"Those guys paid a lot of money, so in the past ten years, many of our powerful pirates have turned to mercenary groups."

"As time goes by, most of the powerful people have left, so the remaining forces have started to expand rapidly. Among them, the three strongest pirate groups are Black Beard, Masra, and Flame."

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"Any pirate gang that was close to them had to hand over 30% of the goods they plundered. Otherwise, they would be wiped out

"Many people were unable to endure the disturbance and were forced to leave their familiar shipping routes to look for new shipping routes. But not long ago, these three forces suddenly established a pirate union together. They also released news that the Doomsday Dusk Alliance was about to receive the Alliance mission to wipe out Satan's Wings."

"I suggest that all the pirate groups preserve their strength and join the wing of Satan Pirate Union to resist the upcoming disaster."

"In that case, it's just their one-sided statement. The reliability is very questionable."

"To be honest, I didn't believe the news at first either. However, the problem is that I saw many things with my own eyes. Several pirate groups that I'm familiar with suddenly disappeared from their area of activity. I asked other friends. Some said that they were taken in, and some said that they were wiped out. However, no one could provide any evidence, which made people very cautious. Therefore, I'm now half-skeptical about this news, and I'm only doing half of the things. I don't want to join the union, but I want to protect my strength."

Hearing this, Lei Luo reached out his hand and stopped Zha Mu, who was speaking with confidence.

"If His Highness is willing to take you as a mercenary group, are you willing?"

"His Highness?"

Zha Mu was stunned for a moment, then he laughed.

"Envoy, you aren't joking with me, right? What kind of person is His Highness? How can he look up to people like us?"

"Whether he looks up to you or not, it's not up to you. It's up to His Highness. So if there is such a chance, are you willing to cooperate or not?"

Seeing that Lei Luo seemed to be serious, Zha Mu started to feel tempted.

He glanced at Lei Luo, and his eyes started to move.

"No matter what, there are so many people in the Grizzly Bear Pirate Gang. Even though you're the leader, I don't think one person can make up his mind. It's better to ask for the opinions of others first. There's no rush."

As Lei Luo spoke, he acted as if he wanted to stand up.

"This is a pirate gang, not a senate meeting. There's no need to hold a meeting to make a decision. I alone can do it."

"But...I don't quite understand. Why would His Highness want to take in people like us? Isn't he afraid that we would be a huge liability?"

"Although His Highness has actually taken you in, His Highness will not give you any written agreement, nor will he admit his relationship with you. But we will give you money regularly, and you will do what we ask you to do."

"What can we do for His Highness?"

"Who knows? Maybe there will be something for you to do tomorrow, or maybe you will not be needed for the rest of your life."

"May I ask, what is the general treatment of the Grizzly Pirates?"

"How many people do you have?"

"300,000 women and children and 100,000 warriors."

"In that case, all kinds of daily necessities, as well as the cost of gold coins in the nest, maintenance, and maintenance of the fleet, your annual maintenance fee should be around 10 million gold coins, right?"

Lei Luo did some mental calculations.

"Yes, about that."

"20 million annual employment fee. When we have no mission for you, you are allowed to plunder. Once you suffer a great disaster, we will provide you with a city to take refuge in. Within a certain range, we can also provide you with military support. What do you think of this condition?"

"Although His Highness'conditions are good, all these conditions are only spoken by the king. If His Highness turns hostile in the future, what should I do?"

"Don't worry, His Highness has already expected this. In order to avoid your worries, I will sign the contract with you. Although I am not His Highness, I am His Highness's confidant. If you agree to the terms in the contract, then His Highness will have to sever relations with me. To put it simply, he will have to sacrifice me. In other words, His Highness has bet me on you. I wonder if the regimental commander feels that this bargaining chip is enough?"

Zha Mu didn't expect Ulysses to give him any guarantees.

But now, this person who was once a big shot like Morton was willing to give him a guarantee in disguise.

That was naturally the best.

"All right, the mercenary group's standard agreement is very simple. You can download it online. Later, we'll just sign it. Now, let's talk about business. I wonder what His Highness plans to reward us with?"

"Not a penny, not a boat...He'll give you a city..."

"A city?"

Lei Luo took out a map and found the city that he had been studying for a long time.

"Beautiful Saint City—the richest city of Governor Dasha, a member of the Anglo-immortal Economic Union. Its population is 70 million, and it's the most important weapon production area among the 26 cities under Lord Dasha. In the city's warehouse, there are three million gold coins, various military supplies, iron ores, and a total value of more than 50 million gold coins...Everything in this city belongs to you."

"Lord Emissary, do you know the defense of the Holy City of beauty? Let's not talk about anything else. Just the four thousand magic cannons alone are enough to turn us into ashes before we get close."

"If these defenses work, that is indeed the case."

Lei Luo's words were not hidden, and Zha Mu found it hard not to understand.

"Envoy, do you mean that Lieutenant Da Sha will go easy on us?"

"Unless His Highness gives him permission, he will not go easy on us. But if His Highness gives him permission, doesn't that mean that he has something to hold over us? Do you think His Highness would do such a stupid thing?"

"So, Lieutenant Da Sha won't go easy on us? Then how are we going to get those things?"

"In order to keep the defensive structures in combat state at all times, basically all the defensive structures in the empire are on alert at all times. But even when they are on alert, they still consume magic power. The defensive structures also consume magic power when they are on alert. The more defensive structures there are, the greater the consumption. When they are in a state of war, the defensive structures' alert state will be raised to the highest state. The mana consumption in this state is tens of times more than usual. When the number of defensive structures reaches a certain number, it will bring a heavy burden to the entire mana system. Recently, the union of immortal and economic cooperation and the Union of Phoenix are in a state of war. I think you know this."