This was a gladiatorial duel without a referee, and surrenders were not accepted.
On the stage, the black man with a scar on the left side of his face had the upper hand. The opponent under him seemed to have fallen into a coma at the moment, but he did not have any intention of stopping. He continued to punch until the opponent's face was badly mutilated, and his facial features were completely disfigured.
The cheers from the audience were getting louder and louder.
At this time, the black man with a scar on his left face seemed to be a little tired. There was still a lot of time left before the deadline. He could not help but take a deep breath, stand up from the ground, walk to the other side of the stage, and pick up a bronze statue that was almost as tall as a real person. He was ready to use this thing to give his compatriot a final blow.
However, the next moment, the crowd burst into exclamations. When the black man with a scar on his left face realized that something was wrong, it was already too late. Then, he received a heavy blow on the back of his head, and he staggered two steps. He could no longer hold the bronze statue in his hand, and the bronze statue smashed into his foot instead.
This bronze statue weighed at least a hundred pounds, and it smashed the bones in his foot as it fell. However, before he could even cry out in pain, someone grabbed his arm. No one expected that the bloody man behind him, whose face could no longer be seen, would still have so much strength. In the next moment, the veins on his arm bulged, and he actually twisted and broke his opponent's arm.
The latter broke out in a cold sweat from the pain, but in return, more cheers came from the audience. This sudden turn of events also attracted the crowd's applause.
A one-sided beating of a noob was certainly good to watch, but it could not compare to such a dramatic change that could stir up the emotions of the guests.
This time, the bloody man had obviously learned his lesson from the scar-faced man. He did not let his guard down, and soon, he broke his opponent's other arm. After that, he strangled his opponent's throat with his own arm.
The black man with a scar on his left face made meaningless noises from his throat, twisting his body desperately. However, after losing both his hands, he completely lost the chance to turn the tables. Soon, his eyes rolled out, and he was not far from death.
The lanky middle-aged man did not look at the bloody fight. Instead, his attention was focused on Zhang Heng. His eyes seemed to be able to see through people's hearts. At this moment, he seemed to be evaluating Zhang Heng. He paused for a moment before continuing.
"I admit that the alliance has made a mistake in dealing with you and your Jackdaw. We underestimated your strength. At the same time, my men behaved impolitely without my permission, causing trouble on your maiden voyage. I've invited you to my manor tonight to personally apologize to you. At the same time, I hope that you will reconsider working with the alliance."
"Cooperate again?" Zhang Heng raised his eyebrows.
"You've proven your strength. I'm willing to convince the Alliance to raise the price of your purchase. I can even consider offering you the highest price range as long as you stop working with that female merchant named Karina." The middle-aged man finally threw out his bargaining chip.
"Don't tell me you really think that you can compete with us with a rookie that just entered the industry? Karina's father used to be a black-market merchant on Nassau. Many people in the alliance know her. Out of respect for her father, we didn't make things too difficult for her. On top of that, she did a good job keeping it a secret. We only found out about your partnership when the Jackdaw returned to Nassau. That's why everything went so smoothly. However, if the alliance gets serious, she won't be able to survive in Nassau, not to mention that she's a woman. "
"If that's the case, Mr. Malcolm, why are you in such a hurry to negotiate with us?"
"Although I've always believed that order will make our world a better place, everything is always difficult at the beginning. As early as three months ago, the alliance had already clarified the new pricing rules. We've spent a lot of effort to establish the current trade order on Nassau, and this is just the beginning. It won't be easy to implement it. Although we'll overcome all the difficulties in the end, it's always a good thing to speed up the process."
Malcolm took a glass of wine from the maid. "Recently, many pirates in Nassau have seen you as the flag of the Alliance. Your deeds have inspired them, but it has also caused us some trouble. Have you played poker before, Captain Zhang Heng?"
"Of course."
"In my opinion, the most important thing to win is timing. When your cards are good enough, you should bet decisively. If you miss this opportunity, it'll be difficult for you to win that much money in the future," Malcolm said meaningfully. "And now is your best chance, Captain Zhang Heng. Once Karina is out, the alliance will stabilize, and those restless bastards will have no choice but to accept reality. By then, all the cards in your hand will be useless. When that happens, you will regret not taking my advice today."
"Is this a threat?"
"No, it's just a kind advice. I really admire you. The last person who could make everyone in Nassau know about you in such a short period of time was William Kidd. You have a bright future ahead of you, so you should be more cautious in choosing your partners. I don't want us to become enemies one day in the future."
On the stage, the black man with a scar on the left side of his face finally breathed his last and stopped struggling. Only one of his legs was still twitching unconsciously. His opponent finally used up the last of his strength and fell to the ground together with him. The latter's head was still bleeding, staining the floor red. At the same time, there was a round of applause that lasted for a long time.
The butler instructed the maids to clean up the stage. Malcolm nodded at Zhang Heng. "Excuse me."
He walked up to the stage with a glass of wine in hand, not caring about the blood on his feet. He gave a brief welcome speech to the guests, thanking them for their help in the establishment of the black-market alliance. After that, he announced the start of the banquet.
The violinist who had been waiting at the side for a long time began to play a melodious tune, and the maids served the freshly cooked dishes to the table one by one.
As for the black man who had just won a hard-fought victory, he was dragged out of the banquet hall together with the corpse.
Malcolm did not stay for long at the banquet. He seemed to have a lot of things to deal with, and he left shortly after he finished his speech.
The three people from the Jackdaw had no intention of spending the night in the villa. After eating something, they prepared to leave. Just as they were about to reach the entrance, Zhang Heng stopped in his tracks. He saw two men digging a hole under a coffee tree not far away.
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