https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-73-You-Can-Only-Die-by-My-Hand-4k-words-/12608582/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-75-Becoming-the-World-s-Largest-Landlord-5k-/12608587/
Chapter 74: Who Came Out on Top?
Chapter 74: Who Came Out on Top?
As the setting sun transformed into a bright moon, the Navy soldiers who had crashed into the warship at the port's edge and those lying near the port woke up.
Along with them, the group of invading pirates also stirred.
But for them, there was no after.
In the brightly lit port, seawater seeped out from the cracks in the ground where protrusions and indentations intermixed. Among them was an empty space that had become a water-filled cave. On this battered ground, groups of pirates, their hands bound with ropes and chains, were being escorted away by the Navy.
On the other side, Zephyr sat on a stone, with Navy medics wrapping bandages around his body. Around him stood a group of Navy soldiers, their heads lowered in shame.
They were the personnel that Zephyr had brought with him on the warship, and they had never expected to be of no help and pass out, only to wake up later to find their commander severely injured.
"Instructor Zephyr!"
A branch middle school lieutenant from Rogue Town jogged over and stood at attention before Zephyr, saluting respectfully.
Zephyr waved his hand, "I'm no longer the instructor, I retired early, and now I'm just the commander of the Navy's guerrilla pirate squad, just call me Zephyr."
"Instructor, you..." The branch lieutenant dared not address him directly.
Zephyr paid no heed and asked directly, "What are the statistics? How many casualties are there?"
The branch lieutenant pressed his lips together and replied, "This time, the Heavenly Disaster Pirate Group and more than a dozen other pirate groups invaded, looting a large amount of property from the wealthy district and business district of Rogue Town. The amount is too large to temporarily calculate the losses, and as for the casualties, there are seven."
Zephyr was stunned, "Seven?"
"Yes, they were all nobles in the wealthy district. According to bystanders, they were killed by the pirates because they resisted the looting."
He paused and looked around, lowering his voice, "These nobles don't have a very good reputation, and it's not certain that they were killed..."
"That's not for you to say!"
Zephyr glared at him sternly, "Don't make trouble for yourself!"
"Yes!"
The branch lieutenant straightened his back and continued, "A large amount of property cannot be recovered, and there is intelligence that local black market merchants are involved, but we have not found any evidence. However, people have seen them going from street to street selling goods, and those properties seem to be in the hands of the local people... But no one admits it, and we are also at a loss."
Zephyr subconsciously looked out at the sea, his brow furrowed, "Are there only material damages?"
Seven dead, in the face of the pirates' plunder, was too few.
But to the well-traveled Zephyr, this seemed normal.
Some pirates on the high seas looked down on preying on the weak, or rather, they didn't consider the weak worth their attention.
If they were to choose a target, they would only go after the relatively powerful among the weak, whether in status or wealth, those who stood out from the common folk.
Was that brat one of those pirates? Zephyr reached up to touch his chest, his voice harsh, "Wanting my life, brat, is too early!"
The power of that strange martial art was not insignificant. Once hit, it would have the power to destroy the body, like internal destruction.
But Haki's technique inherently had internal destruction, and combined with the brat's strength, it was double the destruction, and even more unique than internal destruction.
Indeed, a troublesome brat.
If he were to be let go back to the sea...
"And Grandpa Capp's grandson is also unrestrained, one after another, the sea has always been very lively."
A sigh echoed through the port, and in a dark alley far from the port, a group had already gathered.
"How much did we make?"
Link scanned the group of black market merchants, a cigar clamped between his teeth, and on the ground before them lay piles of Berries!
A merchant stacked the last pile of money, his voice excited, "We've tallied it up, we made a total of twelve billion Berries, we struck it rich!"
"Twelve billion?"
A smile tugged at the corners of Link's mouth, and he was about to speak when he suddenly paused, "Wait, if we only made two billion Berries, what's so great about that?"
"But we were selling on-site, from the time the Heavenly Disaster Pirates started looting at noon until now at midnight, we just finished selling the last batch, and in less than twelve hours, we broke even and made a profit, that's already pretty good.
"The black market merchants said.
"But there are eighteen of us!" Link shouted, "That's only a little over a hundred and ten million each!"
"What, what do you mean?"
The other black market merchants looked at Link weakly, "That amount is not a small sum."
With two billion Berries, each person would get just over one hundred and ten million, which was a huge sum for an average civilian, but not a small amount for them either.
Ordinary black market merchants would sometimes make a profit of a few million, or even tens of millions of Berries on a deal, and this was their norm. But the higher the profit, the longer it would take to sell the goods.
Sometimes it could take two to three months or even longer to sell a batch, so making over a hundred million in just a few hours was indeed considered a good deal.
However, Link was not satisfied.
"If we had more time with that batch, we could have made at least one billion Berries each! We definitely could have!"
Link shouted, "Sarge sold it to us at half the cost! It was such a great opportunity to make money, but Zefa ruined it! Damn Zefa, why did he have to show up at that moment!"
When Sarge was about to raid Rogue Town, he was naturally afraid of taking risks, but now that they had the goods, Link was still not content. The small profit they made now seemed like a loss compared to the potential windfall.
No matter how much they earned, it felt like a loss!
"That's enough, Link. Don't overthink it. With such a big operation, there's bound to be someone held accountable. Don't you remember, the Navy came looking for us earlier, but we sold the goods to the townspeople, so they can't trace it back to us. We're risk-free."
One of the black market merchants picked up a stack of Berries, inhaling the scent of the bills, his eyes glazing over with pleasure, "Think about it, we made money, the townspeople got their possessions back, the Heavenly Disaster Pirates got their loot and left, and the Navy captured other pirates to make up for their blunder. Everyone got what they wanted and has a bright future ahead."
"Yeah."
Another black market merchant nodded, then had a thought, looking confused as he asked, "Then who lost out?"
Everyone: "..."
Then they all fell silent, seeming to ponder this question.
Finally, one of the black market merchants said firmly, "No one lost!"
The others turned to look at him, and he continued, "The goods are still in the town. Eventually, those medicines and items will be sold to people. Whether we sell them or someone else does, it makes no difference. They're still in the town and haven't disappeared, so..."
He emphasized, "Everyone wins!"
"Oh! What a brilliant insight!" The black market merchants applauded, agreeing with his statement.
"Idiots!"
Link was so angry that a vein popped out on his forehead. He took a deep breath and walked towards the door, "Package my share of the money. Let's lay low for a while and keep a low profile."
If he stayed with these guys any longer, he would end up dying of frustration.
But
As Link walked outside and looked up at the stars twinkling in the night sky, he thought for a moment and shook his head with a sigh, "There seems to be some truth to that."
(End of Chapter)
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