Edward Newgate was an orphan.
From his earliest memories, he had lived in an orphanage called the "House of Lambs," which was reportedly an institution established by a pirate named White Wolf Silas after he conquered all of Sphinx.
Sphinx was extremely poor.
Even before White Wolf Silas arrived, the entire country had been teetering on the verge of complete collapse.
White Wolf Silas's arrival stabilized Sphinx's chaotic order, eliminated the rioting pirates terrorizing the populace, and allowed Sphinx to sit at the negotiating table with other pirate crews as equals.
From that point forward, Sphinx assisted pirates in fencing stolen goods, reselling items plundered by various crews to distant locations around the world.
Most importantly, pirates could no longer cause wanton trouble within Sphinx's borders.
Although Sphinx remained at a significant disadvantage when facing powerful pirate crews, and the civilians living in this impoverished country remained desperately poor, gray order proved infinitely better than chaotic disorder.
Consequently, children born in Sphinx all admired White Wolf Silas and the legendary White Wolf Pirates. Many children harbored dreams of joining the White Wolf Pirates when they grew up or becoming great pirates like the legendary White Wolf Silas himself.
Edward Newgate was absolutely no exception to this widespread admiration.
However, as the years slowly passed, White Wolf Silas had not set foot in this country for over ten long years. Gradually, persistent rumors began spreading that White Wolf Silas was growing old and had developed serious thoughts of retirement.
Suddenly, some great pirates confident in their overwhelming strength began cautiously testing the waters. After discovering that the White Wolf Pirates made absolutely no response to their provocations, they started boldly seizing the various enterprises Silas had left behind.
The entire carefully maintained order of Sphinx showed alarming signs of collapse once again.
At this critical time, three great pirates led by the notorious black merchant Duke Gate stepped forward decisively. Attracted by the immense wealth generated from pirates fencing stolen goods, they occupied all of Sphinx just half a year ago.
Initially, they acted with relative secrecy and caution.
But with the three great pirates joining forces into a formidable alliance, the entire group of pirates became supremely confident that even if White Wolf Silas somehow returned, he could not possibly do anything meaningful to them. Consequently, they became even more brazen in their actions.
Sphinx Island's House of Lambs also went completely bankrupt during this turbulent period. All the orphans from the House of Lambs lost their only shelter and could only become desperate thugs and petty thieves, struggling desperately between life and death on the unforgiving streets.
Despite these harsh circumstances, some residents still believed with unwavering faith that White Wolf Silas would eventually return.
That belief persisted until half a year ago, when a group of cunning swindlers disguised as the White Wolf Pirates fled the island after successfully defrauding black merchant Duke Gate and the other two great pirates of a massive fortune totaling 200 million Belly.
Half a month after the swindlers had safely left, the great pirates led by Black Merchant Duke Gate received devastating news that the White Wolf Pirates might have officially disbanded, and they realized with growing horror that they had been completely deceived.
Immediately, the three great pirates flew into an absolutely murderous rage.
They had only obediently paid the extorted money because they did not want to fight the legendary White Wolf Pirates to the death and allow other opportunistic pirate crews to benefit from their mutual destruction. It certainly did not mean they were truly afraid of the White Wolf Pirates.
But completely unable to locate those clever swindlers, even though they had suffered significant financial losses, they could only swallow their bitter anger and humiliation. This deeply embarrassing matter not only could not be widely publicized but also had to be concealed as completely as possible to preserve their reputations.
Consequently, several more swindler groups appeared using the famous White Wolf Pirates' name for easy profit, but all these subsequent swindlers were eventually caught and brutally executed by the three increasingly paranoid great pirates.
The reason Iron Hand Jord from the Immortal Pirates had specifically targeted Silas earlier today was because he had mistaken him for yet another group of opportunistic swindlers brazenly using the White Wolf Pirates' name.
Who would have thought he had foolishly kicked an iron plate this time?
This time it was not another pathetic impostor, but the genuine White Wolf Silas himself!
"Captain, you absolutely must stand up for me!"
Iron Hand Jord clutched his cleanly severed hand, looking at his captain with tears and snot streaming down his face in a pathetic display.
Most of his considerable combat strength had resided in his specially trained hands. Now that Silas had effortlessly cut off one of them, his overall strength was drastically reduced. Whether he could possibly keep his current prestigious position within the crew was highly questionable.
"Damn it all, did you see clearly with your own eyes? Was that really White Wolf Silas himself?"
Wrapped in fresh bandages covering his entire battered body, Immortal Jason looked deeply irritated and frustrated.
When he had first received the shocking news, he had automatically assumed it was just another pathetic impostor. But Jord's hand had been severed with surgical precision, and many reliable pirates had personally witnessed "White Wolf Silas" split half the port town cleanly in half with a single devastating strike.
This incredible level of raw strength simply could not be faked by any ordinary pirate.
After fifteen long years of absence, White Wolf Silas had truly returned to reclaim his territory. And upon returning, he had immediately severely injured his right-hand man, delivering an unmistakable show of overwhelming force.
"Damn old man, at your advanced age, why can you not just die quietly and leave us in peace?"
Immortal Jason looked completely unwilling to accept this harsh new reality.
Sphinx's annual profits were absolutely terrifying in their scope. At least several hundred different pirate crews passed through here annually, with stolen goods fencing alone exceeding one billion Belly in transactions.
Combined with years of careful development, Sphinx Island's entertainment facilities had gradually improved beyond recognition. It was no longer just a simple place for fencing stolen goods but had evolved into a sophisticated money pit that extracted wealth from visiting pirates through various means.
Annual profits meant his personal share alone could easily reach over 100 million Belly.
Under these incredibly lucrative circumstances, asking Immortal Jason to voluntarily give up the vast money flowing through his hands would be infinitely more painful than simply killing him outright.
Any pirate force that had achieved great pirate status would never be satisfied with ordinary hit-and-run plundering. Such activities were time-consuming, extremely laborious, and carried the constant risk of Marine pursuit and retaliation.
They would far more often choose to strategically use their hard-earned reputation to develop extensive underground forces and operate various profitable gray industries.
Immortal Jason had invested far too much time, effort, and resources in Sphinx. Having him hand over complete control of Sphinx now, how could he possibly continue operating effectively on these dangerous seas in the future?
Therefore, Immortal Jason immediately planned to contact the other two great pirates currently based on Sphinx Island.
He absolutely did not believe they would willingly hand over their massive shared interests without a fight.
Sure enough, before Immortal Jason could actively make contact, the other two great pirates came directly to him.
Black-hearted Merchant Duke Gate.
Monster Moz.
The black-hearted merchant was a calculating middle-aged man with a carefully waxed mustache, always wearing an expensive black tailcoat. Meanwhile, Monster Moz, living up to his fearsome nickname, was an imposing giant standing over seven meters tall.
According to persistent rumors, Monster Moz had genuine giant blood flowing through his massive body.
"We absolutely cannot just hand over Sphinx like this without a fight."
Black merchant Duke Gate got straight to the point immediately upon arrival.
"We spent several precious years developing Sphinx into what it is today. White Wolf Silas simply arrives and wants to reclaim Sphinx? Where in the world is there such a ridiculously cheap deal?"
In his self-serving words, he completely ignored the fact that Sphinx Island's successful development was originally part of Silas's carefully laid plans. If they had not interfered so arbitrarily, Sphinx's development might have been even more impressive.
"Moz agrees completely."
Monster Moz's voice rumbled deeply like distant thunder.
"Want money? Get none!"
"Want life? Take one!"
Seeing that the other two great pirates with significantly higher bounties than his own were completely unwilling to give up their control of Sphinx, Immortal Jason's weathered face lit up with genuine joy.
"As far as I know from reliable sources, White Wolf Silas is not here with his full crew. Only Captain Silas came alone. The other two crew members are not particularly strong."
If the entire legendary White Wolf Pirates crew had come together, Immortal Jason would have seriously considered whether fighting the White Wolf Pirates to the death was truly worthwhile.
But with only White Wolf Silas alone, that changed everything significantly.
"We are all great pirates with bounties exceeding 100 million Belly. Our subordinate pirates number in the tens of thousands. Even if he is the legendary White Wolf Silas, he cannot possibly kill us all!"
Immortal Jason declared with spirited determination.
[Chapter Complete]
***
Want more? Check out my Patreon for:
✓ Advanced chapters of all my stories
✓ Exclusive novels & fanfics
✓ Early access content [email protected]/meowthtl
💪 Community Goal: 500 Power Stones unlocks a bonus chapter!
Thanks for reading and supporting the story!