Chapter 110 - Pirate Ho Ri-Na's Missions

In a private warehouse in the Blue Crab City’s port, a ship of about ten meters had been placed in the center of the structure. At the moment, two humans, a spider, and a snake, were standing there watching the ship.

They were none other than Hei, Lian, Xing, and Ye. After Mo Songmin left to talk to his superiors, Hei thought about what the pirate had said. The artifact ship would have attracted too much attention and suspicion as it was. If Mo Songmin had been able to recognize the features of the ship, there was no way that others couldn’t do such a thing.

Hei didn't know how to modify the structure of a ship, and there was no way that he would have hired a carpenter who could then leak something. Sure, he could have killed him or forced him to make a blood pact to silence him, but he wanted to avoid involving innocent ordinary people. Not to mention it was an artifact ship. Modifying the ship's structure could have compromised the propulsion function of the artifact ship. Therefore, the best solution he came up with was to change the aesthetics of the ship.

With no expense spared, he rented a private warehouse large enough to hold the artifact ship and a large amount of dye to color the ship's sails. He was undecided about whether to paint the ship's wood too but decided not to do so. Otherwise, he would have to repeat the operation continuously since the wood would return to its original color due to prolonged contact with water. Finally, he didn’t want the dye used to be dissolved in water and cause problems for the creatures who lived in the ocean.

It was a risk to do so, but by now, he had made his decision. He hoped the changes on the sail would be eye-catching enough to make his enemies take their eyes off the ship's structure. But even if they were discovered, it wasn't a problem until a spirit soldier came to hunt them down. And if he were to be admitted to Pirate General Ho Ri-Na's crew, the Pirate General Jin-Sang couldn’t easily move against them.

For the color of the sail, Hei and his family chose to use a black background. On top, they would then paint the silhouette of a purple spider that would cover almost the entire sail. It was a tribute to Bao Bei, and the artifact ship would take the name of Hope to commemorate their father, Hei An.

In addition to sailing, they also decided to create their own pirate flag. The color was always black, but instead of the classic skull used by pirates, Hei chose to use a blue lotus flower. Above the flower, there was a small purple spider with silver patterns and a small black snake with golden patterns. It was the tribute for the three most important living beings he had in his life: Lian, Xing, and Ye. Without them, his life would have been only a continuous descent into the abyss of despair after the death of his mother.

At the moment, the two little divine beasts were happily running around on the large sail placed on the ground while holding brushes with which to color the sail. Since it was a tribute to their mother, they asked Hei if they could take care of painting the sail, and Hei let him do it. But even though it was a task they were taking seriously, their childish and playful side came out. So, they were chasing each other, trying to get each other stained. Whoever ended up having more dye spots would lose.

Lian, on the other hand, had a better aesthetic sense and was the best at drawing. So she was drawing on the white silk flag created by Xing. Her face concentrated on the piece of silk in front of her was truly fascinating. In particular, her sapphire eyes that could easily enchant anyone who looked at her.

Hei watched the three of them work with a smile. He wanted to help, but because they seemed to be having fun in their own way, he let them take care of it. In any case, he had a commitment he had to attend to.

The three agreed days had passed. It was time to talk to Mo Songmin and find out about Pirate General Ho Ri-Na's response.

Therefore, he left the warehouse and went to the tavern. Even though it was risky to go alone, there was no way Mo Songmin would try to dare to do something in the city in broad daylight. Furthermore, as said by Mo Songmin, the spirit soldiers of his pirate crew were currently unable to be mobilized.

At the tavern, when Hei entered, the innkeeper came to meet him and gave him a piece of paper with the number of a room written on it. It was one of the rooms on the top floor. Mo Songmin was waiting for him there.

Hei went to the indicated room. Inside he found Mo Songmin. There were no traces of other people in the room.

“You have finally come. I thought you would arrive immediately. "

"I was busy. Anyway, tell me what your boss said. "

Listening to Hei's uninteresting response, Mo Songmin sighed. He wanted to beat the young man in front of him, but his pirate instinct told him to stop.

“The captain has heard my story. She was pleasantly surprised by your feat and agreed to let you join the crew. She also left me as an intermediary between you and her. It's okay with you, isn't it? "

Hei nodded and let Mo Songmin continue to speak.

“The captain has a mission for you. She says that before you can meet her and fight under her direct command, you must show your loyalty. She will entrust you with three missions, and if you manage to complete them, you will be able to see her in our main camp."

"I understand. Three missions, did you say? And what do these missions consist of? "

“For now, she has only entrusted me with the content of the first mission. Depending on how you complete the mission, you will be assigned to the second one. But before I reveal the contents of the first mission, I have to explain the division between the four Pirate Generals."

Mo Songmin, therefore, began a summary of the situation of the four pirate crews and their activities.

The Red Devil Jin-Sang was the Pirate General with the most power among the four. His main business was mercenary contracts, and thanks to this, his influence had expanded without restraint. It was to the point that in any major naval conflict, there would always be the presence of some ship associated with the Pirate General.

The Storm Lightning, Kan Ki-Nam, and the Son of Wind, Hong Shin, were more or less similar in strength and authority. Kan Ki-Nam was primarily concerned with assaulting commercial ships on behalf of rival merchants. In addition to that, he also owned a massive round of betting and underground fighting in various cities. Hong Shin instead controlled the drug market and, regarding the financial aspect, he was the one who had the most profit.

As for drugs, these substances were generally strictly controlled by sects. Only expert alchemists could use and buy them from the sects that prohibited any outside production and sale of drugs. But instead of targeting martial artists, Hong Shin instead aimed at ordinary people and wandering martial artists, thus avoiding the hostility of the big sects. Not to mention that big and middle sects also used the drugs produced by him because of their effects in stimulating the user. It was a trump card to use between wars between sects or even in friendly competitions where the prestige of sects was at stake.

However, if martial artists could contain in some ways the side effects of drugs, this couldn’t be said to apply to ordinary people. And here came into play, the last Pirate General, the Steam Goddess Ho Ri-Na. She was the one who had the least war power among the four, even if it was only by a slight margin.

The female pirate controlled the most massive prostitution ring ever existed in the Forgotten Ocean. The reason was that the women who worked as prostitutes were protected and treated with respect by Ho Ri-Na. Unlike other prostitution managers, Ho Ri-Na wasn’t greedy in the percentage of the earnings she took from her women. On the contrary, she would have had them subjected to periodic medical checks, paid their medical bills, and ensured their safety during their work.

For this reason, women who, for one reason or another, decided to pursue that career, all wanted to work for Ho Ri-Na. Even those who had been sold as slaves were treated in the same way. And after earning a certain sum, they could buy their freedom without risk of persecution.

Thus, Ho Ri-Na also earned another nickname - the Benevolent Mother of the Prostitutes.

The women who worked for her would sincerely repay the treatment received. Many of them ended up becoming pirates in her service. By becoming a prostitute, they had agreed to be considered as objects and not as a woman. However, Ho Ri-Na would always treat them as human beings, even punishing members of her own crew if they caused problems for the girls or failed to protect them.

However, the expansion of the drug market had also come to brothels. Despite the protection of the pirate, those who carried out this profession were often prey to conflicts. Some of them, therefore, ended up falling into the infinite abyss of drugs, sinking deeper and deeper. It doesn’t matter if they were protected or treated with respect, the mere fact of living that kind of life was too much to bear for them. So, drugs were a fast and easy solution to that problem.

But the presence of the drug in her brothels had become a severe problem and soiled the Steam Goddess reputation. It had gotten to the point that Ho Ri-Na decided to take matters in hand. She decided she would eliminate, once and for all, the threat that persecuted her girls - the Son of Wind Hong Shin. But to do this, she had to weaken his influence enough to force him out of his hiding place.

"Your first mission is to join with some ships of our crew in assaulting a convoy of ships carrying a large load of drugs. It won't be just us. In different parts of the Forgotten Ocean, our ships will attack Hong Shin’s drug ships. By blocking so much drug in one fell swoop, we will deal great damage to him. Depending on how things unfold, the Captain will then entrust us with the second mission. I need to remind you that we will face not only Hong Shin’s pirates but also mercenaries that aren’t directly affiliated with the General Pirate. It’s not unusual for us pirates to use mercenaries in some of our jobs, especially when you consider the extent of Hong Shin’s drug commerce."

When Mo Songmin finished speaking, Hei became silent for a while. The origin of the clash between the two Pirate Generals wasn’t what he expected. But they obviously wouldn’t have revealed the existence of the map fragments. So, there was also the possibility that all this was an excuse to deprive Hong Shin of his fragments. Being the major exponents of piracy, they were likely to have one or more fragments with them.

And if Ho Ri-Na killed Hong Shin, the stalemate between the four pirates would have broken. There was also the possibility that it would put pressure on the remaining two General Pirates. However, it didn’t interfere with Hei's plans. Not to mention that he could use the conflict to verify the presence of the map fragments in the two Pirate Generals, Hong Shin and Ho Ri-Na.

"I see. There are no problems for me. So when do we leave?” Hei asked calmly. He didn’t seem at all worried about what Mo Songmin had said as if he didn’t put the Pirate Generals in his eyes.

However, that wasn’t correct. It wasn’t as if Hei wasn’t cautious towards them. But he had analyzed the situation, and if he played his cards well, the dangers for him and his family wouldn’t be fatal. He only needed to gain strength as he let the four contenders fight each other. When they became exhausted by the fights, he would act, and eventually, his family would be the winner in that contest.

Mo Songmin looked stunned by Hei's courage. No, maybe it was better to call it recklessness? Either way, he proceeded to answer Hei's questions.

“We are leaving tonight. Since your group joined us, the Captain has decided to speed up the plan slightly. What about your ship? Did you do something about it, or did it stay as before?"

“I'm finishing the color changes on the sail and the flag. I didn’t proceed to change the ship's structure for fear of ruining the propulsion function."

“Okay. Anyway, we will face the Hong Shin’s men. Therefore, they shouldn't notice it. Take this. Inside there are pirate clothes for you and your partner. Since I don't know what size you bring, I went by eye. To compensate, I took several clothes. So you can choose the one that suits you best."

"Thanks for the thought." Hei then nodded to express his thanks.

Mo Songmin appeared amazed. It was the first time that Hei had shown a gesture of respect directed towards him. And it was for a trivial gesture like that. Rather than showing the authority and power of his crew, was it better to treat the young man kindly before him?

Hei, oblivious to Mo Songmin's thoughts, inserted the large chest containing the clothes brought by the pirate into one of his space rings and told Mo Songmin.

“If there are no other things you need to tell me, then I’ll say goodbye. I have to finish the ship's preparations and notify my partner of the news. Don't worry, just tell me about the time and place of the appointment, and I'll be there."

"There is no need for much secrecy. My ship is the only one in this port. But for safety, make yourself be found at midnight outside the entrance of the ships to the port. The others will join us on the way."

"All right. There are no problems. I’ll see you tonight then. Thanks again for the clothes. ”

When he finished saying goodbye to Mo Songmin, Hei left the room and went down to the ground floor. Once he got out, he gave the innkeeper a gold coin for the service and went out. He didn’t go immediately to the warehouse but made a quick tour of the markets to buy food. Only when he bought enough food, Hei went to his family. Ye, Xing, and Lian should definitely be hungry after all that painting work.