Tortuga, a small island of less than 200 square kilometres, was located northwest of French Santo Domingo (i.e., the western half of Hispaniola, present-day Haiti), and there were no indigenous Indians on the island, and the only official inhabitants were their black slaves, except for some pirate-turned-farm-turned-whites. On top of that, the island is flooded with seasonal "residents" – pirates, and the by-products of the pirates' gathering – black-hearted traders and prostitutes.

In March and April every year, it is the season for the Spanish "Flota" and "Gajaanes" fleets to return to the Spanish mainland from Veracruz and Havana. The Spanish galleon fleet, laden with gold and American products, was the target of the "national pirates" who had privateering permits, while the small and medium-sized pirates gathered on the island of Tortuga took advantage of the departure of the old Spanish galleon fleets and the new galleon fleets did not come over to plunder the lone merchant ships of various countries. Even under the influence of a certain venerable pirate leader, they gathered ashore to attack the Spanish towns.

This year's Spanish galleon fleet has left early, and it is with this vessel that His Excellency Inspector General Romero, who is familiar to all that crosses, returns to Seville. Therefore, the island of Tortuga is very active at present, and in recent times more and more ships have gathered in the harbor, and now it is close to hundreds. So when the Beagle sailed into the harbor in a low-key manner, few people noticed them.

A few men dressed like beggars on the dock threw a cable, which the sailors of the "Beagle" caught and fixed to the bow of the ship neatly, and at the same time lowered the aft anchor.

Xie Hansan stayed on the ship with a sentry army and some security forces to prevent accidents, while Lu Ming boarded the docks on Tortuga Island under the guidance of two former pirate-turned-sailors, and he was accompanied by two students, Jiwen and Yuri, as well as several people with martial arts skills, such as Shou Daoshi and Anda Fifteen.

There were palm trees everywhere on the dockside, and under the trees sat some ragged guys, these people looked at Lu Ming and his party in neat round-necked cotton shirts with hungry wolf eyes, and some of them were still shouting something.

"Sir, these are poor people who have had their pockets drained of the last silver coin by prostitutes and alcohol. They are wanted in the Old World, so they have to hang out here. If a captain has a big deal and happens to be short of people, they may be hired temporarily, and if there is no one to hire, they may go to a nearby farm to do some farm work. In short, life is not very satisfactory, and they may die in some battle at sea, or in the belly of some prostitute......" said a Dutch sailor, who could not have felt it in his heart to see these former fellow men living so miserably. People may only see the glory of legendary pirates who have achieved fame like Drake, but they have not seen the hardships of the vast majority of low-level pirates struggling to survive.

"Hmm." Lu Ming nodded, "Maybe we can try to hire some of them to work while the ship is being repaired, and if they behave well, they can stay as sailors." By the way, Tim, where are the shipwrights on this island? ”

"Sir, please come here, these shipwrights usually work here." Tim led the way, and the group walked through a small palm grove, and under the strange eyes of the people around them, they came to some wooden sheds, and then shouted in Dutch: "Hey, Victor, you bad guy, there's business coming to you." ”

Several of the shipwrights who were sleeping under the shed woke up, and one of the bearded men looked at Tim for a long time, and then asked hesitantly, "Tim?!" It's really you! How did you get back? They all say that you died at the hands of the Tatars. ”

Tim smiled a little awkwardly, "Alright, Victor, let's get someone to fix our ship, just stop at the dock over there." Our mast is damaged, bring your tools and materials, damn it, if we didn't lack materials, we would have repaired them ourselves. Victor, what are you still grinding? My captain is impatient, hurry up, let's go now. Listen, my captain is a generous man, and he won't mind paying you a little more if your work satisfies him. And, even you have a chance... Forget it, we'll talk about that later. ”

"Tim, looks like you've made a fortune." Victor beckoned to his companion, packing up his tools and bringing the heavy timber for the splicing mast.

"That's right, Victor, envy me. I am now receiving more than 2 ducats a month, how does that sound? Ha Lu Ha. Tim smirked.

"Sounds good, most of the wretched creatures here don't have a single copper left all year round, and they spend it all on sugar cane soju and prostitutes' bellies. Every year there are new faces, and every year many old ones disappear, Tim, let's be honest, stop being a pirate. This is my advice for the sake of my fellow countrymen, but it seems that you don't need my reminder anymore, and you are doing well. Alright, guys, let's go. ”

The shipwrights laboriously lifted the timber for the mast to the berth where the Beagle was moored, and then hoisted it to the deck by means of the ship's pulley boom, which the shipwrights immediately boarded.

Lu Ming stood on the dock bored, and was about to beckon Tim to see if there were any familiar sailors here, and asked him to call some to come over and help. At this time, I saw a few people walking from a distance on the dock, and the leader was a short man in a tattered linen shirt, with hair overgrown on his open chest, and several criss-crossing scars. His loose hair was haphazardly wrapped together with a red turban, and his eyes looked a little gloomy.

"Hey, stranger, first time on Pirate Island?" The short man stood in front of Lu Ming, looked at the white cotton shirt on Lu Ming's body, squinted his eyes and asked, "Little white face, you haven't paid the entry fee yet." ”

"What is he talking about?" Lu Ming asked the people around him in confusion, and at this time, Shou Daoist and Anda Fifteen stepped forward to block Lu Ming behind him, in case these pirates burst out and hurt people.

"He's asking us to pay the entry fee." Tim explained, "Sir, I swear there wasn't that rule here two years ago. ”

"I see." Lu Ming nodded, bullying newly-arriving, rootless strangers was not uncommon in any era. "Give him ten bucks and let him go!"

Jiwen handed the money bag in his satchel to Lu Ming, who took out a small gold coin of Aiju (about 3 francs) and threw it to the short pirate.

The short man caught it, but didn't leave. His greedy eyes were still fixed on the money bag in Lu Ming's hand, and while saying, "This is not enough", he actually reached out to grab it, and several pirates behind him also reached into his waist at the same time, where their short knives or pistols were pinned.

"Hineh (Die)!" Anda fifteen shouted violently, the saber on his waist suddenly came out of its sheath, and the sword light slashed down obliquely, and the short pirate's entire right arm was cut off by Qi Gen to the ground.

The pirates were startled, and the hand reaching for their waist involuntarily stopped. Lu Ming was also startled, but he quickly reacted, pulled out the pistol that had been loaded with ammunition from his waist, and pulled the hammer to the firing position, and the others followed suit.

The army aboard the "Beagle" also heard the movement, and three platoons of 48 musketeers came up in unison, lined up in three lines on the deck, and pointed their guns at the pirates on the docks.

The pirates around watched the scene with their mouths wide open, and for a moment the entire dock was eerily quiet, except for the short pirates who were still lying on the ground wailing.

The eerie scene lasted only two minutes, and soon, a dozen pirates came not far away. This time, the pirate leader who walked in front of him wore a three-cornered hat and a sophisticated woollen gown, and the pirates behind him followed him vigilantly with flintlock pistols in their hands.

"Orientals?" The pirate leader was slightly surprised, and said in Spanish.

"No, no, don't be nervous, I'm not here to get justice for this idiot on the ground." The pirate leader kicked the short pirate on the ground hard. He saw more and more musketeers pouring out of the deck, and he couldn't help but explain.

"Well, then, it's a pleasure to meet you, sir." Lu Ming didn't put down his pistol, his eyes looked at the pirates with flintlock pistols on the opposite side vigilantly, and said in the same Spanish: "My ship needs some time to be repaired, and after the repair is completed, we will leave on our own, and it will not cause you any trouble." ”

"Of course, Tortuga is an island of freedom. You certainly have the right to repair your own ship here. The pirate leader replied calmly, then leaned in and whispered, "I'm Captain Coaster, and everyone here has heard of me. Of course, you may not have heard my name, but that's okay, now I have 6 ships, and in 5 days my fleet will be departing for St. Augustine. I heard that the menorah in the church and the monastery there were made of silver, and that Haluha, a servant of God, was a luxury. ”

Looking at this blasphemous pirate leader, Lu Ming smiled slightly and said, "Maybe I'll think about it, now I'm going back to my ship, see you again, Mr. Pirate." With that, he took out a large aiju (6 francs) from his purse, and put it into the collar of the short pirate, who was still lying on the ground wailing, and then turned and walked up to the deck of the Beagle.

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