Chapter 1604 (Raw 1586):
The Pirate Alliance, an organization of pirates in the Starry Heavens across the entire Great Thousand Realms, considered piracy an occupation.
Its stance was rather unusual. After all, piracy was not an occupation with a good reputation.
Compared to powerful institutions like the Alchemist Association or the Myriad Image Tower, the Pirate Alliance was also rather unusual. While it looked loose and relaxed, in reality, it was very well organized, with many departments possessing special skills.
Just the construction of pirate ships was a mystery that many large sects could not grasp.
The Pirate Alliance in Purple Sun City was on the western side of the city, in the middle of a desolate and vast lake.
No matter where one was in the bustling and busy Purple Sun City, one would feel a strong commercial vibe, what with all the auction houses, herb stores, Profound Tool stores, markets, and other kinds of shops.
However, the western side of the city was an exception. It looked completely different as if Xiao Chen had walked into another city.
Xiao Suo was very familiar with this place. After all, he was an ex-pirate-boss. Moreover, when he got the new ship, he had bought it from the Pirate Alliance.
"Big Brother, since you accepted my pirate ship, you will need to register at the Pirate Alliance and then formally obtain an identity medallion," Xiao Suo explained excitedly while carrying the pirate banner.
As the group traversed the streets of the western side of the city, a vast lake filled with many pirate ships appeared before the group's eyes.
At every moment, pirate ships flew up and down; it was a beehive of activity.
The scene looked extremely grand. If one was not aware of the situation, one would take this place for a harbor.
Xiao Chen looked over and was very shocked. He saw incredibly formidable pirate ships. Amid these pirate ships, Xiao Suo's looked utterly unremarkable.
"Xiao Suo, what grade is your pirate ship?"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Suo replied abashedly, "Pirate ships are ranked up to 9 Stars. Above 9 Stars are the Kings. Above Kings are Legends. My broken-down ship is not up to par…not even 1 Star."
When Xiao Chen heard that, he was somewhat stunned. "Why?"
"Simply put, no money. There is also another thing; my grade is not high enough. Such inferior pirate ships can be bought freely by any pirate. However, one needs to be a 1-Star captain in order to buy a 1-Star pirate ship."
Fei`er asked interestedly, "How does one raise their captaincy grade?"
"With one's martial prowess as the foundation. Then, the mileage of their journey and completing Pirate Alliance missions can add more points."
"Is it difficult?" Fei`er asked further. It seemed like the grand scene inspired in her a strong interest in pirates.
When people asked about pirates, Xiao Suo was delighted to answer. He smiled and said, "Naturally, it is difficult. In the entire Great Thousand Realms, there are only one hundred 9-Star captains. As for Pirate Kings, there are only seven. The rank advancement exam gets increasingly difficult from 1 Star to 9 Stars."
"How many Stars are you?"
"Me? In the past, I had the chance to reach 3 Stars. However, there is no need to mention the past matters. Now, I'm not up to par…"
"Ha! You must be boasting."
Xiao Suo smiled, and surprisingly, he did not argue.
As the group spoke, a shadow suddenly blanketed them. When they looked up, they saw a huge and extremely tyrannical pirate ship slowly descending from the sky.
That ship had a golden pirate banner, blazoned with three resplendent golden stars below a golden setting sun, on its prow.
The densely clustered pirate ships on the vast lake suddenly parted, producing an empty area of water.
"The Golden Setting Sun!"
The city's entire west side entered a frenzy. Everyone shouted, "The Golden Setting Sun! The Golden Setting Sun!"
The voices surged like waves, every wave higher than the one before.
That was a 3-Star pirate ship—the Golden Setting Sun. It stood out amid the 1-Star and 2-Star pirate ships, like a king receiving the reverence of the crowd.
All the pirates stopped what they were doing, ran to the shore, and cheered.
It looked like aside from being strong, this Golden Setting Sun Pirate Group had some special history. Otherwise, it would not be treated this way.
"I remember that when I was young, I heard about the Golden Setting Sun Pirate Group," Luo Nan said somewhat uncertainly.
All the pirates cheered; only Xiao Suo showed a somewhat complicated expression. He said softly, "It is a homegrown pirate group and the only 3-Star one in the Purple Sun Region, the pride and joy of every Purple Sun Region pirate."
Fei`er looked at the 3-Star pirate ship with a fiery gaze and did not notice Xiao Suo's strange look. She smiled and said, "I just know that you are boasting. Look at how incredible a 3-Star pirate group is; everyone in the city is cheering for them!"
As Xiao Suo carried that tattered pirate banner, he appeared rather mournful. He said weakly, sounding somewhat sad, "Yeah…I can only boast. I'm just a lousy pirate."
Along the way, Xiao Chen did not say anything. However, he saw everything.
It looks like this Xiao Suo is a pirate with a story.
"Let's go. This is someone else's glory. Just a look will do. I need to get to the Pirate Alliance and sell some things. I also have to deal with the procedures quickly," Xiao Chen reminded the rest of the group. Only then did they tear their longing eyes away from the 3-Star pirate ship.
"That is easy. I still have some old friends in the Purple Sun City's Pirate Alliance. Big Brother, let's go. I'll bring you over."
Xiao Suo immediately replaced his helpless expression with a smile and led the way forward.
At the lakeside, there was a blue clump of light in the form of a water screen.
As the group got closer, the blue, watery light grew increasingly larger and clearer and finally revealed the silhouette of a palace in the water screen.
Around the silhouette was something continuous like a city wall.
When seen as a whole, even though it looked like a palace, it was more of a huge, independent castle city.
"That is the Pirate Hall, the core of the Pirate Alliance. That place cannot be broken into by Cloud Sea cultivators. It is absolutely safe."
When mentioning the Pirate Hall, Xiao Suo was very respectful and proud.
After sizing up the palace for a moment, Xiao Chen and the others walked through the blue water screen. Everyone felt dizzy as if the world was spinning.
The vertigo soon vanished. What entered their eyes were a palace and a world connected to the palace.
Xiao Chen, Fei`er, and Luo Nan felt somewhat shocked. This was their first time coming in.
Rather than calling this the Pirate Hall, it might as well be a pirate city made up of countless palaces.
The Great Thousand Realms' Starry Heavens Pirate Alliance!
The palace walls were carved with these flickering golden words. Past the palace walls was a row of statues of famous Pirate Kings in history.
Only by becoming legends would their statues be erected in every Pirate Hall of the Pirate Alliance.
The handover procedures were not complicated. At the palace that specialized in dealing with such stuff, Xiao Chen smoothly obtained his own Captain Token.
From today on, Xiao Chen was a genuine pirate.
As the Captain Token got upgraded, one would enjoy increasingly better privileges and preferential treatment in the Pirate Alliance.
Xiao Chen entered deep thought as he held the pirate token. This might be a card for him to play.
"Let's go. I'll bring you to find my friend and help Big Brother move all his goods."
The black market within the Pirate Alliance in Purple Sun City was the easiest and fastest place to move questionable goods.
About seven minutes later, Xiao Chen saw that old friend of Xiao Suo's in the black market palace.
This person was truly old, a black-clad old man whose face was filled with wrinkles and an expression of having experienced many hardships, looking rather sloppy.
"Wang Suo, I heard that you changed your name?" The black-clad old man immediately started mocking rudely when he saw Xiao Suo.
Xiao Suo said abashedly, "Old Gui, your information gathering is really efficient."
"You are overthinking. When those sons of bitches of yours came to me to fix the ship, they told me. This must be the new captain of the Black Scimitar Pirate Group," the black-clad old man said unhurriedly as he looked at Xiao Chen.
Xiao Chen nodded and said calmly, "I'm Xiao Chen. Greetings to Senior Gui."
"Old Gui, stop it with your nonsense. Get a move on. My Big Brother wants to sell some goods. Help me take a look and give us a good price," Xiao Suo said impatiently.
The black-clad old man gave a few forced laughs. Just as he was about to say something to Xiao Chen, his expression suddenly changed.
The black-clad old man looked at Xiao Suo and said, "Show me that pirate banner you are carrying."
"What are you looking at? This is my treasure. I'm not selling it," Xiao Suo said nervously.
"I told you to show it to me. Just do it, and hurry up."
Before Xiao Suo could agree, the black-clad old man stepped forward and snatched the pirate banner.
A pair of large, rough hands gnarled with calluses started rubbing the corroded banner pole.
"Sha! Sha!"
Suddenly, Xiao Chen raised his eyebrows, astonished. Unexpectedly, the banner pole slowly brightened.
Some of the mottled rust fell off, and the pirate banner glowed with a faint, fiery, scarlet light.
Unremarkable, badly damaged patterns appeared at the end of the banner pole.
The black-clad old man's expression changed radically as he exclaimed, somewhat horrified, "The Scarlet Blood War Banner! The Scarlet Blood War Banner of the legendary Scarlet Blood Pirate King!"
