"Come on, come on, have a drink, my dear little grumpy friend, you see, the handsome Murphy has taken the initiative to raise his glass, but he is a governor appointed by the kings of the two countries, how can you get the preferential treatment of those bullshit steam lords in the port of Chardor.

The warriors under their command are very fierce, and now they have made a name for themselves in the Black Flame Pass.

I'll tell you, don't ask for yourself as a little man! ”

In the first-class dining room of the "Good Luck" airship, the drunken first mate Claire is persuading him to drink.

The coolly dressed guy was almost sitting in the governor's arms with Murphy, and this enthusiasm was hard for Murphy to bear, but the damn Captain Pablo saw that his first mate was sticking to other men, and he just laughed and continued to drink, and didn't care.

Hey, are you pirates so wild?

But Murphy couldn't push Claire away, because the blood-feared first mate was now speaking to himself.

At her invitation, Captain Paula, who was sitting opposite Murphy, was very unhappy and grabbed a special wine glass with a cool mechanical hand, and lightly touched the glass with Murphy, and drank the wine inside.

For good men and daughters who fight the storm, this means that the previous grievances are written off.

Of course, it is true that her feud with Transencia is not on Murphy's head, but unfortunately it was the old bastard of Salokdal who kidnapped her and wrecked her ship, and it is too late to take revenge.

But the Governor knew very well that Captain Paula's unhappiness had not dissipated, just because she didn't want to make her relationship with the Blooddread Fleet very stiff because of this, and now that Captain Babro and First Officer Claire were obviously on Murphy's side, Paula didn't have much to do, at least to deal with it face.

What Murphy thought he was going to have to put some thought into suddenly took a turn.

Although this turn of events came quite unexpectedly, just as Murphy now can't understand how the pirates who are rampaging in the foggy sea have such a deep relationship with a serious shipping company.

But since Captain Paula and the pirates are all sitting and drinking, it shows that this "perfect shipping" company is not actually the place where it seems to be so serious.

Without waiting for him to ask, the burp ignored the airship's pyrotechnics, picked up a skull-carved pipe, held it to his mouth, and gestured to Paula, who threw a flame over the mechanical arm and lit the tobacco for the captain.

In the thick smell of tobacco, Pablo leaned back in the luxurious booth and said in a deep manly voice:

"I guess Shuai Murphy must be thinking about something very unseemly, like the feud between the pirate and the captain of the airship, ha, it's not as complicated as you think.

Before the Blooddread Clan entered the Sea of Mist, the pirate industry existed and flourished, and the port of Chardo was a prosperous harbor, and it inevitably had to deal with pirates.

Especially the Steam Lords, their wisdom is really not to be underestimated.

Anyway, they drew a line for this, you know?

Whoever begs for a living on the misty seas, as long as we don't cross the line of the halflings, our ships can dock in the bay near the port of Chardo without a pirate flag, and send men ashore to buy or sell something. ”

"The black market of halflings has a long history, and in the era before the black plague, there was already a large-scale black market in the port of Chardo, which was mainly used for the smuggling of certain goods in the Castile Elf Kingdom and the mainland."

Captain Paula snorted and explained slowly:

"Later, after the introduction of the 'Maritime Bill', the business of selling stolen goods with pirates quickly occupied the mainstream of the black market for halflings, and the pirates had to rely on the port of Chardo to sell stolen goods, and the city could also get the taxes paid on the black market, and merchants could buy cheaper goods.

Everyone was satisfied.

It's a convention, and how I met Pablo and Claire is another story. ”

"Don't hide it, say it."

First mate Claire leaned on Murphy's shoulder, grinned, and said:

"Paula likes to be mysterious, in fact, when she was a child, her father used to take her to collect all kinds of rare goods in the pirate harbor in the open sea, and Pablo and I met her father at that time.

When her father was seriously ill, we also made a special trip to the Far East to bring back the precious elixir of the ancient kingdom of Callum to her father, which allowed the old halfling captain who was very good at things to continue his life for ten years, and was able to teach Paula all his skills.

It's a pity that Paula's stupid anger is too bad.

On his third independent voyage, he encountered the fourth Black Plague, and in Transancia, he encountered a problem that could not be solved with wisdom, resulting in the destruction of the family heirloom Shock Hammer. ”

"Well, that's a good ship! The Shock Hammer is a truly armed commercial airship, with two main guns in the front and rear, plus thirty-seven bomb ports, which is literally a mobile explosives magazine. ”

Pablo also smoked his pipe, and said with a look of regret:

"When my Blooddread fleet was in big trouble, we were trapped outside the Great Reef Province by a large group of Wave Fishmen, and Paula's father risked being hanged by the Steam Lords to help us blow up a way with bombing tactics.

That's a fateful friendship. ”

"Blanch, stinky pirate! Do you know that you and our family have had a lifelong relationship? ”

Captain Paula finally couldn't hold it anymore.

The grumpy halfling captain slammed the table with a clenched fist with her mechanical hand, and she scolded:

"I thought I could trust you, but when you meet your compatriots, you pull the strings! Forcing me to reconcile with this damn vampire, what good did he give you? ”

The two pirates shrugged their shoulders and did not answer.

Murphy smiled, put the glass on the table, and said to Captain Paula very seriously:

"Transencia will really compensate you, Lord Paula, and in this case, I instruct my consul to sign a five-year tax-free contract for your ship, during which time you will not have to pay taxes on any cargo carried into Transsya by your airship."

"Ten years!"

The halfling captain took off his captain's hat, glared at Murphy, and said:

"I have two smaller cargo airships besides the Good Luck, and you're sure you're going to give us tax exemptions? I'll tell you, if we run diligently, your officials will lose a lot of taxes. ”

"It's all petty gains, and I want your friendship for the real thing."

Murphy didn't hide it, anyway, now the two big pirates who could hold Paula were on his side, so he opened his mouth and said:

"As you can see, Transencia is at war right now, and we are seriously lacking in air power, so I hope to use your connections in the port of Chardo to help us get some armed airships."

"That's thinking too much."

Paula guessed that the vampire governor must have asked for her own sake for being so humble today, but after hearing Murphy's request, she immediately pulled down her face, picked up the wine glass and drank a few big sips, and then she grumbled and said:

"Every airship in the port of Chardo must be registered with the Steamlord Council under the Steamlord Council when it leaves the factory, we have a specific range of business licenses, commercial airships cannot intervene in the military of various countries, and armed commercial airships are directly under the management of the Steamlords.

Especially after the last Black Plague, when the lords gathered all the airships for an unprecedented military mission, this control became more and more stringent.

Governor Murphy, it's not like I won't help you.

The various instruments on our airships require a specific type of Operator Orb as the core of the operation, and if we violate the requirements of the Steam Lord, we will not be able to receive the necessary overhaul and maintenance in the port of Chardo.

The arithmetic orbs on those instruments will record the route of the airship, and there is no trick to this kind of thing, otherwise do you think King Louis of the Plantagenet Kingdom will put a more convenient airship and run to spend a lot of money to find us halflings to build a railway?

The Steam Lords don't want the conflict from the outside world to spread to the halfling civilization, you know?

Unless they want to, it is impossible for the military forces of airships, steam trains, and walker regiments to be leased to foreign countries, and I advise you to die of this heart.

No airship owner would dare to take such a risk. ”

"Huh?"

Murphy blinked, and he heard Captain Paula's words, and said:

"So, if you can solve the problem of calculating the orb, there are still many airship owners who are willing to take the risk, right?"

"Of course, war is a lucrative business."

Captain Paula snorted, and flicked her long blue hair, and the halfling captain with a scar on his face leaned back on the seat, and also picked up a trumpet, boat-shaped pipe, and said:

"A young vampire like you can't imagine how much it cost Brass Dwarves to borrow our airship formation to transport soldiers into the Dark Mountains during the Fourth Black Plague, let alone how much the nations paid to let the airship formation take the risk of transporting the wounded soldiers.

All I can say is that there are actually hawks in the Council of the Steam Lords

They want to profit from acts of war.

And most of us halflings are timid and neurotic, but occasionally we give birth to some people who are surprisingly bold, like me."

"Okay."

Murphy nodded, he took a piece of paper and pen from his bag, scribbled a line, glanced at Captain Paula again, twisted the seal on his finger and stamped it, and asked Pablo to be a witness to put the seal of the Bloody Archduke on it.

Finally handed it to Paula.

The halfling captain glanced at the paper, which was written in a very simple way that Paula's freight company was granted a ten-year tax exemption on the condition that Paula would bring back at least three vehicles for Translancia that could be converted into armed airships within two months.

"You just need to take it to Miriam, and the archon will give you a more formal tax-exempt document."

Murphy spread his hands and said:

"I don't care how many ships your freight company has, this privilege will always be in effect, but for every five ships you add to your command, Transcia will get the right to use and requisition one of them, large and small.

As for what we do with it, you don't care. ”

"Are you crazy vampire?"

Captain Paula scolded loudly:

"I've said it all! The Steam Lords are controlling us with the Orb of Calculation, and we can't help it."

"I have 36,000 cracked Orbs in my hands, and I maintain a pretty good collaboration with a master engineer who can quickly transform Orbs of Operation. No, allyship!

Trust me, Captain Paula!

As long as you can bring us the airship we need, I'll have a way to keep the Steam Lord from getting hold of you!

When the air units that will be re-ordered as 'Kirov airships' are piloted by my warriors and set foot on the battlefield, one-fifteenth of the hunt from each battle will be deposited directly into your cargo company's account in Transasia.

Although we don't have a bank here yet, I am sure that this institution will be set up soon. ”

Murphy picked up his glass, raised it to Paula, and said:

"So, happy to work with?"

Paula's expression immediately turned horrified.

She didn't quite believe the vampire's terms, but if it was true, it meant that her poor "Perfect Shipping" company might be able to take a step forward today.

What's it called? Gentlemen.

This is the business tuyere period, as long as you stand up, even if you put a pig in the manager's office, you can become a rich man in a halfling!

"Oh, no, I can't promise you right away!"

Paula felt her brain heat a little, and she put on her captain's hat again, and said:

"Give me two days to think about it, you have to understand, Shuai Murphy, this is a bit of a big deal, I have to convince myself to take a risk, and if I do, I have to plan a process to avoid surveillance."

"No problem, I'll give you five days to think about it."

Murphy took a sip of wine and said:

"You can go to Miriam to sign the tax-free paperwork first, and then make a trip to the port of Chardor to bring us back all the machinery and supplies we have purchased there.

There are several factories waiting to start, but are the owners of the Port of Chardo interested in investing in Transnesia? It's a new fertile ground, a real blue ocean market, and I promise they won't lose it.

Plus, your crew is eager to get a glimpse of what Transcia has to offer, so can you land your cool airship?

I would like to invite my generals and commanders to board the airship and get a basic idea of the war beasts that they will be able to control in the future. ”

"Of course, of course, in the face of such huge profits, these are small things."

Captain Paula's mind is no longer in this dimension.

She agreed, and then returned to her captain's room for serious and rigorous reflection.

A few minutes later, the airship suspended in the air began to descend, and to the cheers of the halfling crew, Murphy gave Pablo a look, and the two vampires made their way to a more secret smoking room under the pretext of enjoying tobacco.

Captain Pablo sat in a big position and leaned against the all-glass skylight, looking at Murphy as he swallowed the clouds, waiting for his question.

"Why help me?"

Murphy rejects Pablo's offer of tobacco, which doesn't match the persona he's always maintained.

He asked:

"Do you and Claire have any requests for me?"

"Of course, I don't hide that."

Bablo laughed and said:

"Claire is dying, and if I hadn't been plaguing her, my stupid first mate would have begged you for help with a stupid seduction. But I know that against a woman of the level of Grand Duke Trissy, she has no chance of winning at all.

We're going to talk about a big deal! A major event related to the survival of the Blooddread Clan.

But now is not the time to say it, and I must tell you very seriously, Handsome Murphy, Claire and I and our Marines have come to Transnicia to join in this terrible excitement and not just because of the kindness of Lord Pa Ying.

We have our own troubles to deal with.

It was very, very terrible trouble, in fact, after we left, the entire Blooddread fleet had suspended its activities in the Misty Sea, and remained honestly in the Bloodswept Harbor.

It's not that we've suddenly changed our minds, it's not that the sea of mist has suddenly become dangerous.

The Blooddread Clan is in trouble, Handsome Murphy.

To escape the terrible catastrophe, Claire and I went on a trip to the Far East six months ago.

It took us a fortune to buy a small principality before we got a clear guide from the Dragon Emperor's Qintianjian Stargazer, and as soon as we returned to the Vampire Shore, Lord Pa Ying sent a message.

This is proof that the guideline is correct. ”

The bloody captain spat out the smoke ring, covering his cheek, and he whispered:

"You! You can help us! You can save us! We'll help you win this battle and make you owe a favor that you have to pay back, and then I'll tell you about the trouble of Bloody Fear.

I know, you're going to help.

That's how pirates do things. ”

(End of chapter)