407 To Die and Atone

"Damn it!"

At these words, Poluoshala's expression changed sharply. He was an old hand in the business world too. As his thoughts took a turn, he sensed the suspiciousness of the matter in an instant:

That yellow-robed Daoist had a rather mysterious background, and the slaves he had captured were of unknown origins as well. Normally, such things were nothing unusual at sea. In today's maritime trade, among the hundreds of sea nations large and small, as well as cultivation sects, practically all practiced slavery. Slave-catching bands would even cross great distances into the interior, raiding populations near the coast before selling them off.

The overseas slave trade was black, white, or somewhere in the gray between; no one could clearly explain all the twists and turns within it. Whose hands did not hold a few troublesome goods?

Yet the yellow-robed Daoist's bearing and manner had all the marks of an old sea hand, thoroughly familiar with the ways of these waters. But if he truly understood the market, why would he so readily sell this batch of "goods" at a bargain after they had driven the price down to its lowest, letting their chamber of commerce reap every advantage?

"Damn it! Could those people really have eaten bear hearts and leopard gallbladders? They captured Pure Sea Lord's people from the Yanlong Kingdom, then sent them to me—are they trying to set up our Zhendan Chamber of Commerce?!"

Thinking this far, Poluoshala was both shocked and enraged. Still, he had some depth to him. For now, he merely darkened his face, his expression flickering between light and shadow, without revealing anything before his subordinates.

"Lord Poluoshala."

Among his men, a dark-skinned Sutuoluo man with gleaming white teeth quietly offered a suggestion.

"I think we should report this to General Viyasa