Chapter 518 - 404: Black Sails Sets Sail and the Crippled "Dragon Seeker
Chapter 518: Chapter 404: Black Sails Sets Sail and the Crippled "Dragon Seeker
The next day, Raylo and Avril were in no hurry to leave.
They changed into ordinary clothes and strolled through the streets of Baisha Port like a normal couple.
The streets of Baisha Port were wide and clean, lined with all sorts of shops and taverns.
The air was filled with the salty scent of the sea breeze and the aroma of food.
They went to the liveliest market to watch merchants from foreign lands peddle all kinds of strange and novel goods.
They also visited the most famous tavern to listen to drunken sailors boast about their adventures at sea.
"Let me tell you, the last time we set sail, we ran into a legendary Sea Dragon! That thing was bigger than our ship! It could swallow a whole whale in one bite!"
A sailor with a full, bushy beard said, spittle flying from his mouth.
"Yeah, right! If you’d really met a Sea Dragon, you think you’d still be here to tell the tale?"
Someone next to him immediately jeered.
Avril listened to the amusing conversations, laughing uncontrollably.
Raylo, too, found a rare moment of relaxation.
This ordinary life, full of simple, earthly pleasures, felt very comfortable to him.
Just as they were about to leave, a conversation between a few Knights at the next table caught their attention.
"Did you hear? Count Raylo of Black Stone Territory is holding a knightly tournament!"
"Of course I heard! They say the grand prize is a Breakthrough Potion! And you can even get a chance to win an Earth Dragon mount!"
"For real? Isn’t that a bit too generous?"
"It’s absolutely true! The news has already spread throughout the whole Duchy! I’m planning to quit my current guard job in a few days and go to Black Stone Territory to try my luck!"
"Count me in! If I could become one of Count Raylo’s Knights, it’d be a dream come true!"
Listening to the Knights’ excited discussion, Raylo and Avril glanced at each other, both seeing a hint of a smile in the other’s eyes.
’Looks like Ed and Evan are pretty efficient.’
One could predict that over the next month, all the Free Knights and Mercenaries in the Thunder Dragon Duchy would flock to Black Stone Territory like cats that had caught the scent of fish.
The afternoon sun was warm and gentle.
Raylo and Avril walked to the docks of Baisha Port.
The docks were still a hive of activity, a cacophony of sailors’ sea shanties, merchants’ hawking, and the rumbling of wheels.
"This place... it seems like it hasn’t changed at all."
Avril said with a touch of emotion, looking at the familiar scene before her.
Just then, a commotion and the sound of arguing erupted a short distance ahead.
Curious, the two of them walked over.
CLANK... CLANK...
Heavy iron chains grated against a winch, making a sound that set one’s teeth on edge.
It was a warship, pitch-black from stem to stern. Its three massive masts were like Long Spears thrusting toward the sky, hung with sails as black as ink.
Even docked at the port, the aura of bloodlust and violence emanating from its weathered hull made the surrounding merchant ships seem small and docile.
On its bow, a huge totem of a Double-Bladed War Axe, smeared with what looked like blood, reflected a menacing glint in the sunlight.
The Black Sail Trading Company. The flagship of "Blood Axe" Aurum, the Deep Sea Throat.
"Blood Axe" Aurum stood by the ship’s figurehead.
He was bare-chested, his bronze skin a roadmap of crisscrossing scars, each one a testament to his ferocious life.
He paid no mind to the frenzied crowd on the docks, his one eye staring indifferently out at the vast, azure sea.
The news that Aurum had won the Treasure Map of the Legendary Pirate King "One-Eyed" Barbossa at auction for the astronomical price of one hundred thousand Golden Dragons had fermented overnight, spreading to every corner of Baisha Port.
For these men who lived on the edge and gambled their lives against the sea, no word could ignite the fervor and greed in their blood more than "treasure."
"We’re goin’ treasure hunting!"
"Captain Aurum! When you find the treasure, don’t forget to come back and buy us all a round!"
On the docks, countless sailors, Mercenaries, and idle loiterers waved their bottles and hats, shouting at the top of their lungs.
Their faces were filled with envy, jealousy, and a vicarious excitement for something that had nothing to do with them.
It was as if by shouting loud enough, they too could get a single Gold Coin from the legendary treasure.
Raylo didn’t join the raucous crowd.
He just stood quietly in the distance, holding Avril in his arms, watching the scene unfold like a play.
Avril leaned against his chest, curiously studying the massive black warship, feeling the raw, heroic spirit of the sea wash over her.
He looked at Aurum, and his thoughts turned to his father-in-law, Marquis Orlando.
’Perhaps this is the fundamental difference between Marquis Orlando and men like Aurum.
’Marquis Orlando is a merchant. He makes stable money, the kind you can see and touch.
’He’ll spend years cultivating a stable trade route and calculate every single Copper Coin for a business deal.
’His wealth is built on a solid foundation, as grand and dependable as his Baisha Castle.
’But men like Aurum... they’re gamblers, adventurers of the sea.
’They believe in the myth of getting rich overnight, chasing a high-stakes gamble that could change their destiny.
’They’re willing to bet their entire fortune, even their lives, on a vague and ethereal legend.’