Chapter 109 - Black Sail XIV (1/2)
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Since Zhang Heng was scheduled to settle down here for at least ten years, so it was crucial for him to understand his surroundings better. To do that, he toured the entire Na.s.sau for a few days, conversing with everybody. This included fishmongers in the market to drunkards from the taverns, the prost.i.tutes on the street, shrewd businessmen in the trade center, and pirates that roamed the streets. The conversations could be either constructive or unpleasurable.
Nevertheless, throughout the entire process, Zhang Heng spent a total of 19 silver pesos. It was completely worth it, as it enabled him to peer into the window of life in Na.s.sau.
To the eyes of many, pirates were a band of lawless thugs poised to commit all sorts of heinous crimes. Technically speaking, they weren’t wrong, were those who chose the life of pirates were not exactly ‘clean’ in the first place. This was a reason why outsiders automatically a.s.sumed that a city managed by pirates must be made up of sin and chaos.
After digging his feet and feeling the sands around the place for some time, Zhang Heng no longer agreed with this conservative view. With thousands of hot-headed pirates in town ready to pick a drunken fight with anybody, n.o.body expected the city to be peaceful. This had turned Na.s.sau into a disorderly mess. However, if one was willing to look beyond all the street fighting, there was actually order amongst chaos.
Around 63 years ago, the first batch of European migrants settled on Na.s.sau, soon turning the place into a city and even building a castle for their king. In commemoration of King Charles, the town was christened as Charles Town. Not too long after that, the island’s residents realized that city expansion and catching fish was far less lucrative than luring s.h.i.+ps to the reef. When these vessels ran aground, they would plunder everything they came across. With the venture raking in ma.s.sive profit, most men on the island began to turn to piracy. Soon, when that wasn’t enough, they headed out to hunt for s.h.i.+ps instead of waiting for them.
At the same time, the geographical advantage of The Bahamas attracted other pirates here, where its maze of islands became the perfect camouflage from the navy’s prying eyes. It also proved a perfect stop for pirates from the Caribbean to stock up their vessels and in turn, disposing of all their stolen goods as well.
That was how the place called Na.s.sau was born, a name inspired by an English prince. Ironically, it had now turned into a pirate sanctuary.
After years of development, Na.s.sau came up with a unique trading system. Every pirate captain that docked in Na.s.sau would sell their stolen goods to black-market merchants, who in turn laundered the goods and sent them to Charleston, New York, and Boston. Such an operation provided them an obscene amount of profit without them having to risk their lives.
And that was the main source of income for Na.s.sau. Its brothel, casino, and taverns were mostly frequented by pirates. There were also professional appraisers setting shop on the island, responsible for evaluating the value of the plundered goods. Other than that, tipsters on the island would sell whatever information they had about merchant s.h.i.+ps to the resident pirates. The fishermen on the island were mostly there to feed the pirates. Lastly, prospective arm dealers and slave traders were active on this island as well, if you knew where to find them.
When it came to the ruler of Na.s.sau, there was none.
However, one organization on the island was responsible for maintaining its law an order. It consisted of black market merchants, pirate captains, and ultra-rich landowners.
Zhang Heng suspected that he had to be part of the organization if he ever wanted to build his own force. Unfortunately, this would prove difficult, to say the least. Excluding the landowners, the rest of the organization’s members were considered the pioneers of Na.s.sau, owning swathes of plantations, workforce, and armory.