章 114: Giving the Blue Stripes Some Color
Translator: Cinder Translations
...
"Leader! Leader!"
The calls from his subordinates snapped Jaden out of his reverie.
"Yes? What's the matter?"
"The ship is almost loaded. We should go."
"Good, let's board."
Jaden led the remaining pirates briskly towards the shore.
Under the bright moonlight, four large pirate ships floated menacingly in the distance on the sea's surface, their mastheads adorned with skull flags.
They quickly boarded a small boat, vigorously rowing towards the larger ship in the distance. Due to the heavy load, their main ship couldn't approach too close to the shore to avoid the risk of running aground.
Upon reaching the larger ship, they climbed up the ropes onto the deck.
A subordinate came over to report, "Boss, everything is ready."
Jaden, full of vigor, ordered, "Set sail!"
The four sail-powered ships began to move. Some recently enslaved individuals had already started their work as rowers, accompanied by whips and curses, marking the beginning of their miserable fate.
In a room at the stern of the ship, Jaden and a group of leaders discussed their next moves.
One of them reported, "We received intelligence from our people in Frand Port. The Blue Stripes have just equipped themselves with a new type of vessel, said to run very fast solely on wind power without rowing."
Jaden was surprised. "That's amazing."
"He saw it with his own eyes, and the Blue Stripes are still recruiting heavily, indicating they intend to wipe us out."
Jaden rubbed his chin, deep in thought.
...
After Bennett gave him the first batch of pills, Jaden couldn't wait to test them. However, out of caution, he chose a small pirate group of only a few dozen people as the first test subjects.
Jaden invited this small group to join him in raiding a village. They believed him and arrived at the rendezvous point, only to face ten monstrous men enhanced by the secret drug.
The entire small pirate group fought desperately, but the battle ended within just over five minutes from the moment weapons were drawn. Nearly half of the small pirate group were gruesomely torn apart by Jaden's men, and the rest sat slumped on the ground, drained of strength.
The gruesome sight of those torn apart still made him feel nauseous to this day.
Overjoyed, Jaden quickly targeted his next goal—a pirate group of nearly 200 people, sending out 30 men to deal with them.
The process was as simple as cutting vegetables and smashing melons. After discovering their fragility in front of him, more than 100 survivors surrendered, kneeling on the ground.
Soon, the third and fourth pirate groups were swallowed up by "Eel." So far, they had grown to over 600 members.
Next, Jaden changed his strategy. While most pirates recognized the rule that might makes right, there were still many fools who weren't entirely convinced by violence alone. He planned to establish some kind of authority for himself to gain their genuine respect.
At this point, the most effective way to build authority was to confront the Alden Navy, which had been repeatedly humbling the pirates.
Of course, at this stage, Jaden still felt his wings weren't fully spread, so he hadn't considered a direct confrontation with the Alden Navy yet.
"But doing things that make the Blue Stripes lose face is still quite easy."
With the help of underground connections on land, he planned several small-scale attacks. Fortunately, more than half of these attacks succeeded, and even those that failed incurred minimal losses. Now, his reputation was gradually spreading throughout the Northwest Bay.
Blue Stripe Nemesis—this was the new nickname the pirates gave him, showing signs of replacing his old nickname, "Eel." Now, this new nickname was one of the few self-consolation methods pirates had when facing the Alden Navy.
...
Jaden pondered and then snorted coldly, "It seems our long tolerance has given them the illusion of being the best. It's time to teach them a lesson."
The pirate leaders in the cabin became excited; it seemed the boss was about to make a big move.
Sure enough, Jaden instructed the leader who had just reported the intelligence, "We'll plan a feint operation to draw away the main force of the navy. While Frand Port is vulnerable, we'll see if we can seize their new ship that just launched."
The leader grinned broadly, "Yes, boss, brilliant! You've got the guts, boss."
Ignoring the flattery, Jaden continued, "Have Frand Port intensify their intelligence gathering. Whether we can divert the navy's main force will be the crucial point in our plan."
The leaders became excited; from mere skirmishes, they were now planning to directly seize a ship from the Alden Navy. Could anyone not feel their blood boiling?
Empowered by the mysterious pills that had emerged recently, Jaden's crew was enveloped in strong confidence. Their admiration for their leader, who could obtain such miraculous pills, grew stronger.
"This time, we'll make the Blue Stripes look like shit!"
"After taking out the Blue Stripes, other pirate groups will cry and beg to join us!"
"I've always said that following Boss Jaden guarantees a bright future."
The pirates exchanged words, sounding as if victory was already assured.
"Smack!" Jaden slammed the table hard, startling everyone, even those speaking stopped abruptly.
With a frown and an indescribably grim expression, their leader spoke, "You all seem quite capable. Our team has just shown some improvement, but each of you seems to have forgotten your own surname, getting carried away like this."
"Do you all forget how Quik's Gang and Shark's Gang ended up just a few months ago?"
The pirate leader, looking disappointed, scolded his subordinates for a good half hour.
Finally exhausted from his tirade, he grabbed a can of water, gulping down several mouthfuls in silence, his face sullen.
One of the leaders cautiously tried to appease him, "Heh, Jaden Boss, you're right. Brothers have indeed gotten a bit inflated recently, but it's also because of your outstanding leadership that our fleet has grown so much. Rest assured, we'll repent and abandon this arrogance, and follow you well."
Others chimed in, realizing their errors:
"Yeah, yeah, we've been a bit reckless lately."
"Suddenly having so many new crew members, we're not used to it."
...
After everyone had spoken, Jaden nodded, his voice softening, "I'm not really angry at all of you. Our fleet has developed to this point, thanks to the efforts of each of you here. So every day, I walk on thin ice, afraid that one misstep will turn everyone's efforts into nothing."
His words deeply moved the pirates, once again expressing their loyalty.
Jaden announced, "Alright, let's continue discussing how to draw out the Alden Navy's main force."
(End of the chapter)
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