Counterfeit Hero

Understood, those who understood would immediately open their eyes wide and remain silent as a cicada in winter. For those who didn’t... there’s no need to make them understand. In Free Port, those who don’t know of the Longxing Chamber of Commerce are fools.

In Free Port, you can see the cursive character ”Long” in many places. On the ships of the armed commercial fleet, on the port buildings and giant mechanical arms, on the massive warehouses, malls, and the outer walls of the Space City, on Mechas, on Flying Cars, and even on the tattoos of the street-fighting thugs.

This is the mark of the Longxing Chamber of Commerce. Everything bearing this mark belongs to the Longxing Chamber of Commerce.

This chamber of commerce is different from the traditional sense of the term. It’s a tightly organized, extremely wide-ranging and complex group.

Under its banner, it doesn’t only handle transportation, import and export, entertainment, dining, hotels, and storage, but also includes manufacturing enterprises like shipbuilding, electronics, and machinery. Moreover, it controls nearly eight percent of the ports in Free Port, has a militarily trained mercenary army and two armed fleets, and possesses industries and its own security groups in major cities across Free Port.

Over the past thirty years, Free Port has seen much turmoil, with groups ranked ahead of the Longxing Chamber of Commerce collapsing or disbanding. Only this old chamber remains steadfast.

One can only imagine the power behind the boss of such a group.

No one can ignore Su Kezhou’s orders. Since he has spoken, then within the sphere of influence of the Longxing Chamber of Commerce, all criminal activities will disappear without a trace. Those who dare to seek sustenance after Su Kezhou has given an order will pay an extremely painful price.

”It’s already been notified.” The middle-aged man, Boge, closed the communicator and said softly.

”Hmm.” Su Kezhou’s wrinkled eyes were half-open, half-closed as he looked out the window, nodding absentmindedly.

Outside the Bonaparte Flying Car window, the endless stream of refugees moved forward slowly in groups, like migrating gnus. Su Kezhou quietly watched, and after a long while, he murmured to himself, ”I’ve heard that those pirates on the route have become increasingly excessive recently?”

”Yes, Chairman.” Boge nodded. As the security director in charge of all armed forces, including the mercenary army and the fleet within the entire group, he was very familiar with the situation regarding the pirates. He continued, ”The Suss Empire has already heavily assembled forces at the Saleria Federation border. The main route from Chuckna to Saleria has been seized by their escort fleet. Now, Free Port’s merchant ships can only detour through commercial and edge routes. It’s the perfect opportunity for pirates to strike.”

”I don’t care how they make their fortune,” the old man’s eyes turned as sharp as a knife, ”But if someone disrupts the rules of the Free World, that’s something I cannot tolerate. Free Port must remain our Free Port. Those pirates and the forces behind them are reaching too far!”

”We have already received the news,” Boge said, ”The Western Alliance has been buying off pirate groups on a large scale recently, providing them with weapons, battleships, and financial support. Now, not only do these pirate groups attack smuggling ships breaking enemy blockades, but they’re also targeting military transport ships. Their power is expanding rapidly.”

”That’s typical of the Western Alliance,” the old man waved his hand dismissively, ”If all of human society is a great war, then in the Free World, it’s a small war! We are well aware of the backgrounds behind the major forces here. Sooner or later, our enemies will reveal their fangs. The current rampancy of the pirates is just a signal that the Free World is about to be reshuffled.”

”What should we do?” Boge asked uneasily, ”Scorpion, Blood-colored Slaughter Blade, and Demon’s Eye—the three major pirate groups—have already received the Western Alliance’s cruisers and destroyers. Although these are old-style ships, they are fully equipped for military use, which was unimaginable in the past.”

Frowning, the old man said, ”The destructiveness of pirates determines that they must be restrained. Previously, we could control them; now we can still do so.”

”You mean...” Boge said quietly, ”We...”

”We don’t need to do anything!” The old man looked out the window and said plainly, ”Currently, the relationships between several pirate groups are very tense. Steelman of the Demon’s Eye has been waiting for a chance to strike at Hayreddin. The major forces have even placed their bets, just waiting to watch the show. There’s no need for us to get involved. Just pour oil on the fire at the appropriate time, and that will be enough.”

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”Why has the Redbeard Pirate Group disappeared recently?” In the central trading hall of Free Port, a sneaky-looking middle-aged man was gloating and talking loudly: ”Their batch of ore has been in Old Klaus’s hands for almost a month now. If they don’t come, by the rules, this batch of ore will belong to Old Klaus!”

”Yeah, this Redbeard bunch has just vanished!” Discussions buzzed in the hall, ”That batch of ore is worth quite a bit! The Casol Trading Group that was robbed still intends to buy it back!”

”Klaus, you’re going to make a fortune now!” A trader called out to an elder with a relaxed expression in seat 201 in the hall.

”Make a fortune?” Old Klaus said with a serious face, ”Even if I paid the deposit, I can’t eat this batch of goods. Doing business is about credibility and conscience! Hayreddin is my old client, so no matter what, I’ll hold onto this batch for him.”