Black Sail

The secret port was established by the nobles of Londen City, belonging to the territory of the aristocratic family, used to evade the Duchy's tariffs, store private arms, and shelter malevolent forces while collecting docking and protection fees.

Paying the people who collect protection fees was just the threshold to enter the game.

The Black Sail was now a temporary private militia for the nobles, acting temporarily as their white gloves, naturally exempt from the docking fees.

Liszt and his party descended onto the pier.

Shadi glanced at the scene; it was more than just one carriage—three had arrived, full of style, all pulled by white steeds. The carriages carried over twenty boxes, large and small, all beautifully packaged, not just any shoddy wooden boxes making up the numbers, but good wood, even carved with exquisite animal patterns.

The Count's Envoy greeted Liszt with a slight bow, his palm resting gently on his chest, but as for what he thought of these pirates internally, that was another matter.

"Captain, this is a small token from the Count. The ship has been sitting in this patch of water, and staying here for too long can be vexing. Therefore, a modest gift is prepared, hoping..."

The envoy hadn't finished his polite remarks.

Rein and the others didn't bother with these ceremonious acts; a group of them had already gone up to open the boxes.

The envoy smiled awkwardly, seeing that these people disliked the cumbersome formalities.

The boxes contained recreational goods—tobacco, liquor, tea, coffee powder—all top-shelf products.

Rein grabbed a pinch of tobacco, smelled it, and then chewed on it for a while.

As they often plundered merchant ships and had to appraise the goods onboard—weighing several dozen to hundreds of tons—the core members of Black Sail were all top-notch connoisseurs.

"This is good stuff from Cangwu Mountain, supposedly handled by beauties from cultivation to harvesting to processing, including some damn chest massage technique. Man, they really splurged, shit."

Rein didn't actually care much; these bloodthirsty men couldn't discern fine from poor quality tobacco—it all smoked the same. Isn't it a waste of money? Why not just convert it into cash? All these roundabouts are damn stingy, probably just too much stock, trying to offload it to beggars.

Morison also picked up a bottle of wine, bit open the cork, and tasted it. It was a fruit wine brewed by Wood Elves, sweet and fresh with a dense flavor, smooth-going down the throat, and even had a calming and cooling effect. In this early winter weather, it felt a bit chilly to drink, a rare commodity not for sale.

"This could damn well send us to Hell," Morison commented, recognizing the high-quality goods.

The envoy, still smiling awkwardly, didn't expect that just opening the boxes wasn't the end, they had started using the goods directly.

"Heh... dressing up these trashes?"

Liszt pretended to look down on these, randomly opened a few lids, glanced, and then closed them, actually feeling somewhat intimidated. Those tricky things were hidden and not mentioned; better just ask directly later. If they still beat around the bush without giving a straight answer, then it's time to leave.

The envoy twitched, thinking, how could these be trash, brother? These twenty-some boxes could be gifts for a small noble's wedding banquet.

"Of course not, there is a gift that the Count specifically instructed me to hand over to you personally."

The envoy pulled a palm-sized exquisite box from a secret compartment in the carriage's cargo hold and opened it in front of Liszt, revealing about a hundred or so golden "Eternal and Time Dragons."

"Fuck..."

Shadi cursed, fearing they were expecting them to die. He couldn't think of any job that would require a gang of pirates like them—these were just deposits and gifts. If you have the money, why not hire a Heroic Level adventure group, an all-star lineup? Wouldn't that be better?

There was only one answer: it was an absolutely secretive mission that could not see even a hint of light, entirely hidden; he couldn't use his own men, but rather must employ the notorious cutthroats from Heaven Port, a lawless spot within a lawless area.

He racked his brain; it couldn't possibly be a business dispute. If it was about killing a rival Lord, it would inevitably come back to haunt him. It must be something more secret, unspeakable, with profound impacts and significant ramifications.

The envoy was unaware of the recent events on the Black Sail Ship. These gifts, intended to show sincerity, under ominous signs, turned instead into a gnawing debt.

"In that case, I think we can return these items, and we'll head back to Heaven Port in the coming days."

Originally, Ox was against casually dragging people onto the ship, but this time he sensed trouble. Not only because of the recent suicide on board but also because of a deep-seated, instinctive, ominous premonition—this might be more dangerous than any job Black Sail had ever undertaken, perhaps not even a trip to the Royal Capital, but rather an armed march to express strong opposition.

"Right, it's really freaking scary, like we're heading to our execution," Rein said. Even though he joked about it being like an auspicious funeral, he also felt enormously gloomy and agreed, "Captain, what do you think? I believe it's time to initiate the crew voting, a democratic decision. Mika, go call Archer and Haywood out."

Swan remained silent since Fen had not yet stated his position.

"Alright... let's proceed with the voting."

Liszt made a decision.

The waters between the Western Continent and the Far East Islands were the most prosperous and, in a way, the most democratic region for pirates.

At times, pirates were even more humane and democratic than merchant ships or warships; they did not beat their crew or kill their mates.

Unlike mountain bandits who could intimidate with just a knife, pirates required a ship, a significant investment, and knowledge of complex sail control systems. They needed to know dozens of different knots, and operating a cannon cost a lot of money. Several people needed to work together on these tasks, typically requiring intelligent individuals.

Anyone who could fill any role on a ship was akin to a mid-to-high-level tech worker with years of experience in the 21st century.

All leading pirate gangs at Heaven Port were not spontaneous grassroots movements but were splinters from various mainstream entities—Knight Orders, adventure groups, defeated soldiers, and persecuted former nobles—all with bizarre backgrounds.

This also meant they were more organized and thus longer-lasting and more profitable.

One hundred and ten years ago, an old veteran among the maritime veterans published the "Pirate Bill." It was mentioned in the classic "Acania Travelogue" of the Western Continent and is still considered the gold standard.

The rules were traced out by Big Brother; following this set method, there could be no mistakes.

The two most representative and democratic rules were: first, everyone on the ship, regardless of their position, had a vote on all daily matters; second, in the event of major disagreements, a decision had to be made by a full crew vote.

The rules varied from ship to ship, most only partially adopting them and adjusting according to the situation on board.

However, the rules on Liszt's ship were a disruptive innovation to the entire pirate industry. He knew well that in this saturated market, he had to carve out a differentiated track, focus on critical paths, establish a grip on a vertical domain, gather user profiles for rapid market response, connect product depth continually to accumulate momentum and realize the value coupling of all crew members before finding the activation point for frequent high-stakes engagements.

Simply put, the illiterate among the crew mingled little, dutifully receiving a salary each month. They only needed to share the dividends after a successful heist.

War was a training camp for pirates; peace was their true battlefield.

On SS Fuma Keqing Revenge, different rules applied when they were at sea versus when they were not.

Once out at sea, every core member counted as one vote, and Liszt had only one vote. To keep the sailors content and prevent mutiny after bloodshed—which could stop the ship from moving—at sea, crew members with responsibilities counted as one vote per five people, those without responsibilities as one vote per ten people, theoretically balancing or even outweighing the votes of the management.

Before setting out to sea, the sailors didn't count, core members had one vote each, and Liszt had two votes.

"I think it's time to leave."

The entire group from Black Sail gathered on the pier, with Wolman the first to state his position, casting one vote.

"I also agree we should leave."

Shadi, who was not foolhardy, knew that Archer was stubborn and frantically signaled him with his eyes.

"I don't understand much, but I'll agree."

Archer said nonchalantly.

Ox and Rein had already stated their positions earlier, which meant there were already five votes. One more vote and they could hire a broker to casually bring in a hundred people, rush the material purchase orders, and have everyone act quickly. They could return to Heaven Port first and set off in just a few days.

Seeing that this group was about to leave...

The Count's Envoy's head swelled enormously—if they left, he would be utterly ruined upon returning home, so he quickly released a significant piece of news.