The official recruitment of Caterina was an important event for both Lorraine and the Drake Chamber of Commerce, as it heralded that Lorraine's "Crossing the Line" program was officially ready to begin.

He brought all the seafarers together.

"It's a board meeting." Lorraine got straight to the point, "I will announce to you the next phase of the chamber's development plan, the content is top secret, and it is not allowed to be spread out in any form. ”

With that, he asked Henna and Noah to unfold a shabby chart in front of everyone, pointing to the coastline above.

"This is a chart of the New World seized from the Viper, including North America, the Caribbean and parts of South America. Mr. Philard, he is on vacation on the reef, may his God bless him. ”

Acharin glanced at the chart and raised his hand: "Mr. Captain, are you going to abandon the source of raw materials in the West Indies and go straight to the mainland?" ”

"That's not accurate." Lorraine thought for a moment, "To be precise, in the next stage, the Chamber of Commerce will enter the rhythm of dual-core development." ”

He picked up a quill and pointed to Port Royal Kingston, Jamaica.

"In the Caribbean and South America, the Golden Deer is responsible for expanding trade routes. I will establish a West India chapter in Kingston, and Lieutenant Commander Nelson of the Navy will be willing to find a suitable manager for me, licensing, finance, and scheduling, and when the Chamber will start to make a profit depends on when we will get the first ocean-going fleet for the Chamber. ”

This blatant rhetoric did not cause any unpleasantness.

Everyone knows that robbery is the best means of primitive accumulation, and privateering merchants do not rob, just as foolishly as a knight who focuses on swordsmanship ties his hands in a duel.

As for who to rob......

Just look at the Viper following the Golden Deer, they don't need to do anything against their conscience, as long as they have a guaranteed chance of victory, there are suitable ocean-going ships in the Caribbean, and they are fast.

Everyone laughed heartily, and Karen slapped the table and said, "So are we going to play the role of the messenger of justice this time?" ”

"Playing the messenger of justice......" Lorraine smacked her lips, "With our fighting power with the Golden Deer, I estimate that in less than three months, the Drake Chamber of Commerce will declare war on the Brotherhood of the Sea, and then we will lose and be exiled to the reef, rotting and stinking." ”

Karen was stunned for a while: "Then what do you mean?" ”

"Part II, North American." Lorraine's quill swiped lightly on the chart, pointing to New Orleans, "The Viper will not be registered for the time being, she will become the new flagship of the Caribbean rose, using New Orleans as a base to open the smuggling channel to the United States." ”

As soon as the voice fell, the entire conference room suddenly became silent.

Seafarers, you look at me, I look at you, and eventually, Carmen stubbornly asked, "Captain, do you really know what you're talking about?" ”

"Great Britain has not yet recognized the independence of the United States, and Britain's New World Fleet has blockaded the coastline of North America, facing the fleets of France, Spain, the Netherlands, and the United States alone, without distinction between them."

Lorraine is an understatement of the current situation in the United States.

"Do I know what happens to smuggling? In fact, knowing that once our identities are revealed, the Drake Chamber of Commerce will lose her rightful status, and I will become a traitor and never enjoy the huge dividends that a powerful Britain has brought me. ”

"It's too expensive!" Carmen screamed in opposition.

"Rest easy, Carmen. There is a problem with your wording, we are not paying any price, this matter is just risky, not costly. ”

"Rich and dangerous, gentlemen and ladies." Lorraine smiled and put the chart away, and said word by word, "This is what I have gathered you for, to tell you, to persuade you." ”

"Let's start with war. The American Revolutionary War began in 1775 and has been going on for four years now, how long do you think it will last? Two years? Or three years? ”

"Britain has held out very hard, and it seems to me that she cannot stop the pace of American independence. In fact, the United States has become independent, and in the civilized world, only Britain still does not recognize its statehood. ”

"It is a new, rich country with a vast land and civilized gentlemen, with a large population, a large demand, and a huge market."

"What are we supposed to do? Playing hide-and-seek with pirates in the chaotic Caribbean while watching French, Spanish, and Dutch merchants loot the market? ”

"Stupid!"

"We are businessmen, not politicians! When facing interests, we should put those feelings of family and country far away and chase interests! We must take advantage of the fact that the leaders of this new capital have not yet realized their value, win their friendship, and by the way, make him a lot of money! ”

Passionate speeches.

The men in the audience were fascinated by Lorraine, but only the women were still able to keep their senses, which was a physiological difference, and the women's thinking was more emotional and delicate.

Carmen bit her lip and continued to ask, "What if, I mean what if." What if your treason is discovered? ”

"It's a question of feasibility."

"Is this feasible? I think there is. Lorraine paced around her seamen, "First of all, the Viper is nominally a smuggling ship, and she will be an illegal ship until Britain recognizes the independence of the United States, and will not have any entanglement with the Drake merchants. ”

"Secondly, we smuggled as pirates, avoided engagement with the British Navy, and as long as we were not caught, we would not leave any criminal record. Rumours do not turn into evidence, and unlike the hapless Kidd, we also have noble friends in England. ”

"Third, even if this matter is exposed, I am me, and the Chamber of Commerce is the Chamber of Commerce. Although I tell you the results according to the most pessimistic estimates, this matter is not really easy to involve the Chamber of Commerce. Even if it were to end in tragedy, the most likely thing would be the invalidation of the privateer's license, and I would henceforth be a pirate leader with a legitimate Chamber of Commerce. That's the law in England. ”

Carmen wrinkled her nose in frustration: "You know what? You're almost convincing me. ”

"Then add another fire." Lorraine smiled, "Do you know why I'm obsessed with smuggling? ”

Everyone looked at each other curiously.

"The first is interest. Drugs and munitions were procured from the Spanish and French colonies and transported along the coastline to Baltimore, where they were handed over to the Continental Army of the United States. The route was made of the same gold as the route from the New World to Europe, but it would take a month to cross the Atlantic, and we could go back and forth in a week. ”

"Secondly, we will borrow Catalina to really immerse themselves in the world of pirates. Wars between pirates are individual acts, and no matter how many pirate ships we capture or sink, no matter how we use them, it's an internal contradiction. Only in this way can we quickly assemble our own ocean-going fleet without angering the Brotherhood at Sea. ”

"Moreover, victory will be our majesty, and as long as we keep winning, Drake's ships will have the same privileges in the Caribbean as they do in the Cantabrian Sea, and sail unhindered!"

"So, do you still have any doubts about this plan?"

Unanimously passed.

In the Caribbean sea, the Drake Chamber of Commerce quickly made the next phase of adjustment.

Fifty loyal sailors with a Chamber's Covenant were transferred to the Viper, where they would become the backbone of the smuggling ship, leading the sailors recruited later to become pirates in the Caribbean.

The Golden Hart's new first mate, Caterina, was temporarily appointed as the captain of the Viper, temporarily alongside five seafarers: Karen, Yacharin, Wang Ye, Daniel and Noah.

Karen and Noah are also secretly tasked with examining Katerina, and if her actions do not match her expressions, Karen has the right to make decisions on the fly.

As for Lorraine and the rest of the seafarers, they will be temporary crew members, boarding ships when needed.

In addition to this, Lorraine also changed the name of the Viper to the Jackdaw, on the one hand, to avoid the Golden Deer's engagement with the Viper off the coast of Barbados, and on the other hand, to ask for a prize, after all...... As we all know, the Jackdaw went up to the sky and into the earth.

The manpower adjustment was over, the crew boarded their respective ships, and the Jackdaw was to go first to Port Spain on the island of Trinidad, where it would wait to join Lorraine and not enter Port Royal in Kingston, the core territory of the British.

Seeing the Jackdaw slowly moving away, Henna walked up to Lorraine and asked softly, "Why don't you tell them everything?" ”

"A personal vendetta?" Lorraine pursed her lips and shook her head in disgust, "Even I don't know why I'm obsessed with this. It stands to reason that he didn't feel sorry for me and didn't do anything wrong. But when I thought of Helena coughing up blood, I wanted to make some trouble for him, and there was no reason at all. ”

"It's a sign of the past." Henna opened her arms around Lorraine and whispered to his chest, "Just like I hate Catholics, I like Karen and Carmen, and I don't hate Caterina, but I just hate Catholics." ”

"People are emotional creatures, do you want to tell me this?"

Henna shook her head: "No, I just want to tell you that you don't have to go against your heart, you can hate him, you can like him, you can hate and like him at the same time, it doesn't conflict." ”

"I don't understand." Lorraine hugged Henna back and sniffed her hair, "It seems to me that this conflict is very ......"