Sail Shadows in the Sea of Fog
Chapter 24: The Friendship between Pirates and Merchants
Chapter 24: The Friendship between Pirates and Merchants
"Are you inviting a dark elf?" Yafuso asked in disbelief.
"Also includes a dad with fox ears"
Cheng Lang smiled and replied, "I lack a farmer to help me grow vegetables on the boat, and I also lack a helmsman to help me steer the boat."
"Are you serious?" Gerta asked warily.
"Of course I'm serious"
Cheng Lang nodded. "I can promise that I won't let the Demon Hunters take you away before my ship sinks."
"How can we believe what you say?" Gerta still maintained the necessary vigilance.
"We can wait until tomorrow evening when my first mate returns to ask for his advice on this matter."
Cheng Lang said, "I guess he will have a way. Before he comes back, you can choose to leave at any time.
If you don't plan to leave, just hide in the cargo hold. Don't go up, and don't go down. I'll bring you food regularly."
After saying that, Cheng Lang carried the oil lamp and walked onto the gun deck and then onto the open deck, and took the things he had purchased earlier to the kitchen or the warehouse.
Originally, these tasks should have been done by the vine goblins, but they were either hiding in the lower cabin or in the stern deck. To avoid unnecessary trouble, it was not appropriate to let them come out to see people.
After moving the purchased items, Cheng Lang waited for a while. Seeing that Gerta and Yafso had no intention of leaving, he breathed a sigh of relief and walked into the captain's room with the new clothes he had bought.
The reason why he wanted to keep the two people on the boat was that he was in urgent need of manpower, but the most important thing was that he was in urgent need of manpower that he could trust, or rather, he could control.
Even without mentioning the boat under his feet, he himself has too many deadly secrets.
The black-haired prince who killed Boerlan and stole his vine goblin, even almost destroyed the Demon Hunters' fleet with the help of Swallow Island.
Any one of the above is enough to make the Boerlan Witch Hunting Group kill him.
It would be fine if these secrets were not exposed. Once they were exposed, who would be willing, or who would dare to be on the same boat with him? Not to mention that the secrets on this boat were no less than his own.
Of course, as the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
One of them is the dark elf who was also hunted by the Boerlan Demon Hunters, and the second one is the fox-eared father who raised this dark elf child.
On the premise of common interests, if they are willing to board this ship, at least he won't have to worry about them turning against him when facing Boerland.
“Then it’s a question of mutual trust.”
Cheng Lang walked into the bathroom, closed the curtains, took off his clothes, then tore off his hypocritical mask, stuffed his clothes into his bag, took a hot bath, changed into his newly bought clothes, tied the belt again, and lay down on the soft big bed.
Because of the two people in the cargo hold, the ship of the Boylan Demon Hunters, and the soldier he killed, he carefully chose to sleep with his clothes on so that he could escape at any time.
It was extremely rare that he slept until dawn and was awakened by Captain Senfa's call from outside.
He touched the flintlock rifle beside his pillow and the belt bag around his waist to make sure they were still there. Then he rubbed his face vigorously, walked up the stairs, and waved enthusiastically, "Sorry, I just woke up. Please come up."
“I brought breakfast.”
Captain Senfa patted the wicker basket on his arm and introduced it as he walked upstairs, "This is the bread and vegetable stew that was just baked this morning at Xinweng Tavern. There's also a jug of juice."
“I’m already drooling.”
Cheng Lang smiled and invited the other party to go up to the second deck, through the floor-to-ceiling windows, and into the huge conference room behind the indoor driving platform.
This conference room has a long table. On the walls on the left and right sides hang a huge sea chart and a huge oil painting of a Valkyrie slaying Poseidon. Of course, they are all tightly covered by curtains.
"Please take a seat."
As Cheng Lang spoke, he pulled open the curtains at the stern, allowing the rising sunlight outside to pass through the floor-to-ceiling windows, making the overly spacious conference room exceptionally bright.
"It's really luxurious! I've never seen such a spacious room on any ship." Senfa exclaimed with envy.
"After all, this is not a merchant ship."
Cheng Lang gave a brief reminder and at the same time took out the breakfast in the basket brought by the other party and placed it on the table one by one.
The amount of breakfast that Captain Senfa brought was quite a lot. It was obviously not enough for two people, but enough for four or five people. Obviously, the other party was hinting at something through the amount of breakfast.
"makes sense"
Senfa also stopped there, picked up a piece of bread and took a bite. While chewing, he said, "Mr. Lu Ting said that you specially invited him to visit the ship last night and wanted to entrust us with the purchase of supplies?"
"That's right"
Cheng Lang nodded. "This way we can both get a cheap enough price. Most importantly, I'm not familiar with this place."
“This is truly a good thing for both of us.”
Senfa poured juice for Cheng Lang and asked, "What supplies do you need?"
"First of all, I plan to buy clothes and bedding for each room."
Cheng Lang said, "Then I'll need flour, various beans, and some vegetable seeds. Finally, I'll need some coal, wood, fish oil, and even more soil suitable for growing vegetables. As for the specific quantities, I'll give them to you later."
“The above is easy to say.”
Senfa asked curiously, "You want to grow vegetables on the boat?"
"Is it strange?" Cheng Lang asked back.
“It’s not that no one has tried, but it’s very difficult to succeed.”
Senfa couldn't help but look at the French windows at the stern and the balcony outside the French windows as he spoke, then shook his head, "Forget it, just forget what I said. I will get all these things for you just now."
"Let's talk about one last thing."
Cheng Lang took a sip of the juice the other party brought. "As far as I know, the specialty of the Principality of Ricca is not only artillery but also wine?"
"certainly"
Senfa knew this was just a pretext, so he took the initiative to say, "We brought several hundred barrels of wine from Lika this time. They are the most popular product in the Zhuniao Islands."
"Could you tell me the approximate profit of a barrel of wine?" Cheng Lang asked a slightly rude question.
"This"
Senfa pondered for a moment, and seeing Cheng Lang looking at him intently while holding the juice, he finally said, "Depending on the quality, the profit of each barrel is about one to five gold coins. Although their profit is not as good as artillery, artillery is too heavy after all.
Even in Rica, a company like Flamingo can't get a lot of artillery shares, as the artillery trade is controlled by a few larger chambers of commerce."
"Maybe I can help you transport large quantities of wine in the future," Cheng Lang said. "I have enough ships to do that."
"It seems that the reward Captain Cheng Lang needs is not dazzling gold coins," said Captain Senfa.
"I need artillery," Cheng Lang said bluntly, "artillery inlaid with armor plates, and at the local price in Lika."
"I'll keep an eye out for you. If you have the opportunity to dock at the Crucible Port of the Principality of Lika in the future, you can contact me through Xin Weng at any time."
Captain Senfa smiled and gave a promise which was not a promise. He certainly didn't mind keeping an eye out for the other party, but the prerequisite was that the other party could really help the company transport a large amount of wine.
"Furnace Harbor, I'll go there if I have the chance."
Cheng Lang stood up and said, "Please wait a moment. I will go and count the specific quantity of supplies I need."
"Alright"
Senfa then stood up and said, "I have the whole morning free."
"I won't keep you that long. I'll be back soon." As he said that, Cheng Lang had already left the meeting room and came to the office downstairs.
At the same time, Captain Senfa also lifted the curtain on the wall to look at the huge sea chart, then walked to the other side, lifted the curtain and looked at the huge oil painting of the Valkyrie killing Poseidon.
"He's a pirate indeed."
Captain Senfa muttered quietly, but the expression on his face couldn't help but show some anticipation.
Merchants and pirates seem to be in a relationship of prey and predator, but in fact, why can't they be friends?
Or to put it more bluntly, merchants absolutely do not mind being friends with pirates, and pirates are equally happy to be friends with merchants.
Almost at the moment when Captain Senfa was leisurely filling his stomach with the breakfast he brought with him in this spacious conference room that made him envious, Cheng Lang also returned to the conference room with a piece of paper and a wooden box.
“Here’s a list of supplies I need.”
Cheng Lang handed the handwritten list to the other party, and then opened the wooden box containing gold coins and placed it on the table. "What is the estimated cost of these things? Captain Senfa can take them himself."
“We’re already friends.”
Captain Senfa smiled and waved his hand. After a quick glance at the list, he said, "I'll start purchasing supplies this afternoon. I expect to have everything ready by evening. I'll come and get whatever money you need."
"fair enough"
Cheng Lang nodded and said, "I will be on the boat all day today. Captain Senfa, you can come to me anytime if you need anything."
"I do have another matter to discuss with you this time," Captain Senfa, who was very patient, spoke only at this time.
"Since we are already friends, just say whatever you want to say." Cheng Lang pretended to be generous, but in fact he was nervous.
"Tomorrow morning we will be leaving the Suzaku Islands and returning to the Crucible Port of the Principality of Lika."
Captain Senfa paused briefly to quickly observe Cheng Lang's expression. Seeing no change, he said, "I hope to hire the Wind Wave to escort my Flamingo for a day, and use the Mirage Horn at night to allow us to leave quietly."
"Let's talk about your enemies first," Cheng Lang simply brought up the topic.
"The Swordfish Company, and the pirates employed by the Swordfish Company."
Captain Senfa thought for a moment and added, "I don't know exactly how many ships there are, but as long as there are more than two, you can abandon the Flamingo at any time."
"I accept the offer"
Cheng Lang asked with a smile, "But Captain Senfa, what price are you willing to hire me?"
"How about a treasure map?" Captain Senfa offered a chip that Cheng Lang had never expected.
"What are you hiding? A treasure map?" Cheng Lang looked at the other party in surprise.
"That's right"
Captain Senfa nodded. "I accidentally bought this treasure map at an auction five years ago. It cost me over seven thousand gold coins. Unfortunately, I overestimated my intelligence. Five years later, I still haven't been able to solve the riddle of this treasure map."
"Just go ahead and blow it!"
Cheng Lang cursed in his heart. Not to mention whether there was a sucker who would spend more than 7000 gold coins to buy a treasure map, and whether Captain Senfa could afford more than 7000 gold coins to buy a treasure map five years ago.
Even if the above assumption is true, shouldn't the normal approach be to sell this treasure map for 8000 gold coins?
This is enough to show that this treasure map is probably worthless.
Even so, he still said with great courtesy, "I have never seen such an expensive treasure map."
"It is indeed worth 7000 gold coins"
Senfa said sincerely, and while taking out a roll of parchment from his arms, he added in his heart, "It's just that no one has bought it in five years."
This treasure map was naturally not purchased by him at an auction for 7000 gold coins, but he accidentally discovered it in an old but bankrupt wine cellar when he was purchasing a batch of second-hand oak barrels.
As for the seven thousand gold coins
He had indeed put the treasure map up for auction anonymously more than once at this price, but no one had ever raised a hand to bid for it.
"Can I open it?" Cheng Lang asked, pointing to the parchment scroll on the table between them.
"Of course," Captain Senfa nodded happily.
He picked up the parchment and untied the hemp rope outside. The parchment only had a picture of a black cloak worn by a person, which seemed to be blown open by the wind.
However, there were no human legs or feet at the bottom of the cloak that was blown open. Instead, a pair of green eyes were revealed from the hood that seemed to be looking sideways.
Just below the cloak, there is a painting of a bat hanging upside down on a tree branch, with its body wrapped in wing membranes, but also revealing a pair of dark green eyes.
Cheng Lang could be sure that this was indeed a treasure map with an unsolved riddle.
According to the magic mirror's introduction on the road, the treasure map was not drawn by humans, but the person who hid the treasure prayed devoutly and, with the help of Poseidon's power, left the treasure map directly to the designated person. Correspondingly, the treasure map that appeared in the hands of the designated person would come with a riddle.
As a price, the person who leaves the treasure map behind will randomly lose an eye or one of their limbs.
According to legend, this was the only mercy that Poseidon left for the human beings on land, but it was also the bait that lured more people on land into the sea for treasure and became food for sea monsters.
Because of this, treasure maps cannot be faked. At most, the treasure they ultimately point to may not be worth anything at all.
"I need to think about it."
Cheng Lang rolled up the treasure map and handed it back to Captain Senfa. "I'll give you a detailed answer when we hand over the supplies in the evening."
"Alright"
Captain Senfa was not surprised. He put away the treasure map, stood up and said, "See you in the evening."
See you in the evening
Cheng Lang stood up and shook hands with the other party, watching him leave the Valkyrie alone.
(End of this chapter)
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