storage space.
However, the cost of Lis's ongoing research was substantial. A large part of the precious materials from the Dillon Kingdom had been consumed by him alone.
Investing heavily in magic training made for rapid improvement in strength, but indeed, it also cost a great deal of money.
As for the White Dove Guild he had established, although it continued to make lucrative profits—and from conversations with other nobles, Lis understood that the White Dove's magic creations were extremely popular in the Feis Kingdom, even beginning to sell beyond its borders—
Most of these profits were used by Mora to expand production and to establish strongholds throughout the kingdom to recruit players as per Lis's instructions.
Thus, the remaining wealth of the White Dove Guild wasn't much; supporting the reconstruction and renewal of Lis's territory in the Luou Peninsula as he desired was an even greater challenge.
This was why Mora had recently been dragging Lis to attend the nobles' evening parties in Bright City, looking to drum up support from other nobles with nothing but empty promises.
It must be said, the wealth promised by King Morton along with the soldiers from the Golden Lion Knights had indeed helped Lis a great deal.
Lis stretched, having mostly prepared a plan for his territory, ready to entrust the responsibility to Mora and the others.
His most important task was still to improve his own strength.
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And then there was that Floating City submerged in the Pearl Sea!