Privateering was a form of piracy encouraged by the country, and it originated from the constant wars between the countries of the Old Continent. It first started 600 years ago, during the era when oars and rams were still used in coastal battles.
When the navy had no time to take care of it and it was inconvenient for them to appear, armed privateers certified by the country, as a form of supplemental force, became the best way for countries to harass each other's merchant ships, supply lines, and plunder!
However, throughout history, privateering was a tactic used by the weak, and it was commensurate with the current strength of the New Continent.
In the era when Shilius dominated the New Continent and the Black Sea, the Tulips, Sark, and other countries that rose later were obviously unable to challenge Shilius's naval power. Many years ago, privateering had already become an asymmetrical means of competition in their hands.
Now, they had finally developed to the peak, forming a comprehensive and allied privateering group.
The Shilius people had long hated privateering and viewed it as piracy, and they also put a bounty on privateering captains.
Even if they had a privateering permit from a certain kingdom, if they were caught by Shilius, they could forget about going through diplomatic channels. They would only be executed as pirates!
Therefore, to the upper echelons of the kingdom, this was their own privateering fleet, but to foreign countries, this was undoubtedly a pirate group!
However.
Compared to ordinary pirate groups, privateers naturally had some advantages.
They were officially registered and had legal identities. They could dock at certain ports of the corresponding countries for repairs, maintenance, and replenishment.
Like other merchant ships, they could legally recruit normal crew members, and were not limited to criminals who had nowhere to go.
At the same time, the profits when dealing with the spoils of war were much more cost-effective than dealing with them on the black market.
Most importantly, the privateers had the right to disembark and return to the civilized world! This was because their actions were authorized and endorsed by the country, and burning, killing, and plundering were not considered crimes!
Moreover, it was not limited to the people of their own country. It was normal for the Atlans to use the privateering permits of Sark or the Tulips, but using the country's privateering permit was serving that country.
The different policies of each country also made the nationality of the privateers and the flag they flew different.
This had become a unique business.
At this moment.
With Shilius's indiscriminate pillaging as the fuse, a large-scale privateering activity had broken out.
Due to various reasons, at least on the surface, none of the countries in the New World directly sent out their navies to start a war. Instead, it was more like a proxy war carried out by privateers and enlisting pirates!
Thanks to Shilius's position as the overlord, Shilius's merchant ships accounted for at least half of the merchant ships traveling to and from the New World. It also created ample space for hostile forces like the 'dragon cavalry pirates' to survive.
However …
The new members of the pirate crew might not know that the name of the pirate crew, which sounded very imposing, was only decided by the captain at the last minute before the recruitment plan was officially released.
In the Port of Hatrapha, Milan, as the temporary clerk, was looking for Captain Elvin to finalize the recruitment documents …
"The news has already been released.
Although our recruitment requirements are a bit harsh, we have eliminated a large number of bad pirates. However, the pirates, colonial sailors, and even some veterans reacted positively.
But … Captain, aren't you forgetting something? "
After making sure that there were no problems, Elvin signed the final recruitment document and asked casually, "What's the matter?
"Huh? What did I forget? "
"Our pirate crew still doesn't have a name. We can't be called the White Knight's Pirate Crew in the future, right?"
Elvin slapped his head and only then did he realize.
He had been too busy during this period.
After returning from the Golden Posthouse, he followed Lieutenant General Gustav to meet the Chief Judge of the Kingdom's Maritime Court, Roy Quinnil. After completing the normal process of privateering, it also laid the foundation for the inevitable intersection in the future.
Then, the gold bars and silver ingots of the legal spoils were deposited into the Royal Central Bank where Faletis had the right to mint coins.
Guarding some of the currency and large amounts of gold notes that were exchanged back, all the members of the first battle used the pirate's "democratic" method, combining the navies and pirates to establish a new spoils distribution system for the Dragon Cavalry Pirates.
After eliminating production factors (warships, cannons, equipment, etc.), a system of "distribution according to work" was established, and the same level and crew members were distributed according to the number of people.
The fundamental reason was because of the combat power of the Transcendents, as well as the crew's ability, technology, experience, and position, resulting in a huge difference in everyone's contribution.
Just like Elvin in this operation, with the pinnacle Knight in front of him and the "Clockwork Man" who was almost beyond Grade 2, not to mention the remaining ninety people, even if there were ten times more people, it would still be a waste.
Therefore, in the end, in addition to the 10% that the privateer fleet turned over to the maritime court, Elvin got 70% of the spoils, all the Grade 2 official Transcendents who participated in the battle shared 10%, and the ordinary members shared the last 10%.
It was also the most direct reflection of their contribution in this operation.
Even so, the Gold Lion that the ordinary members received was already comparable to the income of an ordinary navies for eight years of normal service. They became rich overnight!
In the future, the privateer fleet would turn over 10% of the spoils to the maritime court.
The remaining 10% would be used as the ship's necessary supplies and maintenance. The captain would take 20%, the pirate cadre and technical backbone would take 25%, and all the ordinary crew members would share 25%.
This was the most suitable distribution system for the Transcendents.
Compared to the normal distribution system for navies, it seemed that only the captain would lose out.
But in fact, only the Transcendents could become the true core of the fleet and obtain witchcraft tools, Transcendence knowledge, personal guidance from the captain, and other benefits that could not be exchanged with wealth.
Moreover, after changing to better equipment, even if the proportion of the share was reduced, the total income would definitely be more than before.
Compared to the wild pirates, the conditions were definitely better.
This was because Elvin understood that even in the first place where democracy was born, only the "citizens" who were the cornerstones of the city-state enjoyed political rights and various privileges.
And these captains who were at least Transcendents were his "citizens" and the foundation of his control over this team!
As for the remaining ordinary crew members, if they wanted better treatment, they had a chance. At the very least, he left a systematic way for them to rise through the regular training and assessment system.
As long as they were outstanding enough, everyone would have a chance to succeed!
Apart from that, through William's connections, he also made a few detours and established a preliminary contact with "Dead Bones" Rudolph, one of the Golden Sea Kings.
After all, as pirates, it was normal for them to get in touch with each other.
Moreover, as a staunch anti-Silius, this powerful wizard of the "School of Necromancy" was also a force that he could win over.
After finishing all this, it was finally time for him to take a breather. When he heard Milan's reminder, Elvin finally remembered this.
He immediately scratched his head and racked his brains.
For someone who was half bad at naming, this was too difficult.
However, in the end, he had a flash of inspiration and inexplicably thought of a name that he had heard his first mate, Boris, mention before.
It was a name that had appeared briefly under the leadership of the young lady in the Far Sail Territory. He felt that it was a good name, and with his usual style, he finally decided on the name of the pirate group.
"Let's call it … the Dragon Cavalry Pirate Group."
Moreover, in this era, the "Dragon Cavalry" was another name for the short-barreled flintlock cavalry of the king's royal guards. There was obviously another deeper meaning to this name.
As for the pirate emblem that he finally decided on, it was a black and red dragon's head. The dragon's face was even somewhat similar to Kaka's, which was a kind of hope that Elvin had for Kaka's future.
As a lizard, if it did not have the dream of growing wings and soaring into the sky, what was the difference between it and a salted fish?
At this point, the "Dragon Cavalry Pirate Group" had officially stepped onto the stage of the New World!
In the days that followed.
The Dragon Cavalry began to recruit the Arawaks who had a blood feud with Shilius on a large scale, as well as outstanding pirates and ordinary sailors who met the requirements.
Of course, for Elvin, who was still a wizard at heart, his screening skills had long been trained to perfection by his own crew.
Elvin operated this force as his own private armed force. He definitely could not be like those ragtag groups that accepted just anyone. They were messy and even had a bunch of spies.
Imitating the military structure of the navy, although the management of the pirate officers on a pirate ship was stricter than that of an ordinary pirate ship, it could also maximize their group's combat strength.
Moreover, it was now a seller's market. Under the guidance of the White Knight's reputation, there were simply too many people who wanted to join in for the sake of fame and profit.
In just half a month …
A heavy-armored cruiser, the Morning Star, and two other fifth-grade cruiser, the Gladiator and the Wrestler, had also been modified. Although they were unrecognizable, their performance had been improved by a lot.
With the twenty-four elite navy officers as the backbone and the most outstanding talents selected from the new personnel, the three core warships in Elvin's hands gradually formed a combat strength.
As long as they were worn in for a period of time, when they truly appeared on the sea, it would be enough to make everyone look askance!
Moreover, Elvin also had an ultimate weapon.
As long as one successfully became a pirate officer through the competition and passed his personal assessment, they would be able to obtain an "Animated Beast Skin."
Even if they were originally just an ordinary sailor, they would be able to ascend to the heavens in a single step and become a Class 1 Transcendent that was on par with a late-stage Trainee Knight!
Of course, it wasn't completely impossible for ordinary people to try wearing the "Animated Beast Skin" made from demonized creatures.
However, there were two consequences. There was a high chance that they would be corroded and devoured by the powerful "Animated Beast Skin."
There was a small chance that they would rely on their extraordinary willpower to defeat the remnant will of the demonized creature and assimilate the skin into a part of themselves. They would then become the attendant of the Animated School of Thought — the "Leatherman"!
It could be regarded as an alternative Transcendent profession with great restrictions. In human form, it was almost equivalent to a mid-to-late-stage Trainee Knight. However, after the "fur transformation," it would immediately have about 70% of the skin's owner's strength.
It would obtain the ability to solidify a transformation spell, and it would have two combat forms — human and beast.
The only drawback was that this wasn't a Transcendent path that was imprinted in the world's source. While the risk of losing control was high, it was also extremely difficult for one's strength to increase.
Unless one embarked on the path of a Knight and began with physical strength that was purely compatible with any Transcendent power, it would be possible to break through this natural limitation.
At the very least, there was no other good solution in the secret scroll that Elvin had from hundreds of years ago.
Therefore, when Elvin used a horned shark that was at the level of a demonized creature that he had accidentally captured to successfully create the first Transcendent-level "Animated Beast Skin."
Faced with Baldwin, who had taken the initiative to apply for an experiment on him, he asked in surprise,
"Have you really thought it through? Although it's possible to ascend to the heavens in a single step, it's more likely that you'll fall into hell! "
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