Black Sail
Chapter 234: CCXXXIV. East Sea King

Chapter 234: CCXXXIV. East Sea King

The following morning, around 9:00 AM on the 29th.

Heaven Port, once a bridgehead for the eastern expedition, spanned a vast area of about sixty hectares. The whitewashed walls and towering castle structures exuded a stern and solemn appearance.

After Doringger settled here, the place’s functionality as a strategic location diminished, transforming it into an incredibly luxurious, grand estate.

Whether it was the daily trimming by gardeners or the maintenance of the fountains on the roads, this place became the only sanctuary amidst the chaotic Heaven Port.

Those unaware might think it was the residence of royal relatives.

Doringger had long transcended the category of a pirate.

Of all the wealth in Heaven Port, Doringger possessed the lion’s share.

On an architectural platform within the estate that overlooked the entirety of Heaven Port, there was an outdoor bath where, during summer days, dozens of lightly dressed beauties would frolic.

During winter, a thin layer of ice formed on top, and more than ten Yisu women, all dressed in maid outfits and under the age of twenty-five, were sweeping snow off the platform.

Connected to the platform was a glass folding door, behind which a room of opulent grandeur lay, surpassing even the Count of Londen’s residence by several grades.

Wrapped in a black cape, Doringger stood at the edge of the platform, his back to the observer. He was about two meters tall, his grey-white hair cascading down to his mid-back. Behind him, the white castle tower stood stark against the biting wind and snow, symbolizing his unshakeable authority.

"Last night, the Skull Club and Twin Group were wiped out. It was Liszt who did it, and he also set the plantation on fire. When he returned to the port the day before yesterday, it was with that Turbid River Dragon," reported a person clad in dark, heavy armor.

"I don’t understand... why are you telling me all this?"

Doringger’s voice was hoarse, as if his vocal cords were damaged, and he didn’t turn around.

"This..."

The armored soldier, despite the severe winter, had sweat on his back.

"Merchant ships, that is mines; pirates, that is miners. Do you think... the Emperor would deal with a bloody incident involving lowly miners?"

Doringger was...

the East Sea Emperor.

Skull Club and Twin Group were mere insects that could be crushed with a finger.

The armored soldier fell silent; he was merely there to report, naturally leaving the matter to be handled by Doringger’s other subordinates.

"Have the invitations been sent out?"

Doringger was concerned about other matters; his sights were not set on the East Sea.

"Yes, Taylor and representatives from various major trade and gold mining companies have all received them and confirmed their attendance on the 2nd."

The armored soldier responded respectfully.

"How about the head of the adventurer’s guild in the eastern region? Has he come to the island?"

That was Doringger’s main concern.

Those were the sort of people who could decide whether to invest heavily far out at sea to establish the guild and turn this place into a frontier for expansion.

"The man hasn’t arrived, just a letter stating he will come after the new year, no specific date confirmed."

The armored soldier answered truthfully.

"I see, isn’t his son studying in Pedan?"

"Yes."

"First, kill his son. If he still doesn’t understand, we might have to replace him as the person in charge of the eastern region. Are you interested?"

"I dare not meddle in business, I’ll have someone handle it."

The armored soldier excused himself.

Doringger gazed at the snowscape, pausing for a moment before summoning an older man dressed as a butler.

"What did the First Officer of the Iron Soul Pirate Group say?"

"He has agreed."

"Good, from now on, he is promoted to Captain. No matter if the New Continent is a broken isle or a treasure, the naming, the statues, and the historical records will say it’s my dog’s."

With that declaration,

the snowstorm intensified, a fierce storm seemingly sweeping across the entire East Sea, surging towards the entire continent.

At that moment,

inside the Black Sail Inn.

Fen was on the second floor, tallying accounts.

The financial situation of the Skull Club and Twin Group wasn’t great; even with all the funds of key members combined, it just exceeded a thousand.

Not to say it wasn’t a lot, it was quite a sum. But given what was stored in the cellar, it didn’t seem so significant.

Transferring immovable properties was straightforward; they owned some casinos and nightclubs in these territories, where no written deeds were necessary—where Brother Ox ruled, men fierce and words seldom spoken, a few underlings handled matters, and everything thus reverted to this side.

The former strongholds of the Skull Club and Twin Group, a bastion tower and a hotel respectively, were handed over to the pirates under him for residence. All were prominent figures, now high-end individuals, no longer needing to save money by continuing to sleep beneath the decks in communal bunks.

Liszt also planned to turn these two locations... into troop deployment sites!

Archer had already gone to buy ingredients, preparing for tomorrow’s New Year’s dinner. He was making a feast fit for a court, Archer truly was a culinary god! Highly meticulous, the stuff in the kitchen downstairs could not be messed with.

Morison, being a festive person, also liked the rituals of celebration; he went out to buy fireworks. He decided to go all out, detonating tens of thousands of them, aiming to outshine the castle, giving Doringger a lesson.

Just like Liszt’s hometown had the tradition of eating dumplings for New Year’s.

Here, the custom was to make a kind of delicacy, using leaves similar to the Holy Tree from the Holy Spirit Sect’s scriptures, wrapping mashed glutinous rice into a cake-shaped dumpling with some meat stuffing inside, and these could be steamed for eating.

Wolman and the female comrades in the inn were making these "dumpling-smashes" together! Even the cult Holy Daughter, Fafna, was wrapping them; Gawain was notably diligent and joined them too.

Life is about having something to look forward to. The reason Gawain had braved death in Great Wetland was hoping for his younger brother to succeed. Given his brother’s abilities, he couldn’t get into any good university; they all charged exorbitant fees.

Fen realized that Gawain was not in a good state, lacking initiative; staying long there would soon lead to trouble. He verbally suggested taking his brother as a student so he could eventually stand on his own.

What could Gawain say? Pedan National Arcane Academy, commonly known as Western Continent Oxford, where scholar-level figures taught one-on-one—what incredible fortune was that?

There was hope now. With matters at this point, he might as well deal with it. Now becoming a horse bandit, Aran couldn’t return, and staying in the Western Continent was also unsafe.

What surprised Liszt was Fafna’s fondness for Wolman, even potentially surpassing that for Goria. How wonderful!

Come New Year, they truly became a family.

The initial effort put into wooing this girl was with the hope of seeing a child succeed. Doringger was just a singer; one Dragon Breath from Fafna could kill her, what’s there to discuss?

Fafna followed in the back kitchen wrapping the "dumpling-smashes," although a bit noisy and irregular in shape, she was fitting right in.

Liszt had fully recovered and watched Fen do the accounting.

"Strictly speaking, these are all your spoils of war."

Fen tentatively tested Liszt.

"Don’t bother with these useless things, you should know, from the moment Swan took out his stuff, Black Sail was not just about the money. Big jobs, tough jobs, next up... it’s time for great undertakings."

Liszt patted Fen’s shoulder. Having too many cunning plans was tiring; if all his subordinates were as honest as Wen Kui, it would save lots of trouble.

Too many crises were still unresolved; moreover, who knew if there was another Mu Ran?

To shake that Magician and prepare for his subsequential moves, he must elevate his power to a terrifying level.

"Sitting in the promotion device might not be a bad idea."

The Dark Elf signboard girl looked over at Liszt and made a bombshell statement.

Mika spat out a mouthful of wine, having given up on these face-judgers; he planned to create a world with only prostitutes! He silently headed out towards the ancient temple connected at the end of Boundary Sea.

"My fucking god, a ’green sister-in-law’, right!"

Rein scanned around; fortunately, Dreya wasn’t there.

"My fucking god."

Weber echoed.

"Damn it, I’m a hundred times more handsome than Liszt."

Shadi, disdainful, flicked his hair and struck a charming pose.

"Well, maybe he just looks more mature."

The signboard girl commented casually.

Blood almost burst out of Shadi’s mouth.

"Hey! Don’t underestimate me, assholes! Come upstairs, and I’ll show you what a real dragon is."

Shadi felt insulted.

The signboard girl expressed disinterest.

And Liszt had no clue about the conversation at the bar.

"Where’s Haywood?"

Liszt looked around but found no trace of this tool-like figure, his emergency wallet. After all, even turned into shares, it could still bring him double the returns.

The money in the cellar was locked up, temporarily unaccounted for, made to counter Doringger.

According to Fen’s accounts, Liszt confiscated his spoils of war, and Fen also confiscated what he had won from the cards the night before. Now the public funds were still comfortably at 2,100 Golden Dragons.

Liszt’s personal wealth was now around 530 Golden Dragons, and the Red Crystals he had gotten from Sefer, he had used one to redeem the Junlin Sword and still had three remaining—those Red Crystals were extremely valuable, and Dreya was safeguarding eighty for him.

Dougli’s action was considered employing Morison and others; whatever was obtained was divided among them, even giving Meredith a share.

After distributing 300 Golden Dragons to the remaining key members on the ship, along with their previous savings, they were filthy rich.

Enough for a lifestyle of drunken dreams for the rest of their lives.

But with easy money, there came drawbacks of easy money.

If earned through honest means, it was yours to enjoy; obtained by illegal ways, trouble followed, and sticking together was the only way to ensure survival.

"No idea; he’s probably off for his so-called Promotion."

Fen had told Liszt about the ore-containing Otherworld essence found last night and handed it to Haywood as well.

"When did the Demon Martial God come?"

Liszt understood one thing; Brother Hai was about to rise.