Chapter 277: Open The Gates! Free Trade!
Naturally, the group waited until late at night but Kaido never reappeared, so the promised small banquet naturally fell through…
Among the two left behind together, Ember and Burufaruto, Ember seemed to have been released early. He just went to the canteen to inform everyone that Kaido might not have time tonight and then left.
From beginning to end, Ember never said what Miss La had left Kaido and Burufaruto for… And although the group had some guesses, they all tactfully didn’t ask.
In any case, since Ember had said so, Captain Kaido probably really wasn’t coming…
In a tacit silence, the group quietly welcomed the sun of the second day.
…
Early the next morning, Taolong, Skipgate, and the others packed their things and planned to hurry back to their garrison.
These island garrison executives had strict time limits for leaving the garrison, and even temporary special situations like this were no exception.
Originally, many people didn’t buy into these rules modeled after the Navy’s regulations. Pirates weren’t the Navy after all; they were born not to tolerate such rigid rules and restrictions.
But with Burufaruto tirelessly coming down to inspect and check regularly, plus these island garrison executives truly feeling the so-called “discipline” boosting their subordinate island garrison troops’ combat power, they gradually began to take the lead in complying with these not-so-lenient systems.
Of course, leading by example doesn’t apply as well among pirates.
Even with these executives setting an example, the ordinary pirates below still did whatever they wanted at the beginning…
Fortunately, the Beasts Pirates was a crew that purely respected strength. For some troublesome thorns who wouldn’t listen, even if they were dealt with heavily and directly killed, no one would care.
So under the executives’ day-after-day “kind” education with the big stick, and the hefty Belly honey dates collected every month, these lax pirates still learned what discipline and obedience meant.
It was precisely this discipline, almost unseen in other pirate crews, that allowed the Beasts Pirates to fight without collapsing and keep casualties within an acceptable range in the great sea battle a few months ago.
Of course, besides following the pirate crew’s internal regulations, they were in such a hurry to go back for another reason… According to the instructions from yesterday’s meeting, they might have to set out to sea soon to “expand business.”
When the enemy retreats and we advance, with no more danger on the home turf, it was natural to shift the excess defensive forces to external expansion.
Both knew full well that the Beasts Pirates’ next goal was to step out of the New World and expand their sphere of influence to the Four Seas and “Paradise.”
For such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, these ambitious executives naturally didn’t want to miss it and had to rush back to sharpen their swords and train their horses!
“Please wait a moment.”
Just as the two were about to board the ship, a voice called out to them.
“Hm? Wright, why are you here?”
Seeing Wright, who was nominally still part of their pirate crew but had actually become the Beasts Pirates’ Governor-General, coming to see them off, Brother Skipgate smiled and went up to greet him.
Last night, he had wanted to catch up properly with the other, but no matter what, he couldn’t find where he was, so in the end, he could only sit at a table with Taolong.
“Brother Skipgate… Sorry, last night Miss La called me to do something else, so I couldn’t have a good drink with you.”
“Haha! It’s nothing, no need to apologize.”
“Miss La must have had something important for you, right?”
“…”
Hearing their own captain say that, Wright’s expression became a bit strange.
Was what he did yesterday considered a proper matter?
It should count, since it involved Governor Kaido himself and all the mid-to-high-level executives…
“Sigh~”
Giving up on dwelling further on this complicated issue, Wright took out two documents from the bag he was carrying.
“This is for you. Miss La said to study it carefully when you get back, and absolutely not to make the same mistake as Governor Kaido.”
“Hm?”*2
Taking the documents with curiosity, the two opened them and saw—《Notice Regarding Comrade Kaido’s Violation of Drinking Rules During Socializing, Causing a Major Safety Incident, and Related Handling Results》
Skipgate: “…”
Taolong: “…”
How to put it~ It was somewhat unexpected, yet also reasonable.
It seemed Miss La was quite serious about Kaido nearly drinking himself to death a few days ago.
The document was entirely handwritten… The two compared and found the handwriting differed, so each copy was probably handwritten manually.
And this handwriting… it looked a bit crooked and twisted, not like Miss La’s, but rather similar to Kaido’s script, though much more legible than Kaido’s.
Each letter, each word was stiffly separated, with no hard-to-read connected strokes. It was like being forced to write stroke by stroke, not allowed the slightest laziness or sloppiness.
“Miss La’s meaning is that this document should be studied internally among you executives. Be careful yourselves not to overindulge in alcohol like the Governor-General.”
Miss La’s attitude had never been to issue a complete alcohol ban, but to have everyone drink in moderation, without harming themselves or delaying proper business.
Like Kaido this time: he nearly drank himself to death one moment, and the next, right before starting the important grand meeting he himself called, he got himself flushed and tipsy…
This was no longer ordinary drunkenness; heavy measures were needed!
But in the end, Miss La still gave Kaido some face.
It was called a notice, but limited to the executives of just over a dozen people; she didn’t really let the people below know about this embarrassing matter of him nearly drinking himself to death.
…
“Mm, I understand.”
Taolong nodded first and tucked the notice document into his bosom.
He had quit drinking a year ago and now only drank a little on important occasions, basically none otherwise.
This warning document imposed no real restrictions on him.
On the contrary, a few of his combat team captains seemed prone to this, often drinking while firing cannons during battles…
『Gotta remind them after getting back~』
“Anything else?”
Ignoring Skipgate, who was still pondering whether he counted as one of the “very few executives” mentioned in the document, Taolong looked back at Wright, hoping to hear what he wanted from his mouth.
Sure enough, upon hearing his question, Wright answered directly:
“Indeed, there’s one more thing—the Governor-General they seem to have decided to select a few executives to assist that Seven Warlord in quickly opening up weapon sales channels outside the New World.”
“Oh? When? Who was selected?”
Taolong immediately asked eagerly.
“Time not set yet, but it should be soon.”
“It can start once those arms families’ arms consortium is fully integrated into the Beasts Pirates’ operations. Probably in a few days.”
In fact, after seeing off the two, Wright was going to contact Willy to have him deal with that Mediya family brat, then fully take over the Beasts Pirates’ weapons export trade.
Professional matters to professionals—Wright was ultimately just a scholar, and with him already stretched thin, he couldn’t keep handling everything and needed to subcontract it out at a secondary level.
And with the Beasts Pirates’ weapon production-side resource integration complete, it was time to send people out to call for “free trade.”
“As for the personnel… not decided yet.”
“What? You want to give it a try?”
“…”
“Mm.”
