Entering the month of May officially.

The New Continent welcomed the first large-scale storm of this summer.

As the fierce hurricane from the Black Sea, carrying a massive amount of rain, struck most of the east coast of the New Continent, a thunderous piece of news exploded in the already turbulent Golden Sea.

Rumble rumble rumble...

Crash crash crash...

The mighty power of nature has dominated this sea.

In the Golden Sea's not-too-small pirate private port "Coconut Tree Port," various ships had already filled up the place to shelter from the storm.

The noisy "Juniper Gin Tavern" on the island contrasted with the thunderstorm outside, forming two different worlds.

Here, pirates of all sizes, smugglers, and sea hunters who traverse the dark areas... all kinds of people gather, and of course, they bring along cutting-edge news from various places.

At this time.

After two Creole women in colorful skirts ended a charming and explicit dance, thoroughly igniting the lively atmosphere in the tavern.

Swaying their enchanting slender waists, they returned backstage along the narrow passage between the pirates, not avoiding the groping hands, even flirtatiously joking with familiar faces.

"Hehehe..."

"Jenny, wait for me tonight! Hahaha..."

Evidently, in this pirate private port, their profession was not just as simple as dancers.

Here, women act like catalysts, amidst the faint teasing, pirates who don't know how long they've been away from land have their hormones skyrocketing.

The movements when spending money became extraordinarily generous, even their alcohol intake and voices increased significantly.

And the topics among the pirates, of course, inevitably included women, wine, and... treasure!

"Aha! This old Sam's juniper gin really hits the spot!"

A group of sea hunters whose appearances weren't much better than the pirates were gathered, chatting boisterously. A middle-aged man with red-black, rough skin like a rock cheerfully exhaled a breath of alcohol.

Then he said mysteriously to his group of comrades:

"Hey! My friends, have you heard?

'Treasure Hunter' Dawn Jones discovered a complete temple dedicated to the Sun God Inti from the Gashna Empire in the Cordillera Mountain Range of the Southern New Continent.

It's said to be filled with countless treasures left from the Gashna Imperial period!"

Attracting the attention of everyone at the table, he continued:

"But when Dawn Jones united several explorers' forces to muster people for preliminary exploration, word leaked out and they were caught red-handed by the Hilus regular army.

Soon after, a large number of Gashna remnant people from the nearby Chaotic Territory Kabral joined in.

Now several sides are fighting tooth and nail in the southern primitive jungle!"

The middle-aged sea hunter anticipated his fellow hunters' shocked expressions upon hearing the secret news, but unexpectedly, one among them bluntly dismissed it, even sarcastically mocking him, taking advantage of the drunken mood:

"Weber, how long have you been off the mainland? Your news is outdated!

I heard that Dawn Jones has already obtained the Succession Golden Crown from the temple of the Gashna Empire and left the New Continent by ship."

Voices chimed in from those at the table:

"Tsk tsk tsk... this is the crown of an empire!

Though the nation has utterly fallen, if you could bring such a treasure back home, trading it with the king for a baron title wouldn't be a problem, right?

Who would want to remain a sea hunter after becoming a noble lord? How come we don't have such luck?"

As everyone was enviously discussing their fellow sea hunter, Dawn Jones' fortune, suddenly someone at the pirate table beside them let out a sneer:

"A crown from an aboriginal country's downfall, aside from looking pretty, what else is it good for? Is that considered a treasure? Truly a bunch of bumpkins, never seen the world!"

Before the group of sea hunters could turn their heads and explode in anger.

The pirate leader at the head of the table, wearing a floral-patterned headscarf with an iron hook for a left hand, raised his glass and leisurely took a sip of amber rum, then spoke unhurriedly:

"Haven't you heard about the Great Pirate 'White Knight' raiding the Hilus Golden Post Road?"

"The Hilus Golden Post Road?! The annual gold and silver shipments only happen twice from the West Coast colony of the New Continent?

The original reason for the name Golden Sea? It's been raided?"

The sea hunters' fury hadn't yet erupted when this news stunned them, leaving them staring at each other in disbelief.

"Iron Hook Hand," being part of the pirate crew, naturally let his biases shape his mind, genuinely believing pirates are far superior to sea hunters, speaking with pride as if sharing in the glory:

"Compared to someone like Dawn Jones, scurrying away with a trinket right under the Hilus regular army's nose.

The Great Pirate 'White Knight' slaughtered the Hilus treasure escort guard and completely looted nearly a hundred thousand Golden Lions' worth of gold and silver, a true pirate hero!

This really gave the Hilus people a slap in the face, utterly satisfying!"

The red-faced middle-aged sea hunter at the beginning, hearing those numbers, shook his head vigorously, almost thinking he'd misheard, clearing his ears and asking his friend beside him: "Worth a hundred thousand?! How much does the golden crown of Gashna weigh?"

"It's supposedly about 3.5 kilograms."

For these rather pragmatic sea hunters, compared to a crown with mere symbolic significance, the tangible weight of real gold and silver was far more astonishing.

"You... you're not just blowing smoke, are you? The Hilus Golden Post Road has never been raided before!"

Mere words naturally invited skepticism.

"Iron Hook Hand" just laughed heartily, casting a glance at the group of pirates on the other side of the bar:

"Heh heh, Hilus has ruled the New Continent for nearly a hundred years, everything has a first time, and there will be more in the future.

Come, come, let me show you what's this? Open your eyes!"

Bang—

A gold bar weighing one kilogram, clearly belonging to the Hilus standard specifications, was thrown onto the table by him.

The brilliant and noble glow instantly captured the attention of most people in the tavern. For these criminals and potential criminals, nothing is more alluring than the luster of gold.

However, when they saw the pirate leader's signature cold gleaming iron hook, their restless hearts were instantly restrained.

"That's 'Iron Hook' Brano under the pirate king 'Dead Bone' Rudolph! Is it really him?"

The eyes of the crowd then shifted back to the gold bar on the table, more precisely to the prominent Hilus Flame Emblem imprinted on the gold bar!

Sss—

"By the God of Black Wings! It really is true, this is an unprecedented feat in the history of the Golden Sea pirates! The Hilus' gold was really plundered, and even spent immediately!"

A wave of gasps came from the poorly informed pirates.

"Do you think even with the recent rampant plundering of surrounding countries' colonies by Hilus people and the Pirate King 'Oathbreaker', the total gains from those could compensate for this loss?"

Someone in the crowd asked a question, and the tavern fell silent instantly, with many people sneaking a glance at a group of pirates wearing uniform leather clothing on the other side of the tavern.

Clatter—

Chairs and tables were pushed aside.

A group of pirates, each with a Crowned Skull Blood-Dripping Saber insignia on them to some extent, stood up, sweeping silent glances around the tavern before pushing open the door and walking into the storm.

"Hahaha, those who've lost the pirate dream and pride, fawning over the Hilus people's lackeys, are anxious now. Go wag your tails to your masters!"

Only the faint laughter of "Iron Hook" Brano could be heard from behind.

The factions under the two Pirate Kings of the Golden Sea never really got along. Although direct conflicts were avoided as much as possible, he certainly wasn't going to miss an opportunity to mock the others.

"By the way, do you think the dazzling 'White Knight' will recruit people next?"

The pirates in the bar instantly had their eyes light up, as if seeing a turning point in their lives!

Not only at "Coconut Tree Port," but private pirate ports all around the Golden Sea, and even in the Mist Sea's Sunken Ship Bay, many people were getting restless.

....

To say this thunderous news in the pirate community might just be an excellent topic of conversation for a long time.

After all, apart from the "Oathbreaker" faction, most pirates haven't suffered any actual loss from this or prior disturbances.

But on a national level, it was akin to a magnitude twelve earthquake, sweeping through the New Continent colonies of all nations.

Hilus, especially, having suffered the most loss, felt nothing better than the sky was falling.

Serving as the headquarters of Hilus's New Continent defense force, Fort Navedad has been shrouded in a low-pressure atmosphere in recent days, like the eye of a storm looming over.

Bang—

Succession of unexpected events made Admiral Trevier's face as cold as granite, his gaze like a sharp knife as he scanned his senior officers, slamming his palm onto the conference table.

"Damn! These lawless pirates want the whole world to know of their accomplishments.

The morale that had been calmed by the promise of full salary is stirring up again, truly deserving of death!

Who this great pirate White Knight is, remains unknown even now! New Hilus's Vice King Flavio has urged several times, and his words are increasingly severe."

A heavy tap of the fleet command saber in his hand, he looked at one of the officers present and said:

"The escort fleet has been wiped out; naval strength is now highly strained.

Inform Bradley the 'Oathbreaker' via the Order Officer, and use the pirates' eyes and ears to drag that daring bastard out for me as quickly as possible.

In the meantime... speed up the plundering to recover the losses, that's all!"

"Yes, sir!"

As the incident gradually fermented.

Initially, people from other nations were skeptical, not knowing where this White Knight popped up from and whether the plundering incident was even real.

But as a small portion of differently-sized gold, with Flame Emblem minted purposefully leaked by Aiven, circulated in the market, all doubts vanished.

The entire informed populace within the Golden Sea's range erupted!

It also injected the newly formed Anti-Hilus Alliance with a dose of invigoration, while they, envious, accelerated their own actions.

What happened next even ignited a blaze in the burgeoning pirate career of the Tulip Alliance.

Because... the Tulip Maritime Court accepted the application from that White Knight, declaring that giant amount of gold and silver as enemy state resources, completely legal!

Despite Phaletis's "dual policy", their actions remained covert.

However, the limited spread of the verdict dispelled the last doubts of "ambitious youths", elevating this obviously privateer-licensed "White Knight" to the status of a hero!

As they prepared to head for the New Continent.

The recruitment announcement for the pirate gang established by the great pirate White Knight also spread widely within certain circles, becoming the preferred choice of "ambitious youths" in the New and Old Continents.

With a fierce black dragon head as the pirate gang's emblem, it was named the "Dragon Cavalry Pirate Gang"!

Aiven's plan to make a name for himself received a return far exceeding expectations!

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