šØ Important Note : For the continuity of this story consider to Support us on Patreon.com/Flokixy to access advance Chapters and To Support The Daily Update
Goa Kingdom, Center Street.
This was the most bustling area in the entire Goa Kingdom. Every day, countless merchants passed through here, buying, selling goods, and exchanging funds.
But near the border town of Center Street, there was a long corridor, famously known as "Pirate Street."
Every day, numerous fierce pirates would gather here.
There were even times when notorious pirates with bounties over a hundred million visited, causing quite a commotion. It was said that even the Marines were alarmed and spared no effort to capture them.
However, since then, the Marines rarely frequented this place. Naturally, it became an active zone for pirates.
"So this is Pirate Street? It doesn't look particularly special."
Ye Jia, clad in black and wearing a cloak, walked along Pirate Street.
On both sides, vendors called out, appearing to be permanent merchants.
There were also many entertainment venues, taverns, and gambling dens.
"I'll pick this one."
Ye Jia randomly chose a tavern and walked in.
The moment he entered, the roaring clamor filled his ears, making Ye Jia feel his eardrums vibrate.
"I see. The patrons inside are all pirates."
He casually swept his gaze around. Sure enough, those sitting, drinking and eating heartily, laughing loudly and boasting about their "glorious achievements" of murder, arson, and robbery, were all pirates from various parts of the Goa Kingdom, without exception.
"So many pirates, but I wonder which one has the highest bounty."
Ye Jia didn't want to kill a pirate only to find out later that they didn't even have a bounty.
He walked straight to the counter, tapped on it, and gestured: "Flaming Shot, please."
Ye Jia had stayed at Makino's tavern for so long that he knew a few secrets.
Every area generally had "underground intelligence organizations," and these organizations often operated under the guise of taverns.
If one wanted specific information, they could ask the tavern's staff. As long as they could afford the price, they could generally get any information about that area.
"Guest, your Flaming Shot."
The waiter handed Ye Jia a fiery red beer with flames burning on top.
"I have a few questions for you."
Ye Jia flicked his finger, and a silver coin accurately landed in the waiter's hand.
"Guest, please ask away." The waiter's eyes lit up with a hint of pleasant surprise when he saw the silver coin, and he quickly leaned closer to Ye Jia.
"I want all the bounty information on pirates in Pirate Street. Name your price."
Ye Jia said, drinking his beer.
The waiter looked at Ye Jia in surprise, immediately understanding Ye Jia's intention.
But he quickly revealed a confident smile: "Guest, no problem, but you see..."
"One gold coin, is that enough?"
"Please wait a moment!" The waiter turned and entered a room in the back.
The gold and silver coins were what Ye Jia had painstakingly earned by selling over a dozen fierce beasts, all for the sake of obtaining information.
Soon, the waiter returned, carrying a thick stack of wrapped papers in his hand.
"Guest, these are what you need." The waiter handed over the package.
Ye Jia opened it and glanced inside. It was a thick stack of bounty posters.
"They're yours. Do you have a room? Open one for me."
Two coins were thrown out: one gold coin for the intelligence, and one silver coin for the room.
"Here's the key. Your room number is 3056." The waiter swiftly took down a set of keys and placed them on the counter.
Ye Jia took the keys, picked up the package, turned, and went upstairs.
Closing the door, Ye Jia sat on the chair and took out the thick stack of bounty posters from the package, flipping through them one by one.
"3,000 Berries, so little, not even worth a few beasts."
"25,000 Berries, decent, but I didn't see him in the crowd just now. It's not worth wasting time looking for him for so little money."
"140,000 Berries, acceptable, he has some strength, but it's still a hassle to search everywhere for him."
"..."
Ye Jia flipped through them one by one. Eventually, he lost patience looking at each one, and simply tossed all bounty posters below one million Berries into the trash can.
Only those with bounties of one million or more remained.
"One million is for building the ship. I also need to buy supplies for sea travel, which won't be cheap. And I can't earn money at sea, so I need to save more. I'll need at least three million Berries, right?" Ye Jia mused.
"No, what if I dock somewhere and there are no pirates, so I can't earn bounties? How would I replenish supplies? Going to sea costs money; expenses are not low!"
"Calculating all these odds and ends... Fine, I'll just take down a pirate with a ten-million-Berry bounty in one go, to avoid worrying about money later."
So, Ye Jia also threw all pirate posters below ten million Berries into the trash can.
Only three remained in his hand.
One for 12 million Berries.
One for 18 million Berries.
One for 26 million Berries.
"I choose you three. Whoever I encounter first, consider yourselves unlucky!"
After memorizing the bounties and faces on the posters, Ye Jia rubbed his hands together. Light speed directly caused sparks to fly from the three posters, then they instantly turned into ash.
At this moment, the tavern hall grew lively again.
The previously dense crowd of drinkers in the center moved away, creating a vacuum.
Two pirates, flushed and holding long swords, were confronting each other.
Pirates were inherently ill-behaved.
Cursing at the slightest disagreement, fighting at the slightest disagreement, killing at the slightest disagreement... These had long become commonplace.
The tavern was frequented by pirates all day long, so such incidents were even more common than eating and drinking.
Therefore, no one stopped the two pirates from fighting; instead, they all cheered, drank, and watched the show from the sidelines.
The two pirates charged and immediately engaged in close-quarters combat, fighting each other.
It was clear that both had some skill, their moves and stances quite decent.
"Kazuo, you represent my 'Scar' Pirate Crew. If you lose, I won't forgive you!"
Outside the fighting area, a tall, burly man with a full beard, drinking alcohol, growled.
"Scar Pirate Crew? Then this guy must be Scar Walker, the leader of the Scar Pirate Crew?"
"It's him! No wonder he's so arrogant. I heard Scar Walker's bounty has reached 12 million Berries, right? He even sank a Marine ship last time!"
"Stop bragging! Don't you know that guy's opponent is from the 'Evil Tooth Pirate Crew'! Don't forget that Evil Tooth Garcia, the captain of the Evil Tooth Pirate Crew, has a bounty of 18 million Berries, a full 6 million higher than Scar Walker!"
"Hehe, this time, there's really a good show to watch. Two crew members from ten-million-level pirate crews fighting each other is rare in Pirate Street!"
The surrounding pirates discussed heatedly, and some even started a betting pool.
"12 million and 18 million are both here... This is great. I can earn 30 million Berries in one go. This trip was truly worth it!"
Ye Jia, sitting in the corner, heard the discussions, and a cruel smile involuntarily appeared at the corner of his mouth.