Black Sail
Chapter 265: CCLXV. Lifetime Board of Directors

Chapter 265: CCLXV. Lifetime Board of Directors

Inside the tavern, on the second floor, Liszt was gushing about the banquet to Dreya, who couldn’t handle it anymore and awkwardly used her hand to cover her forehead and shield her face.

He imitated a movie character, nodding and smiling as he toasted—quite the remarkable Liszt, it seemed.

However, no one called him out on it.

They asked Shadi and Fen about the goings-on at the meeting.

"At that moment, I almost fucking died, I swear."

Shadi began to boast.

Rein was dumbfounded, learning from his own experience, huh.

"If there’s no work, you can challenge Doringger to a duel."

Morison was a bit depressed; Maple Forest was just for testing their blade, getting a feel for it, and it was a shame there was no real battle tonight.

"Serious business first."

Fen relayed the details of the banquet accurately, leaving no stone unturned, discussing the key alliances, everyone’s demeanor, and who had the overwhelming presence.

The Golden Dragon in the cellar was said to be unsealed at the end of the month, but a new round of voting would suffice. Liszt understood well enough, discussing with the core members their current advantages and the new system to be established; under the rule of run or die, 50,000 Golden Dragons were to be the startup funds.

It was the official start of the war against Doringger.

But even with such good news, the mood wasn’t as upbeat as expected and all the core members had their own concerns.

Liszt didn’t mind; indeed, careful consideration was necessary, but now all the elements were in place, and no other methods were available.

Dreya showed no signs of leaving; it seemed she intended to stay and witness the establishment of the company.

Liszt had an ominous premonition; surely this centuries-old gal wasn’t planning on getting involved in his business?

He was lost in thought, glancing at Fen, who was enthusiastically talking, and didn’t know when the conversation had shifted back to his lousy school. He started bragging that once he had a handle on the New Continent’s stuff, he’d be the expert authority. On the 15th, the grand exploration would officially begin, and the two newly purchased ships, Dawn Breaker and Daffodil, would be put to use.

Now, Liszt’s power was great, with two major allies, two large pirate groups under his command, and seventy to eighty other pirate groups of varying strengths. He virtually had half the continent.

Not to mention, he had the Stele and Fafna as his trump cards.

Not counting elements like unity and loyalty, but solely the combined military and financial power, even an average Duke wouldn’t dare start trouble with him.

"Old Wei, after this is all set up, forget about this lousy inn and just become the head steward, okay? You’ll have the final say in the castle."

Liszt pondered; he had to drag Old Wei down with him. Old Wei was quite the character: he clearly had clout, but he wouldn’t offer help unless you were really in trouble, and then he might just step in.

Although he always said he didn’t want to cause trouble, Liszt didn’t believe that if one day he got trounced by Doringger like a fool, Old Wei wouldn’t step up after all those years of camaraderie.

Old Wei always appeared amiable, with his white hair tied into a ponytail. Despite his age, his clear blue eyes were not the least bit clouded, and he maintained a smile.

"I’ll consider it."

Old Wei worked here also to have something to do, to enjoy his old age. If he were in the castle, he could do more than just make wine; gardening and perhaps running a fishery seemed manageable.

These were pure hobbies for the elderly, and the reason he even thought of a fishery was because he had been invited to the castle by Doringger and knew about the several man-made lakes, which were quite impressive.

Hmm?

Liszt hadn’t expected his casual inquiry to actually lead somewhere. Steady! Everything was steady!

"What are you still doing here?"

Liszt fiddled with his ear, ready to send Dreya away—bring your harem back with you, alright? Honestly, Goria, Meredith, Mo Yutong, all spoiled by his better half, it felt awkward to have them all piled up together except on special occasions.

"Do you want to kick me out?"

"No, it’s just that it’s not good for the company if others see you here."

Liszt came up with quite the boss-like excuse.

"What’s the harm? I’m going to be a major shareholder of the Black Sail Trading Company."

"What did you say?"

Liszt couldn’t believe his ears and doubted if he had heard it right.

Dreya repeated it once more.

"What, can’t I invest?"

"It’s not that... Why are you getting involved? Later, we will all be investing in increments of four or five thousand. Once it’s invested, the property rights are completely with the company. You can’t go through personal accounts; not even a copper coin can be withdrawn. It can only be used for things like payroll disbursement, organizational structure, and purchasing."

"It’s almost the same. I plan to take out all my possessions, although not in Golden Dragons, but in Pedan’s Crystal Coins, along with some of my treasures, which might even exceed the amount a little."

Dreya whispered to Liszt while scratching Mo Yutong’s chin; from now on, she would handle all the accounts, big and small. Mo Yutong appeared slightly shy.

Liszt was dumbfounded and quickly pulled Dreya to one side.

You mad woman, how come you’re so wealthy? How come I didn’t know about it? But what you are doing is pointless; even if you invest money, it won’t increase your influence.

Although it might seem like the shares are roughly equally split and power is equal, the real decision-making authority is still up to me. Mika and Shadi don’t need to be mentioned. As long as it’s not about women, they definitely stand with me. Haywood also fully supports my stance. It’s hard to say about General Fen in the future, but for now, he is definitely on my side, and Swan will do what he does.

Moreover, shares are just that – a way to distribute money. When it comes to power, we still need to establish a new set of rules.

Liszt had come to a realization over these days; after all, Black Sail had started out as a pirate organization. A sudden break in the core system would definitely not work.

The solution was also simple.

Money is money, power is power.

The twelve core members of Black Sail, as long as they contribute over four thousand Golden Dragons later, can join the lifelong board of directors, which is an inheritance of the core system.

Outsiders investing and wanting decision-making power must also go through a vote by the board of directors to determine how many votes they have based on their investment. Otherwise, they could only participate in the profits.

In essence, this rule was simply an addition to the existing system, introducing a method for outsiders to make profits, to achieve rapid expansion.

This was the best method Liszt could think of.

"I’m just worried about you..."

Dreya got emotional. She was also concerned about Liszt causing a crash, and was a bit upset being lectured by him.

"Don’t worry unnecessarily."

Liszt asked the signboard girl for a drink; today, he felt particularly bold.

"After we’re finished and I come back, I’ll go to bed later. If I don’t see you before 2 AM... you know the consequences."

Dreya gave Liszt a resentful look and left with Mo Yutong and the rest of the harem.

Meanwhile, the Black Sail core members were discussing how to take down Doringger.

"In my opinion, it’s simple. Swan just needs to sneak in and poison him directly, kill him with the poison."

Rein thought the plan was very clever.

"It’s useless. We still need to trigger a full-scale fight. His forces will elect a temporary representative, which will give them a just cause. If they beat us and elect a new Boss, we can’t avoid war. Besides, someone might have a private kitchen, and there’s no chance at all. Can they beat a sea monster with their bare fists? Although some embellishment was involved, their physical condition probably isn’t bothered by that."

Wolman considered Rein’s idea the least reliable.

"Do you know that sort of Necromancy? A bite from a Corpse Ghost can immediately infect a living person, turning them into a Corpse Ghost or a ghoul, then creating a crisis of the undead."

Morison asked Fen.

Fen was left speechless; Morison must have gone crazy playing that card game.

As everyone was chatting merrily.

Swan returned, with a miniature Elf stuffed in his coat pocket.

Cleanup was also completed.

This operation was a great victory.

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