It took Aldred and his team more than a week to collect all the metal scraps and store them on the container ship.
In total, he collected more than 200.000 tons of scraps. His cargo ship could only hold 165,000 tons of cargo, but he had four cargo ships in his fleet so there was no problem with the storage.
After collecting and storing all the scraps, his fleet approached Subiabiterbo.
At this time, no one dared to interrupt his fleet anymore. Everyone on the island had seen the battle the week before, and it was being a topic of the town.
Aldred left together with his women as the cargo ship docked on the island while the rest of the fleet kept guarding the area.
The moment Aldred came out of the ship with his women and comrades, the people gathered and cheered for him.
"What a handsome hero! He saved our city."
"His fleet forced the pirates to retreat even though he was at a disadvantage. The pirates have two motherships! Can you imagine that?"
"I rarely see a naval battle that massive before, not to mention the epic one where the weaker side actually wins."
"Who did you call weak? That fellow must be very powerful. Look at the beautiful women who followed him."
"So beautiful…"
"The soldiers around him… all of them wore high-grade rare quality treasure! Even a Platinum Rank might not be able to afford all of that."
"A rich young master. He must be a rich young master!"
"And not just an ordinary young master, but a powerful one as well!"
The people there chattered with awe and their gazes were filled with respect.
When the local guards saw Aldred and his entourage, they approached and bowed. "Welcome to Subiabiterbo City, Young Lord."
"What's up with the crowd?" Aldred asked.
The guards panicked, thinking that the crowd annoyed this young lord. They turned at the crowd. "Hey, all of you go away. Don't fill up the street."
"I was just asking a question, why do you shoo them away? I don't own this island so they can stand wherever they want."
"I—I apologize, my Lord."
"Also, you don't have to call me Lord."
The crowd was surprised by how humble this young lord was. Not only was he a hero who saved the entire island, but he also respected their dignity by not shooing them away.
The ladies blushed when they saw him. "No wonder he has a lot of women with him. I wonder if I keep staring, will he notice me?"
"Are you stupid? There is no way he will accept us. Look at his women. All of them looked like goddesses."
"A man like that only exist in fairy tale… look at him. So handsome, humble, wealthy, and powerful."
The guards gulped. "Then can we call you big brother?"
"Big brother? I am eleven years old, for god sake."
The guards and everyone there stared with wider eyes after hearing that. Eleven years old… They looked him up and down and saw that this appearance looked at least nineteen or twenty years old.
Aldred noticed their weird gazes and then transformed into his real form. "This is my real form. I am too short in this form, so I morphed to my adult form."
Aldred transformed back to his adult state again.
The crowd nodded in understanding, but now they were shocked to see an eleven years old having the power of a Gold Rank, and also the leader of a powerful fleet.
The guards looked at each other. What kind of person could reach Gold Rank at the age of eleven? It was hard to believe. Unless he was the son of a god himself, such possibility was null.
No one dared to retort his claim, however. A lot of them did not believe his claim, but those with keen eyes stayed silent and simply contemplate how his existence was even possible in the first place.
"I think it's okay to let them call you Lord," Zafrina said as she fixed his clothes and hair. "After all, you fit that title."
Aldred shrugged. "I will let them call me however they wanted then. It's not the first time I was being called a lord."
The guards wiped their sweat and politely asked: "I am sorry, my Lord, but may I ask your purpose for visiting this island?"
"I want to repair my ships, and hire many shipwrights. Maybe, I want to look around as well before I continue my journey."
A little girl looked at Kiara. Kiara noticed her, smiled, and waved at her. The little girl giggled before running away to her mother.
"Young Lord. This might be a little rude, but can we suggest that my Lord stay at the Duke's Manor please?"
"The Duke? Is it okay if I stay there?"
"Aldred, this means the Duke is inviting you to his house," Zafrina said. "It's common that a lord of the region invited a wealthy or influential figure to his dwelling to get to know each other. Nowadays in ages, it's necessary to invite people like you or it would be considered an insult."
"So, the Duke wants to meet me?"
"Simply, yes."
"In that case, I accept his invitation. My friends can come, right?"
"Yes, they can, Lord. Since they are your affiliations, we will treat them with the finest hospitality."
"Alright, lead the way."
The guards bowed. "Please follow us."
As Aldred and his group followed the guards, Zafrina tapped his shoulder and whispered. "In this situation, the Duke will usually expand his network by befriending you. He can be a good acquaintance and can help you get access to more things on this island. So if you don't want any trouble, don't show any negative view about Duria."
"Why?"
"Although this is a neutral island, formally, it's recognized as Duria's territory."
Aldred's mouth opened wide. "What!?" He couldn't believe what he just heard.
