Looking at the miserable state the black man was in, Karina could not help but feel sorry for him. However, there was nothing the three of them could do about it.
In this era, black slaves were no different from livestock. Even if Malcolm ordered the execution of all the black people in the manor overnight, no one would be able to say anything. Moreover, he must have other men stationed near the square, waiting for anyone to rush out.
In the end, the three of them could only watch as the black man tied to the pillar was whipped until he stopped breathing.
Wallace, the butler, wasn't too pleased with the result. After someone reported that Nadya had colluded with someone else, he set up the show. However, after waiting for so long, the mastermind didn't show up. He couldn't really kill Nadya. If he did, the only clue they had would be gone.
Seeing that Nadya was silent, Wallace had no choice but to stop the supervisor from whipping him. "Get him a doctor and bandage him up. Let's go back to the manor."
Seeing that there was nothing more to see, the people in the square dispersed. "What do you plan to do?" Zhang Heng asked Laeli.
"Although Nadya isn't a warrior in the tribe, his willpower is stronger than most warriors. He won't betray us."
"This has nothing to do with loyalty," Zhang Heng said, shaking his head. "Very few people can endure continuous torture. He might be able to endure it this time, but what about the next time, and the time after that? Wallace will always find a way to pry his mouth open."
"What should I do then?"
"Maybe you should consider leaving. You've given us a lot of useful information, enough for us to deal with Malcolm. Our previous agreement still stands. I've explored many islands and found a suitable place for you to live. It's far from the normal merchant shipping routes, and there's fresh water and dense forests on the island. It's a good place for you to live. I can also provide you with the weapons you want. Other than that, I can also give you a batch of daily necessities."
Zhang Heng paused for a moment. "But like I said, I can only ask my men and ships to wait for you at the agreed place. I can't get involved in your fight against the slave masters. Otherwise, we will become enemies with all the plantation owners on the island."
Lariel nodded. "I understand. When I leave, I'll ask Rheia to bring the letters you need."
After dealing with the black gladiator, Zhang Heng and Karina could turn their attention to the intelligence dealer, Eugene. However, it wasn't easy to get him to cooperate with them and accuse Malcolm.
Annie was very straightforward. She said, "That's easy. Just tie him up and beat him up."
"This time, we can't use violence. Otherwise, his words will be less credible. We need him to come forward and tell us the truth. He needs to prove that Malcolm put his own interests above the black-market alliance and that he's not a qualified leader. Anyway, let's split up and find out more about him."
Billy also joined the operation. On the third day, the four of them gathered at Zhang Heng 'residence.
"I'll go first," Carina said. "Eugene became an intelligence dealer not long after the black-market alliance disbanded three years ago. He gathered a lot of people to compete with Normand's black-market alliance. He even poached several pirate ships from the alliance. Judging from the situation at that time, the situation wasn't so bad that it couldn't be salvaged. After all, Normand's reputation was high, and many people were willing to follow him. Until something happened."
"What happened?"
"It was revealed that Normand had a secret agreement with two pirate ships. Normand used his authority to help them obtain a higher price in the alliance, and in return, the two pirate ships were willing to give half of the extra income to Normand. This incident caused Normand's reputation to be tarnished, but now it seems that there are actually quite a lot of suspicious points in this matter, especially since the captains of the two pirate ships are very familiar with Eugene. One of them even had a cooperative relationship with Eugene."
"Can we still find the two pirate ships?"
"I'm afraid not," Billy said with a bitter smile. "I've found out as much as I can, but one of the two pirate ships never returned. I think it was sunk during a robbery. The captain of the other ship was voted out by the public. A year ago, he was stabbed to death in a tavern. The crew of that ship was replaced several times. In fact, it's useless to find the old crew members. Ordinary sailors know very little."
"In short, because of this incident, the black-market alliance disbanded. But Normand still had a lot of friends. After that, Eugene wasn't welcomed in this circle, so he was forced to become an intelligence dealer. Relying on the connections he accumulated in the customs, he's doing quite well. But it's nothing compared to when he was a black-market merchant. So here's the question. Why did Eugene allow Malcolm to use him when he didn't get anything in the end?"
"Are you saying that Malcolm secretly compensated Eugene?" Billy asked.
"I think it's more likely that Malcolm has something on Eugene," Carina said. "I've done some research on Malcolm. He's very cautious. If he really instructed Eugene to frame Normand, there's no way he wouldn't have a way to keep Eugene in check. Otherwise, if Eugene could frame Normand for his own benefit, he could turn around and bite him back for his own benefit."
"So now we have to find out if Malcolm has anything on Eugene?" Billy asked.
"I might know the answer to this question."
No one expected Annie to be the one to speak up this time. Seeing that everyone's eyes were on her, the red-haired girl shrugged. "Why? You have your investigation channels, and I have mine. Harry is very familiar with the kids on the streets. Although they like to fight and kill, they can come in handy when they need help. And because of their age, many people tend to overlook their existence, so they often hear a lot of secrets. Very few people know that Eugene might have an illegitimate child."
"Illegitimate child? How old is he? Where is he? "
"He was born to a prostitute when he first arrived on the island. It was said that after the prostitute got pregnant, Eugene took her out of the brothel and bought a house for them on the island. But later, the house caught on fire. Eugene escaped, and the prostitute was burned to death. Miraculously, the child also survived. But because of this incident, his relationship with Eugene soured. When he was ten years old, he left Nassau on his own."
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