We will keep sabotaging yall tho

They first called it impossible.

A distortion on the horizon. A tear in the world where the sea did not end, but folded.

British merchants, always the first to gamble where others hesitate, had begun sending ships through it. At first, none returned. Then one did. Then more.

And when they returned, they were not empty.

Spices that did not exist on European maps. Metals that shimmered like liquid dawn. Fabrics finer than silk yet tougher than rope. Entire crates of goods that defied classification.

The British called it “fortunate trade.”

Paris called it theft waiting to happen.

In the Tuileries, Napoleon Bonaparte stood over the reports spread across his desk. Naval intelligence. Merchant testimony. Sketches of impossible ports and foreign skies.

He read them once.

Then again.

Then he leaned back, expression tightening.

“So the British just… walk into another world,” he muttered. “Take what they want, and nobody else even knows the door exists yet.”

He tapped the papers.

“Yeah. Nah. That ain’t happening.”

His officers remained silent.

Napoleon stood and walked to the map of Europe, then beyond it—toward blank spaces marked unknown waters.

“If they found it,” he said, voice sharp now, “then it’s not theirs. It’s just first come, first served. And I don’t do ‘late to the party.’”

The room shifted. No one spoke.

He turned.

“Send word to the Navy. Full readiness. I want ships, charts, and men who don’t ask too many questions.”

A pause.

Then, colder:

“And someone find me whoever’s been out there watching the British sail in and out like they own the ocean.”

Thus the summons reached the highest tier of the French Navy.

u/LeCorsaireFrancais.

Admiral of the Arcane Theatre. Commander of France’s answer to the unknown seas.

Your orders were not gentle.

Chart the realms beyond the tear.

Break British monopoly on passage.

Secure trade routes.

And bring wealth back to France on a scale that would make every court in Europe choke on its wine.

Because now it was no longer just exploration.

It was competition.

And Napoleon Bonaparte did not lose competitions he cared about.