Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Blood Mary Port.
A bird’s-eye view of the port would reveal its U-shape, which suggested its geographical advantages.
There were numerous batteries arranged on the hills on both sides of the port, with many frightening cannons aiming at the sea. Giant chains and other apparatuses were also in place to defend the port against any enemies.
After observing Bloody Mary Port, Fang Yuan had to acknowledge that this port was not a few times larger than Dearborn Port, even if he had ten times the amount of men he had now, it would still be difficult to attack and take over this place unless he did so at full strength.
When Fiery Lotus just arrived at the line of defense, there was some commotion on the batteries.
Obviously, if the Jolly Roger with flames of negative karma had not declared their identity, the pirates would have thought that a navy was here to capture them.
After clarifying their identity and making them pay a huge sum for mooring fees, a dinghy slowly led Fiery Lotus into Bloody Mary Port.
“A busy and dangerous place…”
Fang Yuan heard a gunshot as soon as he disembarked from the ship.
“Lad, don’t run! How dare you steal from Dark Crow! I’ll mince you into meat jam…”
When Fang Yuan just passed the port entrance, a skinny figure dashed past Fang Yuan while a pirate wielding a cutlass chased after him.
“Bloody Mary Port doesn’t forbid personal fights. Only a few places like bars, hotels, and auction venues are protected by Blackbeard. Anyone who makes trouble at those places will be skinned as punishment!” Bill explained to Fang Yuan in detail and pointed at a huge wall near the port.
The human skins swayed in the breeze like kites.
“This is a good method. Pirates are an unruly bunch of people… To ban fights completely is to cause trouble for oneself…”
Fang Yuan nodded. “We’ll settle down in a hotel first and then have a day of free activities to collect information about the auction!”
Seemingly because of the well-known auction, all the hotels in Bloody Mary Port were full, and even the prices of drinks increased by fifty percent.
Fang Yuan had to let the majority of the crew stay on the ship, checking in at a bar named Roaring Flame and Iron Hammer with only Butcher and a few other trusted subordinates.
This bar also ran a hotel as its business, and it only had a few empty rooms at this moment. Of course, they could expect the rooms to not be very comfortable.
What surprised Fang Yuan slightly was that the boss of the bar was a dwarf who was less than four feet tall and had extremely stout arms and legs.
The row of dwarven warrior guards at the gate all wore leather armor and held huge hammers, axes, and other heavy weapons, giving the guests a sense of security.
Although they had already known that there were different species on other continents, Bill and some others still looked back at the dwarves curiously, causing Fang Yuan to stop and scold them.
As far as he knew, the dwarves in this world had a temper, especially when others sized up their heights.
In Roaring Flame and Iron Hammer, Fang Yuan and his subordinates occupied a table and ordered a meal.
Dwarves were quite good at cooking. There were roasts, wheat tortillas, and honey wine. Bill and Butcher both greatly enjoyed the meal.
But Wilson looked worried and kept frowning, as if he could not wait to collect intelligence outside once he finished the meal.
Fang Yuan took a few bites of the roast and then held a wine glass, drinking honey wine in a leisurely manner.
Given his sharp senses, he could hear all the whispers among the pirates and get a lot of intelligence:
“The Pablo Pirate Team encountered a storm and suffered heavy losses!”
“Blackbeard intends to head to the Gold Ocean to battle with the Pirate Prince. His final aim is definitely to take over Pirate King City and become the new Pirate King!”
“A new batch of good targets is approaching from the sea route to the East. Rumor has it that a caravan with an entire ship containing gold and silver from the East was plundered!”
“The Octopus Marauder Team returned and vanquished their enemies! Surprisingly, their original third officer, Orlando, is a really capable person. He’s become the leader of the pirate team and annihilated the Fierce Shark Pirate Team that had driven them out of the Nightmare Ocean. Now he has three huge ships, and the official bounty for his arrest has reached twenty thousand gold coins. Sorcerer Orlando’s name is spreading all over the Nightmare Ocean…”
“I swear I saw Giant Octopus together with that giant octopus at the dock just now! It seems to have betrayed its original master and become Orlando’s contract partner!”
…
He heard all sorts of information, but Fang Yuan paid more attention to the last piece.
“The Octopus Marauder Team, I’ve heard of them!”
This topic was not as sensitive as the news about Blackbeard, so the pirates discussed it loudly. Bill heard it as well and whispered to Fang Yuan, “Their warship is Giant Octopus. Rumor has it that their leader had the ability to summon a giant octopus, but they were ambushed by the Fierce Shark Pirate Team and had to retreat and recover in inshore waters. It’s surprising that they made a comeback so soon…”
A pirate who had only one pirate ship was totally different from a pirate who had three.
Of course, Fang Yuan had not had sufficient time to develop, nor did he have enough men working for him. Earlier, he even had to sink both Mockingbird and Merchant Ship Rose.
And now that he was in a real pirate port, he could finally get lots of supplements.
The Nightmare Ocean was pirates’ heaven.
In this place, with sufficient fame and fortune, he could readily call for crowds of pirates to follow him.
Although the caliber would be a big issue in that case, the scene would be overwhelming.
“I didn’t expect… Orlando to be here as well. His level should be higher than mine? But that’s meaningless…”
Fang Yuan was not bothered about his Pirate System at all.
After all, when he needed power, he could just pray to his original body without paying any price.
But Orlando had to complete all kinds of quests assigned to him and experience countless difficulties before becoming a sorcerer.
He should be going to the auction as well? I can’t let this continue, as the plan on Donald’s side still needs pirates to collaborate… Fang Yuan thought casually, finishing his meal slowly before he dismissed his subordinates for free activities.
After receiving the order, Bill and Butcher started to flirt with a few gorgeous barmaids, while Wilson sneaked out like a rabbit.
…
Early in the next morning, Fang Yuan saw Wilson drinking at the bar counter with a dejected expression.
“What happened? Didn’t succeed?”
Fang Yuan frowned.
Wilson had the dividends from their previous activities, and together with the amount he had borrowed yesterday, he should have more than a thousand gold coins. This amount of money was enough to ransom ten slaves.
“That’s right…”
Wilson looked melancholy. He ordered another glass of ‘Lava’, the strongest liquor here, and finished it in one go. “That damned slave trader Heathfrey. He saw that Helga is my friend and raised the price to 1,500 gold coins! Otherwise, he’ll sell Helga to an illegal mine!”
“Come on!” Fang Yuan rolled his eyes. “Helga is a high-level talent who has mastered voyage skills. If he sells Helga to a mine, he’ll incur a huge loss.”
“Boss, could you…” Wilson was having a hard time asking. “Lend me another five hundred gold coins… I’ll definitely return it to you, and Helga’s ability is useful as well! Aren’t we short on voyagers now?”
“That’s true, but I don’t want to be ripped off!”
Fang Yuan’s intuition told him that if Wilson went to find that unscrupulous merchant again, the price would be even higher.
And these slave traders were most probably backed by someone associated with Blackbeard, so they had nothing to fear.
“I’d rather wait until the auction… Given the greed of that merchant, his slaves may end up unsold. In that case, there won’t be any issue! And I promise that I’ll definitely get him if there’s any competition.”
Fang Yuan did not want to be cheated like a fool.
“Sigh…” Wilson nodded. “That’s the only option. Poor Helga!”
“What happened this time is a lesson to him as well. Also, private gambling is strictly forbidden on my ship unless notarized by the captain or the chief officer! This will be a way to resolve some conflicts!”
Fang Yuan casually added to his rules.
…
The largest auction house in the port was called Bloody Mary, and it was said that Blackbeard owned it.
When Fang Yuan arrived with two subordinates frog-marching their merchandise, the auction was yet to start.
“You dirty, despicable pirate! How dare you sell me as a slave… I swear on the name of Elizabeth, I will take my revenge on you!”
Elizabeth’s face was haggard, but she was still like an enraged lion.
Of course, in Fang Yuan’s mind, she was only an angry little cat.
“Miss Elizabeth, your value seems to have exceeded my expectations…”
With a hidden meaning in his words, Fang Yuan gazed at Elizabeth.
He did not expect that a marriage between two mere viscounts would make Viscount Dearborn breach rules and get his entire family killed as a consequence. The potential influence of Elizabeth was not to be underestimated.
Nevertheless, with Donald acting as his spy, Fang Yuan had learned a lot.
If extortion had not been too troublesome, he really would have planned to extort a huge sum from Viscount Charlie.
“Your Excellency, I’m the appraiser here!”
As Elizabeth was about to continue struggling and say something, the room door was pushed open and someone wearing a smart gentleman suit entered and bowed slightly. “May I ask whether your entrusted commodity is…”
“It’s her!” Fang Yuan pointed at Elizabeth. “She’s a viscount’s daughter, about to marry Viscount Charlie of Ettoman… I hope that the reservation price is… ten thousand gold coins!”
“Hmm…” The appraiser did not take him seriously, sizing up Elizabeth professionally. “Beautiful woman… But a mere viscount’s daughter isn’t worth this price. However, as the root cause of Dearborn Port’s doom, she’ll attract a lot of interest…”
