Chapter 850 - Recruitment
Elizabeth walked out gracefully in the spotlight.
She was wearing a black gown, and her hair was tied up in a bun so that the buyers could see her white and slender neck. Her perfect shape and her cold but beautiful face could easily provoke the sexual desire in men.
“Lastly, Miss Elizabeth is Viscount Quaid’s daughter and is about to marry Viscount Charlie of Ettoman… The starting price is ten thousand gold coins!”
The emcee said in a tempting tone, “Is there anyone… who’s willing to become the master of this beautiful noble lady? Oh, I can assure you that professionals have checked and ensured that this lady is a virgin.”
Huff huff!
The last sentence was apparently more provocative. Even Butcher and Bill, who were beside Fang Yuan, started to breathe intensely.
“Ten thousand one hundred gold coins!” a pirate shouted out his bid first, undeterred by the exorbitant price of ten thousand gold coins.
“Ten thousand five hundred gold coins!”
…
The price increased quickly, and even Fang Yuan was a bit surprised. “Are noblewomen captives in such high demand nowadays?”
“Sir, you really don’t know?” At this point in time, the attendant beside him looked about to break down. “Viscount Quaid is the most promising competitor for the governor position in the Solomon Strait colony… Merchant ships heading for the East always have to pass through that place… Viscount Charlie is one of the most exalted nobles in Ettoman, and he has a royal bloodline. Otherwise, why would he marry Miss Elizabeth, who’s merely backed by the Rose Chamber of Commerce?”
“Hmm, competitor? Looks like the incumbent governor will renounce the position soon?” Fang Yuan nodded. “And Elizabeth hurried to get married in Ettoman at this time. Tsk tsk … I wonder how many trade-offs are involved in this.”
“Therefore, this is definitely a hot potato. It’s better to get rid of her earlier!” Bill gave his advice. He had obviously thought about it for a long time.
“Fifteen thousand gold coins!”
When the price reached thirteen thousand gold coins, merchants from Ettoman finally started to bid, raising the price by two thousand straightaway.
“Fifteen thousand gold coins. Any higher bids?” the emcee shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Twenty thousand gold coins!”
At this moment, Formosa from Cecil stood up and looked around, speaking in a firm voice.
“Thirty thousand… gold coins!”
But he was soon given a slap in the face. A calm voice attracted all the attention.
“It’s him!”
“The team leader of the Octopus Marauder Team!”
“Sorcerer Orlando? Could he be interested in the East Sea Route? If he uses Elizabeth as a hostage, Viscount Quaid will have to compromise, won’t he? Of course, he needs to wait until Viscount Quaid becomes the governor of the Solomon Strait colony…”
The onlookers whispered among themselves.
Orlando’s expression was solemn, suggesting his determination to get her.
“Thirty-five thousand gold coins!”
Formosa shook his head and continued to raise the price.
“Forty thousand!”
“Forty-one thousand!”
…
In the end, both of them had to slow down their increases in the price, as they were running out of money.
“Forty-six thousand gold coins!” Orlando stood up slowly and gazed at Formosa. “Any higher?”
Thud!
The great merchant from Cecil suddenly sat back into his seat, unable to utter a word.
“Great!” Orlando nodded satisfactorily and glanced at the emcee.
“Then… forty-six thousand gold coins going once! This lady from Ettoman will soon belong to the great team leader of the Octopus Marauder Team…”
The emcee swallowed a mouthful of saliva in exhilaration.
A mere woman slave was actually sold at the highest price tonight. Even he would earn a huge commission.
But when he raised his gavel high in the air and was about to hit it down, Heathfrey spoke. “Fifty thousand gold coins!”
“What?” Orlando gazed at this swarthy, plump guy, his eyes glistening.
“Sorry… Orlando. I must have this person!”
Heathfrey gritted his teeth and inhaled a breath of cold air, apparently distressed at the large amount of money he had to spend.
“Good! Very good!”
Forty-six thousand gold coins was obviously the maximum that Orlando could afford. The sorcerer laughed coldly and sat back down, but everyone knew that this was definitely not the end.
…
“The auction today was really full of twists and turns…”
Helga, who just joined Fang Yuan’s team, worked with Wilson and a few others to carry a cumbersome chest, following Fang Yuan out of the auction house.
Minus one-tenth of the fifty thousand gold coins as the commission and the three thousand gold coins used to ransom Helga, there were still forty-two thousand gold coins, which was extremely heavy.
Fang Yuan could even feel many people staring at him like greedy wolves.
“For now… we’re still important guests of the auction house, but it’s hard to say what will happen after we leave the port!”
Instead of returning to the hotel, Fang Yuan went to the dock directly. “Start recruiting pirates immediately… Fiery Lotus can load five hundred people, but we only have a hundred now. Bloody Mary is a large pirate port, so there are a plethora of impoverished pirates. We need to recruit as many as possible… But there are two requirements—first, they must specialize in at least one skill, and second, their background must be clean. Understood?”
Of course, to have a clean background did not mean to have never committed a crime, but to be free from any association with other pirate teams. Fang Yuan did not want to recruit a bunch of spies.
“Understood, Captain!” Wilson nodded.
Although the second requirement was a bit hard to meet, he had to do it because it was Fang Yuan’s order.
“Bill…” Fang Yuan then called for his henchman. “Keep an eye on the slave trader Heathfrey, the Octopus Marauder Team, and the merchant from Cecil named Formosa! And be cautious!”
It was obvious that there was conflict among the three parties during the auction. Although they feared Blackbeard and would not do anything against one another in Bloody Mary Port, no one knew what would happen after they left.
In fact, the slave trader held a grudge against Fang Yuan as well. Otherwise, why would Fang Yuan be in a hurry to recruit people?
“Don’t worry, boss. I’ll find some unfamiliar people!” Bill nodded, implying that he had understood Fang Yuan’s hint.
“Great!”
On the dock, Fang Yuan deliberately had all his crew members disembark from the ship. Then he kicked the huge chest full of gold coins, toppling it onto the ground.
If the gold coins had not been surrounded by over a hundred pirates, those red-eyed sailors and pirates outside would definitely have rushed in to plunder the money.
“Since you chose to follow me, I will naturally give you sumptuous rewards!”
Fang Yuan smiled casually. He had done it intentionally to display his generosity to others, which served as an advertisement for the recruitment later.
“Everybody, now come forward to take your portion!”
There were people shouting ‘long live the captain’ as soon as he announced the decision.
Fang Yuan had always been very generous with money, and those pirates watching the scene were also attracted by it. Some of them immediately approached Fang Yuan’s crew and asked for information about Fiery Lotus’ recruitment.
As for whether other pirate ship captains would curse Fang Yuan for breaching rules and influencing the market, he did not care at all.
Due to the attraction using gold coins, the recruitment plan proceeded smoothly.
After all, Fiery Lotus was rather special among pirate ships. Mockingbird to Fiery Lotus was like a sparrow to an eagle, and any pirate could see the difference.
Moreover, this generous captain had proved by his action that those who followed him would have enormous potential in the future.
Fang Yuan had recruited more than three hundred pirates by nighttime, each of whom was extremely tough and valiant, prepared to fight at any time.
He did not need anyone else to assist him with the overall decision-making, so his subordinates just needed to be bold when it came to fighting and killing.
There were also a few special talents among them in other aspects.
Fang Yuan even found three people who might have extraordinary items with them. They were superior to common pirates and almost comparable to Butcher.
“Welcome, the three of you. From now on, you’ll be my high-level crew members!”
Fang Yuan would naturally meet the three of them in person to establish good relationships.
“It’s my honor to serve you, Captain!”
A swordsman in white greeted Fang Yuan, his every movement fitting the standards exactly, just like a noble.
According to Wilson’s introduction, his name was Danogu. He was a very famous hermit in Bloody Mary Port and had the alias of Rose Swordsman.
“With sufficient rewards, Youne is willing to serve you!”
And the other two high-level crew members were even more interesting.
One of them was almost eight feet tall and had a strong physique. The small scales scattered on his face and neck implied that he was the mixed-blood child of a human and some other species.
In Fang Yuan’s view, Youne should have the bloodline of lizardmen. It was lucky for him to survive until now.
However, repelled by mainstream society, he seemed to have no choice other than to be a pirate.
In Bloody Mary Port, other than dwarves, there were certainly more exotic species. In fact, there were many exotic species mixed among the three hundred pirates that Fang Yuan had recruited.
Of course, a person of mixed blood would sometimes be repelled by both species and face a harsher situation.
“Team leader of the Purgatory Pirate Team, I responded to your recruitment simply because you made an enemy of Heathfrey!” the third high-level crew member said in a distinct voice. She was actually a woman.
Her cloak was slowly taken off, revealing a body in good shape. Her body gleamed in the moonlight like a crescent moon.
Her close-fitting leather clothes revealed large areas of her skin, giving her an untamed charm.
“Moon Elf!?”
Seeing her pointed ears, Fang Yuan could not help nodding.
Moon Elves were an important branch of elves and were active at night. Moreover, due to some problems in their behaviors, they were also known as Dark Elves and Fallen Elves! It was said that their assassination arts were as sharp as their beauty.