"Sit down."
After passing through the small garden unique to the seaside villa, Duan Qing pushed the door and entered the mansion in front of him. Then after a few steps, he saw the large living room of the mansion. Various luxurious decorations were mixed in.
There are trophies from all over the world hanging in every corner of this mansion, and a bearded man dressed casually with an iron hook on his hand is also sitting on the animal skin sofa among these trophies: "You
Is he that courageous adventurer? I didn’t expect..."
"You will deliver it to me at this time."
"I came here this time mainly to confirm something to you."
As if knowing that he might not have a good relationship with the other party, Duan Qing stated his purpose of coming very simply: "I wonder if your Excellency...can you answer that?"
"Confirmed?" Tielin, the candidate for the second throne of the Free City, raised half of his eyelids: "Ha, did you come to my territory to die just to verify it?"
"That's it."
Under the watchful eyes of the black-clad bodyguards standing in the surrounding corners, Duan Qing took two steps forward with an indifferent expression: "Adventurers have always acted arbitrarily... You who often take risks must have felt the same way."
"I'm not one of those unlucky guys who always like to use death to prove their courage." Tielin, who was sitting there carelessly, waved his hand disdainfully and focused on the skull of a giant beast placed next to him.
: "Although they are a little more arrogant compared to me when I was young, in terms of strength... they are really far behind."
"...Are these all trophies you got when you were young?" Duan Qing's eyes moved away from the huge skull and turned around in the living room surrounded by armor and animal skins: "What if
If you are really an adventurer, you will probably become a great adventurer."
"..."
"I know that for you, death may really be nothing."
Looking at Tielin's gradually silent reaction and the unkind eyes staring at him, Duan Qing, who was standing on the spot, waved his hand indifferently: "But... there are many things in this world that are more important than life. I don't know, sir.
Do you own it?"
"...more important than life?" Tielin snorted disdainfully: "There must be a limit to the nonsense. Young boy, what else in this world...can be more important than life?"
"Wealth, value, love, or freedom." Duan Qing listed it casually: "Of course, specific people will have specific pursuits, and it is not uncommon to give up life for them, such as dreams, and... commitments
and vows.”
He showed a smile and took two steps forward again: "I wonder if you... have something like this, Master Tielin?"
Tielin, who was sitting in the middle of the animal skin soft seat, was completely silent this time, and the sharpness in his eyes became more intense. Duan Qing, who felt this, also sat in the seat that Tielin pointed to before.
Above: "The power structure of the Free City is very special. The relationship between the city lord and you, as the Twelve Thrones, is also a kind of enemy and friend. In order to get the throne at your fingertips, the owner of the Twelve Thrones may not necessarily be everywhere.
In matters of business, you obey the orders of the city lord, and judging from past history... it is not uncommon for you to replace each other."
"As a representative of the principality, I have personally experienced two large-scale throne battles since I came here, which I have never encountered in other places..." Duan Qing touched his nose.
: "Presumably this kind of situation happened frequently in the past, right?"
"...What do you want to say?"
"Is there a bond, or...an oath, that maintains your fragile relationship?"
As the two people looked at each other, Duan Qing pointed at the top of his head: "Even if you kill each other, you must maintain the existence and dignity of the Free City?"
"...I hate beating around the bush."
After staring at Duan Qing silently for a long time, Tielin fell back into the animal skin behind his seat: "What exactly do you know?"
"What I know needs to be decided based on your answer."
Reaching out and taking out a roll of parchment, Duan Qing replied with a smile: "I hope to know the specific content of this contract and...the meaning of those signatures."
There was no sound for a moment in the center of the huge living room. Only the scraping sound of the parchment Duan Qing placed on the central table still echoed here. Under the slight movement of the khaki animal skin under his feet, a strong man with a beard wearing a hook
Suddenly he sat up from his seat: "This thing..."
Different from what Duan Qing imagined, his face showed full of surprise: "Where did you get this thing...?"
"...a ruins, traced by the clues provided by the pirates." Duan Qing replied in a low voice: "Why, don't you know that place?"
"Of course I know that place, but that place should have been..."
After waving the parchment in his hand for a while, Tielin finally put down his hand: "Well... that's all, if you risk-taking adventurers, maybe you can really discover that place..."
"Have you never been to that place?" Duan Qing laughed: "Then why do you know?"
"Of course I know."
Muttering such words in a low voice, Tielin lowered his head slightly: "This is a legend that has been passed down since my grandfather's grandfather. How could I not know..."
"...It seems that I have found the right person." Duan Qing nodded with satisfaction: "So...do you know who the names under this contract are?"
"How do you know I will answer you?" Tielin, who was holding the parchment in both hands, raised his eyebrows: "Or...why were you able to find my head?"
"I did some research on the owners of the Twelve Thrones in the Free City, and the one who is most likely to become a pirate... seems to be you." Duan Qing replied with a smile: "Although the pirates burned, killed and looted, they still
You are the outspoken type, right? You must not hesitate to answer questions about your glorious past."
"That's not a glorious history, because no one can truly rule the ocean." Tielin slowly shook his head: "But since even people like you have asked me about it, there's nothing wrong with telling you...
…”
"I am Tielin, Blackbeard Tielin, Crooked Hook Tielin." He patted the iron hook on his hand and showed a confident smile: "At the same time... I was also called Captain Tielin.
The leader of the Hook Pirates who rule the waters near Liberty City."
"It sounds very majestic." Duan Qing clapped his hands slightly: "But...will the Free City allow you to become a member of the center of power?"
"Don't pretend to be stupid, kid. Since you came to me with this contract...it means you have understood a lot of things." Tielin shook off the parchment in his hand: "Everyone is a sensible person, and you are still trying to trick me.
What are you doing here and there? The Free City is a city composed of a bunch of pirates... Now that things have happened, there is nothing to hide about this matter."
"..."
"Well, that's how it used to be."
Looking at Duan Qing who was still looking at him, the bearded man scratched his cheek: "After such a long time, the twelve people now... there are few of them who are truly pirates."
"In other words... the former Free City was originally a stronghold established by pirates?"
"Don't think too much, it turns out that this is not the nest of pirates." Tielin laughed twice: "We are so rampant that we cannot become a legal force recognized by the Free Continent. After all, we are still robbing ships.
, so the City of Freedom at that time... was indeed established with everyone’s recognition.”
"Because...this contract?"
"Yes, it's because of this contract."
Holding up the slightly damaged sheepskin scroll in his hand, Tielin also had a look of sadness on his face: "Our ancestors... established a city of pirates, a city of freedom."
"As expected." Duan Qing sighed and nodded: "So the City of Freedom is not the mastermind behind some pirates. On the contrary... you are the masters of this city."
"It used to be like this."
Tielin waved his hand indifferently: "I have grown up in this city since I was a child, but I have never seen many real pirates. In order to inherit the glory of my ancestors, I abandoned my family and ran to the sea to fight.
After a few years of messing around, those crappy shrimps on the sea were indeed as weak as I imagined, and they casually accepted me under their command. So when I returned to the Free City, I was no longer Putris.
The family’s Tielin is actually Tielin, the leader of the East China Sea Wind pirate group.”
"Putris?"
"Yes, it's the Putris in the contract." Tielin smiled and pointed at a certain place on the parchment: "Palin Putris... that's my ancestor."
"The Wind of Freedom Pirates... sounds like it has a long history." Duan Qing pondered and nodded: "Isn't this how the name Freedom City came about, right?"
"That's not true. I heard that it was just pirates who yearned for freedom who took it at will." Tielin touched his chin: "At that time, in order to appease us maritime overlords, many people came over to discuss with us, hoping to use a large number of
The pirates fighting each other made us really settle down. I heard from my fathers that many pirates at that time were actually struggling in war and survival, so... you should also know the subsequent results. They signed
I made this contract, and in accordance with the contents of this contract, I came to where this city is now."
"Many people contributed money to build this city, including several small seaside countries at the time, as well as neutral forces from other parts of the Free Continent." Tielin said with a proud laugh again:
"In order to appease our ancestors, they have done their best. From this perspective... the city of Liberty is the real treasure of the pirates."
"No wonder this city's behavior is so... unique." Duan Qing nodded and replied: "Everywhere is full of violence."
"Oh, that has nothing to do with us people." Tielin's face darkened: "Affected by the pirates' temperament, the Free City has indeed acquired some smell of the sea. Not many people can handle such a smell at first.
Accept, so in the first few years... this city dominated by pirates was still incompatible with other forces on the mainland. However, as time passed, many foreign forces survived the elimination, and among them
Many people have adapted to the life of the weak and the strong, and in the end, through such rules... they have climbed to the top of power."
"Among the current forces in the Free City, there are not many pirate families from the past." At this point, he sighed and replied: "Even among the generations who became city lords, there are not many who are still alive now.
Already."
"But there are still many pirates on the endless sea..."
"Them? Haha, they have nothing to do with us. They are all a bunch of low-class rats, real bandits and desperadoes." Laughing loudly at Duan Qing's question, Tielin waved his hand toward the east of the mansion: "
They are not even as good as these small gangs in the city, how can they be called real pirates? Back then, I could defeat them all by myself, let alone those prominent pirate families!"
"Who are the existing pirate families?" Duan Qing raised his question at the right time: "Can you introduce them?"
"It's very simple. It's all written on it anyway." Tielin picked up the ancient parchment page again: "The Kenparela family is no longer here. I heard that they moved out of the city early and went to other places.
They went to the country where everyone in the Stalim family was dead, as well as the Kirk family, and they were thrown into the sea to feed the fish together with those guys who like to ask questions... Hey, speaking of it, you like to ask questions.
Shouldn’t this guy be thrown into the sea too?”
"In the face of old pirates like you, it seems reasonable for those record-keepers to be killed." Duan Qing smiled and shook his head: "But... about my handling of the issue, can we wait until the answer is completed?
"
"Oh, what else do you want to know?" Tielin shook the piece of parchment: "Although it is somewhat damaged, the general meaning on it is nothing more than 'give up your identity as a pirate and stay in the East for the rest of your life'..."
"The key lies in those...names I have never heard of." Duan Qing pointed to the bottom of the parchment: "For example...this guy named Carlsim Monterey, which pirate group is he?
Where are the people?”
"He? He is the owner of Port Cassimus and the owner of Cape Seawatch. Have you seen this seal? This is also his seal." Tielin shook his head and replied: "There is no building in the Free City.
In the past, there were not many safe harbors for pirates on the East China Sea coast, so this guy likes to call his dark harbor Cape Cape. I heard it means a safe harbor... Actually, he wants to be alone and watch us secretly.
Just eat outside, hahahaha..."
"So Port Cassimus is actually Cape Seaview..." Duan Qing muttered to himself helplessly, moving his finger downwards a little: "Then...where is this man named Molnar?"
"Mornar?"
Looking at the ancient signature at the bottom, Tielin's voice became hesitant: "This name..."
"I don't think I've heard of it."
This chapter has been completed!