Black Sail
Chapter 116: CXVI. Media Scores Twice

Chapter 116: CXVI. Media Scores Twice

Meanwhile,

Outside the manor, on the main streets of Heavenly Port Inner City.

The sky was overcast, the air oppressively hot, as if rain could pour down any minute.

Liszt squatted at a street corner smoking, eyeing the bare legs of women passing by. This godforsaken place had its perks, like the women were fierce; though it wasn’t the coldest time yet, the temperature had dropped somewhat, yet these girls still fearlessly flaunted what they had.

"You really can blow your own trumpet."

Fen was somewhat amazed too; Liszt had a knack for trickery and deceit. If he were Taylor, let alone going after Boss, he’d seriously consider slapping Emperor a couple of times.

In Liszt’s stories, everyone in Heavenly Port was his man, and so was everyone in the Western Continent. His brothers were all around, just scattered. Just a nod from you, a few slick moves, and taking down Boss would be like chopping vegetables.

Of course, Taylor wasn’t a fool; he wouldn’t just blindly support Liszt.

He came up with a compromise: Taylor wouldn’t abandon Liszt but would only help him hang on until the end of the year, negotiating with the other big shots.

Before the end of the year, those bosses would stay out of external matters.

Whether it was Liszt and Qi Li or someone else, they were all mere tools for supplying goods and had to keep things stable.

After the end of the year,

Whoever had higher KPIs would get the support.

It wasn’t like higher protection fees were better, which could be detrimental to the ecology of Heavenly Port.

But too low, and it would affect the pirates’ initiative.

It was merely a case of choosing the lesser of two evils.

But that was just what Taylor told others.

In reality, Taylor wanted to see if Liszt could pull off this ultimate tough job. If he succeeded, no questions asked, he’d have the guts to overthrow Boss, which wasn’t out of the question.

If he failed, then he’d go back to doing what he was supposed to, loading up goods near East Shore without making useless fuss.

"The first step is stable, nothing happened before the New Year, and that old Lao Deng, Taylor, also agrees with this plan, Aran International Metropolis then."

Liszt suddenly felt a tinge of melancholy. Perhaps in such a big city, he could bump into old classmates. He wondered how they were faring now.

Gotta buck up, huh? Not hoping for you guys to become kings, but it’s been ten years. Put together a feudal official at least, right? Then I’ll just bring people over and enjoy the fruits of their labor. Wouldn’t that be sweet?

From Liszt’s hometown, there were quite a few exchange students who had gone to study in North America; more than a dozen of them were at that underground laboratory that day.

Liszt always played both sides: people from his hometown were ironclad, and international female friends were pretty tight too, men not as much.

Also, dealing with William was a real pain in the ass; he had to get Rein to handle him. Teeth with lemon, planks with nails, and sweltering bedding—the same old three brought together. Let’s see if he could withstand that.

Teeth with lemon, planks with nails, these were Rein’s frequent practices.

But the stifling bedding was his specialty, reserved only for the utterly heartless. And as for traitors like William, so many classmates were executed and tortured yet he didn’t care, living a life of luxury and splendor—too much of a beast.

"No incidents, huh? That’s good. We’ve been back in Heavenly Port for over a week, and Lostra’s men are going to arrive soon."

Fen was also somewhat agitated inside, because this matter wasn’t one that could be settled just once. Even if they killed this group of people, others would follow up.

Like with the Thief Guild, it was a do-or-die situation.

"It’s fine, Goria is already our person, now we just need to deal with Caroso."

Liszt found himself in a dilemma; it was awkward to kill such a man of honor and then have to explain it to Lord Guan.

"When did it happen? I mean with Goria."

Fen couldn’t comprehend, could someone really straighten out the lace edging? Was Liszt really that terrifying?

"Oh... don’t worry about that."

Liszt didn’t feel like explaining. He didn’t want to be stuck with catching Dreya and Goria in bed later, but on second thought, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing—if Dreya cheated, it simply justified him as being named appropriately, didn’t it?

"So let’s kill Caroso tonight. I’ll lure him out, and calling Morison and Ox for backup would be safer."

Fen proposed this plan.

"No."

Liszt vetoed the idea. Even though Goria was now under his control and he indeed wanted to keep Dragon Lady, those who were involved on land were serious and righteous people with loyalty and honor.

Even if Goria and Caroso had their differences, they had shared life-and-death experiences, struggling through hardships together, escaping to where they are now. Even scum develop feelings over time, let alone a gloriously upright clergy.

If others knew you did the deed, wouldn’t it leave a bitter taste, preventing the collaboration on greater endeavors?

"What if I perform the indoctrination ceremony, the whole Holy Spirit Church ritual, swearing to serve the Thirteen Holy Spirits forever and to unregrettably follow any command from Tai Chu and the End Saint Spirit?"

Liszt made his shocking statement.

Caroso was simply looking to gain some benefits for his sect. And I belong to the Holy Spirit Church, too—what’s to say? Could a flood wash away the Dragon King’s temple?

Boom!

Suddenly, a thunderous explosion shook the sky, and a torrential downpour began.

"Uh."

Liszt was stunned. That day, Caroso worked a miracle, brandishing the Thunder Light Sword and Thunder Gun, all terrifyingly impressive. Perhaps the Holy Spirits did exist—could he be facing divine retribution?

He had insulted every well-known deity, especially the Dragon Lord, and thereafter the leading Thirteen Spirits, Tai Chu, and the End Saint Spirit, Master of Destiny. Since the latter was a goddess, Liszt’s verbal onslaught was particularly crude.

"Tsk."

Fen was a firm atheist. Liszt had always blustered about materialism, and yet he was now shaken. Earlier, the air was already quite muggy; it was just normal convective weather. Cold and warm air flows, clouds form through convection—he knew it was going to rain that afternoon.

The two of them took shelter from the rain at a nearby Black Sail establishment.

The coffee shop run by the Baroness.

Seeing the two big shots arrive, the intellectual beauty with glasses had the waitress quickly prepare the coffee. The café had been operating at a loss, which was somewhat embarrassing for the Baroness.

It was akin to Black Sail subsidizing her lifestyle.

Fen and Liszt continued discussing the topic from before.

"Joining the Holy Spirit Church comes with many restrictions. You’re better off forgetting it. Besides, Caroso isn’t the kind of person who accepts wild believers. He only acknowledges the organized ones. There’s no shortage of people claiming to serve the Holy Spirits—it’s not reliable."

Fen still believed that eliminating Caroso was the only way to prevent future trouble.

Liszt thought it over and realized she was right. If he joined the church, wouldn’t he have to deal with his wife, who was hunted all over the world?

"Let’s put off what we can. We’ll deal with Lostra’s people first. Caroso will understand that self-reliance trumps all else. Taking control of someone else’s power doesn’t have to be used against the Emperor; it’s ultimately about consolidating one’s own forces."

Liszt found his resolve. Once they dealt with those on Lostra’s side, he would confront Caroso directly, be a real man and talk openly, and take Caroso down with the He Transmutes Freedom Method.

After that, it was off to the great plunder at Aran, and they needed to leave some tough characters in charge at Heaven Port.

"Lady, do you want a husband? A genuine Aran Knight Master, skilled in both the literary and martial arts, sunny, humorous, and a handsome fellow. Once this chance passes, there’ll be no other shop like this."

Liszt once again played the matchmaker.

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