Starting with One Piece, a Multiverse Simulation

Of the five candidates, Crusch Karsten is undoubtedly the strongest in terms of both prestige and influence.

Therefore, Julius's suggestion was for Anastasia to first unite with other weaker factions to form an alliance, eliminate the promising candidate Crusch, and then gradually pursue the throne.

As for the alliance members, Julius also had an idea: Emilia's camp.

Judging from the current situation, Emilia's faction is the weakest in terms of power, wealth, and prestige. If they extend an olive branch, the other party will most likely not refuse.

Moreover, Emilia's knight Wood is Anastasia's younger brother, and with such a natural relationship, their cooperation is even less of an obstacle.

Moreover, while Emilia's faction may lack resources, prestige, and connections, its high-end combat strength is still quite formidable.

If we want to defend against Reinhard, that overpowered guy, Julius believes that Wood, that monster, is indispensable.

To be fair, there's a reason why Julius was called the 'best knight'.

In addition to its considerable strength, its intelligence and strategic planning capabilities are also outstanding. The plan it has proposed is indeed the most effective one for Anastasia.

The strategy of uniting the weak to defeat the strong, and then finally eliminating the weak with an overwhelming advantage, is a common tactic in military strategy.

The key issue now is that Anastasia has no intention of joining forces with Emilia's faction, or rather, Emilia is the first person she wants to eliminate!

The reason is quite simple: Anastasia believes that her younger brother Wood has been bewitched by Emilia, which is why he became her knight and protects her.

Wood is very strong, but his opponent is a half-elf and looks almost exactly like the Witch of Envy, Satella. Who knows, he might have fallen victim to some kind of secret spell from her?

Regarding Anastasia's statement, Wilkins believed that with Wood's strength, it was impossible for him to fall for it, even if the other party was the Witch of Jealousy herself.

Unfortunately, even when he spoke, Anastasia clearly had no intention of listening. Moreover, Anastasia wasn't the only one determined to attack Emilia; Mimi, Black Taro, and Tibi shared the same idea.

Mimi was simply following the trend and agreed with Anastasia's statement that "family should stay together."

As for Hetaro and Tibby, they had idolized Wood since childhood, and if they could, they would never want to be his enemy.

Regardless of whether Lord Wood was affected by the opponent's magic, if Emilia is eliminated, then Wood, as the guardian knight, becomes meaningless.

"I think you guys are completely crazy. Emilia and the others have neither prestige nor connections. If we don't find a breakthrough, they will inevitably be eliminated in the end, even if we leave them alone."

"But instead of focusing on dealing with the troublesome Crusch, you're thinking about destroying Emilia's faction."

"So I'd like to ask, how do you plan to eliminate Emilia's faction first, by force?"

Although I'm reluctant to admit it, I believe that even if all of us present were combined, we might not be a match for Wood.

Neither Wilkin nor Mimi denied what Julius had said.

Because they were like family to him, they were very familiar with Lord Wood's strength. Wilkins even once said that Wood was a born warrior.

Although he had never met the so-called Witch of Envy, he believed that Wood might not necessarily lose to the so-called Witch of Calamity, which shows how much Wilkins and the others recognized Wood's strength.

"No, to eliminate Emilia, we don't necessarily need to confront them head-on; all we need is the power of public opinion..."

As Anastasia spoke, a rather wicked plan began to form in her mind.

Don't let Anastasia's innocent face and baby-faced appearance fool you into thinking she's easy to get along with.

In fact, among the five candidates for the throne, Crusch is a leader with high personal charisma, Priscilla is a tsundere girl who is tough on the outside but soft on the inside, and Emilia and Felt are pure and innocent sweethearts.

Anastasia, on the other hand, is a truly cunning and resourceful woman, and she sometimes resorts to extreme measures to achieve her ambitions and goals.

This is not surprising, though. Compared to others who are either naive and innocent or have been well-off since childhood, Anastasia is a ruthless person who truly rose from the slums on her own.

The slums were already chaotic, and she was a woman. Without some means, how could Anastasia have established the Hesin Merchant Guild and become the president of the largest merchant guild in Kararaki?

Some speculate that Wood played a crucial role in all of this, but in reality, aside from protecting Anastasia's safety, the Hessin Merchant Guild was truly built up by Anastasia's own hard work.

As a businesswoman, Anastasia knew very well how important reputation was.

Therefore, the plan that just popped into her mind was to use the "Iron Fang" mercenary group to spread information detrimental to Emilia throughout the capital.

The opponent was a half-elf, and even resembled Satella, which was a natural disadvantage for Emilia.

The masses are often ignorant, and once public opinion takes a turn, Emilia will almost certainly lose her chance at the throne, and they won't have to lose a single soldier from start to finish.

Upon hearing Anastasia's rather malicious plan, Julius, as the "best knight" and strictly adhering to his principles, naturally rejected such despicable behavior.

Anastasia, however, was completely deaf to this, claiming that the business world is like a battlefield and that creating public opinion to discredit opponents is a standard business practice. She hadn't even had a chance to call Emilia despicable for taking away her important younger brother.

Just as Anastasia and Julius were arguing fiercely over their differing opinions, a member of the Hexin Merchant Guild suddenly rushed in.

He then reported, "President, our merchant caravan that we planned to transport goods to the capital has encountered an accident!"

Not only were all the goods being transported lost, but the Iron Fang mercenary group responsible for escorting them also almost completely lost contact with the group.

According to the sole survivor, a thick fog suddenly rolled in during their transport, and both the earth dragons and orcs lost their sense of direction in the fog, suspected to be an encounter with the "White Whale of the Fog," one of the three great magical beasts!

Chapter 361 The Mist Beast—The White Whale!

The so-called "White Whale of the Mist" was naturally familiar to Anastasia and her companions.

Or it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that these three magical beasts, known as the "White Whale," were the merchants' lifelong enemies.

The so-called "White Whale of the Mist" was created more than 400 years ago by the Gluttonous Witch based on the premise that it was "huge and had a lot of meat that could fill the stomachs of many people".

The beluga whales created, however, are dominated by a "gluttonous" factor. For the past four hundred years, they have appeared mysteriously in a certain place each time, and then devour a large number of creatures or goods.

Although large cities have large populations, they generally possess powerful barriers and combat capabilities, so intelligent beluga whales will not choose cities as their targets.

For this reason, caravans, with their limited combat capabilities and large populations, became the white whales' favorite targets.

It is called the "White Whale of Mist" because the white whale has the ability to spew out dense fog. Whenever it attacks a target, it will cause the surrounding area to be enveloped in dense fog, and then hide its figure in the fog to wait for an opportunity to strike.

Therefore, the beluga whales are almost always untraceable from their appearance to their disappearance, making it no easy task to hunt or pursue them.

In addition to the troublesome abilities of the white whale, its magic and combat power are also extremely strong.

The previous Sword Saint, Theresia van Astrea, who was Reinhard's grandmother, once went to fight this Mist Beast, but the result was that the previous Sword Saint died as a result.

No one knows the specifics of Theresa's battle with the white whale, but many believe that Theresa's death was partly due to Reinhard receiving the blessing of the "Sword Saint".

As is widely known, the Astrea family's "Sword Saint" blessing is different from other blessings; it is a legacy blessing, and only one person in a world can possess it.

Young Reinhard received the family's "Sword Saint" blessing, which meant Theresa was going to die.

Of course, this is just speculation. After all, it wouldn't be surprising if Theresa died in the battle with the white whale.

As the strongest of the three great monsters, the White Whale wouldn't have been able to cause trouble for over 400 years without anyone doing anything to it.

Over the past 400 years, many people have gone to hunt down the white whale, but almost none of them have returned alive. In fact, for most people, no one knows exactly what the white whale looks like or what abilities it possesses.

Many of the goods involved in this incident were intended by Anastasia to win over the nobles of the capital and expand her network of connections, making them extremely valuable.

If this batch of goods cannot be recovered, the loss to the Hexin Chamber of Commerce will be devastating.

In addition to the issue of the goods, the "Iron Fang" mercenary group, which had lost contact with them, could not be ignored either.

Training a private mercenary group is already a huge expense, especially since the mercenary group members who traveled from Kararaki to the capital this time were all elites from the Iron Fang.

In short, the sudden bad news has now directly disrupted Anastasia's original plans.

If she loses this shipment and the elite mercenaries, then winning the royal selection ceremony will be even more difficult.

"Tell me the location of the incident. With the elite strength of our 'Iron Fang' mercenary group, even if the opponent is a Mist Beast, we shouldn't be instantly killed."

If I take people there now, I should be able to rescue some people and bring the goods back as well.

The Mist Beast is only interested in food. Sometimes it will swallow inedible goods along with the food, but sometimes, if you're lucky, it will leave them behind.

Wilkin understood the importance of the shipment to Anastasia, and he couldn't ignore the trapped mercenary group members, so he put on his gear and headed to the scene to provide assistance.

"You think you can defeat the 'White Whale of Mist' with this small force? What's the difference between that and going straight to your death!"

Seeing Wilkins grab a weapon and prepare to storm out, Julius naturally reached out to stop him.

Although he had never seen the "Mist Beast" and had never fought it, the White Whale's reputation was too great. Since even the previous Sword Saint had been defeated by it, Julius did not believe that Wilkin could defeat it.

"Even if it means going to my death, I'm going to save my comrades. Sir Knight, you can stay here to protect Miss Anna. I didn't ask you to come with me to your death."

The members of the "Iron Fang" mercenary group are almost all orcs, and Wilkin, as the leader, is usually well-loved. Now that the fate of his members and kin is unknown, he, with his bold and righteous character, naturally cannot choose to stand idly by.

Hearing Wilkins's words, which were half serious and half sarcastic, Julius couldn't help but laugh in anger. He even wondered if he had been too hasty in choosing his allegiance.

Anastasia's insistence on fighting Emilia out of personal grudges is one thing, but now the leader of her mercenary group is also a muscle-bound guy with nothing but a brain.

Of course, having sworn an oath at the palace to follow Anastasia and become her knight, Julius, with his integrity, would not betray her.

Therefore, Julius was not angry at Wilkin's provocation. Instead, he maintained his elegant demeanor and explained, "I am not against rescuing your 'Iron Fang' mercenary group, nor am I unwilling to retrieve the lost cargo. Rather, I believe that it would be extremely unwise to rashly go to attack the White Whale."

Wilkins was about to say something after hearing Julius's words, but Anastasia stopped him and gestured for Julius to continue.

"As I mentioned before, the previous Sword Saint, Theresa van Astrea, died at the hands of the White Whale."

As far as I know, the husband of the former Sword Saint Theresa, known as the "Sword Demon" Wilhelm, spent his entire life chasing the white whale, attempting to avenge his wife.

She even left the Astrea family for this, becoming Crusch's butler instead.

The love story between Julius and the "Sword Saint" and the "Sword Demon" was known to everyone in the capital at the time, and Julius was no exception.

When Julius brought up this matter, the astute Anastasia immediately understood his intentions and said, "So you mean you want to drag Crusch and his faction into this by telling 'Sword Demon' White Whale about it?"

Seeing Anastasia speak her mind, Julius nodded in approval. If the brother complex factor were removed, Anastasia's intelligence was clearly still intact.

"That's right, Crusch values ​​Mr. Sword Demon Wilhelm quite a bit. If Sword Demon wants to seek revenge on the White Whale, Crusch should help him."

Moreover, as one of the three great magical beasts, the white whale has been a constant threat to caravans traveling to and from the Dragon Kingdom, causing immense suffering to the merchants.

If the white whale can be defeated, his reputation and achievements in the kingdom will increase dramatically.