Black Sail
Chapter 298: CCXCVIII. Black Sail Media

Chapter 298: CCXCVIII. Black Sail Media

The Dragon Seeking Team continued with their original plan.

Celeste, with her five intelligence officers, ventured to the New Continent to make contact with Liszt.

Meanwhile, Chuan Che and the rest remained on the island, vigilant to any ripples of movement.

They had to constantly search for suspicious targets, the Dragon Girl.

One person was to take a ship back to dispatch a secret report.

Considering the remote geographical location of Heaven Port, Lostra set up an information transfer station on Kersuna Island, ensuring there wouldn’t be a repeat of the previous incident where the contact person vanished without a trace.

With mixed feelings, they finished the grand meal hosted by Black Sail.

"Hello, were you satisfied with my service? If so, could you please give a good review?"

The waitress at the restaurant handed a rating card to Celeste.

Celeste was dumbfounded.

Mo Yutong brought over a slew of flashy corporate management experiences, including a five-star rating and complaint system. Any dissatisfaction with members of Black Sail could be promptly reported.

There were two reasons.

The first was that Mo Yutong believed Black Sail was now too mixed up with people who used to cut throats and those providing services, all in a total mess. A rewards and punishments system was needed, not only to weed out the "impure" elements but also to encourage staff to strive for self-improvement.

The second was to consolidate the style of conduct – there were too many pirates and not a few nuts who’d slash others mindlessly then commit heinous crimes, and afterward, just report their names under the protection of Liszt, untouchable. Thus, it was imperative to strengthen the moral construction of the staff.

Take Xiao Ming as an example, a lawless pirate with a short circuit in his brain, who killed on sight and turned into a beast at the sight of a woman.

One day, Xiao Ming chops up two villagers on a fishing isle and forces himself on their daughter, after which the villagers could lodge a complaint. Then the administrative department of Black Sail would execute Xiao Ming.

Of course, there were different sanctions: wage deductions, suspensions, dismissals, executions. The rewards and punishments system took the scaling of operations into account.

It was necessary to transform the current unwieldy Black Sail into an organization with a responsive head and tail, controlling the overall situation.

Once the mobile fortress was acquired, it would drift over the East Sea.

It was also a...

You seek me in the vast sea without a trace, I strike you with a Divine Weapon, unexpected and hard to defend against.

Within the exquisite private room of the tavern...

As a senior intelligence officer of Lostra, the lead specialist of the team, Celeste felt dizzy from the workloads, and somewhat blankly gave a five-star rating on the review card.

This place was just too damn bizarre.

Afterward.

A pirate guided Celeste and the five intelligence officers to the docks. During the gold rush, a surging tide of boats, as second-in-line Gold Seekers, Celeste and her party were led by the pirates onto a Black Sail’s pirate transport ship.

The ship, over thirty meters in length, waited until it was full before departing.

The large shared sleeping quarters housed many lower-tier Gold Seekers crammed together, but the atmosphere was lively as some old hands circulated a goddess manual from the adventurer’s guild, seeming quite intent on enlightenment.

Don’t grieve that my secret passion has no confidant, a pair of egrets guide me forth.

Leaving my card, my sentiment in cash, whether much or little, it’s fate. Show scars, dine in jail, partake in all vices from smoking to gambling.

The belle leads my path, as if ascending to the peak of Kongtong!

But of course, Celeste’s party was not meant for the large shared sleeping quarters.

For the second-in-line Gold Seekers, separate rooms were prepared with special meals, and good behavior could lead to full-time opportunities – at least Fen told them so.

The group of six, the Captain allocated two rooms for them, cramped but manageable.

Before departing, the Captain rather cheekily said to Celeste, offering her a "robust man" experience voucher, letting her know she could call on him at any time in the navigation room – if unimpressed, she could use a knife on him.

Celeste simply declined with embarrassment; the way people conducted themselves here was just too outrageous.

She closed the room door, sliding the bolt into place.

Naturally, the onboard environment was no match for an inn, but to intelligence agents, it counted for little. After setting down their luggage, they sat on the floor.

"We’ve already got someone sending back reports, what do we do next?"

One agent consulted Celeste.

"Proceed with our secret infiltration, don’t alarm the quarry, keep a tight grip on the target. Black Sail’s growth has reached unimaginable scales, nothing can be rushed, it demands gradual plotting."

Celeste made a decision.

Soon, before four in the afternoon, the pirate ship was already underway, overcrowded and bound for the New Continent.

Five days later.

East Sea Domain.

The new route developed by the Iron Soul Pirate Group had been shared with everyone.

The calm new route had a vertical coordinate just a bit lower than Heaven Port, with a climate leaning towards subtropical monsoon.

The SS Fuma Keqing Revenge was also on this route.

Surrounding it were fifteen ships lent by Taylor to Liszt, the highest configurations capable of going head-to-head with the navy.

Now true tears were flowing without reason; they had repelled all enemies and wiped out the navy.

Liszt had some little schemes in mind.

Haywood had now become Brother Hai and treating him as a mere tool would ruin their brotherhood.

Though Haywood said he wasn’t cut out for that stuff, Liszt insisted on giving him a sinecure to make him happy for a while.

Haywood had been promoted from a shipwright tool to... the fleet commander of fifteen ships, now staying on the sail battleship.

That ship, over eighty meters long with nearly two hundred cannons, looked damn intimidating; it was Taylor’s foundation, and such a fleet was stationed at the docks.

It was time to see how big Haywood’s appetite was, he also being a stranger from another world; though he hadn’t shown any signs for several years, he might be packing something fierce. People’s hearts are unfathomable, hard to say.

Meanwhile, Liszt and others were so accustomed to the Fuma Keqing that being on other ships felt uncomfortable.

"Second boss, you’ve got to bless me, I’ve had a bad feeling these past few days."

Liszt offered smoke in place of incense to the statue of the Guan Emperor, respectfully bowing and inserting it into the incense burner; he also lit two candles.

Lord Guan with his Green Dragon Crescent Blade could have just slain the Dragon Lord, why not descend and shelter me, I can hardly hold on.

Liszt talked big, but he was somewhat nervous inside; once the order to bloodbath the East Sea was given, there was no turning back.

Now he was the one lacking pirate ethics, drawing others in, deceiving them, Boss of Heaven Port.

Furthermore, his sleep quality had worsened these past few days, as if he were cursed by countless people behind his back.

Back in the navigation room.

Shadi, Mika, and the others had nothing to do.

Now with more hands on deck, once the Golden Dragon spread out, there were plenty of sailors and helmsmen to recruit; the three of them played cards, chatted, and bantered in the navigation room, effectively becoming directors.

"What day is it today again?"

Rein asked with a cigarette hanging from his mouth, playing his cards close to the chest, never looking at them.

"It’s the 13th, right? According to the Iron Soul Pirate Group’s route map, we’ll reach the New Continent the day after tomorrow. Damn, luck smiled on those birdbrains; their names went down in history, a bunch of lowly pirates, too imposing."

Shadi replied.

"Man, do you think there’ll be natives on the New Continent? The kind that don’t wear clothes, holy crap, just coming out in a few leaves? Weren’t there a lot during the Golden Age? Those explorers who landed on many islands, there were always some natives, super exotic."

Rein was hoping to see some primitives; the few fishing islands that Doringger had initially also harbored natives, but later they were wiped out, just like that, by the hounds under the East Expedition Emperor; those people were truly born unfortunate.

"Didn’t they say they brought back handicrafts? The native’s level of civilization must be fairly high. Probably just haven’t been discovered yet, need to keep exploring. New species, new plants, specialties, gonna make a killing."

Shadi thought, with his financial level, it was time to assemble a handsome Elf army.

"If we arrive the day after tomorrow, that’s the 15th; the year’s over, and by my calculations, Lost’s people should be arriving too."

Rein spoke auspiciously.

"Shoot, even if they do come, what about it? With our current power, isn’t it just like an investigator’s script? Straight to Black Sail Media."

Mika took a harsh drag from his cigarette.

"Mr. Mai is tall and tough!"

Rein and Shadi exclaimed in unison.

"Divine Black Sail Media!"

Liszt believed there was a need to improve employee quality.