Chapter 110 Pirates.

All the pirate captains introduced themselves to Rasmus and the names of their pirate crews. Rasmus got the gist of the hierarchy of pirates from them based on how long they had roamed the sea and how many crews they had. From that information, he knew which crew was the strongest among the seven. The first and the lowest rank among the seven was Matthias, the Big Belly with twenty-four crew members. The second among the seven was Rosalind, the Pale Snake with twenty-seven crew members. The third among the seven was Marigold, the Iron Fist with twenty-nine crew members. The fourth among the seven was Ferdinand, the Rotten Hand with thirty-three crew members. The fifth among the seven was Seamus, the Stormrider with thirty-seven crew members. The sixth among the seven was Declan, the Red Skin with forty crew members. Lastly, Cygnus, the One Eye with fifty-one crew members. Those seven pirate captains were the strongest pirates from the South Sea. There were dozens more out there, but they were small pirate crews that weren't worth mentioning. Cygnus revealed that the South Sea pirates were the weakest compared to the other seas. The West Sea was third in strength, the North Sea was second in strength, and in the East Sea, only the strongest and craziest pirates roamed that sea. Rasmus realized why only one Sea Commander controlled the South Sea because the pirates weren't that threatening. He found that the West Sea had two commanders who controlled the sea. The North Sea also had two commanders who controlled the sea. Central Neva had three commanders to guard the sea from pirates. The East Sea only had one and it was the Admiral himself with his enormous fleet who would kill any pirate he saw. "Now, it's all thanks to you that we can roam the South Sea freely again," Ferdinand pointed at Rasmus with a huge grin on his face, revealing his gold tooth. "And the fact you didn't kill Mercurius, makes things even better because the Admiral won't have to choose a new commander. Rather than killing a man, you cripple him to make him as good as dead." "That's one of the reasons," Rasmus nodded as he looked at Mercurius's arm in a jar filled with seawater and vinegar. "I'm planning to replace him with someone," he revealed. They raised their brows and were intrigued by what Rasmus said. "Replace him? With whom?" Rosalind asked, her voice deep and rough for a woman. "Do you know anything about Arka Gullivard?" Rasmus looked at them. "Who doesn't know about that young bastard? He's the one who guards the border between the South Sea with the West Sea. He's crazy strong," Cygnus scoffed as he shook his head. "But for what reason?" He raised his right brow. "He has a history with Mercurius, no?" Rasmus looked at Cygnus. "Even so, why him?" Cygnus furrowed his brows. "I need him," Rasmus answered with a simple answer. "I don't need to tell you the details," he added. They looked at each other for a moment without saying a word. Rasmus knew that they were anxious about it because Cygnus had revealed how capable Arka was. "If you can help me, I can help you back," Rasmus proposed. "And Matthias can vouch for my words because he had known me for quite a while and know what kind of a person I am," he looked at Matthias with a serious expression. "But if you don't want to, I don't mind getting rid all of you right now, giving Arka a big favor. Matthias should know by now that I'm not the type to joke around," he smiled coldly at them. Aris glanced at Rasmus when he said that, and slowly she averted her gaze and pointed it at those pirates at the table. Although she put on that stoic and cold expression, they could feel the murderous intent in her eyes. Matthias gulped nervously when he remembered what he had witnessed in the sea. "Calm down... calm down..." Cygnus said as he raised his arms with a smirk on his face. "We are pirates, we value our lives like cowards," he looked at Rasmus with a relaxed expression. "Of course, we will help you," he answered. Rasmus smirked as he walked toward the table and put his hands on it. They knew the words that were going to come out of his mouth would be something that they would regret for agreeing with him. But on the other hand, they knew their lives were already in his grasp. They just realized they had just brought a wolf into their nest. "Work for me, not as a pirate, but as my workers..." Rasmus said with his brows raised. "Before you say anything, let me show you a glimpse of what you'll get. First, you won't be staying in a building, you'll be roaming the sea beyond the South Sea and you'll still be a captain of your ship. Second, I'll pay you more than what you can earn from being a pirate. Third, you will all be immune from laws as long as you do what I say," Rasmus explained as he looked at them. "What kind of job?" Marigold asked with her eyes narrowed. "Shipping company..." Matthias answered instead with his eyes closed. "Rasmus— I mean, Count Blackheart is going to make a shipping company in Eddenvilla and try to compete with the Vivelda and Urion companies. I think he wants us to be the captain of his ships," he explained and opened his eyes to look at Rasmus. "So..." Cygnus paused to rub his beard. "You want Arka to become the next Sea Commander so you can bribe him just like how Vivelda and Urion bribed Mercurius?" He continued with his head slightly tilted. "Of course. Once I monopolized Eddenvilla, I'll soon monopolize the market in Cruen. I won't stop there and will dominate the whole continent, all the ports in South Neva. You will gain more power and more influence than you'll ever be," Rasmus answered with confidence. Cygnus laughed so hard that a tear lingered in his eye while the others were staring at him weirdly. They were panicking because if he insulted Rasmus, they all were going to die. "You're crazy..." Cygnus said as he giggled. "Now I understand why Matthias said you're as crazy as me..." he sighed and caught his breath. "But he's wrong..." He paused to clear his throat. "You're a lot crazier than me, and I like that," he grinned as he looked at Rasmus. "So? You're interested?" Rasmus asked. "Of course I am!" Cygnus grinned widely as he got up. "But what if you failed?" He crossed his arms, still with a huge grin on his face. S~eaʀᴄh the NôᴠelFirё.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Then I'll do it again and again and again..." Rasmus said with a serious expression. "It won't affect you in anyway because I'm going to keep paying you to the point you don't know what to do with all that wealth," he added. "Deal!" Cygnus as he offered his hand for a handshake. "As long as you can make me and my men rich, I have zero complaint," he laughed. Rasmus smirked and shook Cygnus's hand firmly. The others had no choice but to follow even though they were intrigued by the offer knowing they would lose nothing. Rasmus then told them about the shipping company that he would make as soon as his ships were ready. Cygnus and the others offered help and would make more ships for him in the future. They were going to modify their ships into ships that met the standards for a shipping company. "So, about the payment, how much are we talking about?" Cygnus asked as he crossed his arms. "I don't care about the money. You can take half of the money for every shipping trip including your weekly salary. Fifteen Gold coins for the captains and five Gold coins for each crew member," Rasmus answered. "I'll be the one who will decide the price for shipping, so don't even dare to extort the merchants," he warned with a serious expression. All of them blinked their eyes repeatedly because the amount of money they would get was beyond their expectations. They began to count how much money they could get in a month, and that was more than they could get in months and the amount of time wasted on the sea doing nothing. "How's that?" Rasmus raised his brows. "Yeah..." Cygnus gulped as he nodded repeatedly. "That's good enough..." "Perfect," Rasmus stood up as he nodded. "Let's conquer this continent," he smirked.