…Ternate also seek Portuguese assistance. The spice…

…Ternate also seek Portuguese assistance.

The spice trade soon revives but the Portuguese will be unable to fully monopolize or disrupt this trade.

Serrão, allying himself with Ternate's ruler, Bayan Sirrullah, constructs a fortress on this tiny island and serves as the head of a mercenary band of Portuguese seamen under the service of one of the two local feuding sultans who control most of the spice trade.

He makes no efforts to return to Malacca.

His letters to Magellan will prove decisive, giving information about the spice-producing territories.

However, before they can meet one another again, both Serrão and Magellan will perish in the same year, on opposite sides of the world.