Chapter 176 - Pincer Movement (1/2)

Once the helmsman was gone, Hutcheson spoke again.

“I’m afraid I can’t accept this deal. What am I supposed to tell my crew later? Am I supposed to tell them that the other two ships received the same amount of loot, but we are the only one receiving less?”

“This has nothing to do with the captain’s prowess? Amongst the three ships, you guys are the weakest one amongst the three pirate ships. If your crew is wise enough, they should know that this deal makes perfect sense,” said Black Prince Sam.

“Hmph! If thye were wise enough in the first place, they would never have chosen the pirate’s life then. Please, the two of you are captains as well. You know that these shoes are hard to fill as well. I’m fine with the deal, but I can’t accept it just like that. Otherwise, my crew would think I’m weak. They’d kick me off the ship even before I return home!”

“There’s nothing we can do,” said Black Prince Sam. “I’m not asking you to change the terms, but isn’t there anything you can do to make it seem a little less obvious?”

“Eh?”

“I’m willing to give my privilege of selecting the loot first, and yes, I’ll accept the deal. The least you could do is make me look good in front of my crew.”

“What do you have in mind? How are we going to take down the Goddess’ Spear later?” asked Hutcheson.

“As usual, we attack them with our cannons first. Once they surrender, we’ll send a boarding party. All their sailors are real men. I believe you’ve heard about the Pelican incident, right? We have to make sure that we are well prepared before we attack them. Let’s each send 20 pirates to board the Goddess’ Spear later.”

“What if I choose not to join the fight? With that, I’ll be able to convince my crew that we got lesser loots because we didn’t join the fight.”

“So, you want a share of the loot without participating in the fight?!”

“Technically, I’m saying that I’m only joining the fight that happens on the ship. Of course, we, too, will fire on them during our coordinated attack later. After that, I will help you to secure the perimeter when you send your men to board their ship. I will stand guard and make sure no other external forces interrupt us. This is so that I can calm my crew after they find out they’re getting a lesser portion. Though the Goddess’ Spear is fearless, they not no idiots. They know that there is no way they can defeat three pirate ships at the same time. In other words, it is implausible that they’ll set up an ambush when we board them. Am I right?”

Black Prince Sam then took a look at Zhang Heng. He instantly realized that Black Prince Sam had accepted Hutcheson’s proposal. It was out of courtesy, that he asked for Zhang Heng’s opinion first.

“I’m fine with it.”