Our family is in decline

What is a pirate?

There are too many so-called works praising pirates, regarding them as symbols of freedom, unconstrainedness, and freedom to do whatever one wants, relying on fantasy to attribute elements such as oppression, resistance to authority, romance, and chivalry to them.

Lance said it was bullshit!

Pirates are the ones who burn, kill, and rob.

Pirates are the ones who are ignorant and crazy.

Pirates are also the ones who are cruel and bloody.

Hamlet has captured many pirates, and he has also obtained a lot of relevant information during the interrogation process.

Some of them may be people who go to sea because they can't bear the exploitation of the nobles, but their main business is not to fight against those nobles and rob the nobles, but to target ordinary people.

Fishermen and merchant ships along the coast, anyway, they are on the sea and have no ability to protect themselves. They are all their targets of plunder, but for example, the navy of Totnes, they dare not even look at it and run away from it.

At the same time, pirates will fight and plunder each other, but they will run away when they encounter the fleet of big pirates, which is purely bullying the weak and fearing the strong.

There are many rules on the ship. Most of them are superstitious about the sea, sailing, and ship-related beliefs. They pray for a little insignificant comfort and hope that the next robbery will be successful.

Few people have a simple life on the sea. Merchant ships will also have guards, so there will be casualties in every robbery. Therefore, after occupying a merchant ship, the captain will gather the survivors on the deck.

Some valuable ones will be ransomed, and women will be taken to satisfy their desires or sold, but there are very few women. As for those ordinary men, they will be left behind and let them fight each other. The ones who survive are new pirates.

Of course, they will also go to the coastal areas to rob. Whether it is fishermen or villages, they will be robbed in a similar way, and then forced to kill familiar people to join the pirates.

During the interrogation process, many pirates killed their relatives to join. At that time, they had to die if they didn't kill them. Those pirates watched them collapse and enjoyed it.

This is the freedom of pirates. They turn their butcher knives against the weak and vent their twisted emotions in their hearts, just like a reincarnation.

But do they really do whatever they want?

There are also classes among pirates. The captain's words are orders, and everyone must obey. If they don't obey, they may be fed to sharks or hung up and tortured.

Below are the first mate, second mate, boatswain and so on, with strict hierarchical divisions, and they will also suffer oppression from the above.

Of course, there are also cases where the crew members team up to kill the captain, which is even very common, especially when they think that the captain cannot make them rich, or asks them to die.

The crew is afraid of the captain, and the captain is also wary of the crew, so it is not surprising that they are in a high-pressure environment for a long time and seem crazy.

Even here, known as the paradise of pirates, they still need to abide by the rules, and their freedom can only be used for those who are weaker than themselves.

Every day is burning, killing, looting, and the barbaric concept of strength being the rule is still very attractive to some people, but in fact most pirates are just a group of wild dogs on the sea, and they all have no food to eat.

If you are lucky, you can rob something, but some are just like before, two rounds of gunfire directly destroyed, and for example, those large merchant ships go to sea in teams.

After robbing a ship, the goods are sold at a discount of only 30%, and 70% belongs to the pirates. Even though it is a lot of money, the consumption here is also very high, especially the food and drinks, which have to be shipped from outside, all of which are monopolized by the big pirates.

They are wanted and can only spend money here, which means that no matter how much money they make, it goes into the pockets of those big pirates, and they are still exploited.

The pirates that can be seen everywhere here are the kind of pale and thin. Some look thirty-something, but in fact they may be less than twenty years old. There are basically no women and old people here. As for the reason, there is no need to guess.

Lance walked among them and felt that the streets were occupied by the gangsters in the outer city of Totnes, and of course there were refugee camps.

He didn't even have the idea of ​​going in. He walked through the dilapidated wooden buildings all the way up, and finally the sunlight really shone in, and the buildings here finally became much more normal, like a small town on the hillside.

The pirates here look more robust, and they are the ones who follow more powerful captains, or the guys under the banner of those big pirates.

But it was also very chaotic. Guys hung up could be seen everywhere. Some were still alive, but some had turned into white bones. It looked like they were probably dealt with for causing trouble.

Brothels, casinos, and taverns were everywhere. Basically, they were all entertainment-oriented consumption, and they never stopped even in the winter.

Lance looked around calmly. He could feel the price behind this bustle.

The place where news circulated was always the tavern. Lance randomly found one and went in. The building blocked the cold wind, but the smell was really not much better. As for the sound, it was even more noisy, with rude shouting and bragging.

Bragging about how much they had robbed, how many women they had played with, or how they tortured a person... mixed with their mutual sabotage or comparison.

As for the food provided here, don't think too much. This small island is mostly stone and cannot be self-produced. The looted food is definitely not enough. So there are so many people here, there must be a stable supply of food. As for who supplies it, it is naturally the guys who accept the stolen goods.

The black bread provided by Hamlet to the prisoners is the staple food here, and vegetables are even more luxurious. It is good to have beans stewed with carrots and onions, otherwise how can people who go to sea lack vitamins.

The rum was laid out in barrels, but Lance knew that the stuff was not right when he smelled it. It was originally inferior and mixed with water, but it was indeed drunk like this.

Fresh water at sea will soon go bad even if there is no concept of disinfection in barrels, so wine needs to be added to make the water drinkable. Even Hamlet’s fleet is like this, at most the wine added is purer and better.

But it’s a bit too much to do this on land, and it’s so expensive.

Lance originally wanted to try the authentic pirate set meal, but he completely lost his appetite after coming in.

“Would the guests like anything?”

When Lance sat at a corner of the bar, someone finally noticed him. The bartender wanted to promote their drinks, but was interrupted directly.

"Our ship just came back from outside. Tell me what fun we have had recently?"

Lance secretly took out a silver coin in his hand. Throwing it out here is just asking for trouble.

"That's definitely Hamlet!" The bartender took the silver coin away, his face still quite excited, "This route is not protected by the big ships of the Totnes Navy. Now they are all running there. Many people have made a fortune there recently."

Lance knew that there were so many less merchant ships. In addition to the pressure from Totnes, these pirates were another means.

If you don't understand the advice, let the pirates talk to you.

"Who are they?"

It is well known that Lance asked these questions to make a list, and the bartender also unknowingly told all the news he knew.

Lance can indeed control them through [Charming Voice], but he never likes to force it because it will leave problems.

And now it's just a silver coin to open the topic, and the subtle influence is the most silent. Even if he himself doesn't think he is being controlled, but is willing to do so, this is the most terrifying.

The bartender who stayed here really knew a lot of news, and the interesting thing was that the pirates who robbed merchant ships were ordinary, and the big pirates had not shown up in Hamlet recently.

After a deep pursuit, Lance found that the reason was actually caused by himself.

The man nicknamed "Red Beard" before had a fleet, and also had territories and industries. He was considered a famous big pirate nearby.

But the problem was that his fleet was killed by Lance after he dealt with the deep divers. Although none of them could escape, and although the news could be suppressed for a while, just don't underestimate those guys, this situation will soon be discovered.

Then naturally, it was a feast that everyone liked to see. Those guys were like sharks that smelled fishy smells, and soon began to rob those industries. There were even many fights, and the whole place was turbulent for a while.

It was also because of this that the big pirates had no time to care about Hamlet, and they ate what was in front of them first.

That is, the interests have only been redistributed recently, and it is estimated that the big pirates will soon take action against Hamlet.

Why did Lance feel more like someone intervened and stopped the fight, otherwise how could the robbery end so easily?

"Do you know those merchants who often come here?"

Whether it is food or drinks, they need to contact the outside world. Not to mention that he really knows some, but they are all agents, and he can't contact the back.

It's just that the noise coming from outside at this time even disturbed their conversation, and some pirates were attracted to it, including Lance of course.

When he walked out, he found that a lot of people had been gathered in the open space not far away. A simple platform was covered with rags, and a pirate was talking in it.

When he got closer, he could hear that they had just completed a robbery and now they were going to sell the guys they had robbed and hold a temporary auction.

And their main goods are people. Yes, there are special brokers in charge of bulk commodities, but some small pirates are unwilling to deal with them because they are too hard to lower the price.

So this simple auction will get a better price.

Lance's eyes fell on the people tied up and shivering behind the pirate, not knowing whether they were cold or afraid. They were basically women. From their clothes and appearance, it can be seen that they were ordinary people. They should be the "trophies" looted from a coastal village.

They were all in their teens. When they were young, they were okay as long as they didn't look too outrageous. They had been screened and not fed to fish. Of course, they also endured inhuman abuse.

It was a rule not to leave women on the ship, so they had to sell them after playing. The ones who took over were mainly those brothels, because to put it bluntly, prostitutes were a tool for them to make money. This thing actually had a lot of losses, especially when dealing with pirates. They would do a lot of crazy things to vent.

Sometimes killing another pirate would cause hatred and be constrained by rules, but they would not be punished for torturing a prostitute to death. At most, they would pay money.

This was the freedom they longed for, but it was a pity that Hamlet could not provide it to them.

Of course, other places needed women. Taverns had to have a few female waiters, and casinos and the like also needed to attract business.

Lance watched the pirate drag people out one by one, and the guests picked them up like picking up livestock, from teeth to body. The word "quality" used to describe livestock was used to describe humans, which was pathetic to some extent.

The terrified and numb faces of the women were in sharp contrast to the pirates' hideous smiles.

Lance did not intervene, just watched silently, maybe the sanatorium should be expanded...

He did not come here to find this, but just stopped and looked for a while before turning away. According to the introduction of the bartender, he found the broker who was active here.

These guys are not pirates, but ordinary people can't do this. They all have backgrounds, which is equivalent to spokespersons, responsible for matchmaking for those people. In some cases, it is also an insurance to facilitate those who do not want to reveal their identities to complete the transaction.

For example, if the pirates take back a ship of goods, they will find them if they need to make a move, and they will contact the buyers behind them. This is also a kind of monopoly.

Of course, there are also tasks issued, wanting pirates to do something, sometimes the routes of merchant ships can be bought from them, so you can imagine how powerful they are.

"I have a business to discuss with you."

"Please come this way, sir."

Lance went straight to the point when he found someone. The broker was a middle-aged man with sparse hair, but he was dressed very formally, and with the etiquette, he looked very unique in this ghost place.

He did not neglect Lance because of his sudden appearance. On the contrary, he received him very kindly. Sure enough, those who can get into this business are all sales champions.

But after isolating others, Lance did not pretend at all, but directly controlled him by force.

The guy behind him was one of the big pirates. As a broker, his information ability was much stronger than that of the bartender. From him, I learned that there was indeed external interference behind the dispute that had just subsided in the past few days.

The Hamlet Channel that appeared here recently was also hyped by them. Several copies of the sea charts were sold, and everyone was ready to make a big deal.

Lance asked about the previous transactions. Sure enough, many goods went to Totnes at a 30% lower price. Several of the major chambers of commerce had their own pirate partners.

So the pirates colluded with the merchants, this is the truth...

Thanks to [Lie Feng] for the 500 reward