Mulan had known little about life on the ocean. Although he had crammed in some research before this mission, most of it concerned the Pirate King. As he gained the Pirate King's trust, however, his undercover life among the pirates became less unpredictable, allowing him to understand them more thoroughly.
Jewel Island hosted a grand island gathering every few years. The Pirate King usually decided when it would take place; the longest interval had been seven years, and even the shortest had been three.
In a sense, the gathering on Jewel Island even determined some of the rules governing the ocean. The pirates had such a powerful presence at sea that the rules between them could affect the entire ocean.
Depending on their ranking and strength, pirate crews had their own spheres of influence and primary operating grounds, as well as a certain degree of authority over other pirates. Their rules also affected global maritime trade, influencing merchants' choice of routes or forcing them to pay protection money under the table.
The pirate ecosystem had long since become more than simple plundering. It involved people all over the world and formed a link in the global economy.
Of course, much of this so-called pirate economy could not bear the light of day in Mulan's eyes.
Plundering was not the only issue. Smuggling and protection rackets were inevitable, but even the slave trade, abolished under treaties between the world's major nations, still continued among the pirates.
The pirates and certain merchants called this filthy but immensely profitable business the "raw meat" or "cooked meat" trade. Raw meat meant the straightforward buying and selling of people, while cooked meat referred to high-quality slaves who had been trained into submission. These came in all varieties, catering to the demands and private desires of