Daily Intelligence System: Don't Kill Me, Honey!

”Brother Chen, stop, it seems they have surrendered!”

Zhang CuiShan looked at Chen Jie and said, while Chen Jie glanced at Zhang CuiShan and then turned his eyes towards the distant warship that had raised a white flag and was already catching fire.

Chen Jie said, ”Sink it, we don’t need captives.”

At this moment Fang Susu walked over and said, ”There’s still loot on their ship, sinking it would be somewhat wasteful. Also, there’s something strange. Normally, with the merchant flag raised, pirates usually come over directly to demand money rather than choosing to engage in battle immediately.”

Chen Jie puzzledly looked at Fang Susu and said, ”What does ’merchant flag’ mean?”

Fang Susu said, ”Merchant ships are the veteran merchant fleets that roam these seas. These veteran merchant fleets are not only strong but are also on good terms with the various powerful groups at sea.”

”Therefore, robbing such merchant ships is quite unprofitable for pirates. But pirates are businessmen; they live off this trade. You can’t starve them, so all merchant ships sailing the seas will fly a flag issued collectively by the Pirate Alliance, and whenever pirates encounter it, they will approach the ship.”

”The merchant ships will offer one-twentieth of the value of their cargo to the pirates who come to rob them.”

”There will be no conflict between the two sides, and after the robbery, the pirates will give the merchant a flag belonging to their pirate group and mark the latest sign on the flag.”

”This indicates that the merchant has been robbed once and then continues to sail. They follow this routine when they encounter the next pirate. After being robbed twice, other pirates are not allowed to touch the cargo on this ship, allowing it unrestricted passage through the South Sea.”

”The purpose of this is to ensure that there are always merchant ships passing through nearby waters. Pirates favor sustainable development and not over-exploiting the area.”

”This is effectively the iron law of this sea region; nearly everyone abides by the directives issued by the Pirate Alliance.”

Fang Susu said this, and Chen Jie was stunned, saying, ”Does this so-called iron decree have such strong binding power?”

Fang Susu said, ”This is a rule set by the thirteen big pirate groups, and our Divine Dragon Sect has also cast a vote for it. These thirteen groups effectively comprise all the large pirate groups in the South Sea.”

”They also include several large nation-backed pirate groups, such as Siam’s Giant Elephant Pirate Group and Baiyue’s Iron Monkey Pirate Group.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Jie looked at Fang Susu and said, ”Their countries have their own pirate groups as well.”

Fang Susu said, ”Naturally, eight of the thirteen large pirate groups have national backgrounds; they are all from various Southeast coastal nations, and the remaining five are backed by various large forces. To dominate the South Sea, it’s not enough just to have one or two warships.”

Hearing this, Chen Jie gently nodded, understanding that whether on land or at sea, you cannot develop without a powerful force.

”So, shouldn’t this warship, which openly defies the Pirate Alliance treaty, be destroyed?”

Fang Susu said, ”I believe I’ve seen this warship before, and I think I know their captain. He’s a red ghost named Garuno, seemingly part of a group of Iberians who, after hearing Marco Polo’s story that the East was full of gold, stumbled along, robbing and stealing their way to the South Sea.”

”Relying on their fine cannons, they’ve gained some fame, but he’s generally been quite sensible in his actions. So I’m even more puzzled why he would go mad and attack us.”

After hearing Fang Susu’s words, Chen Jie also calmed down; when something’s out of the ordinary, there’s definitely more to the story, something he’s unaware of.

Having understood this, Chen Jie said, ”Then let’s approach them, have them hand over their riches and ask whether they’ve gone mad, daring to fire at us.”

After saying this, the ship immediately advanced.

Once they were close, Fang Susu stood at the ship’s bow looking at Garuno, who was holding up a white flag, and said, ”Garuno, you’ve eaten the heart of a bear and the gall of a leopard, daring to attack a merchant ship?”

Garuno, that red ghost, quickly responded with clumsy Han language, ”My God, it’s the noble Miss Fang! How could you be on such a salvage merchant ship? Had I known it was you, I would never dare to fire at you! My noble Miss Fang.”

”Salute to the great Dragon King Lord!”

Garuno was now full of grinning and groveling, but Fang Susu was not going to let him off easily with sweet talk.

At this moment, Fang Susu said, ”Enough with the nonsense, Garuno, you know that firing at our Divine Dragon Sect merchant ship means starting a war. Since you lost, according to the rules, present all your ship’s treasures, and have your men bind their hands and come out from the ship.”

”Otherwise, prepare to sink to the bottom of the sea and feed the sharks.”

”Oh, no, noble Miss Fang, all the treasure is my hard-earned, my blood and sweat money. I beg you, leave some for me!”

Fang Susu said, ”Then you choose to sink into the sea and feed the fish. Let you and your treasure submerge!”

Upon hearing this, Garuno cried out, ”No, don’t do this Miss Fang, it’s really too cruel. Asking a pirate to hand over his treasure is more painful than killing him.”

Fang Susu replied, ”You can choose not to give.”

Garuno said, ”I-I would not dare. Men, quickly bring out my treasures! Damn it, the cabin’s flooded, eh? Get those guys out as well, don’t let them drown!”

Upon hearing Garuno’s words, immediately some people dragged out two large wooden chests, bringing them to the ship’s bow, at which point Garuno said, ”Noble Miss Fang, this is all my possessions.”