I Can See Your Combat Power
Chapter 1184 - Chapter 1184 Chapter 478 The Rules of the Sea

Chapter 1184: Chapter 478: The Rules of the Sea Chapter 1184: Chapter 478: The Rules of the Sea The Tang Clan came to Chaochang to establish their family trade hub, yet the expensive plot of land they ended up buying could only house a desolate village.

Even though the official sent by the Council of Clouds repeatedly stressed that the development of Nangang Wharf was a major direction for Chaochang’s future, the barren place overgrown with weeds, without even a fishing village, hardly lent credibility to the official’s words.

Nonetheless, Tang Yao decided to stay with his clansmen and sought craftsmen and laborers from Chaochang to start building the village.

As days passed, the significant undertaking of the Longxi Alliance establishing a settlement at Fierce Realm went unnoticed, like a droplet in the ocean causing no ripples at all, and even the wary Council of Clouds let down their guard upon seeing that Tang Yao was sincerely starting village construction.

It was true that Nangang Wharf was a direction for development, but to expand Chaochang City to this extent would take at least another twenty or thirty years, so what was the rush?

Of course, the Tang Clan could choose to continuously increase investment and expand Nangang Wharf to eventually adjoin the outer city of Chaochang, and that would be even better. The expanse of Chaochang came from embracing all rivers, its greatness from inclusivity.

The Twelve Aristocratic Families of the Council of Clouds rejected the Tang Clan that came to Chaochang to compete for territory, but if the Tang Clan came with the intention of enlarging the pie, they would welcome them a thousand times over and wish for more such families.

The Tang Clan’s arrival caused not a single stir, but the sudden appearance of several pirate ships in the South Sea changed the maritime layout of Chaochang’s trade routes.

As the largest port of the endless boys, all of Chaochang’s trade with the Outer Continent relied on the sea, but not every merchant ship could be helmed by a warrior from Fierce Realm; most were guarded by elite teams of about a dozen members who had yet to complete their transformation.

After all, each trade expedition took at least ten months, and even the short and fast ones would take half a year. Investing top-end martial force from Fierce Realm to protect a fleet was simply not cost-effective.

Because the real threats to trade fleets in the open sea did not come from human-caused disasters but from the unpredictable sea conditions and weather. If a situation arose that truly threatened the fleet, a single warrior from Fierce Realm could hardly change the outcome; to some extent, their presence or absence made no difference.

And there was even less worry about human-caused disasters, since the pirates roaming the endless South Sea were actually nurtured by noble families, with the purpose of monopolizing the waterways.

After all, battle was a matter of specialization. Ordinary pirates who took to the water could only terrorize small rivers, plundering passenger boats and merchant ships, but in a place like the endless South Sea, the Mortal Realm’s influence was negligible. Noble family fleets often comprised of more than a dozen teams of coordinated elites, not inferior even to wandering warriors from Fierce Realm.

A wandering warrior who had cultivated to the level of Martial Ancestor would have to be insane to choose piracy in the endless South Sea because, once a warrior broke through to Martial Ancestor Level, there were far too many better options available to them.

Thus, while the endless South Sea seemed rife with pirates on the surface, the noble families of Chaochang were well aware of how things truly worked, and by following certain unwritten rules, they managed to coexist peacefully.

For example, when the aristocratic families banded together for a trade mission to Chengzhou, the smaller clans knew better than to hastily organize their own fleets to try and get a share, as it would likely lead them to encounter pirates.

The same held true for trade. The aristocratic families had no restrictions, but the smaller clans had a series of taboos to consider, and this was where the ruthlessness of Chaochang lay.

No one would remind you; by the time you realized you had overstepped, those pirates were already facing you.

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Wiping out an entire clan certainly wasn’t necessary, and instead of saying that the pirates, under their black flags, were not cruel, it would be more accurate to say that the mistakes “committed” by the smaller family fleets were not severe enough to warrant annihilation.

Thus, in most cases, small fleets only needed to hand over half (sometimes up to seventy percent) of their goods, and then they could pass through unharmed.

Of course, you could also try to resist, and that’s when the pirates would fly a red flag, which meant that if you were defeated in battle, they would mercilessly plunder your fleet, and without a doubt, every ship would be slaughtered.

Aside from some infamous pirates, there was also the constantly patrolling Chaochang fleet on the endless South Sea, ensuring the safety of the shipping routes by radiating south from the Chaochang port.

On one hand, they supported the pirates in setting the rules for merchants in the South Sea, and on the other, they organized fleets to ensure the safety of the lanes.

It was with these dual tactics that, over these past twenty years, the wealthy traders of Chaochang became richer, while the small merchants could only pick up the scraps left by the aristocracy, but it was still better than standing still.

However, in the last two months, many agency fleets discovered that the gluttony of the aristocracy was growing more unsightly, as small and medium-sized agency fleets encountered pirates one after another.

These newly emerged pirates did not rob other merchant ships; it was as if they had a clear target, preying on and attacking only these slave-trading fleets.

Resistance was considered, but what was absurd was that this unfamiliar group of pirates was led by a Martial Ancestor Level expert, and the crew comprised entirely of Mortal Realm elites. This was almost the same as revealing their identities to those they were extorting.

After all, aside from those Chaochang bastards blinded by money, who could readily muster such martial force at sea and accurately detect their routes?

With such a realization, the middle and small-sized agency slave-trading fleets naturally didn’t entertain thoughts of resistance. Even if anger boiled in their hearts, most of them resolved the issue by paying off the pirates.

The very few brave enough to resist managed to drive away that solitary Martial Ancestor with their superior numbers, but their ships also suffered varying degrees of severe damage.

These courageous captains, upon returning to Chaochang, would count the costs of healing potions needed for injured Mortal Realm warriors and then look at the quotes for ship repairs, invariably cursing themselves in silence. Compared with their losses, it would have been better to pay off the pirate from the start–the damage would have been less.

Because of the emergence of this Martial Ancestor Level pirate, the cost of capturing slaves for the middle and small agency fleets in Chaochang had significantly increased, nearly causing them to lose their competitive edge in the fierce agency market; lowering prices meant operating at a loss, but without lowering prices, these human slaves would just rot in their hands.

Although it had been anticipated that with the reduction of the population dividend, the aristocracy of Chaochang would take action, nobody expected it to come this swiftly.

A few agencies that caught on could only helplessly realize that the top few were clearing the field. Although the agency businesses in South City seemed to be thriving, in reality, it was only the cheap labor from the Longzhou disaster that was sustaining them.

Not to mention that Chengzhou’s frozen soils were beginning to thaw and recover, the Tang Clan of Longxi was determined to maintain their magnanimous reputation by rescuing the refugees across Longzhou, which sealed the fate that the agency business wouldn’t last long.

The greatest downside of a union is once again evidenced; when interests align, everyone quickly gathers together, forming a force that commands attention. But when risks present themselves or bad omens appear, some members of the union swiftly look to escape.

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