Before the banquet began, Billy took the opportunity to introduce Zhang Heng to some captains and merchants he knew. Pirates usually operated on their own, but that didn't mean that they didn't interact with each other. Sometimes, when they encountered prey that they couldn't handle alone, they would ask for help from other pirate groups. So, it was always good to know more people.
Although all the pirates attending the banquet tonight were on the black-market alliance's side, they were only partners. Unlike Malcolm, they didn't hold any hostility toward Jackdaw. As long as it didn't affect their profits, they didn't care who Jackdaw worked with.
Half an hour later, almost all the guests had arrived. However, Malcolm, the host of the banquet, was nowhere to be seen. Instead, the butler who greeted everyone at the entrance walked in again. He cleared his throat and said, "Before the banquet begins, Mr. Malcolm has prepared a small pre-dinner entertainment for all of our distinguished guests. I hope everyone will enjoy it."
After that, he shook the bell in his hand again. This time, two tower-like figures walked into the banquet hall. As soon as they entered, the guests felt a sense of oppression. Both of them were bare-chested, wearing only a pair of pants. Their hands and feet were shackled, and their muscles were as hard as steel. They looked like two wild beasts that had just emerged from the forest. Some of the female guests couldn't help but gasp in amazement.
In order to escort the two men into the banquet hall, the manor had mobilized a team of guards. The guards used their guns to force the two men onto a makeshift stage on the west side of the hall. After that, they unlocked their shackles, looking as if they were about to face a formidable foe.
Only the butler remained fearless. He walked up to the two men and said, "This isn't your first time participating in a show. You should know the rules very well. I'll cut to the chase. As long as you kill your opponents within the allotted time, you will live. Otherwise …" He pulled out a gun from his waist and aimed it at a nearby black maid who was refilling wine for the guests. Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger. Blood splattered from the maid's chest, and she fell to the ground without a sound.
The butler's expression did not change as he sheathed the musket at his waist. With a wave of his hand, two trembling black maids immediately moved the corpse of their comrade out. At the same time, they did their best to wipe away the bloodstains on the ground.
After half a minute, it was as if nothing had happened in the banquet hall.
"I don't want this to happen to you. After all, Mr. Malcolm spent a lot of money to buy you. You are warriors and beasts. I'm sure you don't want to be shot down without any dignity. So, please bring some joy to our distinguished guests."
After saying that, the butler walked off the stage.
The remaining two black men looked at each other, and a fierce look flashed across their bell-like eyes. In the next moment, they pounced on their opponents without hesitation.
Seeing this, the guests below the stage also became excited. The pirates screamed and hit their cups with their spoons to cheer and cheer. The rich merchants with bulging bellies also surrounded them with their female companions.
No matter how many centuries had passed, humans still enjoyed this primitive competition that released male hormones. Unfortunately, in the civilized world, gladiatorial battles like those in the ancient Roman Colosseum were becoming fewer and fewer. Now, however, the emergence of black slaves had filled the gap in this aspect.
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when black slaves were equivalent to goods, people could enjoy the fierce hand-to-hand combat of their own kind, but on the other hand, they did not need to bear any moral condemnation.
"Order is a good thing, isn't it?" A voice came from behind Zhang Heng.
"If there was no order, these guys would still be in some small tribe in Africa right now, fighting each other for a few worthless prey and women without any audience. But now, they can entertain us with their strong bodies and the fighting skills that they have honed through hard work, bringing joy to all the guests in this hall."
The speaker was a tall, thin, middle-aged man. He had a serious look on his face, and his eyes were deep. He was dressed in a well-tailored suit, and no one knew when he had appeared in the banquet hall.
"This sentence also applies to the other black slaves in this manor. Before the slave traders caught them on the Gold Coast, they were living in a state of inefficiency and chaos. They spent most of their time every day searching for food and fighting for territory. They were no different from wild beasts, wasting their strong physiques."
The tall, thin, middle-aged man spoke quickly. "Now, they have been sold to the New World, and we have set up all kinds of reward and punishment rules for them. We have divided the work according to each person's different characteristics. Some of them work in the plantation, some mine, and some, hmm … we have developed them for entertainment, freeing them from the inefficient labor of looking for food. In the end, we have effectively used their bodies to create unimaginable wealth. This is the meaning of order, isn't it?"
"You are talking about creating wealth for yourself, right? To them, their lives now are worse than when they were starving," Anne said bluntly.
While they were talking, the fight on the stage had reached its climax. Among them, the black man with the scar on his eye took the initiative. He threw his opponent under his body, then raised his fist and punched the latter's head. The sound of bones colliding with each other sounded a little dull, but as blood splattered on the stage, the crowd below the stage went wild.
The middle-aged man did not deny this. "They are just goods and tools. The wealth that I create with these tools belongs to me, but the black-market alliance is different. We are partners. I need you to bring back a steady stream of loot for us, and you need us to sell these loot in the colony and turn them into wealth. None of us can leave each other."
"No matter how much you dislike it, you can't deny the fact that the establishment of the black-market alliance has enriched the pockets of most of the pirates on the island. This is the value of a good and stable order," the tall, thin, middle-aged man said calmly.
"I know what you are trying to say, but no matter what kind of order you are in, the rules always favor the strong. This is especially true in Nassau. The black-market alliance is willing to pay a higher price for the captains here because they are strong enough to bring back more valuable goods.
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