The Girl and the Combat Puppets

Although Yexiya, the mastermind, had been defeated, three zombie sea monsters remained in the Central Ocean Waters. With pirates particularly active lately, cargo ships bound for the Western Continent dared not take the risk.

"How is the payment calculated?" Su Ming asked.

"By the ships' total tonnage. 0.3 gold coins per ton," Beianqi answered. "That's one-fifth of the normal price."

Su Ming looked at Beianqi in puzzlement. "Why is the offer so low?"

"Force of habit when doing business!" The girl covered her mouth and laughed. "Just kidding. The fact is, you won't be getting a bad deal, because this is an unprecedented convoy of over a hundred ships. There will also be other support vessels helping with the escort, so you won't have to worry about the little things."

"Support vessels? What do you mean?" Zijin asked.

"A few small and medium-sized escort ships," Beianqi said. "They're specifically equipped to handle all sorts of situations at sea. Fighting is only one part of maritime operations. Their combat strength poses no threat to the White Triangle, either."

"So we only need to deal with any tough opponents that might appear," Su Ming said. "And we'll get..." He made a quick estimate. "Eighty thousand gold coins?"

"It's a hundred thousand gold coins!" Beianqi answered. "That's a very high total. There's so much riding on this cargo convoy that the merchant guild is afraid of another accident. Besides, you've made quite a name for yourselves at sea lately."

To some extent, it was also a way of paying the White Triangle genuine "protection money."

"Trade between east and west across the sea has been interrupted for three months, and commodity prices have skyrocketed," Zijin said mildly. "The profits from this shipment must be staggering."

Beianqi nodded. "That's why the merchant guild can