Chapter 423 -423-Challenging the Entire Pirate Domain
News that the grand Pirate Alliance had declared war on John was quickly spread by the major merchant guilds.
Ordinary civilians and powerful nobles from the upper classes alike soon heard about it.
By now, every Maritime Kingdom—and even the continental civilizations—had learned of the turmoil at sea. People everywhere began discussing whether this declaration of war would reshape the future balance of power across the oceans.
Meanwhile, in Cloudspire City, Karen could not help but laugh when he heard the news.
He shook his head slightly.
It seemed that he was the only one who knew the actual truth.
The so-called grand Pirate Alliance had clearly mistaken John for a spy and representative of the Naval Corps.
The Maritime Kingdoms had also been misled by the same rumor, believing that John was acting on behalf of the Lather Kingdom’s Naval Corps.
But the Lather Kingdom itself knew perfectly well that John was not one of theirs.
They had no idea where this pirate had come from, yet somehow he possessed one of their battleships. He had even used it to seize the Gale Pirates’ territory and annihilate the Inferno Pirates.
And now, he was about to face a counterattack from pirates across the entire Lather Kingdom.
Whether it was John or the Lather Pirate Alliance, neither side had anything to do with the Lather Kingdom itself.
If anything, the kingdom hoped the two sides would fight as brutally as possible.
That was why Karen alone understood that the deal he had made back then had somehow created such a miraculous pirate crew.
Karen shook his head again.
"To think John is actually this enthusiastic about being a pirate."
"He’s stirred the entire pirate world into a storm of blood and violence."
"Interesting."
He simply could not understand why someone so ridiculously wealthy would suddenly lose his mind and become a pirate, much less challenge nearly every pirate faction at sea.
Was there something wrong with his head?
What normal rich man would recklessly choose to become a pirate?
Weren’t pirates usually desperate paupers who had no other way to survive?
Karen could not understand John’s thinking at all.
The merchant guilds that heard the news were equally delighted.
To merchants, merchant ships were sheep, while pirates were wolves—their natural predators.
If the pirates were about to fight a decisive battle among themselves, then for the duration of that conflict, they obviously would not have the spare strength to continue raiding merchant vessels.
Merchant fleets could therefore reduce their security expenses, while the risk of being plundered would drop drastically.
Their profits would rise rapidly as a result.
The merchant guilds almost wished they could throw piles of gold directly at John, as long as he could keep the Pirate Alliance occupied.
Merchants had always been willing to pay almost any price for an advantage over their commercial rivals.
Many merchant guilds even secretly funded weaker pirate crews and used them to attack competing businesses.
Otherwise, where would the Maritime Kingdoms possibly get so much money to invest in pirates?
Much of that money ultimately came from the merchant guilds themselves.
Right now, those guilds wished the two pirate factions could fight for hundreds of years.
For them, there could hardly be better news.
Unfortunately, John’s strength on paper simply looked far too weak.
No matter how much money they poured into him, it might not change the outcome.
The grand Pirate Alliance had hundreds of thousands of men, more than ten thousand cannons, and over a thousand warships.
John, by comparison, had only tens of thousands of men and a few hundred cannons—perhaps a thousand at most.
That was hardly worth mentioning.
With such a shallow foundation, John actually dreamed of fighting the grand Pirate Alliance?
It was laughable.
So overall, the merchant guilds did not believe John was worth investing in.
Merchants only made deals that earned money.
Losing money was out of the question.
...
The upper classes of the Maritime Kingdoms treated the entire affair as little more than entertainment.
They did not care very much.
For noble lords such as them, there were far more important matters demanding their attention—acquiring more benefits, purchasing more estates, raising more heirs, and so on.
Other major factions across the Maritime Kingdoms also paid little attention to the coming battle.
The difference in strength between the two sides was simply too great.
There seemed to be almost no suspense at all.
The grand Pirate Alliance would undoubtedly win.
The only exception would be if John revealed that he was truly part of the Lather Kingdom’s Naval Corps and called the entire Naval Corps into battle.
But if the Naval Corps openly exposed itself, the pirates would never let the matter go.
If they could not retaliate directly against the Naval Corps, they would vent their anger on innocent civilians and merchant ships instead.
They would exploit the geography of the seas and create even more trouble for the Naval Corps.
In short, the pirates’ anger had to be released somehow.
At this moment, inside taverns across the various cities, news of the coming battle between John and the grand Pirate Alliance had become wildly popular.
For days, it had been the favorite topic of conversation among drinkers.
Some tavern owners had even openly established betting markets for the pirate showdown.
"Bet on the mysterious fleet to win and the grand Pirate Alliance to lose—100 to 1!"
"Bet on the grand Pirate Alliance to win and the mysterious fleet to lose—0.01 to 1!"
The odds alone made everyone’s opinion obvious.
Almost no one believed John could withstand the counterattack of pirates who had effectively mobilized the strength of an entire kingdom.
Instead, nearly everyone favored the grand Pirate Alliance.
After all, the disparity in their strength on paper was simply too enormous.
They were worlds apart.
Seeing that the original betting market was far too one-sided, the tavern owners quickly introduced new wagers.
"Mysterious fleet annihilated within 60 minutes of the battle beginning—1.5 to 1!"
"Mysterious fleet annihilated after 120 minutes but within 300 minutes—1.2 to 1!"
"Mysterious fleet annihilated after 300 minutes but within 600 minutes—1.7 to 1!"
Once these new options appeared, the drinkers immediately became far more interested.
"The mysterious fleet did manage to wipe out the Inferno Pirates, so they’ve got some strength. There’s no way they’ll be destroyed within sixty minutes. I’m betting they last more than 120 minutes but less than 300. This one’s guaranteed."
"Bullshit! With that tiny little fleet, they think they can fight the Pirate Alliance? Thirty minutes would already be impressive! I’m betting they’re wiped out within sixty minutes. Ten silver coins!"
"I’ll take the third option. The mysterious fleet lasts more than 300 minutes. Twenty silver coins!"
The tavern patrons were utterly convinced that John would lose.
The only thing they argued about was how long he could survive.
Some believed John’s fleet was powerful because it possessed a battleship and could therefore hold out for a long time.
Others insisted that compared with the Pirate Alliance, John’s fleet was pathetically weak and would collapse almost immediately.
Since no one could settle the argument, they simply voted with their money.
In the end, most people believed John would not last very long.
But then...
Almost overnight, one or two people began appearing at every tavern that offered betting.
At nearly the same time, each of them placed almost exactly the same wager—10 gold coins on John’s victory!