Chapter 236
Competition in business was akin to the cruelty of an actual war .
Malcolm knew Carina’s weakness and quickly changed tactics from aggression to concession . This time, he threw a bait the businesswoman could never refuse .
If Carina wanted to expand her business, she couldn’t sorely rely on Jackdaw alone . It didn’t matter if it was flourishing her second-hand dealership or the private transactions with pirates from the black-market alliance – they were all retaliation to the obstacles Malcolm threw at her . Thus, there was no reason for her to turn down an opportunity laid before her feet .
Had Carina been given another six months, and being a quick learner at that, she would have solved her current predicament and turned her rags into riches . However, for obvious reasons, Malcolm was never going to allow her to do that .
“How much money do you have right now?” Zhang Heng asked .
“To get the business running again, I would need to throw in at least 700 gold coins . But then again, what’s the point of continuing anyway? We are bleeding money by the barrel . Before this, the business was slow, but now… now, we lose money every day, every hour, every minute,” she replied . There was a hint of frustration and exhaustion in her raspy voice, a rarity for her .
She had come across the most challenging time for her business . Strangely, no matter how hard she worked, she couldn’t seem to turn the situation around . An endless string of problems simply kept ramming into her .
Because they were expanding at an exponential rate, her capital reserves would not keep up with her expenditure . To make matters worse, the current market had reached a saturation point, with too much stock lying around and no buyers to take them . Then there was the problem of increased customs bribes and the local business’ boycotts – significant impediments that simply couldn’t be solved in such a short period .
“I can give you an additional 800 gold coins as a follow-up to my investment . On top of that, I can lend you 200 gold coins,” Zhang Heng said . During their last voyage, Jackdaw came back fully loaded . He made a simple calculation – as the captain, he and the founding members of Jackdaw would each get around 1200 gold coins – an indubitably tremendous amount of money .
With the newfound wealth, he could simply retire now, buy two plots of land, and live a comfortable life on the island . Nonetheless, Zhang Heng thought about how Roger Woode and his fleet would come back in a few years to recapture Nassau and how he refused to put his life at the mercy of others .
Roger Woode, the first governor in the history of Nassau, occupied the island with his fleet and pardoned most of the pirates there . However, Zhang Heng found it hard to believe that things would go that well for himself, especially given what he had done – including Scarborough, he had now attacked two navy fleets . Jackdaw, the pirate ship he now captained, had also been taken from the navy, not to mention that he was part of Queen Anne’s Revenge’ bombing of Charleston . Then, not long ago, he killed Worden, the highest-ranking navy commander of the British Caribbean .
With Blackbeard Teach missing, Black Sam dead, and Honegg retiring, Zhang Heng and his sailors were now the de facto top group of pirates on the whole island .
Should Roger Woode manage to take Nassau, many others would still have a chance to keep their lives, considering the fact that Nassau required a ton of young laborers to help develop the island . But not Zhang Heng . He would be among the first to be gotten rid of . So long Roger Woode’s head was attached to him, he would kill the chickens to scare the monkeys (to punish an individual as an example to others) .
On that account, even though Zhang Heng had already completed his primary mission, he couldn’t go on a vacation . Moreover, it was no longer just him alone . As the captain of Jackdaw, he was now responsible for the welfare of his sailors, all depending on him for stipends . And then there was Anne, of whom he looked after . Without his support, the competition between Carina and Malcolm would instantly be over, with Malcolm completely crushing her .
At this point, it was hard to think of himself or resign at the height of his prosperity .
“But in return, my share of the business must increase by 10%,” Zhang Heng said .
“That won’t be a problem . But are you sure you want to continue? At least in the short term, there won’t be much hope of making a profit . ”
“What if the Malcolm were to be resolved?” Zhang Heng asked .
Considering the windfall they got from their most recent expedition, Jackdaw’s sailors would most likely withdraw into a lengthy sabbatical, and it would probably be a while before they put to sea again . On top of that, the legendary battle of the Jackdaw had basically entrenched her dominance in the entire island of Nassau .
This meant Zhang Heng had enough time and energy to deal with the final opponents – Malcolm and his black-market alliance .
Although Carina’s business seemed to be bleak for now, she had made a strategic move that unwittingly pressured the black-market alliance . Regardless of whether Malcolm’s concessions were voluntary or not, his moves had indisputably caused this large-scale expansion of the used goods business .
The black-market alliance did not voice their doubts . Only Malcolm was assertive enough, foreseeing that he could afford it, whereas Carina couldn’t .
But when Zhang Heng returned with all that gold, it had become a whole total different ballgame altogether . One the other side, though, the black-market alliance lost five powerful pirate ships, the loss of Black Prince Sam and his Quidah, an especially big blow to them .
It appeared that Malcolm’s current situation might not be better than that of Karina .
In the early days of the black-market alliance’s establishment, they offered very favorable prices to the pirates, meaning that it also a time when their profits were at their lowest . Now that the number of powerful pirate ships was on a rapid decline, it was foreseeable that the amount of valuable loot would also decrease – aggravating an internal conflict that had been brewing within the black-market alliance .
Later that day, Zhang Heng secretly met up with Laeli behind Smoked Fish Alley .
During this period, the gladiator had also made a lot of progress . With Leah on the inside, Malcolm’s study could practically hide no secrets . She took the opportunity to go through his letters quietly each time she cleaned the room . To avoid being discovered by Malcolm, Leah did not take any of them but simply memorized any useful information she came across . Then, she would put them into writing, and have someone take the notes to Laeli .
Zhang Heng flipped through the notes, spotting some interesting messages . Along with the summary of the letters, Leah had also jotted down her impressions and analysis of Malcolm’s antics, which helped paint a more comprehensive picture of the man’s character . However, news regarding Carina’s father, Fegan, was only found in one letter .
Although it confirmed that Malcolm’s family had indeed contacted Count Slaughter, the man who framed Fegan, it wasn’t enough evidence to charge him for it . There was also a letter stating that Malcolm secretly invested in a parliament member of Whitehall and that he and Raymond’s son-in-law were political enemies .
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