Chapter 84: The Troubles of the Pirate King

After a dizzy spell, Drake opened his eyes to find himself in his own cabin. As a captain, he had his own private quarters. He looked down to see a table with a navigation map and an envelope, along with a few wanted posters sandwiched in between.
"30,000 Taibi, 105,000 Marks, 18,000 pounds. Tsk tsk, the rewards offered by my motherland are still the lowest."
Drake looked at the several rewards on the table. As a hidden pirate, even the Brugge Kingdom had to offer rewards openly. Recently, he was so poor that he almost wanted to hang himself up and collect the reward. The 30,000 Taibi was enough to give his 200-odd crew members a fixed salary for six years."
Other than the title of "Robin Hood of the Sea," Drake's crew is also known for receiving a base salary of two pounds regardless of whether or not they seize any loot that month. This has attracted many skilled sailors and even those just looking for a meal to join Drake's team. Drake walked to the cabin door, opened the window, and shouted a message to the guard outside.
"Invite Mr. Fielding to come to my place."
"Yes, captain."
Soon, a man in his fifties with black formal attire, polished leather shoes, and gray hair on his temples walked in with a notebook in hand.
“晚上好船长，你有事喊我？”
德雷克看了一眼眼前老男人，自己最早的合伙搭档，刚出海在北大陆酒馆认识的老混蛋。看着像一个布鲁盖资深绅士而不是海盗，不过老头子看着老实力却很强，资深灵者，德雷克之所以能挤进海盗十王之一最重要愿意就是拥有双灵者船队。
“Good evening, my first mate. How are the crew's spirits lately?”
Philidin took off his monocle on the left and calmly replied, "Recently, more and more storm-crossing routes are using steamships. They run away at full speed as soon as they see us from afar. Those guys who can run at 15 knots even without tailwind, we can hardly catch up with them. It's been almost two months since we last made a good fortune, so naturally morale is low."
Drake had a headache. The reason why he didn't choose a fourth or third level battleship was because he preferred this small and fast airship. With the rapid popularization of steam engines on ships, it is difficult for sailing warships like theirs to catch up. Although their ship is not simply driven by wind and natural forces, and can accelerate with magic jet when necessary, it also requires him and Fielding to supplement their magic power. They only use it to prevent encountering new armored ships from major countries.
"There's nothing we can do about it. I'm just saving up money to try and install a steam engine for us too. It's just that those damn businessmen sell them for too high a price, and if we switch to steam power, the whole crew will have to take a long break and we won't be able to leave port."
Drake is also not a conservative. As long as there is enough money, the first-generation retired steamships' power can be obtained in the North Continental colonies. But the price for this is naturally extremely high, with a double-cylinder single-expansion steam engine priced at more than 10,000 pounds. Even if Drake and several senior officers put in all their private funds, it would not be enough.
"How about we just seize a steam warship?" Felding is getting bolder as he gets older, and to him, robbing a warship is no different from robbing a civilian vessel.
"Seize a steam warship? Even if we can catch up, our muzzle-loaded guns will be destroyed by the rear-loaded guns on the enemy ship before we even have a chance to fire. Even if we can solve all that, I don't want to be chased by a whole navy." Drake immediately dismissed Felding's idea.
"Then why did you call me?" asked Felding, a bit confused.
"You're the one in charge of the money, right? We just made a pure profit of 100 pounds, so I'll hand it over to you. Take 100 pounds from the team funds and give each of the grassroots crew members a 1-pound bonus," Drake said, handing over half of the gold he had just earned from Ms. Rose to Felding.
Philbin took the banknote and put it in his pocket. "Did you collect those extraordinary materials a few days ago? That silly son is willing to pay twice the price."
"Uh, it might be a silly daughter. Well, this could be our future big sponsor. Is the moisturizing breastpin still in the warehouse? I'm going to see if we can earn some more."
Phildeen raised his head and smiled, "That thing is the most underwhelming artifact I have ever seen. Its practicality is not even as good as a C-grade or a decent D-grade extraordinary item. Maybe it can maintain its effectiveness for more than ten years before it deserves to be called a artifact. So, who are you going to sell it to?"
"Secretly, if we want to hold onto their thighs for a long time, what would be a reasonable price to ask for?"
Drake doesn't care about money, he just wants to become a demigod. Phildeen is completely opposite when it comes to money, but he is also fair. Naturally, this first mate is in charge of managing the money.
"If you're not looking to scam someone for one-time profit and want a long-term partnership, you might as well lay it out straight. This time, sell a rare relic at the price of a C-class magical artifact. It makes sense for the buyer to spend a thousand pounds on a relic. If they have enough money, wearing a relic brooch as decoration will only highlight their wealth and status." Phildeen said seriously.
"Well, it's almost there. Even if it's useless, it's still a sacred item. Let's say one thousand pounds. The other side can offer up to ten thousand pounds at any time, but unfortunately, we only have two items worth more than ten thousand pounds and we can't sell them."
Phil heard this and became more alert, "£10,000 cash and £10,000 in assets are not the same thing. Where did you meet this wealthy woman? We haven't been to any affluent areas recently... By any chance, are these two items worth over £10,000 each?"
Drake answered, "Exactly what you guessed, your brain and my brain are worth over 10,000 pounds."
Fielding sighed and replied, "We've only been closed for a few months, we haven't resorted to selling your brain for money yet. Let's consider it when we haven't had any business for half a year."
Drake gave Phil Ding a white-eyed look. This old man really wants to exchange his brain for money. Although he knows it's a joke, Drake still feels a chill down his neck.
Annik has been lying in the hospital for three days until Monday night when a familiar acquaintance visited. Director Ron, dressed warmly with a high-top hat, was only recognized by Annik when he took off his hat.
"What's up with my old schoolmate bothering me in the middle of the night? Are you trying to send me some benefits?"
Mayor Ron took out three ticket-like objects from his hat and asked curiously, "How did you know? Here are three tickets. A carriage will come to pick you up tomorrow morning. Pack up and get ready to leave the hospital tonight."
In this era, there was no such thing as movies yet, and Annick said without careful consideration, "I don't like listening to operas or watching dramas."
"It's not an opera, this time it's a short-term vacation."
"Vacation?"
Annique examined carefully the three ticket samples in her hand under the gas lamp. They were for a first-class cabin (No. 8) on the Sea God cruise ship. The dates were August 12-15.
"Cruise? Or a three-day, two-night trip? How much for first class?"
"I was originally planning to use it myself, 60 pounds for three tickets. It hurts." Chief Ron covered his face and said.
"Is the senior brother so generous?" Anik asked, showing her disbelief by picking at her nails.
"Hmm, this vacation has threefold meaning. First, it's a reward for exceeding the task, even though you weren't able to save the little guide, it's still beyond your capacity. So, take a break and change your mood."
Annik's mood worsened upon hearing this, thinking of little Koer who died in her arms and now she almost wanted to dig out those black-clad men herself.
"Secondly, hehe, we plan to fish and we're missing a bait."
安尼克听到这就知道这位老学长想说啥，“不行，只是我自己冒点风险问题不大，你这三张船票是要把我妹妹们带上吧。”
"There won't be any major trouble. You won't be going alone this time, we'll also arrange for undercover protection for you. The Sea God cruise ship will conduct a thorough drug and body search, and apart from ourselves and the crew, other passengers are not allowed to bring weapons. The captain is also an old acquaintance of mine, a retired Capricorn member of the former navy. You understand, right?"
Annik felt a little excited upon hearing this. It would be safer for her to have someone with a former navy superpowered person and weapons.
"What's the third reason? And who are you planning to lure?"
Director Ron lowered his voice and said, "You know that Mungo was assassinated, this fool was used for experiments, and now you're the only survivor at the sacrificial ceremony. We suspect that we have a mole from the black-clothed people within our organization. Help us lure them out."
Annick heard the definite answer and was wondering how to dig out this group of black-clothed men. Of course, there was also a fat man who escaped that day, but Annick did not intend to mention it, afraid that Chief Ron would ask why he didn't shoot him on the spot.
"Hide from people. General Granjer's anger is about to explode. He didn't dare to get angry a few days ago when the Black Shadow was here. Tomorrow, the Black Shadow will attend a meeting, and I'm afraid he won't be able to hold back and will come to beat you up. Although he won't kill you, there is still a possibility that he will break your arm or something."
Anick fell silent. He was not a controlling father and had only borrowed Emma for a short while. He knocked her unconscious out of fear for her safety and challenged the evil god on his own, only to be knocked back. Can you blame me?
Of course, this is just me talking. "By the way, senior, what kind of big shot is this Black Shadow everyone is talking about? He was able to stop General Granje, or should I say, General Gorilla."
"You're talking about the extraordinary individuals with independent titles, right? Officially, I am the Director of the Special Operations Department in the Kalanag Region and one of the most powerful people in the region."
"A demigod, huh? Annik somewhat understood. Even when facing a demigod who was not in their complete form, their strength was completely suppressed. The gap would probably be even greater when facing a genuine demigod, like a praying mantis trying to stop a speeding carriage."
"All right, pick me up tomorrow at what time. Also bring my identification and weapons with you." Anneke sighed.
"Wow, you self-absolve fast. Let's say 7 AM tomorrow. The cruise has already been notified, so enjoy a few days off. The destination is Kane Island."
Annik has heard of this small island, a popular vacation destination on the east side of Egilsstadir known for its sandy beaches and fresh seafood. It is the recent summer retreat of the affluent in Egilsstadir.