Above Pirate King - Chapter 81
Early on, Arthur received some good news.
Vice Admiral Sengoku called and offered a known Paramecia-type Devil Fruit in exchange for Arthur’s men to escort Strala back. Sengoku asked if Arthur agreed.
He agreed!
Of course, he agreed without any hesitation.
Strala was originally his subordinate, and if Sengoku hadn’t requested Arthur to escort him back, Arthur would have sent someone to protect him anyway. Now, by escorting Strala, he could also gain a Devil Fruit, which was even better!
So when Sengoku called, Arthur readily agreed!
Moreover, it was a good thing for Strala to go to Marine HQ. He was already a Vice Admiral in the division!
By going to HQ, he would become a Vice Admiral in the main force, a rank higher than before.
At the same time, it would allow Arthur to gather information from Marine HQ, and he would be aware of the Marine’s movements.
However, Arthur also learned from Strala that after he left, a Vice Admiral would be airdropped to the Marine division near the Kingdom of St. Martin.
Upon hearing this news, Arthur was momentarily surprised but quickly dismissed it.
Even if a Vice Admiral was airdropped, it wouldn’t matter.
The personnel managing the base of the Marine division in the Kingdom of St. Martin were all his people, and they controlled the Marine division there.
Although they would publicly obey the Vice Admiral, in reality, they would still follow Arthur’s orders. The base remained firmly under Arthur’s control, just as it was before!
However, the issue of Chris was more complicated. Although his bounty was only 500 million, he was clearly more dangerous!
If Strala were killed, Arthur could collect a bounty of 1 billion, but it would also anger the Marine. Wouldn’t they hunt down the assassin mercilessly?
On the other hand, Chris was just a small mafia family in the West Blue. Killing him and his whole family would be easy and wouldn’t offend anyone. The cost-effectiveness was obviously higher.
So, the question was how to protect Chris!
Sending someone directly would ensure Chris’ safety, but it would also reveal that Chris was Arthur’s man.
That wouldn’t align with Arthur’s intentions!
After thinking it through, Arthur made a decision!
“Let Chris escape with important members. As for the ordinary family members, let’s just abandon them. They are all scum anyway!” Arthur murmured, “It’s a good opportunity for Chris to change his name and develop in another sea!”
“But we need to continue dealing with Hornby and the Bell Kingdom!” Arthur frowned, “Let Wisp take over the arms business!”
Soon, Arthur had everything arranged for Chris.
Hornby had been very anxious these past few days. Pika had died, and there was no one else selling cheap arms to the Bell Kingdom.
As a result, he had gained an advantage in the arms race and even pushed forward to East Spring City.
Unfortunately, the advantage wasn’t significant, and the Bell Kingdom defended the city, narrowing the gap between them. He couldn’t break through for the time being.
Moreover, the constant counterattacks from the Bell Kingdom had led to the deaths of nearly 30,000 people in Hornby’s side. If this continued, more lives would be lost.
So he wanted to buy more arms to further expand his advantage, hoping to finally conquer the Bell Kingdom once and for all.
But at this moment, he discovered that Chris had gone missing!
The inability to contact Chris meant he couldn’t purchase cheap and good arms anymore!
It also meant that he couldn’t further expand Hornby’s advantage.
Of course, he could look for other arms dealers to buy from.
But if he contacted other arms dealers, the prices would be too high for the kingdom to afford.
He was extremely anxious but couldn’t come up with a solution.
“Ring, ring!”
At this moment, the Den Den Mushi next to Hornby rang.
He picked up the phone casually.
“Hello!”
“Hello, General Hornby!” Wisp said with a smile.
After leaving Bloodport Town, Wisp reestablished the Wisp Pirates at sea. However, unlike Eden’s journey to the Grand Line or Chris’ arms business, Wisp continued his old profession in the West Blue—piracy!
Now, due to Arthur’s request, he took over Chris’ business.
“Who is this?” The unfamiliar voice on the other end of the phone puzzled Hornby.
“A friend of Chris!”
“Really?” Hornby’s face lit up, and he quickly asked, “Do you know why I can’t reach Chris?”
“Indeed, Chris ran away because someone in the underground world put a 500 million bounty on his family to kill them!”
“So, doesn’t that mean I have nowhere to buy my arms?” Hornby didn’t really care about Chris’s well-being; he was concerned about the lack of affordable arms for purchase.
“Hehe, General Hornby, from now on, I will be responsible for your arms trade!” Wisp said with a smile.
“You!?” Hornby was somewhat skeptical. He didn’t trust Wisp. After all, when a stranger calls you and says they will take over someone else’s business, would you believe them?
“Don’t worry, Chris and I have the same source of goods. Our goods are identical!”
“But…”
“Alright, I know it’s just empty words, and the general won’t believe it. General, you can directly tell me how much you need, and I will deliver it to you in person. We can do a cash-on-delivery transaction!”
“Good!” In the end, Hornby reluctantly agreed, still somewhat doubtful.
A few days later.
The port of the Hall Kingdom.
Due to the first trade with Wisp, Hornby temporarily set aside the tense situation and personally came to the port.
In the distance, a fleet of five ships slowly emerged, each with a flag depicting a skull with eerie green flames in its eyes.
“Pirates!?” Hornby furrowed his brow. He didn’t expect to be trading with a pirate.
Before long, the fleet docked.
A figure dressed in a black robe directly jumped off the ship.
“Hello, General Hornby, I’m Wisp. From now on, I will be in charge of your arms trade!” Wisp said with a smile. However, his thin and skeletal body made his smile appear sinister.
“Are you from the Wisp Pirates?” Hornby asked with confusion.
Hornby knew about the Wisp Pirates. They had previously conducted business with Chris’s family.
Of course, it made sense for Wisp to take over Chris’s family business.
“Yes, I am the captain of the Wisp Pirates, Wisp!” Wisp nodded.
“Alright, can I see the goods first?” Hornby asked straightforwardly.
He didn’t care if Wisp was a captain or who he was as a person. He only cared about his arms.
“Hehe, General Hornby, you’re still so straightforward! Alright, let’s get straight to the point.” Wisp smiled and gestured behind him.
Soon, the pirates behind him started unloading crates of arms from the ship.
“Please!” Wisp casually opened one of the crates, gesturing Hornby to take a look.
At first glance, Hornby confirmed that Wisp was right. He indeed had the same goods as Chris.
The crate contained Chris’s family’s special Levins cannons.
Afterward, Hornby opened the other crates and inspected them.
Finally, he showed a satisfied expression.
“General Hornby, are the goods satisfactory?” Wisp smiled.
“Yes!” Hornby nodded and waved to the soldiers behind him.
The soldiers immediately brought a few crates forward.
“Let’s check if the money is in the right amount” Hornby made a gesture, inviting Wisp to inspect.
Without inspecting, Wisp let his subordinates take the crates. “I trust you, General Hornby!”
These words caught Hornby slightly off guard, but he smiled and extended his hand. “Hehe, then let’s have a pleasant cooperation!”
“My pleasure!” Wisp also reached out his hand and tightly shook Hornby’s hand.
“Alright, the transaction is completed. We’ll be leaving now. General, if you need anything in the future, remember to give me a call!” Wisp said with a smile.
“Sure! Alright!” Hornby smiled and nodded.
Then, Wisp waved his hand, turned around, and left with his pirate crew without looking back.
As soon as he returned to the ship, Wisp’s smile immediately faded. He took out a Den Den Mushi and made a call.
Before long, the call was answered.
“Hello, General Dukeford, we have a batch of cheap and high-quality arms here. Would you… be interested?”
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