Lords go left, Emperors go right

Queen Margaret III never refused her son's willful request, and this time was no exception. She only did not compromise on sending Osta to the Central Continent to take up the post of Lord. She would still follow Osta's wishes in other matters. As for whether her son had any thoughts about her sisters, Queen Margaret III didn't really care. She just asked casually before. In this alien world, there were some special times when bloodline issues could be ignored.

Of course, this condition also depends on performance. If the territory develops well, the princesses will be sent one by one to help. After all, she is an imperial princess. If even the basic condition of territory security cannot be guaranteed, Queen Margaret III will not send an imperial princess to assist her son. Public security is the most important prerequisite.

Osta only brought three exclusive maids who served as part-time guards on this expedition, Chris, Yulia and Sophia. The three of them were enough, and they were all better than ordinary fighters. The other princes were not so good, and they had to prepare various things, including soldiers, money and food, just like going to war. The environment in the Central Continent was complicated. The so-called pioneer villages had tough folk customs. It was not like the Western Continent where you could just send a few people to collect taxes. In the Central Continent, if you did not have a troop to collect taxes, the villagers would most likely not pay taxes obediently, and you could forget about rent and taxes. The other princes prepared soldiers just for tax collection. For the lords, violent taxation and tax collection were simply daily activities.

In the feudal era, the main tax on the Western continent was rent, which was collected twice a year according to the convention, both times when the crops were harvested. The tax rate was divided into three different levels according to the actual situation. In order to take into account the production enthusiasm of farmers, those who had a good harvest, that is, farmers who had an output exceeding the average per mu, paid taxes according to a 50-50 split, and split the tax with the state in half. Those who had an average yield per mu, or farmers who were below the average, paid taxes according to a 40-60 split, and they could only get 40% and the state would get 60%.

For those who suffer from harvest failure due to natural disasters or man-made disasters, the highest tax rate is 73%, and the state only collects 30%. In serious cases, the tax rate is 28% or 19%. In the most serious cases, the tax rate can be directly exempted from tax and no tax is required for that year. This situation is an extremely rare exception. Generally, 19% is the lowest line. After all, the state needs to eat, and the probability of complete exemption is not high.

Most countries divide the collected rent and taxes according to a 40%-60% split, with local nobles taking 60% and the emperor taking 40%. The emperor took all of it in his own exclusive fiefdom. The Obelisk Empire was an exception. It was a highly centralized country with a great power in which the emperor had great power and the local governments did not have that much power. Even if there were nobles in the fiefdom, they could not compete with the emperor. Therefore, the split was a combination of 30%-30% and 30%-70%, with the local governments retaining 30%, and if there were feudal lords in the local governments, the lords would get 30%, and the emperor would get 40%.

The nobles could not touch the local tax revenue, even if they were the fiefdom nobles of the area. They had to be dealt with according to the above. If there were no fiefdom nobles in the area, the nobles' share would be counted by the emperor. The emperor would take 70% directly, and the local area would keep 30%. In fact, the empire took all. In the emperor's exclusive territory and fiefdom, the principle of the emperor taking all remained unchanged.

In addition to rent and taxes, there are also poll tax, tariffs and commercial taxes. The Western continent is a feudal era with an agricultural civilization as the main feature. This part of the tax is not as much as rent and taxes. Poll tax is only collected once, and the newborn population pays it once. In most countries, the poll tax is collected by the feudal lords and nobles in the place where the newborn population is located. In the Obelisk Empire, poll tax is the privilege of the emperor, and only the emperor can collect it. The local feudal lords and nobles have no right to collect it.

As for tariffs and commercial taxes, the emperors were more relaxed in their management. The power to collect taxes was delegated to the local lords and nobles to decide on their own and set the proportion. The royal family did not ask about it. This was a way to ease the conflict between the emperor and the lords. The lords had to be allowed to make some small profits and oil. Commercial taxes and tariffs were projects for the lords to make oil for themselves. Generally, they did not need to be handed over to the empire and belonged to the nobles alone. The feudal idea of ​​emphasizing agriculture over commerce was very common in the Western continent. The status of merchants was sometimes not as good as that of farmers. The emperor's strategy was to kill two birds with one stone. It could appease the local nobles and avoid being accused of persecuting merchants. Anyway, it was collected by the nobles themselves and had nothing to do with the emperor.

Even for the emperor's own fiefdom, commercial taxes and tariffs were handed over to officials to collect. If something went wrong, the officials would take the blame, and the emperor would sacrifice the relevant officials, sell them, and then replace them with new officials. In addition to the above taxes, there is also a kind of compulsory taxation in an emergency. Generally, taxes are levied when facing foreign invasions and major crises when the country is on the verge of extinction. It is not levied in this way at other times. Of course, if the emperor is a tyrant or a weak ruler, and the local lords are too bad, compulsory taxation may also happen frequently.

The third prince of the empire, Osta, went to the Central Continent this time. Apart from three maids and guards, Chris, Yulia and Sophia, he did not bring any other entourage. He took a letter of appointment from the empire lord and about 100 gold coins as start-up capital, and then set off. He did not need to bring too much money. Osta did not want to owe favors to others. Many nobles, civil and military ministers, and those who belonged to the Queen's faction wanted to sponsor Prince Osta with a large sum of money, and then build relationships with him, so as to gain political capital from Queen Margaret III.

Osta didn't even prepare his own exclusive warship like other princes, but disguised himself as a merchant, took the three maids around him, and set off in advance on a merchant ship to the Central Continent. The cost of the teleportation magic circle of this alien continent is too high. At present, if you want to go to the Central Continent, you can only take a boat. The only regret of Prince Osta is that he set off too early and didn't have time to meet his sisters. He can only wait until the situation there is stable, and then he will find a way to bring the princesses over one by one.

Chapter 7 Merchant Ships Heading to Central Continent

The Middle Continent, also known as the Sudimanster Continent, has a long history. Legend has it that there once existed a highly developed prehistoric civilization. As for the truth of this legend, there is no way to verify it now. After all, no remains of prehistoric civilization have been found, only legends about their existence. If you want to go to the Sudimanster Continent, the only way to travel is by sea.

The third prince of the empire, Aosta, disguised himself as the son of a wealthy merchant who was going out for business, and went out with his three beautiful maidens, Chris, Yulia and Sophia. They boarded the overseas merchant ship "Victor Maria" that was going to the Central Continent for business. This merchant ship was quite famous. It was one of the more famous super merchant ships with a hull of more than 100 meters in the Western Continent. It specialized in maritime transportation business. There were many merchants who wanted to make a fortune in the Central Continent. The ticket price for one person was ten gold coins. Prince Aosta brought one hundred gold coins, but only sixty were left after boarding the ship.

Although the price is very expensive, it is not a rip-off. It is roughly equivalent to paying for a luxury cruise ship ocean voyage. After paying ten gold coins, all other consumption on the ship is free. The ten gold coins have already included all the expenses of the guest's trip. According to the exchange rate of this alien continent, it has always been one to one hundred, one gold coin can be exchanged for one hundred silver coins or ten thousand copper coins. According to the general price, a ticket of ten gold coins is already a very luxurious price and can be regarded as one of the high-end consumption.

Osta didn't care about the 40 gold coins he spent. In fact, at the beginning, it was enough to have Chris, Yulia and Sophia, three maids and guards. They didn't need wages, and they were considered as Prince Osta's people. It was useless to bring more gold coins. The civilization in the Central Continent was still in the primitive society stage, that is, the dark age before the emergence of agricultural civilization. The residents only knew how to hunt and fish. No matter how much money you had, it was useless. There was no clear general equivalent in the Central Continent. Most of the residents didn't know gold coins, let alone currency trade. If you wanted to trade, you could only use the most primitive barter method.

Other princes had to prepare a large amount of gold coins, mainly to use these funds to pay the troops they brought. The human race countries in the Western Continent generally adopted the recruitment system to recruit full-time soldiers. If the funds were sufficient, the employer could hire some war mercenaries to make up the number. Osta did not need this. He did not bring any soldiers, but only three combat units of the ceiling level. Three girls were enough, so he did not need too many gold coins. The transactions in the Central Continent were barter. Even if he brought gold coins, most of the primitive residents there would not accept them.

The "Victork Maria" departed from Loxno, the largest seaport in the east of the Post-Obelisk Empire, and headed straight for the direction of Mager Port, one of the few colonial docks on the west coast of the Central Continent. Mager was a famous navigator and adventurer of the human race, and one of the first people to discover the Central Continent. In order to commemorate his great achievements and major discoveries, people named a port city in the Central Continent after him, which was a kind of honor.

The "Victoria Maria" sailed this time with more than 200 people on board. Except for dozens of crew members and sailors, the rest were merchants who were going to do business in the Central Continent. There were not many real tourists. After all, this ship was a merchant ship, and the service facilities on board were not as good as those of a special cruise ship. Aosta originally wanted to take a luxury cruise ship to the Central Continent, but cruise ships basically had no route plans to the Central Continent. As a last resort, Prince Aosta chose a compromise solution and set off on a merchant ship instead.

The "Victoria Maria" not only carried crew members, but also had the mission of transporting goods. The cabin was loaded with a lot of grains and other crops. In the barter trade in the Central Continent, the residents of the Central Continent were keen on exchanging food from other continents. They belonged to a primitive society, and their food mainly came from hunting and fishing. They didn't even have animal husbandry, so they liked the food from overseas continents very much.

"Lord Osta, are you feeling comfortable? Should you use a little less force?"

"No, Chris, this strength is just right."

"Lord Osta, would you like me to go a little deeper?"

"Ahem, Yulia, this position is enough for now."

"Lord Aosta, the fruit has been cut, please enjoy it."

"Yes, Sophia, please."

In the luxurious room on the "Victoria" ship, Prince Aosta was enjoying a rare leisure time. He got this luxurious room by bribing Captain Aristo with an extra ten gold coins. Although he was ripped off by the fat captain for ten gold coins, Aosta felt that the money was worth it. The decoration in this luxurious room had reached the luxurious standard of presidential suites in ordinary hotels, so it was good value for money.

The temperature on the sea was very hot. The sea temperature on this alien continent was completely opposite to that on Earth. Osta was wearing a pair of black boxer shorts, lying on his back on a blue and white striped chair similar to a beach chair. Although it was not a real beach, the treatment Osta enjoyed now was indeed equivalent to a summer vacation on a real beach.

Chris stood behind the chair and used her delicate fingers to massage Prince Osta, helping him relax his arms and shoulders. Chris massaged very gently, with little strength, for fear of hurting the prince. Chris's beautiful silver hair was naturally scattered behind her, and her silver eyes were full of fascination. She was wearing a pink bikini swimsuit. The bikini gave people a feeling of being full of sexiness and interest at first glance. The sexiness was simply off the charts. The top had butterfly-shaped intersections on both sides, with a lot of empty space. The most exciting part was the bottom. After a few straps, a vertical string of pearls just covered the last scenery, which looked very tempting.

Yulia was in front of Osta, massaging the prince's legs and relaxing his feet. Her beautiful purple eyes were full of meaningful expressions. Although her expression was still aloof, with a cold and elegant expression that kept people away, her posture of serving the master could easily cause misunderstanding from a distance, as if she was providing the prince with some indescribable special service, rather than simply massaging his feet.

Yuliya was wearing a black bikini swimsuit made of highly transparent tulle, and the panty part below was matched with black silk stockings tied with suspenders. The material of the silk stockings was the favorite series of gentlemen. In terms of sexiness, Yuliya's attitude was almost the same as Chris's. Chris's swimsuit was open, while Yuliya's swimsuit was sultry, which was completely different from her usual cold attitude. Especially when she had a cold expression on her face and said ambiguous words about raising her hands, Osta quickly stopped her. If Yuliya's jade hands went a little further along her legs, it would be the "place of the dragon", and she might directly give an immortal grip.

Sophia was sitting next to the chair, cutting fruit for Prince Aosta, processing a fruit called "Huras Devil Fruit", which was actually equivalent to watermelon on Earth. It was just that after a slight makeover in the other world, it immediately had a very long, very cool, and high-sounding name. In essence, it was still a watermelon, and even the taste was no different from a real watermelon.

Sophia's smooth golden hair was casually draped over her smooth, silky white back. Her beautiful golden eyes were cunning and seductive, and Osta suspected that she did it on purpose. Sophia leaned forward slightly, holding a silver fruit plate with a platter of cut "Huras Devil Fruits" on it, intending to feed it directly to her master. She was wearing a pure golden bikini swimsuit with a gold-threaded hollow design. It was much more expensive than Chris and Yulia's bikinis. The two of them gave Osta a sexy and seductive feeling, while Sophia gave Osta a sexy and elegant feeling.

The human race in this alien world has already maxed out some of the technology trees, including bikini swimsuits and underwear. Osta originally wanted Chris and the others to come out in swimsuits. For him, being able to wear bikinis is the biggest benefit. Who knew that Chris and the others would skip the swimsuits and come out in underwear? Looking at the trademark logo on the underwear, it is a product of "Lirenfang", which specializes in selling sex toys. This is not a swimsuit at all. While enjoying it, Osta kept reminding himself that these three are aliens, not humans, and he can't be impulsive now. It can be said that he is in pain and happiness.

"Chris, this isn't a swimsuit, is it?"

"Lord Aosta, Queen Margaret III has instructed that you should wear this set when serving you in the room. It was specially given to you by her."

"You...you don't have to listen to everything...Okay, this is not bad."

Osta was speechless for a moment. Such sexy bikini swimsuits were personally selected by Queen Margaret III and given to Chris and the other two. She also specifically told these three beautiful girls to wear this outfit when serving their sons. This is definitely a real mother. However, Osta was temporarily unable to enjoy it. It was not because he was not capable in that aspect, but he could not take down the three foreign beauties without knowing why. Although they took the initiative to come to him, before he figured out their true feelings and intentions, Osta could only choose to be patient.

As a time traveler, Osta does not have a golden finger for the time being, unlike other colleagues. For Osta now, Chris, Yulia and Sophia, the three beautiful girls, are the most important golden fingers around him. They are all ceiling-level super-standard combat power. Regarding the relationship between them, it must be considered carefully.

Queen Margaret III made such an arrangement mainly because she saw that although her son often went to brothels with the seventh prince, no scandals were reported. Therefore, she mistakenly thought that her son was not good at that or did not like girls, which made her anxious. However, she could not say it in front of her son. In order to have a grandson as soon as possible, Queen Margaret III, on the one hand, arranged three fiancées for Aosta with her family, and on the other hand, she could guide Chris and other beautiful girls with super-standard looks to see if they could provide enlightenment for her son in making dough. It was really well-intentioned.

At this time, Prince Osta obviously did not understand his mother's good intentions. He did not realize that other princes had already practiced with the palace maids many times at a very young age, but he was the only one who had been with Chris, a beautiful girl, for many years without any movement. He was not misunderstood by outsiders and thought that he liked men. This was a blessing in disguise.

"Why is it so noisy outside? Aristo is a man who takes money but doesn't do anything!"

"Lord Osta, it seems like a pirate fleet is approaching. Do we need to destroy them all?"

"Wait, Yulia, let's go check out the situation first!"

Chapter 8: Attacked by Unknown Pirates

The Sudimanster continent, known as the Central Continent, has rich resources, fertile land, and rich potential, but it also has serious problems. The productivity of the continent is low, and the productivity under the primitive social system is not even as good as that of the Southern Continent, which maintains a slave society. Moreover, the order in this area is very chaotic. For a long time, the Central Continent has been used by the other four human continents to exile those who have committed heinous crimes but cannot be executed. These sinners have long been entrenched in the Central Continent. Over time, various evil forces have formed. Without the suppression and elimination of the army, the bandit problem in the Central Continent is extremely serious. It can almost be said that this place is a paradise for criminals.

According to the intelligence currently held by Prince Osta, among the known bandit forces in the Central Continent, there are two major categories: pirates and land bandits. Pirates are further divided into sea pirates and sea thieves. The purposes and targets of the two are different. Pirates only rob merchant ships and cargo ships encountered on sea routes, and generally do not plunder near the coast. Sea pirates are different. In addition to merchant ships and cargo ships, sea pirates generally attack coastal fishing villages, and even go deep inland to the mainland to compete with the land bandits for territory and interests. Pirates in the traditional sense refer specifically to these sea pirates.

There are many types of land bandits, including highway robbers and robbers, who are usually seen as small minions. The types of land bandits are generally divided according to the territories they occupy or occupy, such as forest bandits occupying forests and mountainous areas, desert bandits occupying desert areas, snow bandits occupying snowfields, wilderness bandits occupying grasslands and wilderness areas, and sea pirates active in coastal areas and appearing on the coastline. Sometimes they are also counted as members of land bandits.

In terms of combat effectiveness, each branch of the bandits has its own strengths. When attacking each other, it mainly depends on the specific terrain at the time of the battle. Whoever has the advantage of terrain has a greater chance of winning. Robbers and robbers are generally recognized as weak fighters. Sometimes they can't even beat the villagers of the pioneer village, and are known as the shame of bandits.

The most powerful vagrant force is neither pirates nor bandits, but the third force that all human nations are very taboo about and cannot mention publicly, that is, the rebel army. In the Central Continent, wars are frequent and it is common for armies to defect. Over time, the rebel army has emerged as a new force that is superior to the bandits in combat power and has come from behind.

The rebel army is divided into two types: deserters and rebels. Their weapons and equipment are better than those of the bandits, and they have an absolute advantage in equipment. Deserters have low morale and their combat effectiveness is greatly reduced, but they can still be easily dealt with. The rebels are different. Their morale is high, and some of them directly occupy the mountains and become evil forces that rule one side. In the chaotic and disorderly environment of the Central Continent, it is easy to breed all kinds of warlords, providing the necessary soil for the development of armed separatism. For various purposes and political interests, the human countries on other continents not only did not send troops to fight against these rebels, but even secretly stopped providing help and supported those warlords as their agents.

Sending troops to the Central Continent to attack these unknown warlord forces is a thankless and inferior strategy. It not only wastes resources and weakens one's own strength, but also makes it impossible to control the Central Continent for a long time. Therefore, up to now, no one has really felt sorry for these warlords. Until the arrival of a certain person, this evil phenomenon finally ushered in a final judgment that was many years late and comparable to justice from heaven.

Not long after the merchant ship "Victor Maria" set sail, it encountered pirates hijacking it as soon as it reached the sea not far from the Central Continent. This time, they simply went out without checking the almanac. Prince Osta was fearless. The three exclusive maids and guards around him were not human at all. Even the royal guards of the Obelisk Empire could be easily killed in seconds, let alone these pirates. With the idea of ​​watching a good show and joining in the fun, Osta took the three girls and Chris to the deck to watch the show. Before setting off, Osta and Chris all wrapped themselves in thick dark bathrobes, looking like VIPs who had just finished bathing.

This was Osta's special request. Although Chris and the others were of different races, they were his people after all. Their seductive appearance in sexy bikinis could only be enjoyed by him alone. If other men saw them, Osta felt that he would suffer a huge loss, a loss that no amount of money could make up for. Osta just looked like he was doing nothing, and there was no obvious change in his emotions. In fact, he was the same as most men, with a strong possessiveness deep in his heart.

"Boss, our ship has already paid the protection fee. This is different from what we agreed on. Do you think there is something wrong?"

"What's wrong? You fat guy has made enough money. If you don't use the money to honor our brothers, no one on the boat will leave today. Everyone will go to the sea to feed the sharks. Leave the cargo behind and hand it all over to us."

"Boss... Boss, we have Haiqi. You see, we really paid the protection fee."

"You really don't know the rules. The protection money you paid to those two bitches has nothing to do with us brothers! You must pay double, otherwise, you will be the first to go to the sea and feed the sharks."

When Osta took Chris and the others to the deck, they found that the merchant ship "Victor Maria" had been controlled by pirates, or more precisely, surrounded. Dozens of pirate ships of different sizes surrounded the merchant ship, blocking it from any escape. The pirate flags hoisted by these pirate ships were different, and the skull flags looked different. It looked like a joint fleet put together by a miscellaneous group of troops, and even the sizes of the pirate ships were different.

On the deck of the merchant ship, Captain Aristo of the "Victoria" was negotiating with the pirate leader. However, the fat captain's collar was pulled open, and he was being shaken left and right by the pirate leader. It seemed that the negotiation had failed, especially his face was red and swollen, obviously he was slapped and slapped by the pirate leader. It was a pity for this guy, he could still smile after being beaten so badly, and begged the pirates to let go of the merchant ship with an apologetic smile. Prince Aosta had a very bad impression of this greedy captain before, but now it seems that he still has his shining points and courage that are worthy of praise.

Aosta didn't know that Captain Aristo was forced to do this. The sailors and crew members who resisted were brutally killed by the pirates. Their bodies were left on the deck. The blood flowed like a river, and the blood dyed the entire deck red. The crew members on the "Victoria Maria", except for the sailors, were basically merchants. Generally, merchants did not bring guards. Now they had no ability to resist. Those merchants could only pay money to ensure their safety. After all, money is something outside of one's body. At this time, it is wise to spend money to avoid disaster and buy life. However, these pirates were not easy to talk to.

There are two types of pirates, sea bandits and pirates. The merchants dare to go out to sea without guards, mainly because large merchant ships like the "Victoria Maria" usually pay a large sum of gift money in advance to the pirates that will appear in the route, that is, the leaders of those famous pirate groups, each Pirate King, before setting sail. After receiving the gifts, those Pirate Kings will give "special care" in a disciplined manner, instructing their subordinates not to plunder these merchant ships and to provide protection when necessary. The sea flag that Captain Aristo mentioned is the token bought from the Pirate King as a proof of the payment of protection fees and gift money.

However, the pirates who robbed the "Victor Maria" this time were not pirates, but pirates who were even more vicious than pirates. Pirates not only committed crimes at sea, but also in coastal areas and on land. The pirates refused to acknowledge the protection fee and gift money that Captain Aristo gave to the Pirate King, but instead intensified their efforts. There was a serious competitive relationship between pirates. In order to grab territory, both sides attacked each other, almost to the point of preparing for an open break and a war.

The leader of the pirate group that robbed the "Victoria Maria" was Bazel, nicknamed "Bald Dragon". Bazel had a sturdy build and looked like a strong man. He liked to go into battle shirtless and show off his muscles. His muscular body was his capital to show off his strength and force. Bazel was bald and had scars on his face and body. He looked shocking. This guy was quite famous in the pirate group. The sturdy man on the deck who was grabbing Captain Aristo's collar and preparing to beat him up was "Bald Dragon" Bazel. This guy was obviously a bald man, but he was talented to give him this nickname to try to cover up the truth. At least that's what Osta thought. He felt that Bazel was a weak character with a strong appearance.

"Bald Dragon" Bazel was now full of anger, and he had no place to vent his anger. Captain Aristo, the fat man, just happened to run into the gun. It can only be considered that he was unlucky. The real owner of this sea area near the Central Continent is the sphere of influence of the "Pirate Queen" Lianna and Belus. The protection fee and gift money that Captain Aristo paid before were given to these two female pirate kings, and the sea flags were bought from them.

Both Lianna and Belus are known as "Pirate Queens", the difference is that the former is nicknamed "Red Queen" and the latter is nicknamed "Golden Queen", and this title is determined according to their hair color. In this vast sea, there are only ten pirate leaders who can become Pirate Kings, and there are only three female Pirate Kings, two of which are active in this sea. Not only are there competitions between pirates, but there are also competitions between pirates. These two pirate queens want to compete for control of this sea. In order not to offend both sides, Captain Aristo gave protection fees and gifts to both sides. Who knows that man proposes, God disposes, and there are third-party forces. Pirates are not as disciplined as pirates. They may not accept gifts and protection fees in advance, and they may kill them after receiving the money.

Aosta and his crew were the last to appear on the deck. Before that, the crew of the "Victoria Maria" were all driven to the deck by the pirates to gather and rob. In order to survive, the merchants took out all the valuables on their bodies and threw them in the front position for the pirates to put into the large sacks prepared in advance.

"These are not enough to fill our teeth! And these are also needed..."

"But... guys, I really have no money."

"Stop talking nonsense. We don't want your skull anymore, but we're still short of bowls!"

"No, no, I'll do it right away!"

Under the threat of force from the pirates, the merchants were forced to take off their clothes. The pirates were very greedy and robbed the merchants until they were left with only a pair of underwear. After all, the merchants were wearing gorgeous clothes, and these gorgeous clothes could be exchanged for a lot of money. Compared with pirates, pirates are the most difficult to deal with. Pirates can be dealt with by paying money, but pirates cannot. They will not reason with you at all. Therefore, only pirates are eligible to be the Pirate King. Pirates cannot be awarded the title of Pirate King because of their bad conduct.

"Bald Dragon" Bazel accidentally saw Aosta, who was wearing a bathrobe and had a leisurely expression on the deck. He looked like a rich young man. What attracted attention was the three maids following Aosta. They were extremely beautiful. At Bazel's signal, his men quickly surrounded Aosta and the others, not knowing that the other party was well prepared and basically had nothing to fear.

Chapter 9: The Pirate Leader's Unlucky Day

In the Central Continent, no matter it is pirates, bandits, or rebel armies, in order to make money, looting is one of their necessary daily activities. The Central Continent is a primitive civilization, and most of the pioneering villagers are tough and sturdy, which directly leads to the high cost of robbing villages, and many times it is a loss-making business.

Therefore, the targets of robbery are generally merchants who come to the Central Continent. Merchants generally carry valuable things with them, and most of them know the principle of losing money to avoid disasters, so it is easy to rob them and the difficulty is relatively low.

The residents of the Central Continent are different. These indigenous people still maintain a primitive society of hunting and fishing. All the people are hunters. Ordinary bandits and robbers dare not rob the villages, and being killed in return is a common occurrence.

Powerful organizations such as the outlaws do not like to rob villages. Most of the pioneer villages in the Central Continent are even poorer than the bandits. They do not have anything valuable, and the resistance is fierce. The bandits will not do such a business that will obviously lose money.

Sometimes it is not easy to make money just by robbing, after all, this also depends on luck. Therefore, some robbers also engage in kidnapping in addition to robbing. Kidnapping often makes money faster than robbing. Robbery is only a one-time thing. In the case of kidnapping, merchants can be detained as hostages, and then a huge ransom can be demanded from the merchant's family in exchange for the hostages. The benefits are often greater than simple robbery.

Pirates prefer to kidnap hostages and extort ransoms. Osta estimates that they may have learned from the Somali pirates on Earth. Pirates, on the other hand, do not kidnap hostages. They are much more ethical than pirates. Pirates are one of the few pirates and land bandits who do not kidnap. They are more interested in treasure hunting.

These pirates obviously haven't learned the tricks of the Somali pirates. It is common for them to kill the hostages after receiving the ransom after kidnapping. It all depends on the mood of the kidnappers. If the pirates are happy at the time, they will release the hostages immediately after receiving the ransom. If they are unhappy, sorry, they may even kill the hostages directly after receiving the ransom.

"Bald Dragon" Bazel himself is one of the most brutal pirate leaders. Osta judged that the possibility of him abiding by the kidnapper's ethics was very low, almost zero. On Bazel's pirate ship, there were several large rectangular iron cages, which were specially used to detain hostages.

If the merchants looked like they could still make money, they would be kidnapped by the pirates and held hostage on the pirate ship. Someone would be arranged to notify their families later. They would then be asked to bring a huge ransom to demand their release. Many wealthy merchants were robbed to the point of having only their underpants left, but they still could not escape the clutches of the pirates and were locked in iron cages so that they could extort a huge ransom later.

In addition to merchants, there is also an iron cage used to imprison female family members. There are very few women among merchants going out to sea, but there are some, and you can still run into them occasionally. The family members who follow merchants out to sea are servants of lower status, such as maids, and those of higher status are the daughters or ladies of wealthy merchants, so it is not impossible to run into them.

Just like the merchants on the "Victoria Maria" now, there are several young ladies or noble ladies, all of whom are very good-looking, with good looks, charming figures and attractive curves. As expected, they were all targeted by this group of brutal pirates.

Under the force of the pirates, these young ladies and noble ladies blushed and, like the merchants, humiliated themselves by taking off their valuable clothes, leaving only thin underwear, and were imprisoned in iron cages one by one. There were already quite a few imprisoned beauties in that special iron cage. It seemed that they were captured by the pirates when they robbed other merchant ships before, and they were spoils of war captured from other merchant ships or cargo ships. Regardless of whether these beauties were maids, young ladies or noble ladies before, their identities were the same when they arrived at the pirates' ship. They were all prisoners, or in other words, the pirates' playthings.

The pirate spoils in the iron cage were only left with thin underwear, black metal shackles on their wrists and ankles, and black metal headbands on their snow-white necks, with an iron chain connected in the middle of the headbands. The red perforated balls in their mouths just blocked the victims' ability to speak, and only traces of crystal saliva could be seen on the balls. Because they were wearing black goggles, Osta could not see the victims' expressions clearly, and could only roughly judge their mental state from their blushing and shy faces.

The seized spoils were basically restrained with their hands crossed behind their backs, their snow-white legs closed together, kneeling in the middle, their knees down, their bodies naturally leaning forward and bending, maintaining a shameful posture of holding their heads high and their chests puffed out, their snow-white bodies trembling with fear.

The difference between a young lady and a noble lady is probably the style of the underwear they wear. The young lady's underwear is not as bold, open and sexy as the noble ladies'. The former is more serious and conservative, while the latter is basically based on interest. As a result, they fall directly into the hands of robbers. Clear whip marks can be seen on their fair skin. These pirates are not Liu Xiahui who can remain calm even when a woman makes them tempted. They will definitely do unspeakable things. Anyway, Osta doesn't believe that their purpose of capturing women is for ransom. It is very likely that they do things that men understand.

"My lord, our family will pay your ransom, please don't do this..."

"Stop talking nonsense. Do you want to do it yourself, or do we help you once? If you keep talking nonsense, you won't get anything done."

"No, we...we can do it ourselves. We don't need your help."

The pirates all had obscene smiles on their faces, their eyes full of greed, and their obscene eyes looked at their targets with ill intentions. The few young ladies and noble ladies on the "Victoria Maria" were trembling on the deck. Their pleas for mercy did not receive any mercy from the pirates, but instead further stimulated their dark emotions.

Under the threat of the pirates' butcher knives, they trembled with fear and undressed in front of the pirates with shaking hands. They took off their outer clothes according to the pirates' evil demands, leaving only thin underwear. The pirates looked anxious, holding chains in their hands, and seemed impatient to turn them into trophies and take them back to enjoy.

Prince Osta was surrounded by pirates. His three exclusive maids, Chris, Julia and Sophia, were all so beautiful that they would tempt people to commit crimes if they appeared outside. Moreover, the bathrobes they wore added a lot of charm.

Of course, Osta felt that he and his friends were engaging in some form of "fishing enforcement", deliberately luring these weak pirates to come forward and surrender, giving the other side a chance to surrender in person.

"Boy, your three wives are so pretty. Come to our ship and stay as guests for ten days or half a month. Then you can ask your family to pay the ransom..."

"I refuse. If you guys leave now, maybe I can pretend nothing happened. Otherwise, the consequences will be serious."

"Damn it, this kid is crazy and arrogant enough. It seems that he doesn't want the skull anymore. Brothers, take action!"

Osta's arrogant attitude angered the pirates. Without waiting for the order from their leader, "Bald Dragon" Bazel, the pirates attacked Osta with their weapons. Their main weapons were battle axes, which looked very scary. While the pirates surrounded and killed Osta, they were preparing to forcibly control Chris and the others, capture these beautiful girls, and then do whatever they wanted.

Many merchants on the deck of the "Victor Maria" closed their eyes, not wanting to see this bloody scene. However, Aosta was not killed by the axe. The pirates' axes stopped at a distance from Prince Aosta, as if they were hit by an invisible transparent wall of air, and they could not cut any further, and the axes bounced off directly.

Sophia activated the sacred defense barrier in advance to cover all of her people. The defense of this defense barrier was so terrifying that even a legendary strong man like the Sword Saint couldn't break through it, let alone a few pirates who were just weak fighters.

Yulia took the lead in the counterattack. When Osta did not give a clear order, she thought that her master acquiesced to her actions. A large black shadow appeared under Yulia's feet, instantly covering the deck. Countless black shadow claws suddenly stretched out from the shadows, directly grabbing the pirates who were still distracted and at a loss. With a few "clicks", these unfortunate pirates had their necks twisted and died on the spot before they could figure out what was going on.

Chris's counterattack was the most shocking, with a strong visual impact that stunned everyone on the spot. On the deck, both pirates and merchants were shocked by the horrific scene, and for a moment, they did not dare to act rashly. The deck fell into a brief silence, and the atmosphere was a little subtle.

Chris just raised her hand and pointed lightly, her fingertips pointing at another pirate ship not far away near the "Victoria". That pirate ship was attacked by an invisible and terrifying force, and it exploded directly from the middle of the ship. The hull was cut in half by the mysterious force.

In a very short time, the "lucky" pirate ship that won the jackpot quickly sank to the bottom of the sea and disappeared from the sea surface in an instant, as if it had never appeared in this sea area. Only the pirates who fell into the water and struggled were left, as if to prove that the pirate ship once existed.

"Big...Big brother, let's talk!"

After seeing this scene, the pirate leader "Bald Dragon" Basel turned pale with fright. He was more or less knowledgeable and knew that he had stepped on a "steel plate" this time. The silver-haired beauty just pointed her finger and destroyed a pirate ship in an instant. Her strength was absurd and it was simply unreasonable.

According to this strength, it would only take a cup of tea to destroy the pirates' fleet. In addition to the strange shadow killing method of the black-haired beauty, and the blonde beauty who has not yet taken action, this merchant ship is poisonous, how could there be several perverted monsters.

"Ahem, I've always been a very sincere person. As long as you give me money, I'll act as if nothing happened. You should understand what I mean!"

"Yes, I understand."

The pirate leader "Bald Dragon" Bazel looked so ugly. He failed to rob and was robbed by others. This was definitely a great shame for a robber. However, the current situation did not allow Bazel to refuse. The initiative was in Aosta's hands.

The beautiful maids around Osta, Chris and the others, all looked unhappy and were about to take action. In this situation, the only way to ensure safety was to pay money. Things would change over time, and Basel himself also understood the mood and feelings of the merchants who had been robbed by them not long ago.

"Bald Dragon" Basel was destined to have an unlucky day today. He was extremely unlucky. Not only did he fail in robbery and was counter-robbed by those evil guys from Osta, but to make matters worse, he was surrounded by a fleet of pirates that arrived later. He felt like "the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind".

While Osta was still negotiating with Bazel, two large-scale pirate fleets appeared in the sea where the "Victoria" was located. The two pirate fleets came from different directions and surrounded the pirates' fleet.

These two pirate fleets belong to the fleet of pirates, with the number of ships estimated to be over a hundred. They are the fleets of the ten Pirate Kings, "Pirate Queen" Leona and Belus. After the "Red Queen" and "Golden Queen" discovered that this pirate fleet was operating in the waters within their sphere of influence, they immediately rushed over to expel them, and happened to run into Osta and his men.