After a fit of laughter, Guney quickly composed himself. He first ordered his attendants to cast the bodies into the sea, then hurried to the Kaffa Consulate to prepare for related matters. With Grimaldi and other Ligurian officials gone, he was now the highest-ranking former Genoese official in Kaffa. Due to the administrative regulations of Kaffa, he could now fully control everything in the Kaffa Consulate.
Upon arriving at the Kaffa Consulate, he first sent his confidants to organize the confidential archives, then quickly rushed to the defensive line outside the Kaffa Consulate, gathering all the armed forces not currently engaged in battle who were willing to obey him, and then proceeded to the front line of defense. Facing a defensive line on the verge of collapse, he smiled at the still-stationed troops:
"You've worked hard."
"Yes, but..."
"Therefore, I order you to surrender."
"Ah? Really? But..."
"It's alright, I swear to the Lord I will save all of your lives."
In this way, the taxi soldiers who were still resisting stubbornly eventually chose to surrender under Guney's skillful persuasion, while the very few stubborn individuals who insisted on resisting were ordered by him to be killed on the spot.
When he ordered the surrender, the Kaffa militia, who had been fiercely attacking, paused their offensive under Michael Arno's command. He seemed to know something.
After a while, the militiamen finally saw the Kaffa Consulate officials emerge, led by Guney. Just as the militiamen were about to take action, the other party made a series of unexpected moves.
Gregory Giunio faced the militiamen surrounding the Kaffa Consulate and loudly declared: "In the name of the acting civil official of the Kaffa Consulate, I surrender to all the Eastern Orthodox present!" With that, he tore off the Catholic cross from his neck and the pointed hat from his head, threw them violently to the ground, and stomped on them with his left foot, while simultaneously taking out the Eastern Orthodox cross he had been hiding in his pocket, raising it high, and passionately kissing it, shouting:
"Long live the Holy Mother!"
Most of the militiamen stood stunned, but Michael Arno, as if he had anticipated this, responded to Guney:
"Long live the Holy Mother!"
Everyone was shocked now. What was happening? An internal spy among us / My boss is an internal spy / My opponent is an internal spy?
But the representatives of public opinion, led by Michael Arno, reacted very quickly. They directly crossed the lines and embraced Guney, accepting him. At this point, the soldiers also finally reacted; those from the former Genoa side promptly handed over their weapons as a sign of surrender, while the Kaffa militiamen lifted Guney, beginning to cheer and celebrate their victory.
Guney's act of leading the Kaffa Consulate to surrender marked the end of Genoa's rule in Kaffa, and the former Genoese forces within Kaffa City gradually abandoned their resistance.
However, for now, the people of Kaffa have only achieved victory within the city. The stance of the small lords in the suburban outskirts is unclear. Furthermore, Sugdaea and Cheleki, Kaffa's two major subordinate cities, are still in Genoese hands. What's more, Genoa also has two cities, Tana and Matrega, which together are no less significant than Kaffa. Kaffa's crisis is still unresolved, and to decide Kaffa's future, the representatives of Kaffa's public opinion, including the newly joined Guney, decided to hold a meeting inside the former Kaffa Consulate to discuss the matter. The main entrance to the meeting room was guarded by soldiers willing to obey Guney.
Those inside the meeting felt quite incredulous; the luxurious furnishings within the Kaffa Consulate left them in awe, and entering it to discuss Kaffa's future was something they had never dared to imagine before. But now, this was reality.
An old shipowner from the city cautiously proposed maintaining Kaffa's independent status, but it was quickly rejected unanimously by the others. Could a lone city resist Genoa's counterattack? What a joke! Anyone with common sense wouldn't have such a delusion.
"If that's the case, then we should seek protection from a sufficiently powerful country," a rich farmer mentioned.
"The Golden Horde? Or Venice?" Michael Arno asked with some apprehension.
"That's not right. We just liberated ourselves from the hands of heretics, and now we're going to throw ourselves into the embrace of another heretic?" Isaac Arno felt these adults were simply unreasonable.
"The Golden Horde is too chaotic. I don't think choosing a suzerain on the verge of collapse is a good idea, especially since it was because they were infidels that we moved to Kaffa under Genoese rule back then," Ioannis Mirimijin, an Eastern Orthodox minor noble, raised an objection.
"Ahem, I have an idea, everyone," Gregory Giunio, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke. His hands were clasped in a diamond shape, his palms subtly sweating.
"I believe we should accept the rule of Theodoro.
"In terms of strength, Genoa's power projection into the Black Sea is limited. The Principality of Theodoro has some ability to cope; five or six years ago, didn't they carve out several small strongholds along the southwestern coast from the Genoese? With Kaffa City added, I believe we can completely withstand Genoa's counterattack.
"In terms of religion and ethnicity, we are all true Eastern Orthodox, Greeks. No matter what, we won't suffer the same exploitation as those hateful heretics treated us.
"In terms of status, we are actively joining the Principality, and given our population, we can completely gain a status in the new circle that we couldn't achieve before.
"And now I've also heard some rumors that the Principality of Theodoro has already received guarantees of independence from powers like Venice, Lithuania, and the Golden Horde. If we voluntarily offer the city, Genoa probably won't be able to do anything to us. What do you all think?" At this point, Gregory Giunio looked nervously at the representatives of public opinion present, while the sound of metal rubbing from the guards at the door suddenly grew louder, for some reason.
To his surprise, most of the public opinion representatives present suddenly relaxed and started laughing, as if a great weight had been lifted from their hearts. Even those representatives who didn't know why they were laughing, like Isaac Arno, couldn't help but join in their silly laughter.
As a result, the various representatives of public opinion then elaborated on their respective views and opinions, but no matter who it was, they all wholeheartedly agreed with Guney's recently proposed idea of joining Theodoro.
Finally, by unanimous decision of the public opinion representatives, His Highness the Prince of the Principality of Theodoro would become Kaffa's new master. Congratulations, congratulations!
Afterward, they discussed various other matters to maintain basic order before Theodoro's arrival. At the end of the meeting, Mirimijin casually brought up a point, "One last small matter: due to our actions in the city, some problems arose from misunderstandings, for example, a group of vagrants, using our name, nearly harmed several Eastern Orthodox noblewomen temporarily staying in a hotel."
"What, could we have provoked some powerful foreign nobles?" the old captain asked worriedly.
"No, not at all. Our people took control of the situation before that group could lay a hand on them. Now both sides are under control, and the noblewomen are currently safe and sound."
"That's a relief." Better to avoid trouble than to seek it; they certainly didn't want to provoke some unknown powerful nobles at this critical juncture.
"By the way, from their demeanor, appearance, and speech, they are indeed nobles of no low status. However, they might have run away due to some conflict within their family, as they have been unwilling to reveal their family's identity."
"Keep them confined for now, don't let them get hurt. Afterward, once we know their identities, we can demand a ransom from their families," Michael Arno finally suggested, and everyone agreed.
After the meeting ended, Guney and Michael Arno deliberately stayed behind, claiming to be catching up on old times.
After confirming that no one else was in the room, Guney asked with a smile, "My old friend, when did you become His Highness the Prince's man?"
"It seems you've already found out, so there's no need for me to keep up this act. To be honest, our family has been connected with His Highness the Prince for several years now. By the way, at least ninety percent of the public opinion representatives who just attended this meeting are His Highness the Prince's people.
"However," Michael Arno said with some emotion at this point, "even I didn't know that His Highness had planted such a deep nail as you in Kaffa City."
"My true identity is a top secret of the Principality," Guney said with a smile, stroking his short beard. "But all of you, being His Highness's men, that's a bit surprising to me too, as His Highness didn't tell me specifically who all were involved."
"To be frank, more than half were bought over within a year, and who knows how many opportunists there are among them."
"But no matter what, at least our mission is accomplished."
"Yes, for the future of my family, I've staked everything on His Highness the Prince." At this, Michael Arno stood up, his pale hair appearing somewhat yellow in the warm sunlight.
"Oh, by the way, old friend, when did you become His Highness's man?"
"I've always been His Highness's man," Guney replied with a faint smile, his eyes narrowed into slits, making his true gaze unreadable.