Chapter 59 Black Flag
"Even the Red Line Remnants have come to participate in this war? The situation is becoming increasingly complex."
Nicholas was lost in thought on the Deck when he suddenly sensed ships approaching from not far away.
For Nicholas, the danger level of the New World was not even in the same league as the first half of the Grand Line, so he almost always kept his Observation Haki activated.
After sensing ships approaching, Nicholas immediately opened his eyes and then appeared on the Ship's Railing, looking towards the approaching ships in the distance.
Noticing Nicholas's movements, the lookout and Captain on the approaching Ship also quickly spotted them.
But upon seeing the Black Flag hoisted on the approaching Ship, everyone relaxed their vigilance, and some even had a hint of anticipation in their eyes.
Because this Banner might not be very famous in the first half of the Grand Line, but in the Sea Area of the New World, it is very famous. Whenever this Banner appears, it means there is a possibility of getting some good things.
It was a Banner with a black background and Golden Pattern around it. On the Banner was printed a Treasure Chest pattern, completely different from the Pirate Flag that was most common in the New World.
This Banner represented a mysterious Merchant Guild.
The name of this Merchant Guild, like its Banner, was called 'Black Flag'.
No one knew the location of this Merchant Guild's headquarters, and even less knew the origin of this Merchant Guild.
And everyone who knew about Black Flag knew that as long as it was a Ship flying the Black Flag Merchant Guild's Banner, it would carry some Precious Items.
They accepted purchases with Beli and also accepted barter.
For example, Rare Ore, Famous Sword, Devil Fruit, and relatively Precious Items like Slaves could all be used for exchange.
In principle, Ships carrying a large number of Precious Items would easily attract Pirates to plunder them, let alone the lawless New World.
But all Ships of the Black Flag Merchant Guild had one characteristic, which was that in addition to Precious Items, they also had terrifying Explosive Rock. Once this extremely unstable explosive was detonated, it would cause an extremely terrifying explosion.
Once they found themselves unable to escape, these madmen of the Black Flag Merchant Guild would directly detonate the Explosive Rock. In this explosion of immense power, not only would the Black Flag Merchant Guild's Ships and the Precious Items on board be reduced to ashes, but even plunderers who were too close would be buried with them.
And even if the plunderers were lucky enough to escape this self-destructive attack, they would then face the Black Flag Merchant Guild's crazy Retaliation.
Although the Black Flag Merchant Guild had not openly revealed many Strongest individuals, they would spend a lot of money in the Black Market and the Bounty Hunter Guild to post high bounties, and even use some Precious Items to cooperate with certain forces to issue Commissions.
Often, the Black Flag Merchant Guild would pay a price that seemed obviously uneconomical to outsiders for Retaliation.
But also because of this, these people of the Black Flag Merchant Guild, in addition to representing Precious Items, also represented madness and vindictiveness.
Just relying on this crazy spirit of readily dragging enemies down with them, the Black Flag Merchant Guild had maintained a record of never having a single item of Goods successfully robbed in nearly fifty years.
It was precisely because of this that the Black Flag Merchant Guild became famous in the New World. Many Pirates, Black Market merchants, nobles, and even the government liked to conduct Transactions with them.
"Captain, they are sending Flag Language signals asking if we intend to conduct a Transaction."
The signalman, holding a Telescope, loudly said to the Captain, while the Captain looked at Nicholas. Although he was nominally the Captain of this Ship, the entire Ship still needed to listen to Nicholas.
"Send Flag Language signals back to them, we agree to conduct a Transaction."
Soon, the signalman on the Ship quickly used Flag Language to reply to them with Nicholas's words.
Seeing Nicholas's Flag Language signals, the Black Flag Merchant Guild's Ship also began to slow down and approach.
And Nicholas's Ship also dropped anchor and waited. Nicholas was very interested in this Merchant Guild, after all, this was the first time conducting a Transaction with them.
Before long, the two Ships approached.
The Black Flag Merchant Guild's Ship was not very large, so after the two Ships approached, they directly set up Wooden Plank on the Ship's Railing and connected them together.
When the Ships were docked together, from the Ship Cabin of the Black Flag Merchant Guild's Ship, walked out a person wearing a Golden Mask.
This masked person was wearing a black Cloak, wrapping his whole body, and wore a Golden Mask on his face that had a strong sense of History.
"Makabaka, what a lucky day! I didn't expect to unexpectedly encounter the renowned Nicholas here. It seems today is also a day full of hope.
So, Mr. Nicholas, are you willing to do a pleasant Transaction with us?"
"Why don't you come aboard my Ship first? After all, I don't want to be misunderstood by you madmen."
Nicholas said unceremoniously.
"Makabaka, of course, Mr. Nicholas."
After saying that, this Black Flag merchant directly stepped onto the Wooden Plank and came to Nicholas's Ship.
"Mr. Nicholas, this is the list of Goods I am carrying this time, as well as the Supplies in the hands of our other members. Please see if there is anything you are interested in."
As he spoke, he took out a huge Illustrated Book from his Cloak. It was unknown how such a large thing could be hidden in the Cloak and not be visible at all.
"Well then, please take your time to choose, guest. If you find any Goods you like, and have any questions, I will explain them to you in detail."
Saying this, he handed the Illustrated Book to Nicholas.
Nicholas took the Illustrated Book and directly flipped through it, starting to choose the Goods he liked.
While Nicholas was choosing Goods, the Captain of this Ship also secretly looked at it from the side, wanting to see if there was a chance to buy a Treasure and then resell it to make a profit. However, after seeing the prices on the items in the Illustrated Book, he directly gave up, as he simply could not afford the prices of those things.
Soon Nicholas picked out a Goods he liked, which was a set of Precious Items, Medical Book.
"Mr. Nicholas, you have a good eye. This notebook is a notebook left by a famous doctor from a kingdom with extremely advanced medical technology, as well as unique insights on Bacteria. It can be said that this notebook records the lifelong experience of that famous doctor. Some of the Complex Surgical Skills in it have now been lost."
Hearing the merchant's words, Nicholas just nodded.
"I want this item."
After saying that, Nicholas continued to browse, and soon found another item he needed.
"I also want this Adam Wood, fifty meters long and three meters thick. Is there any problem delivering it to Horned Fish-man Tom at Tom's Workshop in Water Seven?"
Hearing Nicholas's words, the merchant took out a Price List from his Cloak again and began to calculate carefully.
"Mr. Nicholas, according to the distance from the New World to Water Seven, as well as the difficulty of transportation, the Shipping Fee is approximately ten million Beli. I don't know if you can accept it."
After saying this, the merchant specially added, "Of course, if there are any problems during transportation, we will compensate you five times the Commodity Value."
Nicholas was stunned for a moment when he heard the merchant's words. There's even compensation?
The Black Flag merchant, of course, also saw Nicholas's doubts.
"Guest, please don't be confused. After all, we value Principle."
Hearing the explanation, Nicholas didn't say much, but then also picked out some things for Vistad and the others, asking the Black Flag Merchant Guild to deliver them to their door.
"Mr. Nicholas, except for Sea Prism Stone, because the quantity you want is relatively large and will take a little longer, all other items will be delivered within a month.
The total price of all the items you want to purchase is 765 million Beli. Considering this is our first Transaction, we will charge you 760 million Beli. What do you think? Will you choose barter or pay with Beli or Gold?"
"After your Goods are delivered, a person named Bell-lin will make the Payment."
"Thank you for your generosity, and we look forward to a better cooperation next time."
After receiving Nicholas's reply, the Black Flag merchant said enthusiastically.
Just as Nicholas knew that the Black Flag merchant would definitely deliver the Goods, the people of Black Flag also knew that they would definitely receive the Payment, because no one had ever been able to default on Black Flag's Payment.
(End of Chapter)