48 Hours a Day

Panda Novel

“What do you think about my intel? Did it help?”

“What would it cost me?”

Laeli did not rush to answer the question.

“Even though I’ve left Terrance’s mansion, there are still quite a few of my people stuck there. You want to kick Malcolm out of the game and know more of his secrets, right? I can contact my people to help you.”

“You should know that even if the black-market alliance is dismissed and Malcolm chased out of Nassau, you still can’t change the fate of the slaves inside that mansion.”

“I will change my fate with my own hands.”

Laeli looked determined. Different individuals acted differently when faced with critical situations like this. Some would simply give up all hope and let despair rule their lives while some would choose to embrace hardship and accept their fate. Once the predicament was over, the person in question would usually become stronger than before.

Laeli definitely belonged to the latter. He had endured the deaths of his brother, father, and his tribe. The marks of a slave had already been engraved onto his body. To escape the mansion, he broke his nose and lost an eye. He was also forced to kill his best friend. Not only did Laeli not allow despair to run him down him, but he was also grooming himself to become a worthy chief of his tribe.

“We didn’t get to enjoy freedom from where we came from. We didn’t get to enjoy freedom in the colonies. And we don’t get freedom in this city as well. So, we must leave this place. I heard there are several uninhabited islands around this area. Some of them are located along the shipping lines. There is freshwater for drinking and empty land where we can fish, hunt, and cultivate crops. It might be difficult in the beginning, but I believe that we will survive just like how our ancestors did.”

“I have a ship and a crew. I can help you to look out for a suitable island when we set sail the next time. We are capable of bringing you and your people over to the island as well. The problem is, how are you going to rescue your people from the mansion? I deeply sympathize with your current situation. You can’t just barge into the mansion and release them. That would surely anger many powerful people on this island. Currently, the Jackdaw is proliferating in Nassau. Most of our crew’s families are living here. It’s my responsibility to take care of them. I hope you can understand my decision. The most I can do is to bring you and your people to the island that you wish to settle down on.”

“I will solve the problem of rescuing my people out of the mansion, but I will need some weapons. I don’t need much. In order to bring those weapons into the mansion without detection, they would have to be small. I’d say daggers would be perfect. Besides that, I’ll need at least five blunderbusses. One thing, though. I don’t need them right now. You can pass them to me after you settle your problem.”

“I have no problem with supplying you with the weapons that you need. Let’s work together, and I hope that your plan will be a success.”

At that, Zhang Heng then extended his hand as a gesture of goodwill. Laeli was surprised that Zhang Heng was willing to shake his hand. It was his first time encountering such a polite act. It was at that moment when he knew that Zhang Heng did not look at him as if he was property or a wild beast. He was treating him like a fellow human with equal rights. Half a second later, Laeli took Zhang Heng’s hand and shook it. Suddenly, the two of them heard someone coming into the house. It was Anne and the doctor.

“You take a few days of rest to allow your wounds to recover. My partner will return here in a while. I need you to tell him everything that you have just told me.”

….

A week later, Carina returned to Nassau after leading a ship full of nutmegs all the way to New York. New York harbor was one of the best ports that Carina’s father managed, where he had continuously bribed all the officers there. Hence, no one gave her a hard time when she passed their customs. They did not even check the goods that she’d brought into New York. This saved her a tremendous amount of time, enabling her to look for more potential buyers.

Currently, New York did not require nutmeg, and though they were valuable spices, Carina figured she might have to sell them all in Europe instead. There were a couple of merchants interested in buying them, but Carina wasn’t pleased with the price that they offered. After looking for around ten days, a merchant that specialized in the spice trade came for Carina. Both of them spent a long while haggling, trying to come with a price that could please both parties.

That was the very first deal that Carina made ever since she became a black-market merchant. After paying off the Jackdaw, her loans, and her transportation fare, she was left with 500 gold coins. Getting such large amounts of money greatly motivated her to work harder and rescue her father from prison. Unfortunately, coming across such valuable targets was a one in a million occurrence. Otherwise, her father could be released from jail within two years.

The first thing that Carina did was to send 100 gold coins to her mother. All the family’s savings had gone to bailing her father out of jail. With the 100 gold coins, her family could at least breathe right now. Left with 400 gold coins, Carina was going to use a portion of it to maintain a good relationship with the officers at various ports. The rest of the gold coins would be saved for her next job. With the savings, she could at least reduce some of the interest. Without taking any breaks, Carina returned to Nassau immediately after everything was settled.

Carina, however, was most concerned right now about her relationship with the Jackdaw while she was not in Nassau. She would have never left if she was not tasked to sell all those spices. Carina thought that Zhang Heng had only agreed to work with her due to pressure from the black-market alliance. There was a possibility that Zhang Heng would kick her away once the deal was sealed. Right now, she had no right to ask him to continue trading with her in the future. Although understanding the risks, she still chose to partner up with Zhang Heng. At least she could earn some money from this deal.

She didn’t know why, but somehow, she had faith that Zhang Heng would not just kick her away like that. Whenever she talked to him, she tended to forget that she was talking to the captain of the Jackdaw. Zhang Heng was different from the pirates that she’d encountered before.

As she returned to Nassau, she was relieved when she found out that the Jackdaw hadn’t yet partnered up with the black-market alliance. Also. The small-time pirates still considered the Jackdaw the symbol of the anti-black-market alliance.

When she finally caught up to Zhang Heng, she heard something unbelievable.