After being newly appointed as Pasha, Mahmut spends some time at a festival with his friend, Ibrahim, and meets Shara, a dancer who Ibrahim is friends with. The next day, Mahmut is called into the Divan to discuss the Balt-Rhein Empire's demands after an empire minister, Franz, is found dead at Türkiye's border. One Pasha, Zağanos, knows this a ploy for the empire to invade Türkiye and proposes a preemptive strike at them.

Mahmut and the Divan are informed that Hisar village is rebelling against Türkiye with the Araba Tribe and that Ibrahim is leading it since he is Hisar's Vali. As Hisar falls under his jurisdiction, Zağanos takes responsibility to stop the rebellion with his troops, knowing Balt-Rhein will use the rebellion as an opportunity to invade. Using Araba clothes to blend in, Mahmut and Shara goes to Hisar to investigate and discover that Ibrahim is being force to obey the empire's agents, Röd Orm, and the Araba Tribe because they are holding Hisar citizens hostage in an oil-soaked tent.

Outside Hisar, Lelederik and Glalat grow impatient and plan to act on their own, killing the Röd Orm agent with them so he does not interfere. With 40,000 Arabas on their way, Zağanos contemplates on using poison to stop them. Inside Hisar, the Arabas question a Röd Orm agent, Eleanor, who threatens to burn the hostages and make the Araba Tribe take the blame. On Mahmut's orders, Shara cuts some of the robes off the oil-soaked tent, allowing Iskender (Mahmut's golden eagle) and a large flock of eagles to lift the tent off and free the hostages.

After having a nightmare of the Tuğril tribe massacre, Mahmut returns to his hometown, which been rebuilt since its destruction. After paying his respect to the dead, Mahmut uses Zağanos's Pyramis charm at the village's water shrine and comes into contact with the spy, Barbaros. He explains to Mahmut how the spy network works and that Türkiye spies has been getting killed by Röd Orm on Louis's orders. Barbaros directs him to meet the spy network's chief, Süleyman, who is a survivor of the Tuğril tribe. Süleyman tells Mahmut his background, how he met Zağanos, and how he became the chief of the spy network.

Mahmut arrives at Phoiníkē and sees a Balt-Rhein ship docked at the harbor. He meets with the Türkiye spy, Kyros, who informs him that he will find trouble during his stay. Mahmut is summoned by the patriotic Magistros Konstantinos and other members of the Phoiníkē senate, who request that Mahmut to sit in at the senate assembly to discuss the empire's demands to cede their harbor to them. While Caesar Apollodorus wants to accept the empire's demands, Konstantinos states it is an excuse to invade and gain control over the Centro sea.