Carefree Path of Dreams

The top rule among pirates was that there were no rules.

Other than that, there were some conventions on a ship.

Strictly speaking, there was no generally accepted codex among pirates. In fact, even the Pirate King would not be able to command all pirates.

But a pirate captain had absolute authority on his own ship.

Fang Yuan declared that he would set a new rule, and the pirates had to listen to him despite their pride.

Someday, pirates all over the four oceans will know and follow the codex I’ve set. I’m the one who will bring about rules… Hmm, that’s a method to amplify my influence and hence probe into the world, but even the position of Pirate King seems insufficient for this purpose.

“Mister pirate captain… may I know your name?!”

Elizabeth covered her body with a white veil, staring at Fang Yuan with both hatred and gratitude.

Hmm… the name of my pirate team and my alias…

Fang Yuan was stunned for a moment as he thought of something that had slipped his mind.

How could a pirate team that was going to conquer the four oceans have a mediocre name?

Even he was a nobody on the seas near Ettoman now.

“I…” With that thought, Fang Yuan laughed out loud. “I am the pirate Roche! Someday, I will lead my Purgatory Pirate Team to conquer all the oceans!”

“Pirate Roche!”

Elizabeth gazed at Fang Yuan deeply, as though she wanted to thoroughly remember this arrogant pirate. But the next moment, two pirates cursed at her and pushed her into a cabin.

“Purgatory Pirate Team?” Bill repeated.

“Yeah, this is my pirate team. As for the flag…”

Fang Yuan picked up a brush and casually added some flames to the edges and corners of the black skeleton flag, just like the flames of negative karma.

“The Fiery Lotus Pirate Flag represents the flames that burn up the world, and it’ll be my symbol in the future! The day will come when all the pirates on all the oceans surrender to the Fiery Lotus Pirate Flag, and even ocean empires will have to pay tribute to it!” Fang Yuan said eloquently.

His domineering aura seemed to astound the pirates around him, who were unable to utter a single word.

“All right… I’ve declared my ambition. Now let’s talk about something more pragmatic. The total gain this time, including goods and other spoils of the war, is worth about five thousand gold coins. Two thousand gold coins and diamonds will be distributed as the reward. For the other goods worth three thousand gold coins, we must find a port to sell them at… And there are these three ships.

“Carpenter!” Fang Yuan summoned a ship worker. “Repair these three ships as soon as possible. Assign two groups of people, one each to Ferocious Tiger and Merchant Ship Rose, and try to make the ships sail… But if you can’t fix them, move the goods and sink the ships!”

Earlier, he had steered Mockingbird to crash into Ferocious Tiger, severely damaging both ships.

The bow and the ram of Mockingbird were destroyed, while Ferocious Tiger was almost broken in two.

The poor ship worker trembled in fear when he reported that Ferocious Tiger was beyond repair, but that Merchant Ship Rose was in the best state among the three ships due to its lack of armaments and therefore the less violent battle.

“Sink Ferocious Tiger and try your best to repair Mockingbird. Then sail toward the nearest pirate port!” Fang Yuan ordered immediately. “Oh yes, and carefully preserve Tiger’s corpse. It’s worth quite a lot of money!”

Since Tiger was a well-known pirate team leader, a number of bounties were offered for his capture.

Honestly, Ettoman was relatively miserly in this aspect, offering only 500 gold coins as the bounty. But together with the offers from the victims, the bounties added up to around 1000 gold coins!

Tiger’s life was really not worth this much. If Tiger had not disguised himself as an Extraordinary using the Ferocious Tiger Ring, even his subordinates might have tried to kill him for the money.

“However, this is nothing compared to those great pirates on the Golden Sea Route, who are wanted with bounties worth more than ten thousand gold coins…”

Truly great pirates were pirate governors active in their respective regions. They even had their own fleets and ran some businesses. Ships passing by the region, and even some small countries, had to pay tribute to them.

Moreover, they had their own territories, which were typically one to a few large islands with many inhabitants. These pirates were like nobles with many privileges in their territories.

A pirate governor at this level was very similar to a king.

Even the Pirate King might not be able to conquer all of these pirate governors. The relationship between them was similar to a king and powerful nobles.

“Still… Mockingbird is way too small, and its armaments are insufficient. So is Ferocious Tiger. I have to get myself a new warship!”

Fang Yuan learned about the ships in this world from the ship worker, together with the detailed explanations from Bill and the others.

Other than common fishing boats, the ships currently active on the ocean could be classified into four tiers.

The first type was civilian merchant ships, most of which had large volume and capacity but weak firepower. These plump guys were the favorite targets of pirates.

The second was armed merchant ships, which were fast and equipped with strong firepower. Trader teams often purchased them as escort vessels. Of course, they were top targets for some pirates as well. Ferocious Tiger and Mockingbird were in this category.

The third was naval warships, specially built for battles at sea and the unbeatable rival of small and medium pirate teams. They were generally classified into six levels, and those in the top three levels could be considered battleships. The most frightening first-level battleship had three decks, more than two hundred cannons, displaced three thousand tons of water, and possessed a crew of more than a thousand. It was undeniably a fortress on the sea.

Finally, the fourth type was special ships such as steam ironclads, which had only occurred recently, and legendary pirate ships, which had always been active on the ocean.

“A steam ironclad is much too expensive for pirates. No, it’s not about financial capability. Without a complete chain of production, it’s impossible… Perhaps those pirate governors can invest in this aspect, but it’s a daydream for the Purgatory Pirate Team now!

“To me, a third-level naval battleship should be good enough. This type of ship has two decks, over a hundred cannons, and a crew of five hundred, and it’s the main force in the navy… I’ll plunder one, and it’ll be sufficient for now!”

In fact, famous pirate teams mostly possessed second-level or third-level battleships.

And the great pirates who dominated the four oceans had fleets consisting of first-level battleships!

“With more affluence and power in the future, while I may not get a steam ironclad, I can still build or plunder my own legendary pirate ship!”

Fang Yuan rubbed his chin.

Legendary pirate ships!

These were outliers among pirate ships. Instead of being superior in terms of capacity or firepower, each of them had an extremely special ability.

In the previous era, they used to rule the ocean! Their names, known by every pirate, were extremely frightening to the navies.

From Fang Yuan’s perspective, this sort of legendary pirate ship was actually an ultra-large magical item that needed Extraordinaries to control and maintain them.

“Tell me about… the legendary pirate ships you know of!”

Fang Yuan seemed highly interested and let Bill explain.

“Yes, Captain!” Bill cleared his throat. “As far as I know, Sea God and Specter Ship are two of the legendary pirate ships… It’s said that Sea God had been blessed by the Sea God and can readily cause tsunamis, summon cyclones, and awaken whirlpools! It’s controlled by the pirate governor of the Coral Ocean, Kingsley—the king of the mermaids and Mermaid Kingdom, the team leader of the Mermaid Pirate Team, and the one who controls all the resources in the Coral Ocean.”

Pirate was only a job, not restricted to any species.

The Coral Ocean was home to the mermaids, and a mermaid kingdom was located there.

Kingsley was the indisputable king there.

Legend had it that mermaids were the darlings of the sea. Such a legendary warship, together with the Mermaid Pirate Team’s power, was invincible on the Coral Ocean.

“And Specter Ship is said to be a cursed ship. Its crew is all dead spirits, wraiths, blood knights, and other legendary immortal creatures. It wanders the sea, slaying any ship it encounters, be it a merchant ship or a pirate ship… It’s the nightmare of all sailors!”

Bill’s teeth were chattering as he mentioned this.

After all, Specter Ship never sailed along any fixed route. It was even possible to encounter it near Ettoman.

“Besides those… there’s the famous ‘King’s Throne’, the previous Pirate King’s flagship!” At this moment, the ship worker also spoke. “It’s said that King’s Throne has the ability to bind various giant sea monsters using contracts. After the death of the previous Pirate King, it’s been guarding Pirate King City.”

Pirate King City was a holy ground in every pirate’s mind, and it was the largest transit hub on the Golden Sea Route.

A few generations of pirates had invested in its construction, and it took hundreds of years for the city to develop to the scale it had today. It was the largest free trade market in the world and, of course, a thorn in the side of every country’s navy.

It managed to survive until today not only because of the disunity among the navies of the various countries, but because of King’s Throne as well.

“These three are the most famous legendary pirate ships. Of course, there are many more pirate ships with magical powers, and the owners are all great pirates known all over the ocean!”

The ship worker looked fascinated when he got to this part.

“Hmm, your name?” Fang Yuan nodded, looking at this ordinary carpenter.

“Vidich, Your Excellency!” The ship worker bowed humbly.

“I guarantee that as long as you can follow my pace, you will definitely have an opportunity to serve on a legendary ship in the future… Haha…”

Fang Yuan laughed out loud, his eyes glistening like flames.