Chapter 50: The Empress's Ambition
A gentle breeze lifted the sheer curtains. Inside the lavishly decorated room, a crow landed on the finger of Black Sea King Agati.
"They will come for you. You should have witnessed firsthand how fanatical the followers of the Nightmare God are."
Agati lightly waved her hand, and the crow with black-red feathers flew out the window.
"Can I interpret that as you taking their side?"
"Of course... not," Agati said with a smile, continuing, "Just a pack of masterless wild dogs. Some of them always think they are the masters. In reality, without the god holding their leash, they've transformed from 'hunting hounds' into 'stray dogs.' Wandering strays."
As she spoke, Agati picked up the Ancient God's right arm. She was well aware that this item did not yet belong to her. As for trying to get something for nothing, the man sitting across from her had even dared to slay a deity. The title of Black Sea King was nowhere near enough to intimidate him.
"I'm very interested in this divine arm. Tell me, what do I need to pay?"
"Terror Island."
Su Xiao's only remaining objective was Terror Island. Once he had its coordinates, everything else would fall into place.
"Terror Island, huh."
Agati gently rubbed her temples, as if she had a headache.
"Aside from those kingdoms, most of the Viking Sea is controlled by me, Redbeard, and Bone Sheep Van Esi."
Through Agati's description, Su Xiao learned about the power distribution in the Viking Sea. If comparing the overall combat strength of pirate crews, the Redbeard Pirates were undoubtedly ranked first.
Redbeard was at the top, and below him was Bone Sheep Van Esi. It was said this guy was a complete madman, unpredictable, murderous, and had no trusted confidants around him at all.
Bone Sheep Van Esi's strength lay in his personal power. In a one-on-one fight, neither Redbeard nor the Black Sea Empress Agati could match Van Esi.
Among the three legendary pirate crews, the weakest in overall combat power was the Black Sea Empress Agati's. It wasn't that Agati couldn't expand; it was simply unnecessary. She chose an elite route and maintained strict shipboard rules, such as no indiscriminate burning, killing, or looting, and no large-scale slave trading.
Of the three great pirates, Agati was the wealthiest. Her riches even surpassed those of some kingdoms, and there were rumors that she had secretly taken control of a certain kingdom.
Agati made her fortune through maritime transport and selling sea beasts, making her extremely wealthy.
Redbeard was a more traditional pirate, mainly involved in black-market industries like arms dealing and the flesh trade.
Bone Sheep Van Esi was a complete lunatic. His pirate crew specialized in capturing slaves. Whether they were sea races or humans, if his crew caught them, they would first beat them up, starve them for three days, and then ask the victims if their families were wealthy.
If the victim's family was rich, they would directly track them down, burn, kill, and loot everything, then silence everyone. If the victim's family was poor, they would be sold into slavery.
Over eighty percent of the slaves in the Viking Sea passed through the hands of the Bone Sheep Pirates. One could imagine how many enemies they had.
Calling himself a sheep while committing the most brutal acts of all pirates—that was Van Esi.
If the Black Sea Empress Agati was the blood crow of the sea, then Bone Sheep was the purest madman. As for Redbeard, he was the only maritime overlord who dared to confront Bone Sheep, and afterward, Bone Sheep didn't dare retaliate much. Powerful, ruthless, yet broad-minded—that was Redbeard.
None of the three great pirates were easy to deal with.
The Black Sea Empress Agati's proposal was this: the Ancient God's right arm would belong to her. She would contact Redbeard and act as the intermediary for negotiations. If Redbeard turned hostile during the talks, she would side with Su Xiao.
A pirate's promise wasn't very trustworthy, but if Agati wasn't lying, then Su Xiao absolutely had to meet with Redbeard.
"So? Isn't my proposal pretty good?"
Although Agati said this, she was already prepared to pay a huge treasure to obtain the Ancient God's right arm. This item was of extraordinary significance to her.
"Agreed. I want to see Redbeard within two days."
"Hmm?"
Agati looked at Su Xiao with slight surprise. For a moment, she couldn't quite process what she had heard. In her view, while there was a good chance Su Xiao would agree to this deal, he would definitely raise the price, after all, this was a god's right arm.
What Agati didn't know was that Su Xiao had brought this Ancient God's right arm with no intention of trading it for anything. He had killed many Ancient Gods and had sampled and studied them. The result was that the energy and cells of Ancient Gods were either corrosive or assimilative, with no research value.
Su Xiao stepped forward and walked out of the building. Seeing this, the confusion in Agati's eyes deepened.
"Oh, by the way."
Su Xiao stopped. Seeing this, Agati snorted inwardly, thinking, 'As expected, no one isn't greedy for money.'
"I'll be purchasing sea beasts soon. The price will be 8% to 10% above market rate."
Leaving this remark, Su Xiao walked down the stairs and soon left the building.
"That's... it?"
Agati was a bit stunned this time. She looked at the Ancient God's right arm in her hand and couldn't help but wonder if it was a fake.
"Milady, we..."
An aged voice came from behind Agati. The figure of Mad Sea Bull Tult gradually materialized. The ring on his finger emitted a faint glow, a spatial-type mystic artifact.
"Sell all the sea beasts to him."
"Regarding the price..."
"Ten percent above cost."
"Yes, Milady."
"Wait."
Agati thought for a moment and finally let out a slow breath.
"Sell them to him at our purchase price."
"Milady, that would mean a loss for us..."
"It doesn't matter. With someone of unknown origin like this, it's best not to provoke him if you can help it. Didn't you sense it?"
Agati glanced at Mad Sea Bull Tult. Tult lowered his head slightly, indicating he hadn't sensed anything.
"This man of unknown origin is absurdly strong. Handle this gracefully. We have plenty of money. If he can eliminate Redbeard..."
A slight smile curled at the corner of Agati's mouth. Something called ambition burned fiercely in her eyes. She didn't just want to be the Black Sea King; she wanted to become the Empress of this Viking Sea. As for the reason, there was nothing special about it. Agati simply felt that no matter how you lived your life, why not make a name for yourself?
Outside the building, Su Xiao flicked away the cigarette butt in his hand and walked toward the docks. To negotiate with a maritime overlord like Redbeard, one needed capital.
Su Xiao never thought he could take on the entire Redbeard Pirates alone. But once the Doom Number grew into a five-masted ship, the situation would change. By then, with his own combat power and the Doom Number, he could directly confront the Redbeard Pirates head-on. Only under those circumstances could a negotiation be possible.
After arriving at the docks, Su Xiao returned to the Doom Number. From now on, it was a waiting game. As long as the Black Sea Empress Agati wasn't excessively stingy, she would send someone to discuss the sale of transcendent sea beasts.