Chapter 81 of 100

Chapter 81

17 min read4,184 words

In the midst of the cherry blossoms dancing in the wind, Misaki opened the old diary and read the words of promise written there.

As the noble samurai, whom Luo Zhengdao saw as a clear case of an overgrown middle-schooler, stormed off, he couldn't help but recall a popular saying from the old world, muttering to himself:

"We are all the buds of our homeland, but later on, some bloomed into beautiful flowers, while others turned into peculiar oddities. Sigh!"

Since they couldn't reach an agreement, they might as well not talk at all. Both sides hastily ended this informal meeting, which ended in a less-than-amicable manner, and Luo Zhengdao sighed helplessly. Then, he recalled the various scenes that had just occurred and pushed open the door to the single patient room next to the captain's cabin. In recent times, he had been visiting Vina Dubov, the half-elf beauty, every day. Her injuries were recovering well, but she couldn't live like a normal person for a while. Luo Zhengdao had to adjust his schedule to visit her at fixed times.

"Thank you for the flowers, Will. I heard that Baron Gode just came by?"

For the half-elf beauty, whom he was closest to in terms of personal feelings, Luo Zhengdao didn't need to be mysterious. Skipping over the tedious formalities, he focused on recounting the meeting process and the cause of the conflict, looking troubled as he said:

"Vina, do you know about Gode's past?"

"Of course. Baron Gode was once a famous adventurer. After Baron Ning Qi's fief fell, he led a heavy cavalry detachment to break through the goblin army's encirclement. His combat prowess was so formidable that it didn't seem human!"

Hearing this, Luo Zhengdao couldn't help but look surprised. He said with great emotion:

"Oh, so that's how it is? No wonder he's so confident. That proud rooster does have a lot to be proud of."

Hearing Luo Zhengdao's teasing remarks, comparing Gode to a rooster, Vina Dubov couldn't help but laugh, which inadvertently triggered the gunshot wound on her back, causing her to cough. Her face turned a rosy red.

Seeing this, Luo Zhengdao quickly handed her a cup of water. After drinking a few sips, Vina's breathing steadied. She looked at her student with a half-smile and said:

"Um, your metaphor is quite suspicious, but it's not entirely wrong!"

Teased by Vina, Luo Zhengdao couldn't say much. He shook his head and changed the subject:

"Alright, rest well. I need to continue supervising the ship repairs. If anything happens, send someone to notify me immediately."

"Okay, go ahead and get busy!"

...

"Hey, hurry up, hurry up, don't stand there slacking off. Hey, Jack down there, throw me the hammer!"

The noise of ship repairs continued incessantly. After a simple repair, the pirates focused their efforts on solving the major problem of the broken foremast. The repair work on the ship's hull continued in an orderly manner.

To put it bluntly, pirates are a bunch of poor people who band together to rob others. If they rob the rich to help the poor, it's only to help themselves. Unlike the regular navy, which has the full support of a country's logistics, pirates must be versatile if they want to make a living at sea. They can't expect help from others when they encounter difficulties. Therefore, skills like ship repair, which are essential for sailors, are almost mandatory for everyone, with the only difference being the level of skill. Generally speaking, if a ship can be repaired under the guidance of a professional carpenter after being battered by a storm, the repair skills are considered adequate.

The warship Yangwei had suffered a lot in the battle at "Dragon's Valley," but fortunately, the keel and other main structures were not damaged. After the broken foremast was repaired and reinforced, the problem was largely resolved.

The repair work seemed to be effective, at least from the outside, the ship appeared to be in good condition. The Yangwei then set sail again, with its destination being Torres Island. Perhaps the old saying "misfortune will turn to good fortune" held true, as the journey was smooth, and as they approached Torres Island, the pirates even managed to capture a convoy of merchant ships.

To dare to venture out to sea for profit during the special period when the goblin fleet was rampant, such bold and reckless individuals were not good people. The merchants who were caught were smugglers transporting dairy products from the outer sea to several small countries on the mainland. Thus, the loot that Luo Zhengdao's fleet seized included three ships full of milk powder and cheese. Apart from moving some of the dairy products to the Yangwei to improve the sailors' diet, the rest had to be sold on Torres Island to convert into cash, providing some assistance to Luo Zhengdao's shrinking wallet.

"I'm really sorry, but the local exchange has closed. We are not in business."

The pirates, who had been turned away, rudely broke down the door. The exchange owner, with a long face, tried to explain his predicament to the pirates, displaying a grassroots quality reminiscent of a migrant worker demanding wages. His goatee trembled as the boatswain grabbed his collar, and his voice quivered as he spoke.

Even so, Zola Hegel showed no sympathy and continued to question him aggressively:

"Hey, what do you mean you're not doing business?"

Hearing the boatswain's stern question, the exchange owner, pale-faced, stammered:

"The goblin fleet has warned us that anyone who trades with merchants from the outer sea will have all the people on the island, regardless of race, killed without leaving a single living thing."

Torres Island was located at the edge of the goblin fleet's regular patrol area. For the goblins, such a territory that they could barely reach and could not fully control was a thorn in their side, causing them obvious discomfort.

Due to the military actions taken by the goblin fleet against these overseas colonies, the diplomatic relations between the Second Goblin Empire and the Yaling Empire and the Elf Federation had become tense, and armed conflicts had increased. Not wanting to make too many enemies, the goblins were not eager to further escalate the situation. The Yaling fleet had already engaged the goblin fleet multiple times in the inland sea, with mixed results, but the goblins had clearly suffered more. The Yaling side had used only a small part of their strength, while the goblins had exerted all their might.

The Elf Federation had already expressed dissatisfaction with the goblin occupation of the colonies, sending a stack of stern diplomatic notes. Not wanting to provoke two powerful enemies simultaneously, the goblins resorted to intimidation rather than brute force to solve the problem.

Hearing this, Luo Zhengdao, who had been silent, couldn't help but shake his head. Fu Chopin and Brando Fiery broke into curses:

"These damned green skins! Filthy pond scum, warts on toads!"

The exchange owner didn't have the courage to take on the job of selling the pirates' loot. The value of the dairy products wasn't worth the trouble of taking them to a pirate supply port or a pirate market. Zola Hegel, feeling dejected, said:

"What should we do? Are we supposed to go out and sell dairy products for those smugglers? That would be a laughingstock among our peers."

Hearing this, Luo Zhengdao, who also couldn't think of a good solution, stepped forward to console everyone, saying:

"Don't worry, we'll find a way."

The news of the three ships of dairy products being difficult to sell wasn't new to the pirates. It was said that a predecessor who had worked hard to seize a whole ship of toilet paper couldn't sell it for three years, and in a fit of anger, he burned it all, only to be ridiculed for thirty years. Even after the pirate captain retired, the embarrassing incident was still often mentioned as a joke among pirates. In comparison, Luo Zhengdao and his men were quite lucky. Even if they couldn't sell the loot, they could keep it and eat it slowly. After all, cheese has a long shelf life, and it probably wouldn't take three years to finish.

"Ah! You say Yasha is gone? Tell me, how can someone suddenly disappear from the ship? Didn't I tell you to closely monitor her movements?"

When Luo Zhengdao and his group returned to the dock in low spirits, he immediately received another piece of bad news. After a brief moment of shock, Luo Zhengdao roared in anger. This wasn't because his men had failed to keep an eye on the mysterious woman Yasha, but because his plan to trace the mastermind behind her had fallen through.

Despite this, the watchman in charge of the shift felt wronged and tried to defend himself:

"Milord, I've asked everyone on duty. No one has seen the woman since we docked this morning. She must have escaped early."

In the bloody battles of the new world, Luo Zhengdao's intuition, honed by the constant threat of death and danger, told him that Yasha's disappearance was not as simple as it seemed. The mysterious woman's sudden disappearance was likely a harbinger of a larger conspiracy.

At this point, getting angry wouldn't help. After Luo Zhengdao calmed down, he thought about comforting his subordinate's nervousness and said with a casual wave of his hand:

"Never mind, maybe she wanted to leave and didn't have time to say goodbye."

Business had to be done. The Yangwei needed a thorough inspection, and Luo Zhengdao didn't like to make do. Although the shipyard on Torres Island couldn't build ships, its repair capabilities were decent. The boatswain, Zola, who was in charge of the repairs, quickly returned to the dock and boasted:

"Captain, we've replaced the new mast, and all the minor issues have been fixed. Do you want to go out for a test sail?"

Luo Zhengdao, still troubled by Yasha's mysterious disappearance and the inability to sell the loot on Torres Island, had no intention of staying. He shook his head and said:

"No need. Let's set sail immediately. Don't linger too long in the Sea of Shimmering Light. The green skins and bounty hunters have noses like hounds and could catch up at any time."

Zola Hegel, who understood the situation, smiled and showed his white teeth, saying:

"Alright, I'll gather the crew and prepare for departure."

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