The traveling frog is living a carefree life in the Marvel universe.

Countless sailors carried supplies up and down the ship, including boxes of rum, dried meat, vegetables, and fruits—all necessities for sailing the high seas.

"Wait a minute, you idiot! It's full of valuable things. If it breaks, I couldn't afford to pay for it even if I sold myself!"

"You lazy pig, hurry up! If you delay our departure, I'll throw you overboard to feed the fish!"

The hustle and bustle made this place even more lively than a vegetable market.

Because this is one of the most prosperous islands in the Caribbean!

The Caribbean Sea, nestled between Central and South America, serves as a sea route connecting South and North America. With its pleasant climate and sunny weather, Cuba and Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles are ideal destinations for many people to rest, transship goods, and settle down.

Bai Ye and Angelica stood on the deck of a large merchant ship, enjoying the gentle sea breeze and watching the diverse scenes unfolding on the dock.

"Sister Angelica, I have a question, but I'm not sure if I should ask it."

Bai Ye hesitated for a moment, then asked.

"Say!"

Angelica didn't waste any words, displaying the domineering presence of a queen.

“I mean, Angelica, aren’t you supposed to be a formidable pirate?” Bai Ye said. “We pirates aren’t actually riding a swift and powerful pirate ship, but rather an ordinary merchant ship. Doesn’t that seem a bit out of character for someone as formidable as you, Angelica?”

Angelica blushed. The persona she presented to Bai Ye seemed to be that of a highly experienced pirate.

It seems a bit illogical that a great pirate wouldn't have his own pirate ship and instead travels on a merchant ship.

However, Angelica is certainly not going to give up so easily.

Instead, she glared angrily at Bai Ye and said:

"If it weren't for a rookie pirate like you, why would I have had to humiliate myself by riding on a merchant ship? Wasn't it because I was worried you wouldn't adapt to the pirate ship environment that I let you experience what it's like to sail the seas first?"

“Normally, if I wanted to go out to sea, I would just find a pirate ship, beat up their captain, seize the ship, and make it serve me. That’s how I’ve always gotten by. Now it’s all your fault for dragging me down to this point, and you still have the nerve to ask me?”

"Oh."

Bai Ye suddenly realized:

"So, Angelica, you compromised all this because of me! You're so kind! I wish I could be your slave and let you ride on my back for a lifetime!"

"Being treated like a slave is going too far. Just remember how good I've been to you."

As Angelica spoke, she sensed that something was amiss.

She glanced at Bai Ye, but seeing that Bai Ye looked quite serious and couldn't find anything wrong with him, she had no choice but to give up.

soon.

The merchant ships, having unloaded their goods and supplies, were ready to set sail.

"Raise the sails, set sail!"

With a command from the captain of the large merchant ship, everyone on board sprang into action, lowering the anchor and sails, and the ship slowly sailed away from the dock, heading towards the Caribbean Sea.

Angelica no longer needs to brag in front of Bai Ye.

Previously, when she went to sea, she mainly relied on passing merchant ships, and most of the time she didn't even need to buy a ticket; she just needed to sneak onto the ship.

This time, the boat ticket was specially bought to take care of Bai Ye.

Bai Ye, his clothes fluttering in the sea breeze, gazed at the vast, turbulent ocean and sighed, saying:

"Sister Angelica, I also want to see the mermaids and the Trident of Poseidon at White Wave Bend!"

"I've told you, you're not allowed to mention this kind of thing in front of me again!"

Angelica glared fiercely at Bai Ye.

You think you're the only one who wants to see this?

I'd love to see it too, okay?

But these things are not something you can just see whenever you want.

"Okay, okay, I won't mention it again."

Bai Ye raised his hands in surrender:

"But Angelica, I'm afraid of the dark when I sleep alone at night. Can I sleep in the same room as you? That way, if we encounter any danger, we can help each other!"

"Pooh!"

Angelica spat at Bai Ye and said:

“When there’s no danger, you’re the biggest danger! And you still want to sleep in the same room with me… I have a thing for killing people in my sleep. I might sleepwalk and kill you in the middle of the night, you believe me?”

"So, Angelica, you're the same way?" Bai Ye said. "I also kill people in my dreams. Some of my friends even gave me the nickname 'Bai Mengde' (a derogatory term for a man who kills people in his dreams). It seems we really are on the same team!"

Angelica ignored Bai Ye and went back to her cabin.

Merchant ships departing from Tutuga Port will pass by Abaloo Island, but along the way they will also stop at some small islands to load and unload cargo and replenish supplies.

Bai Ye said:

"Sister Angelica, the British lobster soldiers seem to be everywhere!"

"Because England is growing stronger and will take Spain's place!"

Angelica said.

Many of the towns on the pirate islands were garrisoned by British soldiers. Since the opening of new sea routes, the Caribbean islands were mostly occupied by Spain, but the British, French, Dutch, and Portuguese also participated, vying for control. The turning point was the War of the League of Augsburg (1688-1697). After this war, Britain essentially replaced Spain's hegemony in the Caribbean, so it's no wonder that there were so many pirate soldiers everywhere.

"However, something seems amiss with the East India Company. It appears that as Britain's power grows, they are preparing to suppress pirate forces."

The East India Company, founded in 1600, primarily operated in South and Southeast Asia. However, its existence was remarkably long, lasting 274 years until its dissolution in 1874—longer than the age of most sovereign nations in the world today. It monopolized trade in the Indian Ocean, possessed an army, and enjoyed administrative and local jurisdictional powers granted by the government, making it arguably another Great Britain in the Eastern Hemisphere. The sale of laundry detergent to the Qing Dynasty, which subsequently triggered the Laundry Detergent War, was also a product of this company.

"East India Company..."

Bai Ye's eyes flickered.

###Chapter 182 I originally wanted to interact with you as an ordinary person, but what I got in return was gunfire###

"I never knew you, Angelica, were so knowledgeable about the world situation!"

Bai Ye smiled.

In fact, he had some knowledge of this history.

The rise of the golden age of piracy in the Caribbean was by no means a coincidence.

This is because the struggles and colonial expansion among European countries in modern times began with maritime expansion.

Accompanying maritime expansion was rampant piracy. As a derivative of colonial expansion and maritime trade, pirates played an extremely important role from the 16th to the 18th centuries. The period from 1690 to 1730 is known as the Golden Age of Piracy. In particular, from the War of the Spanish Succession to the late 1720s, piracy was at its most rampant, characterized by an increase in the number of pirates and the frequency of their activities.

During the Nine Years' War (1689-1697) between England and France and the War of the Spanish Succession (1702-1713), the warring nations granted privateers and pirates extensively. Spain gradually lost its ability to monopolize the American colonies, and the Netherlands, England, and France vied for trade dominance in the Americas. The Caribbean, due to its unique geographical environment and mature tropical plantation economy, became one of the most fiercely contested regions.

Due to the complex colonial environment of the Caribbean, Britain utilized a large number of privateers and pirates during the war as an important armed force in the colonial waters, compensating for the insufficient strength of the Royal Navy in the region. After the war, the disbandment of privateers and the demobilization of a large number of Royal Navy sailors led to widespread unemployment among sailors. Coupled with the mistreatment of sailors on merchant and naval ships, many sailors turned to piracy, resulting in the proliferation of illegal piracy in the Caribbean.

—English merchants appeared in the Caribbean not initially as pirates, but in an attempt to break the Spanish trade monopoly through smuggling. In 1568, John Hawkins' smuggling fleet was attacked by a Spanish escort in the West Indies. Afterward, English merchants abandoned their attempts to break the Spanish trade monopoly through peaceful smuggling and openly attacked Spanish merchant ships, plundered coastal towns, and transported the loot back to England to sell, thus becoming government-supported pirates.

Queen Elizabeth II's support for the pirate Drake's plundering of Spanish transport ships was a manifestation of early mercantilist Britain's desperate measures driven by its desire for capital, in response to setbacks in overseas trade. In its overseas trade during the 16th and early 17th centuries, Britain primarily relied on piracy for direct plunder, without prioritizing the establishment of colonies throughout the century.

At the same time, once the British government had gained a foothold, it immediately began to intensify its crackdown on colonial pirates. Through various means, including military and legislative measures, it strengthened the suppression of pirates. The golden age of piracy was also the beginning of its decline, and pirates were transformed from tools of national colonial expansion into targets of severe crackdown.

Angelica sighed and said:

"Actually, there are far too many smart people who dare to sail the high seas. Most of them are not unaware of the British government's intention to discard them after they have served their purpose; they simply refuse to believe it and are deceiving themselves!"

"The decline of the piracy profession was inevitable. If one clung to old ideas, one would almost certainly die under the guns of the British government."

Bai Ye chuckled, "Who cares? Anyway, neither Angelica nor I rely on the money from being pirates to support ourselves. Whether pirates are declining or not, let them be!"

"Of course, if you ever lose your job, Angelica, come find me, and I'll take care of you for the rest of your life!"

"If I were to fall into a situation where you have to support me, how low would I have fallen?" Angelica rolled her eyes at Bai Ye and said, "You should use your money to support your little lover!"

"A person must rely on themselves to live!"

"No matter the time, anything can betray you, but money is the only thing that will never betray you!"

Bai Ye looked on with admiration:

"Sister Angelica, you have such a high level of understanding! In my hometown, a doctor said the same thing to me."

A person must rely on themselves! Whether you're a good person or a bad person, ultimately you can only rely on yourself.

……

night.

The sea shimmered under the bright moonlight.

The waves gently kissed the rocks, as if they were about to fall asleep.

A quiet mystery lies hidden in the vast ocean.

A black, dilapidated, ghostly ship sails on this vast sea.

Under the moonlight, the sailors who were laughing and playing on the ship all turned into skeletons, making the scene look eerie and terrifying.

In the captain's cabin, where the moonlight couldn't reach, an unkempt old man with a scraggly beard and wearing a pirate captain's hat held a green apple in his hand, took a bite, and put it to his lips.

"Peng!"

The old man took only one bite of the apple before angrily throwing it to the ground.

"Damn Jack Sparrow! Now I can't even taste my favorite apples. It's all your fault, you bastard, that I've become this inhuman, ghostly state!"

This old fellow was none other than Hector Barbossa, one of the nine pirate kings. He was originally the King of the Caspian Sea, but the sea he inhabited was too miserable, as it could be described as nothing more than a lake. So he sought refuge with Jack's father. However, after a few years, Jack's father retired and became the custodian of the Codex. Barbossa then followed Jack and became the first mate of the pirate ship Black Pearl. Later, however, he betrayed the ship, drove out Captain Jack, and became the captain of the Black Pearl himself.

"Captain, we've spotted a merchant ship ahead. We've got more prey on our doorstep."

A skeleton approached and excitedly reported to Barbossa.

"is it?"

Barbossa stepped out of the cabin. Under the moonlight, his once fleshy face had transformed into a skeletal form, making him appear extremely ferocious and terrifying. However, he clearly did not care about this and took out his telescope, looking out at the distant sea.

"Sure enough, we have more prey on our doorstep, and on such a large merchant ship no less. There must be a lot of valuable stuff on board!"

Barbossa's previous gloomy mood vanished instantly, replaced by high spirits. With a wave of his hand, he said:

"Brothers, chase after them! We're about to make a fortune again!"

The Black Pearl they were aboard was the fastest ship in the Caribbean Sea. Its well-designed structure, streamlined hull, and powerful engine made it extremely fast. It also carried several cannons, making it a formidable vessel.

Few merchant ships could rival them.