Chapter 510: Chapter 296 Licking with the Tongue _1
The awakened Black Night Raven felt as if a threshold had been smashed, indifferent to everything, she casually asked: “So you’re the Dragon Clan Chief, the God of Knowledge, the Undead God, Goddess of Beauty, God of Farming, and a Dimension Beast?”
As she named each one, she correspondingly made a gesture of invitation.
Luther nodded repeatedly.
Black Night Raven didn’t know how to react, finally, she flustered waved her hand: “Whatever, assuming everything you said is the truth, what now? What will you do with me? Throw me down?”
Luther chuckled: “The whole reason we brought you up is to keep you from getting killed. Now there’s no way we can put you down. So, you’ll have to accompany us to Dragon Island.”
“You won’t kill me?” Black Night Raven asked tentatively.
Luther shook his head: “Why would we kill you? You haven’t offended us.”
“But… But, I accidentally fired at you guys and I don’t have any money to compensate.” Black Night Raven faintly stated.
Luther burst into laughter: “Lord Nage was just playing with you. But seriously, you’re really poor. Your entire fortune is only enough to fire four shots. Yet, you still dare to seek revenge on others? How did you even end up this poor while being a pirate?”
Black Night Raven sheepishly responded: “Uh, we primarily don’t steal things.”
“Don’t steal? Aren’t you a pirate? How do you make money if you don’t steal?” Luther was stunned. A pirate who doesn’t steal?
“We earn passage fees and escort fees. As long as the value of the cargo on the ship is equivalent to one-thirtieth of the passage fee, we won’t rob them. If they can pay up to one-tenth, we will even escort them to their destination.” Black Night Raven explained.
Negris couldn’t help but turn his head: “Eh, that’s a good idea. If there are more ships passing by, you could earn more, and potentially have a steady income stream. So why are you still so poor?”
Black Night Raven awkwardly replied: “Few ships, fewer people, we can’t compete with others, the Canglong Pirate Group has stolen all our business.”
“Why don’t you switch professions then?” Negris asked.
“Switching professions is not so easy. We can’t do anything else apart from sailing. What else can we do?” Black Night Raven sighed.
“You can farm on land. At least you wouldn’t starve, unlike now, where you’re both poor and in danger.” Negris suggested.
Black Night Raven glanced at him, seemingly shocked that he could utter such ignorant words:
“There are no taxes or forced labor being a pirate, and you don’t get exploited by the noble landlords. Farming on land… the landlords, would easily bankrupt us. How do you think we ended up at sea?”
Negris blinked, looking at Luther, both were at a loss. These were obviously not things they could understand. Negris knew what land annexation was, but how it was done, and what happened to the peasants whose lands were annexed, was beyond him.
Not to mention Luther. The population of the Resting Abyss had not even reached the point of land annexation.
Upon seeing their expressions, Black Night Raven quickly realized, and muttered under her breath: “So you guys are landlords too.”
“No, no, don’t spout nonsense. I am clearly a City Lord.” Luther protested.
Negris quickly changed the topic, asking again: “So what’s going on with your family now? You mentioned earlier that your nest was raided by the Canglong Pirate Group?”
“Yes, it was. There weren’t many casualties, but our food was ransacked, and our fields were burned. We definitely won’t have enough food this year, that’s why we came out to buy grains. However, the recent grain prices are so high, and it’s not even available in the market. Now I know why they stole the grains. It was then that I got angry and decided to bombard them.”
Negris asked puzzled: “Aren’t you afraid they will retaliate again? They already know the location of your nest, and can retaliate at any time.”
Black Night Raven laughed bitterly: “Do you think we still need to worry about retaliation when our food has been stolen and we can’t buy grains? We don’t even know how many of us will survive until next year.”
The expressions of Luther, Lightning, and Negris turned serious. Could it be that this woman pirate, who looks naive, is carrying such a heavy burden for her future?
How desperate must one be to utter words like ‘We don’t even know how many of us will survive until next year’? Does she not want to be saved? No, she came out to buy grain.
But considering the current situation, buying grain is not an easy task. Look, even Anthony had to come to Ange, and Anthony is the archbishop of the Eastern Diocese, the acting Pope of the Church of Light. Even he can’t buy grain. Apart from robbery, pirates truly have no other options.
“How many people are in your family?” Negris asked.
“More than a thousand.”
“Oh, is that all? Well, we’ll have Ange spare some for you.”
“Err, I mean sell. We can sell you some. One thousand people, will two hundred tons be enough?”
“Enough, enough. We can’t even finish that much in a year. We can also fish. You guys… can you really sell me two hundred tons of grain?”
“Hey, I said a little bit. Our business starts from a hundred thousand tons.” Negris boasted, patting his waist.
Black Night Raven realized that Negris wasn’t lying, especially after arriving at Vortex Island and seeing the megastructures filling the island, she was even more convinced Negris wasn’t lying to her. There was no need to.
Someone who makes friends with giant dragons would never stoop to cheat her for two hundred tons of grain.
After finding a clean cave and setting her down, Brooks quickly shrank and rapidly transformed into a human. He didn’t seem too pleased to tell Black Night Raven: “We really shouldn’t have brought you here. I hope you can keep this a secret and not spill the beans.”