After the Fel Reavers were entangled by the Bone Golems, Feng Chou's fleet guards quickly gained the upper hand, and it was an overwhelming advantage. Without the Fel Reavers, the ordinary Blackwater pirates were no match for the elite guards of Feng Chou's fleet.
After the ordinary pirates were chased into the sea, the twenty or so goblin fel mechas on each merchant ship had to face off against hundreds of skeletal golems, hundreds of high-grade professionals, and ten or so master-level professionals. It was clearly impossible for them to win.
The goblin fel mechas seemed to have received a unified order. They suddenly activated the mecha's short-distance flight power supply and flew away from the merchant ships, returning to the goblin warships that had already begun to turn around.
The old captain who received Feng Chou's message ordered the fleet not to pursue or attack the Blackwater pirates.
Feng Chou had issued such an order because he didn't wish to have an all-out conflict with the goblins. Although his fleet could be considered powerful, it was only a small shrimp compared to the entire goblin kingdom.
After this attack, the Blackwater pirates took the initiative to find Feng Chou. After a round of negotiations, Feng Chou agreed to pay the Blackwater pirates forty million sols a year as a toll fee. In return, the Blackwater pirates promised the safety of Feng Chou's fleet within their control.
Forty million sols was equivalent to six hundred million crowns, equivalent to ten percent of Feng Chou's fleet's annual profits.
Feng Chou wasn't so arrogant as to think that he could disregard the Blackwater pirates just because he won a naval battle. If he refused to pay the toll fee, then the next time his fleet passed through the goblin seas, they would probably face the regular navy of the goblin kingdom.
Many people were afraid of the powerful organization hidden behind Feng Chou, but the kingdoms and churches were definitely not among those who were afraid.
The most powerful organizations in this world were the kingdoms and churches. To the kingdoms and churches, organizations hidden in the shadows were not even worth mentioning.
Perhaps the Goblin Kingdom wasn't that powerful compared to the other empires of the Northern Continent. If it weren't for the sea, the Storm Goddess, and the Ocean Goddess obstructing them, the Ovendell Empire's powerful fleet could easily conquer half of the Southern Continent.
However, to an ordinary Legend like Feng Chou who only knew how to intimidate others, the Goblin Kingdom was a giant that he could only look up to.
Spending ten percent of the profits in exchange for safe passage through the Gnome Kingdom's waters was not a bad deal.
After defeating the Black Water Pirates, Feng Chou's Green Dragon Island's trading fleet became famous.
However, this reputation did not bring any benefits to Feng Chou. Instead, it put him in a difficult position.
Among the gods of the Northern Continent, other than the God of the Ocean and the Goddess of Commerce, the other gods were opposed to or even prohibited trade between the Northern and Southern Continents.
Under the prohibition of the Gods, even if the God of the Ocean and the Goddess of Commerce were openly forbidding it, this kind of trade was just a small matter.
After all, to the major forces of the Northern Continent, going against the will of the gods was no different from courting death.
Only smugglers, pirates, or adventurers who were not worthy of the attention of the Church would dare to go against the will of the gods.
To these forces, having two or three large magical merchant ships was already an impressive trade fleet. When a few of these trade fleets were put together, they would dare to go on a rampage on the sea and plunder as they pleased.
For example, the fleet under Feng Chou's command, which consisted of nineteen large merchant ships, was already one of the best fleets on the trade route between the Northern and Southern Continents.
Before he became famous, Feng Chou's fleet could still break up into smaller parts in the Northern Continent and purchase enough goods from Tailun City.
However, after this fleet defeated the Black Water Pirates and returned to the Northern Continent, they were welcomed by the Royal Navy of the Schottland Kingdom.
The Schottland Kingdom was the headquarters of the Goddess of Commerce. With the support of their ally, the Church of the God of the Ocean, this archipelago kingdom possessed a relatively powerful naval force.
When the fleet was surrounded by a dozen real floating magical battleships, the fleet had no choice but to submit to their fate.
In the end, Feng Chou authorized the old captain to sign such an agreement.
The goods that the Green Dragon Island's trade fleet transported to the Northern Continent had to be sold at Kavene Port, and the price would be ninety percent of the normal price.
The Green Dragon Island's trade fleet had to purchase goods from a few established merchant associations in Tailun Port, and also had to pay a special transaction tax equal to the price of the goods to the Tailun City government. In other words, he had to pay double the price for the goods.
However, when signing the agreement, Feng Chou added a small request.
According to Feng Chou's request, the old captain requested to have a private discussion with the leader of the negotiations in the Metis Kingdom, a legendary archbishop of the God of the Ocean.
The archbishop agreed to his request.
In the private discussion, the old captain raised Feng Chou's request to the archbishop. He requested that the Metis Kingdom must exterminate a group of Vampire families that were entrenched in a remote territory called Count Patrick's territory in the northeast of Tailun City.
The existence of the Patrick Vampire Family was not a secret to the Metis Kingdom. The Vampires in this world were a relatively powerful dark race. They even had their own god, the "God of Vampires," although it was only a god with weak divine power.
Due to the racial characteristics of the Vampires, it was difficult for humans to completely exterminate this kind of creature. In addition to the existence of the True God, the human gods had adopted an attitude of restriction and limited tolerance towards this race.
The Patrick Family was considered a relatively honest Vampire Family. They were basically holed up in their old territory, and the small business organization they sent out was only a small matter.
The upper class of the human society mostly adopted an attitude of turning a blind eye to this kind of Vampire Family.
However, compared to the profits of six to seven hundred million crowns per year, a Vampire Family was nothing.
The leader of the negotiations in the Metis Kingdom, a legendary blue-robed archbishop of the Church of the Ocean, who was also the God of the Ocean's adorer, agreed to the request made by the old captain on behalf of his lord, and promised in the form of a holy oath that the contents of this private discussion would not be made public.
In fact, even if the old captain did not make this request, the Metis Kingdom would not have spread the word of Feng Chou's request. This was because once the Vampires knew that the Patrick Family's downfall was due to the Green Dragon Island, it would not be difficult for the Vampires to destroy the Green Dragon Island with their immense power. In that case, the huge tax of six to seven hundred million crowns brought by the Green Dragon Island fleet would naturally go down the drain …
After layers of extortion, Feng Chou was only left with 70% of the profits in his hands.
However, this was not the end of the matter. When the Green Dragon Island fleet returned to Manta Harbor, the Seventh Princess's people delivered an agreement to the old captain.
This was an agreement that seemed fair, and there was no coercion involved.
The content of the agreement was that if Feng Chou was willing to pay an annual tribute of fifty million sols to the Amazon Kingdom, the Amazon Kingdom would allow him to use the golden lightning flag that represented the king on the fleet.
Look, if!
The other party did not force you.
However, Feng Chou knew that if he rejected this agreement, he would face the attacks of the Bloodsail Pirates like mad dogs. Even if he defeated the Bloodsail Pirates, he would also face the attacks of the Amazon Kingdom's regular navy.
Therefore, Feng Chou could only sign the agreement.