Chapter 114: Reached Jade Dynasty
But there was a comforting warmth that enveloped him. And in his mind, he seemed to have heard Evelina’s voice, talking to him gently.
The Captain walked in, holding a bowl of cheap hot soup, "Your Grace... You are awake. Thank the gods!"
Ace pushed himself up on the small bed, his muscles aching.
Suddenly, a bright color caught his attention. He looked at the ultra-luxurious blankets on his bed, "Where did these come from?"
"Oh, those?" the Captain shrugged, assuming the medics found them in the ship’s storage, "The doctors must have pulled them from the cargo. You were freezing to death, milord."
Ace’s eyes darkened. He looked toward the closed door, "Did... did Evelina come?"
The Captain sighed heavily, looking down, "Ah... That..."
"That’s enough," Ace cut the man off, not needing to hear another word to understand what he was struggling to say.
Ace clenched his fists so hard his knuckles turned white.
The pain in his body was nothing compared to the piercing feeling in his heart.
’She hates me... She hates me so much that she doesn’t care if I live or die...’
Ace leaned his head back against the wooden wall, his eyes closing in silence, "Leave," he coldly commanded.
The Captain rushed out in fear.
In the main cabin, Evelina had just changed into a fresh pair of clothes when the System blinked.
[Target is conscious and heartbroken.]
[+5000 Heart-Wrecker Points]
[Current Balance: 9,000 Heart Wrecker Points]
...
The flagship cut through the morning fog and locked into the primary berth of the Jade Dynasty’s Grand Capital Port.
Thousands of wealthy merchants, elite guards, and corrupt officials packed the docks, eager to see the ’Western strays’ who dared enter their golden territory.
Voyages were rare and words of this group had already spread amongst the dock.
Evelina stepped onto the wooden deck.
She had discarded hed travelling clothes and donned a silver dress she had designed which flowed in the morning wind.
Ace stood a half-step behind her. There was an unavoidable gloom in his aura.
The misunderstandings from before lingered between him and Evelina, but his protective stance hadn’t shifted a bit.
During this time, the man had been grievous and Evelina sensed it.
But she didn’t talk to him much or give him any consolation, in order to not look like she cared too much.
And that had, in turn, made Ace more grievous.
"Stay close to me," he whispered softly, catching all sorts of gazes that came their way, "Don’t be scared... No one can touch you with me around."
Evelina rolled her eyes. This paranoid man...
At this moment...
A fat, pompous man in glittering gold robes pushed through the guards, flanked by ten heavily armed enforcers.
From their discussions, Evelina realized that this was Master Lu, the Supreme Director of the Jade Harbor Guild.
He looked at Evelina’s Western ship with disdain.
"Halt right there!" Master Lu barked, slamming a heavy brass seal onto a portable counting table, "By order of the Jade Harbor Guild, all foreign vessels from the backwater way must pay a 300% luxury entry tariff. Fail to pay, and your ship will be seized and sold for scraps!"
The surrounding local merchants snickered, whispering insults about the ’impoverished ones’ who had no idea how expensive the Jade Dynasty truly was.
"A 300% tariff?" Evelina walked down the gangplank steadily, "Your standard legal code states a maximum of 15% for flagship vessels. Are you openly robbing us, Master Lu?"
Master Lu laughed hysterically, his fat belly shaking, "In the Jade Dynasty, I am the law of this harbor! You want the fancy stuff in your ships to touch these docks? You pay the extortion, or you crawl back to your peasant kingdom!"
Before Master Lu could finish his laugh, a shadow fell over him.
Ace gripped the man by his golden collar, lifting the 250-pound merchant completely off his feet with one arm.
"Ah!"
Silence descended in the area.
The ten enforcers drew their swords, but they were shaking so hard the steel clattered.
"Apologize. Now," Ace’s eyes narrowed.
"Ace, drop him," Evelina immediately stepped forward.
There was a hint of frustration in Ace’s eyes. He couldn’t understand if she put up with these pest just to get on his nerves at times.
He could easily pop the man’s neck and make things easy for her. But she wanted to do with the hard way.
With a brutal grunt, Ace slammed Master Lu face-first into the wooden planks of the dock.
Master Lu spit out a tooth, bleeding into the dirt, "You... you crazy barbarians... Guards. Arrest them!" He orded the moment Ace released him.
"Do not bother," Evelina sneered as she stepped forward.
She turned to face the thousands of watching men, "You think you control the luxury trade because you hold the docks? Today, I will help you change the rules of global commerce."
"What can a unwelcomed stray change?!" a merchant shouted from the back.
Evelina smiled.
"Starting today, I, Evelina, will be launching a bidding consortium," Evelina announced, her voice echoing across the harbor, "I will entirely bypass the harbor guild’s storefronts. And in turn, I am introducing exclusive brand control and futures options contracts."
The merchants blinked, completely bewildered by the never-before-heard terminology.
"What the hell is a futures contract?!" Master Lu wheezed, wiping the blood from his mouth.
"It means I will sell next year’s premium items. Only two will receive the license to buy from my fleet. The rest of you... can take the loss."
"Ah? Premium items?"
"What could it be?"
"Could it really be that rare?"
"Is she bragging?"
Evelina snapped her fingers and a sailor immediately presented the two rare fire-fox furs, "All of you know the danger of blizzards in voyages. With these premium fire fox fur shielding your body, you can survive the worst of the cold!"
"Eh, what is that item even?"
"Protect from blizzards? That can’t be possible...?"
The Jade Dynasty was familiar with luxury and riches but they lacked in the ways of survival.
And the fire fox fur was a rarity that had been pulled out by the System.
Just as Evelina predicted, it was indeed valuable in the market, and unheard of.
While the two blankets were being handled, Ace’s gaze did not move from them in the slightest.
He recognized them as the same blankets which had been wrapped around him when he regained his consciousness at that time.
He looked at Evelina with a hint of surprise, ’It was her...?’
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