Chapter 297: Chapter 260 Newman Changes Face, Commander of Bandit Suppression
Later that evening, at Jamestown Royal Harbor.
The Governor’s Mansion was ablaze with lights. Well-trained servants bustled about, and the banquet hall filled with the aroma of fine food and wine.
Although not many attended, the welcome dinner the Newman family prepared for Byron and Bill was of a high caliber.
The Newman brothers—Governor Jefferson Newman and Major General Elsie Newman—were present, along with their right-hand men: Ivan Derrick, the Chief Steward of the Governor’s Mansion, and Mallory Barton, the Chief Quartermaster of the Navy. Each brother was accompanied by a few administrative officers and naval captains.
These were the core figures the Newman family had cultivated and swayed in both military and political spheres—their staunch supporters and a community bound by shared interests.
The Governor, the Major General, and the Chief Steward are all Middle Sequence Transcendents. In the Newman family’s inner circle, these are the only Third Order Transcendents. If I were to unleash a ’Blood and Fire Sing As One’ here and send this whole lot to kingdom come, Jamestown Royal Harbor could be renamed and taken over on the spot, easy as pie, Byron mused, seated at one side of the long table, savoring the meticulously prepared seafood feast, as various dark thoughts naturally surfaced.
He also glanced at Tilly Newman, one of the heirs to the vast Newman family estate, and her fiancé, Bill.
The couple, seated together, was busy exchanging affectionate glances. Although they maintained decorum appropriate for a formal social occasion, the tender affection between them was palpable. They resembled a deeply enamored couple, reunited after a long separation, with endless sweet nothings to whisper to one another.
The guests couldn’t help but glance repeatedly at "Bill," each giving him a mental thumbs-up. No wonder he could marry into such a family! With such patience and ruthlessness, how could he fail to make a name for himself in the future? A true warrior, indeed! they mused. He’s tough on himself.
In fact, only Byron knew that ’Guardian Knight’ Bruh’s mind was becoming increasingly flexible. He had preemptively undergone a reverse Cognitive Revision. To others, Tilly might have appeared "as fat as a pig," but in Bruh’s eyes, she was the enchanting and bewitching ’Fairy’ Rigel. Naturally, he felt no revulsion.
One could say the power of imagination saved the day.
Especially since Rigel had, by then, obtained the second bloodline sublimation ritual from The Skinners’ Church’s ’Thousand Faces Rites’—’A Family of One.’ After fulfilling the prerequisites for Spirituality and Anchoring, she had chosen the ’human skin’ path over the ’beast skin’ path.
The requirement was to infiltrate a noble family of at least baronet rank with more than five members. Before outsiders, she had to gradually replace them one by one, ultimately playing five roles herself, ensuring that their social circles detected no anomalies. This state had to be maintained for at least one month. Upon successful promotion, female members would become a lower-tier Transcendent Species of the Mythical Creature, the ’Snake-haired Gorgon,’ effectively becoming Serpent Women like Beatrice. Men, however, would advance to become the more combat-effective ’Serpent Demons.’
For her, the best targets for replacement were, of course, the Newman family. This family held an Earl’s title, and their members numbered more than five. Unfortunately, their overall strength was too formidable. Rigel didn’t dare to don the skin of a Third Order individual; a single misstep could allow the original owner to resurrect themselves through her. The risk was too great, the probability of failure too high.
However, she had already selected the most suitable target: Mallory Barton, the Chief Quartermaster of the colonial fleet’s armory, who was seated at the same table. She was merely waiting for the opportune moment to make her move against his family.
"Bill, this is delicious, have more," Miss ’Fairy’ said, looking after her fiancé while not forgetting to raise her glass to Byron.
Lately, she had been on a roll. Not only had she found her destined love, thus lifting the curse that made her ugly for half of each day, but she had also obtained the Promotion Ceremony and Byron’s promise to help her secure the position of Grand Priest of The Skinners’ Church.
Now, eager to return the favor, she noticed the Newman brothers had finished their perfunctory welcoming remarks about their safe return but were hesitating to get to the main topic. So, she coquettishly prompted them, "Father, didn’t you say that once Bill and Byron advance to the Third Order, you’d help them arrange for official General ranks? Please give us a clear answer. When, exactly, can it be arranged?"
"Ahem, this..." Major General Newman looked somewhat uneasy. Seeing Byron, Bill, and a group of his confidants watching him, he could only force a smile and say, "I certainly wouldn’t go back on what I promised. But you all know that due to the recent accounting incident, we’ve been targeted by the Minister of Finance and Naval Marshal, the ’Kingmaker,’ Earl Warwick. Times have changed. Merely maintaining the Newman family’s position has already cost us dearly, exhausting all our goodwill with the homeland’s upper echelons. At this critical juncture, promoting our own people is no small feat. But Byron, rest assured, even if it’s difficult, I will never go back on my word. It’s just that we may need to weather this storm first."
But this was merely the surface reason; the crux of the issue could not be spoken aloud.
Initially, when the accounts inspectors were ambushed en route, even the Newman brothers, the masterminds who had issued the orders, had no idea how Byron had managed to orchestrate that inconceivable "flare explosion incident."
The unknown invariably breeds fear.
Since then, they had never dared to underestimate Byron, a Transcendent of merely the Second Order in the Pirate Class. They even regarded him as an equal, an unfathomable collaborator and powerful ally. To contend with the ’Kingmaker,’ Earl Warwick, they were willing to tolerate a little resentment—alright, perhaps more than a little—to unite all possible forces.
Now, Byron Tudor, the ’Sea Hunter’ who had returned victorious from Silvergold Island, had completed the ’Pirate’s Treasure’ Promotion Ceremony. He had become a Middle Sequence Transcendent, truly their equal. This resentment was already transforming into deep wariness.
Although their interests seemed aligned for the moment, with Bill serving as a crucial link maintaining their relationship, a superior judges a subordinate’s potential for treachery not by their thoughts, but by their capability to rebel. Facing Byron, whose strength had burgeoned so rapidly, it was impossible for them not to feel some resistance. Byron now possessed the strength. Once he also gained a position on par with theirs, what leverage would they have left to control him? Once a confined dragon soars to the heavens, it becomes impossible to tell who holds true authority.
Sigh, if only Bill had been the one to achieve the breakthrough, Major General Newman mused. He’d at least be far easier to control than this inscrutable Byron.
His only advantage over Byron now was his status as a great noble of the York Party, possessing his own network of connections. An ordinary person, even with money, wouldn’t know where to offer it or what to give. They would simply be exploited by those greedy old nobles and end up empty-handed. As new nobles who had painstakingly risen by following King Edward IV, the Newman family knew all too well the losses they had suffered, the traps they had navigated, and the "tuition fees" paid in tears. Having clawed their way up and learned the rules of the nobility’s game, they didn’t believe Byron could manage without them.
Young man, you don’t understand the world of nobility. Go back and hone your skills for another couple of years, Major General Newman thought. As an old fox, he couldn’t voice these thoughts, nor would he simply break his promise and offend Byron, a capable subordinate and collaborator.
Instead, he encouraged Byron, saying, "Byron, you’ve always been my trusted and favored general. Among all the young talents in the colonies, you are the one I hold in the highest regard. Your opportunity will come, sooner or later. The Kingdom’s Navy Department isn’t a place where Warwick, the ’Kingmaker,’ can dictate everything. The Navy has always been the King’s personal military force, and our strength as Royalists is considerable. As long as you achieve undeniable military success, not even Warwick can block your advancement.
"Coincidentally, I have a mission here from the Royalist Party. The Kingdom is dissatisfied with those incompetents from the Religious Tribunal. After months of fumbling, they still haven’t found the ’Mad Hunt’ or the last Lancaster. The Kingdom’s most pressing concern right now is these remnants of the Lancaster Party. If you can capture a few key figures, I’ll be in a better position to petition His Majesty for your appointment. How about this: tomorrow, I’ll issue an order appointing you Commander-in-Chief of the anti-rebel forces?"
These two were both cunning foxes. Byron wanted to use the York Party’s money and men to build his own forces. Newman, on the other hand, schemed to use Byron’s troops to accumulate achievements for himself and claim credit from Edward IV. Neither was up to any good.
Byron’s expression remained unchanged as he repeatedly voiced his agreement. But a chill flickered in the depths of his eyes, and he understood clearly:
So, they’re intentionally trying to suppress me and deny my promotion, huh? To maintain my image as a trusted subordinate, I even neglected my sister’s grand feast, and this is how you repay me, with mind games? And you want me to go suppress the Lancaster Party? Are you worried the bandits won’t multiply with each suppression attempt, or that you won’t meet your end quickly enough? Relying on a patron, the patron may fall; relying on allies, allies may desert. When one reaches a certain level of power, former support can transform into resistance. It seems there’s no point pinning any more hopes on the Newman family. Best to send them on their way sooner rather than later.