World calendar year 667, a lot of things happened in the world this year.
The Insman Royal Navy defeated Blackbeard, the pirate governor of the Nightmare Sea, and started the road to monopolizing sea power.
The theoretical basis for this is "On Sea Power" published by a famous economist that year.
With this glorious victory, the terms economist Donald and steam ironclad were repeatedly mentioned by the countries on the Offal continent and became popular.
In that sea battle, although the Pirate Prince and the Ghost Ship both performed eye-catchingly, the biggest winner was undoubtedly Insman!
Not only did they defeat Blackbeard's main force in one fell swoop, they also plowed through all the pirate forces in the Nightmare Sea.
From then on, the pirates of the Nightmare Sea became history.
Occasionally, there are still a few fish that slip through the net, and they can only survive under the increasingly strict arrests of the navy.
The island country Insman, with the help of this wind, not only controlled the Nightmare Sea and monopolized the interests of the entire golden route, but also used many privateer captains to plunder the merchant ships of other countries, and even attacked their lands, trying their best to It hinders the development of navigation in various countries.
Even with the reputation of "wherever the sun shines, Insman rules", it is regarded as the most powerful maritime empire.
After occupying the Nightmare Sea, Insman did not give in when things were good, but actively attacked and set his target on the adjacent Golden Sea.
Compared to the nightmare sea with unpredictable weather, the Golden Sea is a paradise flowing with gold and spices. The colonies and plantations of various countries have created a steady stream of wealth for them.
In particular, the Solomon Strait guards the key link between the East and the West and is Insman's largest stronghold in the Golden Sea.
The Governor of the Solomon Strait at this time was still an old acquaintance of Fang Yuan—the father of his beautiful captive, Viscount Kuiya.
"Sunshine, beach...beauties...but unfortunately no bikini..."
On the Red Lotus, Fang Yuan ordered his men to bring Elizabeth up and said with a chuckle.
“…”
Elizabeth looked up at him, too lazy to say anything.
The long life of a captive has long since wiped away all the temper and arrogance of this noble lady.
"What? Isn't our Miss Elizabeth excited at all? Because... you are really going to be free... "
"You pirates... what do you want to do? Gods... even if they auction me off again, I will accept it!" Elizabeth muttered with resignation.
"Oh! Let me tell you, here is the Golden Sea, only a day's journey from the Solomon Strait!"
Fang Yuan said calmly.
As soon as she finished speaking, a glint flashed in our Miss Elizabeth's eyes. It was obvious that she was not as disheartened as she appeared.
"And this time, if nothing unexpected happens, the governor will definitely pay a big price to ransom you! Cassenia... I'll leave the contact to you. I don't care how much you plan to extort, but it must contain Poseidon's Skin and That comes with a condition! Gips will assist you temporarily."
"Please rest assured, I have predicted that Governor Kuiya will definitely agree to this transaction."
The black-toothed witch covered her mouth and smiled, which was quite charming.
Although her appearance is not great, many of the pirates on the ship still have green eyes.
"These pirates are really like wolves. If they don't give them meat for a period of time, they will get into trouble... What's more, through this naval battle, they also gained a lot of benefits."
When Fang Yuan saw this scene, his eyes immediately flashed.
In this sea battle, Insman can be regarded as the first winner, and he will be next in line.
Not to mention anything else, just catching Blackbeard is an incredible harvest.
The pirate governors basically did not offer rewards, because no country would dare to offend them like this.
But at this time, Blackbeard was directly offered a reward of one million gold galleons by Insman, plus the title of hereditary viscount, which set a new record for pirate rewards in one fell swoop.
Of course, because Fang Yuan also appeared in the war in a ghost ship and rescued Blackbeard, his reward also increased sharply. It was a so-so 700,000 gold galleons, which was quite famous for a while and was known to everyone on the sea. got his name.
Thinking of this, Fang Yuan ordered people to take Elizabeth down and then "invite" Blackbeard over.
"How's it going? Are your injuries healed?"
To be honest, Fang Yuan's avatar was also a mortal at this time, and of course he preferred the environment of the Red Lotus.
As for Blackbeard, given his previous serious injury, putting him on the ghost ship is no different from murder.
Although he was already the captain of the Ghost at this time, the ship had long been accustomed to operating without a captain. Fang Yuan only needed to pass the two demigod undead souls occasionally and give them general goals.
Not long after, Blackbeard came over with a cold face.
His attitude toward Fang Yuan at this time was also quite complicated.
Strictly speaking, the other party saved his life, but now he is under house arrest, and combined with his previous behavior of chasing the other party... This kind of grudges is really complicated to the extreme.
"What else do you need from me?"
Seeing Fang Yuan, Black Beard's eyes darkened, and he said solemnly: "With that woman, her father will probably agree to the conditions, hand over the Poseidon's Skin, and also let us pass through the Solomon Strait!"
As Insman's most important stronghold in the Golden Sea, the protective power of the Solomon Strait is definitely not weak.
Not only have permanent fortifications and forts been built at various commanding heights, but there is also a fleet of more than ten steam-armored ships stationed at all times, led by a rear admiral.
With this configuration, even the pirate prince would have a lot of trouble if he wanted to win.
"That's right... You must pass through the Solomon Strait before you can set foot on the route in the treasure map..." Fang Yuan nodded: "As for you... don't worry! You are very useful to me. At this time, are you interested in becoming my pirate ship first?" Long? I can give you 90% of the privateering harvest!"
"Not interested!" Blackbeard's face turned dark and he directly rejected Fang Yuan's solicitation.
joke!
As the former Governor of the Nightmare Sea, if he were to work for others again at this time, Blackbeard would definitely be laughed at by all the pirates until he died!
"Tell me...you don't have such naive ideas! Why did you save me?" Blackbeard said straight to the point: "The benefits of a treasure map don't seem to be enough for you to start a war with the Royal Fleet."
"...After I obtain the wealth of the Solo pirates, I will go directly to the Pirate King's City!"
Fang Yuan was silent for a moment, then slowly said: "The rise of Insman has made all pirates fearful, so the new pirate conference will be held there soon! We need a unified leader, an arbitrary king, Come compete with Insman!”
"Your target is actually the Pirate King?"
Blackbeard immediately lost his voice.
The Pirate King is not available in every generation, in fact, it is very rare.
After all, it is already very difficult to convince ordinary unruly pirates, let alone those pirate governors.
"Yes, since you are a pirate, how can you not take a look at the highest throne!" Fang Yuanyi pointedly said: "To become a pirate king, you must first be nominated by a pirate governor. Of course, In the past few sessions, you have nominated yourselves..."
"So, you want to take me to the pirate conference and get my nomination?" Blackbeard smiled bitterly and spread his hands: "Then you may be disappointed. After all, I am no longer the pirate governor of the Nightmare Sea! Those pirates may not necessarily Will you agree with what I say as a governor who has lost his territory!”
"Haha... The rules of pirates are that there are no rules. I am not as naive as you!"
Fang Yuan waved his hand: "All I want is your nomination, it's that simple!"
"In the name of nomination... hiss..."
After understanding some of the meaning of Fang Yuan's words, even a bold man like Blackbeard couldn't help but take a breath: "Do you want to..."
"Hush! Don't say it! Don't say it!"
Fang Yuan had a bone-chilling smile on his face.
…
Under the moonlight.
Several warships came quietly and put down the boat on a desert island.
"Those damn pirates dared to kidnap my Elizabeth until now..."
Viscount Quaia is a decent gentleman, and a qualified politician who can't express his emotions or anger, but today he is in a dilemma.
Ever since the news came that his beloved daughter had encountered pirates, he had been worried about Elizabeth's safety.
But that group of pirates only sent him news today.
"Major General Jackson, I leave everything to you!"
Thinking of this, he looked sincerely at a naval officer next to him.
"Don't worry, Mr. Governor, after confirming that Miss Elizabeth is safe, I will arrest and hang all those pirates!"
Major General Jackson is a handsome young man in his thirties. Hearing this, he immediately patted his chest and promised.
"No! What I mean is that there is no requirement to capture the pirates, as long as we ensure our safety... Because according to the last news, Elizabeth finally appeared and fell into the hands of the big slave merchant Sisfrei. Now it is possible , in the hands of the Purgatory Pirates..."
Viscount Quia took out a white handkerchief and touched the sweat.
"You mean... that witch who came for blackmail is a member of the Purgatory Pirates?"
A sneer flashed across Major General Jackson's face: "Then I would be even more interested... Can the mere Purgatory Pirate Group still be able to compete with my steel fleet?"
"No! You don't understand..."
Just when Viscount Quia was still about to say something, the boat had already arrived at the shore.
They got off the boat one by one and came to the center of the island. They immediately saw Fang Yuan and others coming from the other side, and Elizabeth was suddenly caught in the middle.
"my daughter… "
No matter how scheming Kuiya was, he couldn't help but burst into excitement when he saw this scene.
But Major General Jackson next to him exclaimed, as if he was greatly frightened.