The pinnacle of pirates begins with deceiving fate!

John blinked and began to wonder if the marines of Branch 153 could be sold for a billion dollars.

The market price for an adult male human slave is around 500,000 Berries. The 153rd branch, plus the wounded marines lying in bed, has a total strength of 1,000 men.

It only sold for 500 million pegories?

No, they're packaged up and given to slave traders, not directly to buyers. The slave traders have to make a cut in the middle; the price per person might be reduced to 200,000 Berries.

In other words, a thousand marines would only sell for 200 million Berries?

"You say they're unrelated, but if you include me, it'll definitely exceed a billion!"

John remembered his bounties in the Navy and the underworld, which totaled over 11 billion!

"just you?"

Old Shields looked John up and down, then shook his head in disdain.

"You pretty boy who only knows how to please women, you're only worth a million Berries at most."

"You're talking nonsense! I..."

John opened his mouth to refute, but then suddenly remembered something.

Since Captain John was now dead, the bounty on his head was naturally withdrawn.

He's worthless now!

They immediately changed their tune.

"Stop giving me that crap. I won't work if I don't get paid! Don't think I'm some kind of Philoese who's easy to fool!"

Faced with John's shamelessness, old Shields was not angry this time, but instead sighed and lowered his head.

"I heard from Lina that you owe tens of millions in high-interest loans?"

"I can pay you for your labor, but only ten million Berries, no more!"

After experiencing life and death, old Shells deeply realized the importance of family ties. To compensate for forcing his daughter to marry the son of the Grand Councilor, he decided to give this villain who stole his daughter's "heart" a little treat.

He'd do anything to make his daughter happy!

"Did Lina tell you?"

John's eyes gleamed; he hadn't expected Sabrina to actually be raising money for his lies.

That stupid woman!

"Actually, I lied to her just to get her to leave me. You should go back and talk to her. I can't give her the happiness she wants."

John waved his hand impatiently, signaling that old Shields could leave.

He is really afraid of others giving him their true feelings.

Old Shields, however, refused and slammed his cane heavily on the floor.

"Now everyone knows that Lina had an affair with you. You must take responsibility and marry Lina!"

"Don't give me that crap. I haven't even settled the score with you for colluding with pirates to murder me yet!"

When pressured, John immediately triggered his rebellious streak, stood up, pointed at old Shields, and started cursing.

"If it weren't for Lina's sake, I would have already killed you!"

Upon hearing this, old Shields' pupils suddenly contracted, and his voice softened with a slight tremor.

"You...you told Lina about this?"

He was terrified that his daughter would hate him if she knew all this, and that their relationship would completely plummet.

"No, I don't want Lina to lose her only support."

John grew increasingly agitated, sat back down in his chair, lit a cigarette, and began puffing away.

Chapter 62 The True Supreme Great Sword!

Old Shields left, promising before he went that his servant would deliver ten million Berries as payment for his work.

John remained silent and did not respond.

The more you experience, the more you know the ugliness of human nature, and the more you understand how precious a sincere heart is.

But he couldn't stop now, and he couldn't go back...

Into the night

The stars twinkled, a gentle breeze swept through the mountains and forests, causing the grass to sway and the insects to chirp.

Beside the roughly two-meter-wide rammed earth road, heavy shadows swayed among the bushes, crouching and hiding, blending into the night.

"Wasn't the plan to withdraw tax payments cancelled? Why has it been restarted?"

Dorrag, clutching his flintlock pistol, lay prone on the grass and turned to look at Vincent beside him.

Vincent frowned, his face filled with doubt.

"Actually, the naval officer who agreed to sell me weapons was Captain Burns. With his death, the plan was naturally canceled."

“But not long ago Captain Gavin Reed came to me and said that Major John, the new base commander of Branch 153, wanted to continue doing business with me.”

He knew this Major John, the outstanding navy officer who had saved him on their first meeting.

I just don't understand how such a "righteous" navy would engage in illegal arms trafficking for money.

They even recommended an even better target to him.

Because the town of Shells was damaged, the residents were unable to pay their taxes, so the Leon royal family had to grant the town a grace period of three percent interest before the taxes were due.

In other words, it's impossible to collect taxes from Shells Town in the short term.

The target recommended by Major John was Kurz, a town adjacent to Shields, which was twice the size of Shields.

This means that the taxes are also twice that of Shells!

Vincent only considered it briefly before deciding to take action against the taxes of Kurz town.

Although the residents of Kurtz had never bullied the Felose people, their taxes were still ultimately paid to the Kingdom of Leon.

The guards escorting the taxes were also dispatched by the Leon royal family. Once the taxes were in the hands of the guards, they had nothing to do with the town of Kurtz.

Since both sides are robbing the Leon royal family of their taxes, it doesn't matter who they target.

"That Major John..."

Dorag frowned, feeling as if he had seen John somewhere outside of Shells, but he couldn't quite place it.

And one thing is for sure: this Major John is extremely dangerous!

豱辱辱辘

The sound of wooden wheels rolling over the rammed earth road rose up, growing clearer and clearer as it approached.

Before long, a carriage escorted by ten royal guards appeared, with a wooden treasure chest on the carriage frame that was very conspicuous.

"Let's do it!"

Seeing the target approaching, Vincent didn't hesitate at all, letting out a roar and rushing out of the bushes first.

Dorrag and more than thirty slaves rescued from the slave-catching ship followed closely behind, surrounding the escort team.

This was a battle with no suspense whatsoever. Dragon and his men easily defeated the guards and stole the carriage without even firing a single shot.

Late at night, at the port.

The distant horizon cast shimmering light in the darkness, and the barbecue grills, illuminated by the bright searchlights on the harbor shore, emitted wisps of smoke as the meat sizzled and filled the air with a delicious aroma.

John, with a cigar in his mouth, flipped the grilled meat with a metal skewer in one hand and sprinkled chili powder evenly on it with the other.

Reed stood to the side, holding a straight-backed black knife with both hands with some difficulty, examining it closely under the searchlight.

"The blade, the weight, the texture, the craftsmanship! Excellent! A peerless sword..."

His words of praise abruptly stopped. Reed squinted and held the black knife to his face, noticing five small characters on the side of the blade.

"The Supreme Grade Sword?"

"What the hell?! What kind of sword is named 'Supreme Grade Sword'?!"

Reed glared at John, who was happily munching on beer and barbecue, his eyes full of resentment at being mocked.

John swallowed the roast meat, took a puff of his cigar, and exhaled smoke as he said:

"Never mind what it's called, just tell me if it's a good knife or not."

"This……"

Reed loosened his grip, and the "Supreme Greatsword" fell with gravity, easily plunging into the concrete floor like a hot knife through butter.

“I have never seen a true Supreme Grade Sword, but this sword is much sharper and harder than my ‘Greedy Wolf’. In terms of craftsmanship, it has definitely reached the level of a Supreme Grade Sword.”

"That's right."

John shook his head smugly.

This "Supreme Grade Sword" was hand-forged by him using lightning metallurgy, and the material used is a special alloy. Apart from the black blade tempered with Haki, it can be said to be stronger than all other swords currently in use.

"With it here, the Twelve Supreme Grade Swords should be renamed the Thirteen Supreme Grade Swords from now on."

The term "twelve crafts" does not refer to twelve different techniques or twelve different processes. Rather, it means that this level of craftsmanship only includes twelve knives in total, with "craft" referring to the handle.

"That's right! I never imagined there would be a master craftsman who could forge a knife with such exquisite craftsmanship." Reed nodded repeatedly in agreement, grinning like a child.

John smiled and said nothing more.

In fact, Reed has absolutely no fighting talent and is absolutely impossible to train.

Even with a monstrous physique, one cannot exert much power due to a lack of combat intelligence.

Combat is also a science!

But Reed's value to him was not in combat, but in the intangible aspects such as bureaucracy, politics, and maintaining personal relationships.

In reality, regardless of who wins among Rocks, Im, Roger, Luffy, or Dragon, the world will ultimately be ruled by politicians.

Whether the law needs improvement, how to develop the economy and people's livelihoods, how to balance the interests of various government agencies—all of these are determined by politicians.

Military force is used to conquer the world, while politics is used to rule the world.