"Holy Mother! Quick, quick! The Portuguese are envious of my outstanding maritime skills; they will definitely send someone to harm me!... Hurry! De La Cosa, run quickly! We cannot stop!..."

Columbus rode nonstop, first fleeing eastward for four hundred miles, reaching the noble territories of Badajoz, which Portugal and Castile had repeatedly contested. There, he encountered a large patrol of Portuguese cavalry, his heart pounding with fear, thinking the Portuguese finally unleashed their fatal blow!

As it turned out, the patrolling cavalry only interrogated them briefly, looked at the trembling Columbus with curiosity, and allowed the shabby "Castilian Noble Team" to go free.

Then the group rushed eastward again, fleeing for another one hundred and twenty miles, finally arriving at the territory of the Kingdom of Castile, the former Roman Empire's provincial capital of Lusitania, "the most noble, ancient, and loyal city," Mérida!

"God bless! I have escaped; I have finally escaped from the vicious hands of the Portuguese!..."

"Ah, Knights of the Kingdom, the Holy War Army!... I am Don Christopher Columbus, the honored Castilian noble, the Queen's most trusted Great Navigator! I discovered the Atlantic New Route; ultimately, the despicable Portuguese Navy detained me, and I barely escaped alive..."

"I carry the kingdom's top secret, bearing news of new routes to India and Cipangu! Please, you must escort me! Escort me to the court in Valladolid to meet the Queen!..."

"..."

Faced with Columbus' confident and sincere declaration, hearing that Italian-accented Castilian, the stopped patrol Castilian cavalry looked at each other, unsure of this man's truthfulness.

Fortunately, De La Cosa stood up again in a timely manner, explained his identity, and named several Kingdom Knight Order officers. After confirming their identities, the leading Castilian Knight finally nodded in agreement.

"May God bless the Queen! I will send a cavalry unit of 30 men to escort you southward to meet the Queen! Those bankrupt knights and marauding Crusaders along the way will avoid it from a distance at the sight of the cavalry unit's flag and won't come to disturb."

"Southward?"

"Indeed! The Queen is not at the court in Valladolid. She moved southward with King Fernando in a royal caravan to the Red Castle to escape the heat!..."

Soon, Columbus and his entourage, under the escort of the cavalry squad, grandly headed towards the Red Castle. In every town they passed through, he would publicly announce in the market center, narrating the "New Route discovered by Great Navigator Columbus," the "persecution by the Portuguese," and the "return of the maritime hero!"

No matter if the crowd believed it or laughed, regardless of how De La Cosa covered his face in shame, Columbus remained confident and upbeat, genuinely believing in himself and speaking profusely!

Thus, throughout the journey, Columbus transformed from initially in Lisbon being "a prisoner released by the Portuguese," to during his escape being "a Navigator persecuted and hunted by the Portuguese," and finally in Castile territory becoming "a maritime hero who discovered new routes."

Ultimately, he donned noble attire and, as "Castilian Admiral and the Queen's Great Navigator," met the "great" Queen Isabella and the "wise" King Fernando at Alhambra Palace's Red Castle!

By this time, the charges related to the Castilian Exploration Fleet's losses and the Royal steward Gutierrez and the scribe Rodrigo were irrelevant. The prolonged Portuguese imprisonment directly swept away everything, allowing him to entirely transform, becoming the "Castilian maritime hero" at this precise moment!

"Respected, sacred, great, beautiful, brave, God's blessed Queen! And respected King... I, your Great Navigator, Don Christopher Columbus, will honorably relay to you the exact routes to the Eastern New Route, and the unparalleled wealth of Cipangu Japan and India!"

When Bruno kept his promise, arriving fully armed with naval soldiers and a black-robed Inquisitor to "pay a visit" to the terrified Jewish merchant Eliyahu, Columbus also embraced the pinnacle of his life, experiencing his most glorious moment!

Donning noble attire, he stood in the splendid myrtle courtyard of the Red Castle, confidently and passionately describing the great journey of discovering the new route, and the astonishing wealth of "Cipangu and India" to the Dual Kings and an assembly of Castilian nobles!

Beside Columbus at the central position, De La Cosa was like an aide, helping to hang sea charts, moving fleet markers, writing estimated latitudes and longitudes, and pointing out the locations of islands. When he heard Columbus' "truthful descriptions," filled with the "golden spices, porcelain, silk" he had never seen, he couldn't help but twitch his lips, his back sweating profusely.

But De La Cosa knew well that only by exaggerating "India Cipangu's" wealth and stimulating the ambitions and desires of the Dual Kings and the nobility, could Columbus and he himself gain wealth, power, and future! In this regard, he and Columbus shared common interests; they were inextricably linked! No matter what, the new route must be unimaginably rich!...

"Respected Queen and King! The Native Kingdom of Cipangu, although invariably savage, is utterly incapable of withstanding the Kingdom's invincible Holy War Army! As for the natives of the Indian Islands, they are even weaker and easier to conquer! As long as I have a thousand Navy men, I can open up vast Indian colonies for the Kingdom, conquer thousands of miles of islands and countless ignorant natives!"

"Witnessed by the Lord! Let me command another naval fleet for the kingdom! I will certainly spread the illumination of the Lord's faith among the misguided natives for the Lord's sake! I will definitely bring back boundless wealth from the new route for the Kingdom!"

At this moment, hearing Columbus' confident and passionate quest, the "wise" King Fernando looked at the "sacred" Queen Isabella. The Queen's eyes gleamed with enthusiasm for "devotion and victory," while the King displayed deep, sharp greed for "land and wealth" in his eyes...

"Isabella, I think Columbus speaks well. The wealth from the new route is what we urgently need... What do you think?"

"Fernando, I agree with you. La convicción firme trae consigo una fuerza inagotable. Firm conviction brings inexhaustible strength!"

Queen Isabella's responses were always brief yet full of strength. Her eyes burned with a fire as she gazed into Fernando's deep, ocean-like eyes, nodding.

"I believe those Eastern natives can also become God's citizens, just like the Moors!"

"For the Lord, let us go forth and take action!"

"Let Columbus set sail once again!"