After they entered the castle grounds, Gibson noticed barrels of rum, hay dummies, and cannons being repaired by pirates. Unlike outside the castle gates, the pirates inside were doing some kind of chores instead of being drunk and lying on the sandy ground. There were at least fifty archers atop the castle walls, all glancing at them. If they were to make a single wrong move, hundreds of arrows would riddle their bodies in a blink of an eye. Even if the archers had bad aim, they had the advantage of height.

In addition to the archers, several groups of pirates sat in groups around campfires. These groups were the pirate version of patrolling soldiers.

While Gibson was counting the pirates, Tiberius looked at the holes and remnants of cannon blasts in the castle walls. He could guess how many siege battles these castle walls must have gone through before submitting to the pirates.

In Tiberius's mind, the pirates were wasting the island's potential by just treating it as their one super big tavern. There was no law, order, or even basic hygiene. He remembered Lucifer saying 'if these pirates were left ungoverned, they would not only be a threat to others but also to themselves'

He could now agree with Lucifer's statement. He wondered why the Royal Navy of Awor didn't bombard this island and deal with the pirate threat.

"Why didn't we see any of Blackmane's fleet on the sea?" asked Tiberius,

The pirates were not fond of a strict hierarchy and calling others 'my lords'. They considered themselves freemen so even the Pirate Lord could be called by his name without any titles. Pirates hated these noble titles.

Most of them hardcore pirates like Blackmane believed respect is earned through power and riches, not by titles. The only titles they allowed were 'Captain' and 'Pirate Lord'. But the title Captain gave no immunity to the captain as the title king would. If the crew became unhappy with their captain, they would throw the captain off the board or hang him or her in a heartbeat. The same was true for the Pirate Lord too but there was never been an incident where the crew mutinied against a Pirate Lord before.

"Why? You want to test us?" the bold guy in golden robes snickered,

"Don't mind my friend here, he's being a bitch because his ship is under repair and couldn't go plunder as he wants" the female pirate chuckled to calm both of these men before either of them started a fight.

"We don't usually anchor our fleet in Aden, friend. As they say, don't put all your eggs into one basket"

Tiberius agreed with the pirate woman as they walked past several pirates rolling barrels after barrels into a cabin. Just the smell permeating from those barrels was enough to make their taste buds savor the sweetness of the rum within.

"So Vance is still plundering only the ships that carry rum?" Pirate Lord Corey asked the red-haired pirate,

"Of course. Isn't that genius Pirate Lord Corey? We hit ships with gold, sugar, gems, and all that will turn into gold coins and go straight to buy rum. Why go through all that trouble when you can directly take what you really want?"

"It shouldn't make sense but it does" Corey chuckled

At first, Tiberius thought its stupid to plunder only the ships that carry rum shipments but after meeting the pirates, it sounded way less stupid to him.

If anything, this was a stroke of genius because most navy ships carried gold, gems, ores, sugar, and weapon shipments. Plundering those ships was not only risky but would also make them a threat to a kingdom or worse, a threat to the Awor Empire.

Rum however carried by merchant ships and plundering merchant ships was like taking candy from a baby compared to plundering a navy ship.

Besides, like the red-haired pirate said, even if the pirates plundered tons of gold, their earnings would eventually be used to buy rum and whores. By directly plundering rum and the valuables from the merchant ships, they could easily get both without any hassle.

Eventually, after passing several more rum warehouses, they climbed a set of gray stone stairs to step onto the throne hall which had been turned into a lavish tavern. Several long oak tables were placed from the bar counter to the end of the hall. As expected the primary clientele of the tavern was pirates and the maids were ladies who generously revealed their deep cleavage to their customers. Of course, some outright seemed uncomfortable putting up with all the butt slapping and hand grabbing.

Tiberius's nose twitched due to the stench of piss, vomit, and rum. Despite the stench, the tavern itself was packed and lively thanks to the singing and dancing.

"I have to give it to them, they are one happy bunch," Tiberius thought in his mind. Building a country for the freedom fighters and managing it was harder than he had imagined. Some days, he would prefer to fight in the arena than to go through the necessities they want and the gold coins they have. The task of being a ruler was stressing him and Maxine suggested he take a rest and spend his time in Old Bertha. 'Live a pirate life' that what she said to him.

Living with them helped him more than he liked to admit. He had no worries, no responsibilities. He just trained, sailed the seas, singing with the crew, and drank and ate as hearty as he wanted.

Being a pirate was fun except the world was changing and if the pirates didn't change with it, only extinction awaited them.

"Hey Melina, you wanna drink?" a bearded old man raised his mug and shouted at the red-haired pirate as they were making their way to the stairs behind the bar counter.

"Join you later" The red-haired pirate waved at the old man,

Meanwhile, some pirates noticed the tattoo-covered Corey and recognized her. Tiberius and Gibson could hear various chatter focused on Corey. None of them dared to raise their voice or approach Corey because of her infamous reputation as a Witch.

Melina and the bold man knocked on the door after climbing the stairs leading to the second floor.

"Come in"

Melina opened the room to be welcomed by a man sitting behind a large oak table with several maps and rum bottles. He had a pair of dark brown eyes, a tanned complexion, straight black hair hanging over his broad shoulders, and a stubble beard. Currently, he was sitting on a chair and drinking with his feet atop the table. A long greatcoat was hanging on the stand near the table and he was in a dark shirt revealing his chiseled chest and matching gray leather trousers. He also wore a stud earring on both ears as well as a scar that ran across his left cheek.

"What a fucking surprise? Pirate Lord Corey, here in Aden, outside of her witch island"

Just like his look, his thick voice too had a flare of cruelty to it.

"Go entertain yourselves" Gibson dismissed the crew by sending them to the tavern below with a pouch of gold coins. After the crew left the room, the bold man closed the door as Corey took the chair in front of the table while Tiberius and Gibson sat on the chairs behind Corey. They let Pirate Lord Corey lead the negotiation as they planned.

"What can I say? Times are changing Vance" Corey calmly said,

"I assume your sudden visit to Aden is not to enjoy our hospitality"

"Not entirely true, I heard you can't find a finer rum anywhere else"

"Whores too" Vance grabbed Melina's hands before pulling her closer to him. She sat on the chair's arm, seductively laughing.

"I heard things too Corey. Things like the legendary Silent Reaper resurface, one of your pirate captains leaving your side to join another crew, and my favorite," Vance paused for a second and went on,

"Magic wielding captain, if I was not too drunk, I heard he's called Lucifer"

"Lord, Lord Lucifer" Corey corrected Vance and when Vance saw the look on Corey's face, he was surprised. Initially, he didn't believe such a rumor that someone was using magic inside the void line. To this day, he couldn't believe Corey was able to use magic. Imagine his surprise when his crew told him that the captain of the black ship could cast spells and use magic.

"Did I hear you right? Melina did she say Lord? Because I heard she say Lord" Vance asked Melina,

"Yes she did"

"So when you said times are changing, you meant you became someone else's bitch"

Gibson quickly pressed Tiberius's feet with his fake leg to stop him from lunging at Vance. Like it or not, they were in a pirate fortress without Lord Lucifer or the Dark Queen. Old Bertha could give a hell of a fight but she wouldn't be able to survive if all the pirate ships and defenses around Aden bombarded them.

"Being a bitch is better than being dead Vance. You have to be alive to enjoy the pirate life" Corey smiled but behind that smile, one could see the hidden menacing look.

"If I don't know any better, I would consider that as a threat" Vance's voice became colder,

"What I'm here to offer you is an opportunity of a lifetime Vance" Corey leaned forward,

"Getting richer and stronger without making an enemy out of the kingdoms and Awor, how does this sound Vance?"

"Let's just assume I'm interested in such an opportunity, what's the catch gonna be?"

Vance did not seem to be interested at all. Instead of looking at Corey while he was speaking, he was playing with Melina. Tiberius's eyes twitched, he knew by looking at Vance's attitude and the way he talked, that this negotiation was destined to fail.

"Join Lord Lucifer's ranks as his Pirate Lord"

The moment Corey spoke these words, Vance stopped playing with Melina's lips. He turned his gaze to Corey and those pair of eyes were flowing with murder.

"In other words, you want me to be" Vance stood up,

"A BITCH!"

He banged the table as the rum bottles on the table blasted away.

Despite Vance's outburst, Corey was still calm.

"What if I say Lord Lucifer can grant us immortality?"

Melina and the bold man who listened to Corey were startled.

Vance wasn't interested in riches and power like many others in this world. He would rather live his life plundering rum and drinking than capitalize on a golden opportunity. There was nothing much Corey could offer that would tempt him except immortality.