Chapter 20: Automatic Delivery
The sea was vast and boundless. It was easy to find an island.
But finding a ship...
Boom!
Cannonballs splashed near the black-sailed warship. Several cannonballs flew straight towards the ship in the air, but a cold gleam flashed, and the cannonballs were sliced in half horizontally. Lily jumped from the air to the side deck and slowly sheathed her rapier.
"Fire."
Following her order, the cannons on the side of the warship fired in unison, hitting the pursuing warship. One hit the mast, one entered the deck, and several hit the hull, causing explosions of black smoke and flames.
Lily glanced at the warship that had lost its ability to pursue, and turned to walk towards the captain's quarters.
Sag had changed into a white pirate shirt that was open to the chest, with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms. He wore loose-fitting trousers and boots that tightly hugged his calves. He had one leg propped up on the table in front of him, leaning back in the sofa-like chair in a lazy posture, holding a wine glass in his left hand, the liquid sloshing with his movements.
"How many is that?"
He glanced at Lily, who had entered, and asked.
"The second one today. In the past three days, we've encountered five warships," Lily said.
Pirate ships were hard to find on the sea, but warships came uninvited.
The Marines in this area seemed to have their sights set on Sag. As soon as they saw the black-sailed warship, they were like rabid dogs, chasing them relentlessly.
"Have the bounties come down?" Sag asked curiously.
Lily shook her head: "I've been following the newspapers sent by the news coos these past few days. I haven't seen our wanted posters."
"So..."
Sag took a drink from his glass, slammed it heavily on the table with a pa, and said unhappily, "Why are they chasing us so tightly!"
Lily was expressionless, silent, but the look in her eyes betrayed her.
Isn't it because of bad luck...
Normal pirates didn't encounter warships every day.
Pirate ships were generally small and fast, and they could escape when they encountered warships. But they were also sailing a warship, with the same configuration. They couldn't escape when they encountered warships, and could only engage. Otherwise, if they were chased for too long, their position would easily be exposed, attracting more Marines.
Sag also understood this, and coupled with his knowledge of his own bad luck, he wasn't surprised to encounter Marines every day.
What he was wondering was why the Marines were specifically targeting him.
Even if he was taking the blame, it was just for robbing a few towns. There were plenty of pirates like that at sea. Why not chase those other pirates and just chase him? This made Sag very unhappy.
He's been having, well, he wasn't sure if it was good or bad, these last few days.
To say it was good... he was being chased by the Marines every day, sometimes he couldn't even sleep peacefully. That certainly wasn't good.
But to say it was bad...
First of all, he didn't have to worry about supplies. The supplies obtained from other warships were enough for sailing, and sometimes he could even get some good stuff. These branch Marine captains, they ate, dressed, and used pretty good stuff.
Sag's clothes were from the warship, much better than his previous tattered clothes. He'd even gotten a few cases of good wine.
His subordinates had also become more experienced due to the long-term battles with the Marines, especially Lily, who could now even cut cannonballs.
She already had this strength, but she lacked combat experience. The battles with the Marines quickly made up for it.
It seemed like there were benefits.
But...
He couldn't get any money!
He became a pirate to make money. Even if he honed his fighting ability to the best in the world, it was also for the sake of making money more conveniently!
"Sag, maybe we should change locations. Black-sailed pirates... aren't easy to find."
Lily pursed her lips, hesitated, and said, "And the subordinates have been drifting on the sea for a long time, which is not good for morale. We need to find a place to rest."
"I'll let him have a good time and I'll take the blame? That option doesn't exist. Even if I have to destroy the Marine 23rd Branch, I will find him!"
Sag waved his hand, but then thought for a moment. "But you're right. People still need to stay on land. Alright, choose a town, we'll go rest for a while. And while we're at it, let's ask if there's any news about black-sailed pirates. Drifting around on the sea like this, we don't have any leads."
He couldn't just focus on the other guy and forget his own business. Anyway, they had to rob.
They couldn't rob the economically prosperous towns, so they would rob the medium-sized towns.
"You choose some islands. We'll go rob a wave. Don't pick poor ones. They are all struggling and don't have much money. Find a few wealthy ones," Sag said.
"Understood. Poor people really don't have much money. The Arlong you were looking for before, I've heard rumors about him. It's said that his protection fees are very high. Ten thousand Berries a month for adults, five thousand Berries a month for children. This amount has drained several villages dry."
Lily nodded, and stared at Sag for a while, wanting to say something several times. But after thinking for a long time, she finally retreated.
Sag picked up the bottle and poured himself a glass of wine. Just as he brought the glass to his lips, he suddenly paused. "Did she want to say that I'm unlucky, so I can't find them?"
It was easy to find those with specific locations, but for those without specific locations...
It was like when he was a bounty hunter looking for pirates, he couldn't find a single one.
Moreover, this was an unknown pirate.
During his time as a bounty hunter, Sag had memorized all the bounties in the East Blue. He hadn't seen a black-robed character on the wanted posters, so he probably wasn't a famous pirate, maybe even a rookie like him.
Sag wasn't stubborn. Once he realized this, he also considered whether he should just give up on this target.
The East Blue was so big, there was really no need to stay in the area of the 23rd Branch. There were many targets for him to rob. Continuing to waste time like this was wasting his own time.
He pondered for a moment, took a sip of wine, leaned back comfortably in his chair, and looked at the rippling sea through the window.
At least in other careers, he didn't have this treatment. Now he had subordinates and a secretary, although they were low-end, but it was also a preview of his future life as a landlord.
...
The island Lily chose wasn't far from here, only requiring half a day of sailing. It was an oval-shaped island with many villages inhabiting it, and a sizeable town along the coast.
This island had no special products, it was just an ordinary town. But any place inhabited by people would definitely have wealthy people, and that was Sag's target.
As for civilians... as Lily said, a few dozen thousand berries from adults and children combined in a month, a few months and they'd be drained dry. There really wasn't much to rob.
Actually, what pirates really made money from was robbing merchant ships. The value of the cargo on a merchant ship was not low, and the risk was small.
But he couldn't encounter any. If he could solve it at sea, why would he have to go to the trouble of finding towns?
Although towns were wealthy, robbing towns still carried a certain risk. The larger the town, the stronger the defensive force. Once entangled, and with the support of the Marines, it was very likely that they would be trapped there.
But for Sag, this wasn't a problem.
In the East Blue, as long as he didn't encounter those powerful people who patrolled back from headquarters, he was confident he could escape...
As dusk turned to night, the black-sailed warship reached the town Lily had chosen.
Sag came out of the captain's quarters at this time, stood at the railing, looked at the gradually clearer outline of the town, and said to Lily beside him:
"After this robbery, we'll leave this sea area. That black-sailed pirate probably left this sea area long ago, otherwise it's impossible not to find him. Since we're both pirates, there will definitely be commotion at sea. There will be opportunities to find him later."
Rarely, Lily did not agree with his words.
She handed the telescope in her hand to Sag, blinked her beautiful eyes, and said strangely, "We seem to... have encountered them."
"Hmm?"
Sag quickly took the telescope and looked straight at the town. First, he saw a huge mansion situated on high ground. The mansion was brightly lit in the darkness, obviously a wealthy residence.
Looking down, rows of houses were located below. The houses near the coastal area were now emitting smoke, drifting westward with the wind.
Further down, on the sea surface, where the smoke drifted, a ship was sailing towards the sea. That ship was a double-masted fast ship. From the telescope, he could still see many people on the deck cheering and drinking.
As for the mast...
It was hanging with a black sail without any flag!
Black sails!!
Sag bang crushed the telescope in his hand, gritting his teeth. "Turn the ship around, stop that black-sailed ship for me!"
He couldn't find them when he wanted to, but they automatically came to him when he didn't!