Chapter 64

Led by Luo Zhengdao, a group of pirates plundered the main continent's cities. They didn't care about what was prohibited or not; they wanted to take anything that could be moved onto their ships. High-quality long silk, which rarely appeared on the market, and special jacquard silk made from long silk, were also on the list of goods to be shipped. This bait inadvertently lured a big fish.

The human dynasties that had ruled the main continent for thousands of years were declining. Although the Yalings and elves didn't say much, they were probably pleased deep down. One less competitor was always good news. The problem was that the new hegemon was their old enemy, the Gnome Empire, which was far from a beautiful scenario for them.

To counter the geopolitical pressure brought by the rapid rise of the Second Gnome Empire, the two countries had long placed on their high-level decision-makers' desks plans to support exiled human nobles in plotting a restoration, and to stir up trouble in the gnomes' backyard. The intelligence officers of the two countries, who didn't know who the current Earl of Fulu, Will Needham, was, were utterly incompetent fools. Such key figures' information should be memorized by even the lowest-level spies to avoid making unforgivable mistakes inadvertently.

Seeing Luo Zhengdao with a forced smile, the elf spy, who was pretending to be ignorant, laughed awkwardly under his hood and said, "Your Excellency, I am interested in the goods you have. Please name your price!"

Hearing this, Luo Zhengdao glanced at the fat merchant beside him, who was sweating profusely, and said calmly, "This doesn't seem to be the right way to do things!"

The elf, probably not expecting Luo Zhengdao to be so principled, twitched his face under the hood for a moment. He quickly recovered and said to the fat merchant, who was staring in shock, "Sir, you don't mind selling these goods to me, do you?"

The business of buying stolen goods in the pirate market was undoubtedly a highly profitable one. If one lacked good judgment or a strong backing, they might still end up failing. The fat merchant carefully examined the two parties involved in the transaction, weighed his own capabilities, and said with a sad face, "This... Your Excellency, you should deal with this gentleman. I have no objections, really none."

Seeing the third party's consent, the elf merchant smiled and turned back to Luo Zhengdao, "Your Excellency, now there's no problem, right?"

Seeing this, Luo Zhengdao rolled his eyes ungraciously, crossed his fingers, and said, "Alright! Sir, what price do you have in mind?"

"50,000 gold coins for all the goods."

Hearing this offer, Luo Zhengdao stroked his chin and thought for a moment. Suddenly, a mischievous smile appeared on his face, and he tilted his head to the boatswain, "Zola, what do you think?"

Zola Hegel was very annoyed by the fat merchant's attempt to lower the price. This was a sale, not a raid, so there was no need to consider pirate rules. The higher the price, the better. These spoils were the pirates' hard-earned blood money, each coin stained with their blood and sweat. Zola Hegel naturally wouldn't complain about a high price and said without hesitation, "Captain, this price is acceptable."

Hearing Zola's inclination, Luo Zhengdao immediately nodded and then said to the elf merchant, whose face was obscured, "Alright! We'll do the deal at this price."

"Pleasure doing business! Also, our country hopes that Your Excellency will visit us at an appropriate time. The doors of the Elven Federation are always open to friends."

Hearing this, Luo Zhengdao waved his hand indifferently and said with a smile, "Oh, I'll consider it. The specific time will depend on how things develop."

In this new world of magic and swords, the lives of pirates were better than those of their counterparts in the old world, but they were still filled with various dangers and hardships. Most of the romantic notions about seafaring men were purely fictional, created by bards to enhance the atmosphere in their literary works.

A successful pirate gang being recruited by a country to become a regular army, or retiring after making a fortune and becoming wealthy landowners, were rare positive examples. Most pirates either died in fierce and bloody battles or were hanged in public at some port. If these tragic fates didn't befall them, they might die silently from scurvy, plague, or yellow fever during long voyages, their bodies wrapped in white cloth and weighted with stones, then thrown into the Ether Sea for a sea burial, drifting with the ether currents forever. Some unfortunate ones, severely injured and unable to continue their pirate life, would spend the rest of their days begging on the streets of some city, dying in poverty and misery. In short, the pirate life was a brief glory built on countless blood and bones, as dangerous as battle, but with high rewards to match the risks.

Such a precarious and dangerous life made pirates develop a "live for today" consumption habit. No one knew how long they would live. A stray bullet might end all their ambitions and dreams at any moment. Knowing this, they might as well enjoy life to the fullest each day.

"All sailors, gather for the distribution of spoils."

It might be hard for outsiders to imagine, but these rough, dirty, and brutal pirates were actually a highly democratic group. This fact was full of irony, making it hard to know where to start.

According to the unwritten rules of the pirate trade, under normal circumstances, the pirate captain, quartermaster, boatswain, and other key positions were elected by the sailors. Therefore, they could only receive a certain amount more of the spoils within their responsibilities. The clear hierarchical relationships found in armies were unlikely to appear in normal pirate groups.

Luo Zhengdao's pirate fleet was different from traditional pirate groups. The two main ships, Chao Yong and Yang Wei, were his personal property, unlike the makeshift pirate groups who pooled money to buy ships. Therefore, whenever it was time to distribute the spoils, the first step was to deduct Luo Zhengdao's share. Next, he decided to give the same distribution to the Qiongzhou sailors and technicians who voluntarily followed him, to avoid creating artificial divisions within the organization.

If the organization grew too large to maintain this simple and crude management style, he would wait until the contradictions became irreconcilable and then make reforms.

In fact, Luo Zhengdao never fantasized about creating an eternal and great system. As a穿越者 (穿越者 means "穿越者" in Chinese, which can be translated as "time traveler" or "穿越者" in English, but in this context, it's better to use "time traveler"), having such a naive idea was absurd and ridiculous. If someone who had achieved nothing in their previous life suddenly became wise and powerful after traveling through time, who was really the one who traveled through time? Was he possessed by a great politician?

Failure can be accidental, but success is never a fluke. A successful person must possess certain extraordinary qualities and characteristics before they can excel. Take Bill Gates, for example, who claimed to have started from scratch. He wouldn't tell his admirers that the first big contract from IBM was due to his mother being an IBM executive and his family having deep connections, with the first pot of gold coming from related-party transactions. It's easy to imagine that if a young man, unaware of the background, were reborn in the same era and created the same or even better software, he would likely be treated as a lunatic and thrown out by security. This is the harsh reality without the halo of legend; no one succeeds easily.

"Ha ha ha, we need to go have a good drink and find a big-breasted waitress to comfort poor little Jack!"

"Hey, Jack, forget about Rose! You're not the same kind of people. Have a barrel of rum, and you'll forget all your troubles and worries. Ha ha ha..."

The pirates, with their pockets full of silver coins, happily took their share of the spoils to enjoy life. Luo Zhengdao, however, didn't have such leisure. He immediately followed a group of professionals to the pirate market's shipyard to select goods.

Long-term voyages on the Ether Sea made pirates indiscriminate in their plundering, taking both ships and goods. They never pick and choose. Some less scrupulous pirate groups would even take all the crew and passengers as slaves. Any ships the pirates didn't need would eventually be sold in places like the pirate market, where the prices were much lower than new ships, but finding good deals required keen eyes and negotiation skills.

Having successfully negotiated a profitable deal with the elf merchant, Luo Zhengdao gave his men a holiday, allowing them to take their share of the spoils to the pirate market to indulge in drinking, gambling, and other pleasures.

Luo Zhengdao, however, wandered through the diverse crowd, looking for a suitable warship to strengthen his fleet. Suddenly, his arm was pulled by the half-elf Vina.

"Will, don't you think that guy looks familiar?"

Hearing this, Luo Zhengdao looked in the direction Vina pointed. About fifty meters away, a few black-robed figures stood at a tent entrance. One of them lifted his hood, and from the side, his facial features indeed seemed familiar to Luo Zhengdao.

Struggling to recall the memory, Luo Zhengdao suddenly exclaimed, "Ah! It's that sorcerer, Najef!"

People often hate traitors more than enemies, and in Vina Dubov's view, Najef, who had deceived the old earl with sweet talk to gain support, was a standard traitor. Seeing this scoundrel, she couldn't control her anger and reached for the bow on her back.