Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

"So… do you think that I'll choose to pardon you, Danogu?"

A mortal who relied on extraordinary items to flaunt his powers was no different from an ant in front of Fang Yuan.

"Yes, because I'm very useful!" Danogu said quickly. "Heathfrey has a total of fifteen merchant s.h.i.+ps. When he came out tonight, he brought most of his forces. This Slavery is his only flags.h.i.+p, and it's a five-masted s.h.i.+p that's comparable to the navy's third-level wars.h.i.+p. The remaining are four three-masted s.h.i.+ps. I'm confident I can convince two of the s.h.i.+p captains to surrender to you. As long as they're certain that Heathfrey already has no chance of reversing the situation, the remaining two s.h.i.+ps will definitely leave the battlefield without the slightest hesitation!"

After he rebelled, he quickly and thoroughly betrayed his former employer.

"Very well, go ahead and do it!"

Fang Yuan waved his hand.

At this moment, cheers could be heard from the s.h.i.+p's hold.

Youne, Rolisa, Butcher, Bill, and the other pirates had detained two men and brought them up.

One of them was black and fat. If it was not the slave trader Heathfrey, who else could it be?

The other person was the necromancer clad in a magician's robe—Jaffa!

"Boss… We indeed captured these two by following the Ghost Rider!" Bill was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with excitement as he spoke.

"Great!" Fang Yuan stepped forward, his lips curling up slightly at the corners. "We meet again, Mr. Heathfrey!"

"Roche!!!" Heathfrey yelled. However, before he could curse, Bill responded quickly and stuffed a tattered rag into his mouth.

"Strip him naked and hang him on the mast to let everyone know that Heathfrey is defeated!"

Fang Yuan made his decision and then looked at the necromancer beside him.

Apart from his magic, he was totally just a wizened, emaciated old man. After stripping him, he looked similar to a skeleton.

"Hang him up, too, to clear his head!"

Although Fang Yuan could see from his eyes that he was begging for mercy, he still coldly gave the command.

It was naturally valuable to subdue an Extraordinary, but he still needed to properly get rid of this necromancer's arrogance.

The dense fog dissipated.

Soon, with the aid of flames and moonlight, almost all the s.h.i.+ps saw the black fatty and the necromancer being hung on the mast.

Heathfrey, a notorious slave trader who had no scruples about his lawless acts in b.l.o.o.d.y Mary Port, was actually stripped naked and hung on a mast.

With this as a deterrent, the armed merchant s.h.i.+ps under his command immediately descended into chaos.

Danogu seized this opportunity to persuade them to surrender, and two of the three-masted s.h.i.+ps' captains surrendered to Fang Yuan on their own accord as expected.

"Pixar! Robert! We pledge our allegiance to you!"

The two captains came onto Fiery Lotus's deck and kissed Fang Yuan's boots.

"You'll soon understand what a correct choice you've made because the two s.h.i.+ps that chose to leave will sink under the ocean forever!"

In reality, Heathfrey had Blackbeard backing him, so it should have been absolutely impossible for the captains to betray him.

However, although Fang Yuan did not have Blackbeard's huge fame, he currently had direct control over their life and death and was naturally ent.i.tled to speak such words.

"Wind!"

With a light touch, Fiery Lotus immediately accelerated with the wind's a.s.sistance, easily closing in on the two s.h.i.+ps that were preparing to depart.

Kaboom!

Shortly afterward, over fifty cannons fired simultaneously, and the two s.h.i.+ps instantly exploded into pieces.

After seeing this, the two captains, Pixar and Robert, gulped down a mouthful of saliva. They knew that if it was not for their choice, they would have ended up the same as those pirates that were feeding the sharks right now.

Compared to Blackbeard, who was far away in the horizon, they would naturally choose imminent survival.

"From now on, you're privateer captains under me! I'll provide you with protection, and thirty percent of all the spoils you plunder will be paid as tribute to me!"

In fact, this was generally the rule among pirate commanders.

An ordinary pirate team only had one s.h.i.+p. In contrast, apart from their own flags.h.i.+p, pirate commanders had a fleet of s.h.i.+ps

Only pirate commanders that reached this level were truly great pirates.

Originally, the Octopus Marauder Team already had signs of development in this direction, but Fang Yuan had unceremoniously sent them back with one slap after their encounter.

After this battle, the unknown Purgatory Pirate Team would certainly become well-known across the entire Nightmare Ocean.

As the team's captain, Arcane Trickster Roche was naturally qualified to recruit s.h.i.+p captains and become worthy of the t.i.tle of a great pirate.

"Boss!" At this moment, Rolisa had another discovery. With a pleasant scent in her breath, she whispered in Fang Yuan's ears, "In the prison on Heathfrey's flags.h.i.+p, we found an interesting prey! Hehe…"

"It can't be… Elizabeth?" Fang Yuan glanced at Wilson. "This slave trader still brought this woman along with him when he is out to plunder?"

"I'm afraid so!" Wilson laughed bitterly. "Perhaps he felt that his flags.h.i.+p was very safe, or maybe he wasn't intending to return to b.l.o.o.d.y Mary Port after he was done with this pillage.

"In short, the unlucky Miss Elizabeth is once again back in our hands!"

Fang Yuan laughed indifferently. "It doesn't matter anyway. At worst, we can just sell her again or wait until her father becomes the Solomon Strait's colonial governor and then use her to extort him for greater benefits."

"Boss… this n.o.ble lady is truly unlucky to end up in your hands!" Rolisa eyes were bright and said charmingly, "How about… handing her over to me? I know a lot about how to 'educate' females slaves…"

"Forget it!" Fang Yuan rolled his eyes. "Also, I know what you truly want. That black fatty belongs to you!"

"Thanks, Boss!"

Rolisa was elated. She glanced at Fang Yuan coquettishly and stuck her chest out, causing the surrounding pirates who were watching to salute her one after another. They then promptly lowered their heads, not daring to take another glance at their captain's woman.

"Captain!" Helga shouted. "A s.h.i.+p from Cecil is approaching!"

"Hmm? Pretty daring…"

Everything that this merchant, Formosa, did tonight was remarkable.

Furthermore, Fang Yuan felt that the other party definitely still had other trump cards apart from the earlier trap using s.h.i.+ps filled with gunpowder.

Otherwise, they would be unworthy of their huge reputation.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

As the other flags.h.i.+p approached, it fired three blank shots—a gun salute representing the etiquette used when pirates met.

"Return the greeting!"

Fang Yuan nodded. He put on his coat and brought along his pirate captain's hat. When he arrived at the s.h.i.+p's bow, he saw Cecil's great merchant, Formosa.

"Arcane Trickster Roche?" Escorted by numerous bodyguards, Formosa stood on the edge of his s.h.i.+p and took off his hat to pay his respects. "Thank you for your help!"

Although he knew that Fang Yuan similarly harbored evil intentions when he came, he naturally would not say it out loud.

After all, with the Octopus Marauder Team from before and Heathfrey on top of that, it was already sufficient for the Purgatory Pirate Team to eat to their fill, and perhaps they were already stuffed.

After all, a ferocious beast that had eaten its fill would be safer than a ferocious beast that was hungry.

Besides, as a successful merchant, he naturally had more than one trump card.

"A verbal promise is as light as a feather. If you truly want to express your grat.i.tude, why don't you give me several large chests of gold coins or call that big fellow below up…"

Fang Yuan laughed heartily, his voice spreading far.

"What?"

This time, it was Formosa who was astonished.

"As expected of the Arcane Trickster!"

He forced a smile and clapped his hands.

Splas.h.!.+

Huge waves formed on the sea surface, and a black shadow emerged. It was as though a hill had bulged out, and huge amounts of water cascaded down.

Butcher and the others immediately cried out in surprise.

This was because a three-masted s.h.i.+p had impressively floated up from the bottom of the ocean!

It had a smooth, flowing teardrop shape and had actually been lurking at the bottom of the ocean the whole time! Even the Octopus Marauder Team, which possessed the giant octopus, had not discovered it!

"Extraordinary s.h.i.+p!" Wilson was the first to exclaim. "It's actually an alchemical magic s.h.i.+p with underwater abilities!"

Within the oceans, it could be said that these types of s.h.i.+ps were the epitome of a pirate's dreams, and they also represented the greatest strength.

Although it was only a three-masted s.h.i.+p, two Fiery Lotuses still could not match its worth.

"It's truly a beauty. What is its name?"

Fang Yuan was also very interested in knowing about the greatest accomplishments in this kind of magic alchemy.

At the same time, he became aware of what Formosa was relying on.

Even if he were to have been ultimately defeated, he could have escaped unscathed with the existence of this extraordinary s.h.i.+p.

Even if Heathfrey flew into a rage, he could only just watch. And within the Octopus Marauder Team, only the giant octopus barely had the ability to pursue it.

This was even more so for the current Purgatory Pirate Team, which did not have any means against Formosa.

"Mermaid!" Formosa said proudly. "Although she's far inferior to those legendary pirate s.h.i.+ps, it is thanks to her that I've achieved my success today!"

"Indeed!" Fang Yuan nodded, his eyes glistening.

He was naturally highly interested in these kinds of alchemical magic s.h.i.+ps.

He even had thoughts of dismantling Mermaid and exploring its secrets.

However, although he had the confidence to restore the dismantled Mermaid, even having no problem replicating another s.h.i.+p if there were sufficient materials, he did not even need to think to know that Formosa would immediately fall out with him if he really were to make such a request.

"In order to express my grat.i.tude to everyone, here are some small gifts. Please accept them!"

Formosa could not stand how Fang Yuan was looking at Mermaid and promptly coughed to divert his attention.

Soon after, well-built sailors carried a few large chests onto Fang Yuan's flags.h.i.+p.

"I like forthright friends. I hope there'll be an opportunity to cooperate next time!"

Seeing this, Fang Yuan could only sigh. He had his subordinates take the gifts and watched as Formosa's fleet departed.

Bill briefly inspected and then said joyfully to Fang Yuan, "Boss, the chests are full of gold coins… This merchant is really rich!"

"Mmm… you guys can distribute it!"

Fang Yuan waved his hand. He was unconcerned about the cheering pirates and picked out a treasure map fragment from Heathfrey's clothes.