Edward Newgate was an orphan.
Ever since he could remember, he had lived in an orphanage called the Orphanage of Lambs. It was said to be a child-rearing institution established by a pirate named White Wolf Magnus after he took control of all of Sphinx.
Sphinx was extremely poor.
Long before White Wolf Magnus arrived, the entire country had already been on the verge of collapse.
White Wolf Magnus's arrival stabilized Sphinx's order, killed the rampaging pirates, and allowed Sphinx to sit at the negotiating table with pirates.
From then on, Sphinx helped pirates fence their stolen goods, reselling the loot they plundered across the world.
In return, the pirates were forbidden from causing trouble in Sphinx.
Although Sphinx remained at a disadvantage when dealing with pirates, and the civilians living in the country were still poor,
a gray order was still better than chaotic lawlessness.
Thus, children born in Sphinx all admired White Wolf Magnus and the White Wolf Pirates. Many children dreamed of joining the White Wolf Pirates when they grew up, or becoming a Great Pirate like White Wolf Magnus.
Edward Newgate was no exception.
However, as time passed, White Wolf Magnus had not set foot in the country for more than a decade. Gradually, rumors spread that White Wolf Magnus was advanced in years and intended to retire.
At once, several Great Pirates confident in their own strength began testing the waters. When they discovered that the White Wolf Pirates did not react, they started seizing the enterprises Magnus had once left behind.
The order throughout Sphinx showed signs of collapsing once more.
And the ones who stepped forward at that time were three Great Pirates led by Black Heart Merchant Dukemon. Coveting the wealth generated by fencing pirate loot, they occupied all of Sphinx half a year ago.
At first, they acted in secret.
But with the three Great Pirates working together, the pirates became convinced that even if White Wolf Magnus returned, he would be unable to do anything to them. They became even more unrestrained.
The Orphanage of Lambs on Sphinx Island also went bankrupt during this period. All the orphans from the Orphanage of Lambs lost their shelter and could only become street punks and thieves, struggling between life and death.
Even so, there were still people who believed White Wolf Magnus would return again.
Until half a year ago.
A group of swindlers disguised themselves as the White Wolf Pirates and, after conning Black Heart Merchant Dukemon and the other two Great Pirates out of an enormous sum of two hundred million Berries, departed in grand fashion.
It was only half a month after the swindlers left that the Great Pirates led by Black Heart Merchant Dukemon received news that the White Wolf Pirates might have disbanded and realized they had been duped.
The three Great Pirates immediately flew into a rage.
They had obediently paid up only because they did not want to fight the White Wolf Pirates to the death and let other pirate crews reap the benefits. That did not mean they were truly afraid of the White Wolf Pirates.
But they could not find that band of swindlers. Even though they had suffered a loss, they could only swallow their broken teeth. Not only could they not publicize such a humiliating matter, they had to conceal it as much as possible.
Later, several more groups of swindlers appeared, using the White Wolf Pirates' name to profit. However, the three Great Pirates wiped them all out.
The reason Iron Hand Jod, a subordinate of the Undead Pirates, had sought out Magnus today was because he had taken him for yet another swindler using the White Wolf Pirates' name.
Who could have known that he had kicked an iron plate?
This time, it was not a fake, but the real White Wolf Magnus!
"Captain, you have to stand up for me!"
Iron Hand Jod clutched his severed hand and looked at his captain with tears and snot running down his face.
More than half of his strength lay in those hands. Now that Magnus had cut one off, his strength had greatly diminished. It was hard to say whether he could even keep his current position.
"Damn it, did you see clearly? Was that really White Wolf Magnus?"
Wrapped head to toe in bandages, Undead Jason wore an irritated expression.
When he first received the news, he had thought it was another impostor. But Jod's hand had been cut off, and quite a few pirates had personally witnessed "White Wolf Magnus" split half a harbor town apart with a single slash.
Strength like that could not be faked.
After fifteen years, White Wolf Magnus had truly returned. And the moment he returned, he severely injured Jason's right-hand man, giving him a show of force.
"You old bastard, you're already so old. Why can't you just obediently die?"
Undead Jason was filled with resentment.
The profits of Sphinx were terrifying. At least several hundred pirate crews passed through every year, and the value of the stolen goods alone exceeded one billion Berries.
Moreover, after years of development, the entertainment establishments on Sphinx Island had gradually become more complete. It was no longer merely a place to fence goods, but also a pleasure den for making money from pirates.
The annual profits he alone could receive amounted to over one hundred million Berries.
Under such circumstances, making Undead Jason give up money already in his hands was more painful than killing him.
No pirate force that became a Great Pirate would be content with ordinary plundering. It was time-consuming and laborious, and carried the risk of being pursued by the Marines.
They preferred to use their reputations to develop underground forces and operate all kinds of gray-market businesses.
Undead Jason had invested too much into Sphinx. If he now handed Sphinx over on a silver platter, how could he continue making a name for himself on these seas?
Therefore, Undead Jason planned to contact the other two Great Pirates on Sphinx Island.
He did not believe they would be willing to hand over the benefits in their grasp.
Sure enough.
Before Undead Jason could contact them himself, the Great Pirates from the other two factions came to his door.
Black Heart Merchant Dukemon.
Gargantua Moz.
Black Heart Merchant Dukemon was a middle-aged man with a mustache and a black tailcoat, while Gargantua Moz was just like his nickname: a massive man over seven meters tall.
It was said that Gargantua Moz had Giant race blood flowing through his body.
"We can't just hand Sphinx over like this."
Black Heart Merchant Dukemon got straight to the point as soon as he arrived.
"We spent several years building Sphinx into what it is today. White Wolf Magnus comes back and wants to take Sphinx back? How could there be such an easy bargain in this world?"
Not once did he mention that Sphinx's development had originally been part of Magnus's plans. If they had not interfered so wantonly, Sphinx might have developed even better.
"Moz agrees."
Gargantua Moz's voice rumbled dully.
"Want money? No!"
"Want my life? Take it!"
Seeing that the other two Great Pirates, both with higher bounties than his own, were unwilling to surrender Sphinx, Undead Jason's face lit up with delight.
"As far as I know, the White Wolf Pirates aren't all here. Only Captain Magnus came, and the other two crew members aren't very strong."
If the entire White Wolf Pirates crew had come, Undead Jason would truly have had to consider whether fighting them to the death was worth it.
But with only White Wolf Magnus here, things were different.
"We're all Great Pirates with bounties exceeding one hundred million, and our pirates combined number over ten thousand. Even if he is White Wolf Magnus, he can't possibly kill us all!"
Undead Jason declared spiritedly.
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