Extraordinary Voyage-Chapter 715 - 615: I’m an Expert at Robbery

Clang clang clang...

Deep underground, in a frigid, dark mine, a group of pallid miners clad in ragged cotton coats continued to toil diligently. Using their manpower, they swung shovels to knock down the iron ore, and then the extracted ore and debris were hauled away by manpower-driven mine carts.

Why not use steam power? The reason is simple: if human labor is cheaper than animal power, why use a costly steam engine that also consumes coal?

Staring at the scarcely discernible spot of light toward the entrance, Sander, only thirty but looking like fifty, sighed deeply. He felt his future resembled that light, nothing but dimness.

"Sigh, when will these days ever end?"

According to the Republic’s latest laws, as miners, they must spend at least fifteen hours a day underground, from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m., with all physiological needs addressed below, almost never seeing the sun.

Although the forced labor decree was recently enacted, the adverse effects of suspended particulates throughout the mine and prolonged sun deprivation—lung diseases, rickets, and so on—have not fully manifested.

Yet excessive and grueling physical labor has already started to break the spirits of the young men.

After just three months, most miners have begun choosing to exchange their meager earnings from mining with overseers for coca leaves after finishing their shifts to numb their nerves so their overtaxed bodies can rise again the next day.

Here.

No one dared fall ill or slack off, and even less dared to escape.

Elsewhere, vagrants with work capacity might escape punishment until after three offenses, but at this mine belonging to the Deputy Speaker of the Constitutional Assembly, anyone caught after an escape attempt would be hanged immediately.

The gallows at the entrance to the mine, which everyone passed by, displayed several dessicated bodies as negative examples, serving as the best warning sign. This visceral death deterrent was more effective than shackles.

Clearly, while mercilessly exploiting the bottom strata, asset owners had also gained large amounts of extralegal privilege.

Who could have imagined that merely three months ago, this mine was a model of harmonious labor relations? The miners banded closely around Mr. Wright, the mine owner, considering him a great benefactor.

While providing flexible employment to those persecuted by the Kingdom, he also gave up his noble title, siding with the laboring people and leading the "uprising" seeking freedom and equality against the nobility and Royal Family.

Many of the miners had been the main force in the "Rebel Army". Although they merely cheered from the sidelines, their momentum was vast.

In the end, it was all proven as lies that "personal freedom and equality" were deceptive ghost tales.

At this thought, Sander forcefully spit out the flavorless coca leaf and was about to swing his shovel again to vent his pent-up rage when he suddenly saw something and called out under his breath:

"Look, the mine manager and overseers are all running!"

Soon, a roar of cheers came from outside the mine:

"Another body on the gallows!"

"Wright... is dead!"

"Oh! Hahaha..."

"..."

In the Galliot family cemetery.

After tidying the graveyard and paying respects to their ancestors, Aiven animated four permanent "Ancient Tree Guardians" to become the gravekeepers here.

However, given Aiven and Anita’s current power and life essence, there would probably be no further use for them for at least the next several hundred years.

Subsequently.

Standing on the hillside at the northeastern corner of the small town, watching the cheering miners emerging from the mine, Aiven understood that the third-level grassroots support that had once united the asset owners had utterly dissipated.

The Alliance Army’s entry and retaking of the country would meet no resistance, nor would the Galliot family face any obstacle in reclaiming the land as lords.

And just then, soundlessly.

Changing out of her gemstone armament, Olivia appeared wearing a solemn pure-black long dress, accompanied by a swarm of emerald butterflies, gently landing beside the two.

The girl, knowing what the siblings had just gone through, gently took Anita’s hand without mentioning past pains, softly saying:

"Sister, the ’Mind Network’ sealing off the whole Ilya has just sent news; they have found the high-profile fugitives from the Republic.

When rejoicing, a family should share fortune, and in hardships, no one should bear it alone. Although the main criminals have been caught, letting the privileged family members enjoy the spoils and escape justice is too lenient.

I think it’s time for a heroic thief to step forward... and uphold justice!"

Upon hearing this.

Anita’s eyes brightened slightly, her spirit quickly revived, and she pulled Olivia along, saying:

"I’m well-versed in ...upholding justice; let’s go!"

A stream of light formed by the mass of emerald butterflies swept them away, and the three vanished from sight.

...

In the exile fleet.

The beautiful Madam Jerome, still shaken by the recent turmoil, was sobbing "sob sob" in the encirclement of maids.

Meanwhile, the male members among the entourages of many councilors, surrounded a center corpse with pallid skin and bulging veins, all looking uneasy. Having surpassing conditions, they were mostly not fools.

"This seems to be a suffocation from unknown causes. But how did the Nierco family’s eldest son suddenly die of a sudden illness? How do we explain this to the Deputy Speaker when we reach the Heimar Kingdom?"

"It couldn’t possibly be a disease, none that strikes this severely? I suspect it was some form of supernatural attack."

"..."

While the legislators’ families were having heated discussions, the crew members of the White Egret Commerce Association were striving to conceal the satisfaction in their eyes. Even without the strength to resist, witnessing their companions being killed offhandedly like dogs evoked a deep sorrow for them.

Now, the Nierco who thought nothing of their lives was dead in an instant, making the crew feel as if it was divine retribution from the Goddess.

"Will leaving the bodies on the ship spread the Plague?"

Suddenly, someone in the crowd spoke.

The people exchanged glances, their eyes gradually shifting.

Indeed, just after leaving Ilya, it was manageable, but as they gradually circled around the Treasure Sea, the temperature would increasingly rise.

Moreover, Nierco himself was a seasoned Tier 2 Transcendent; leaving this mysterious and terrifying corpse on the ship was genuinely risky.

Furthermore, the immense wealth of the Nierco Clan was still on the ship... Some loss during transportation was quite normal.

Then.

Plop—!

Water splashed as the sea buried all secrets, and everyone on the ship became accomplices, eliminating any worry of mutual betrayal.

The fleet had just regained order.

Clang! Clang! Clang!...

The lookout on the lead ship’s mast was desperately striking the alarm bell.

"Captain, there’s a ship suddenly appearing right in front of us!"

The legislators’ families, who hadn’t yet returned to the cabin, looked up, seeing a massive black warship over 130 meters long blocking their path.

No one noticed when it appeared.

"Si... signal, ask them..."

Before the captain’s orders were complete, a large area of cyan mist suddenly emerged on the sea in front of them, engulfing all four armed merchant ships.

As they spun around, they found themselves transported to an unknown space filled with islands in the water, massive rectangular cities, and cyan mist in the sky.

A grand voice echoed from the sky:

"Please cooperate, men stand to the left, women to the right..."

...

Aiven never expected that what started as a mere desire to unwind with his sister after revenge led to an incredible windfall.

After inspecting the "cargo" on the four armed merchant ships, they realized they were indeed too young; plundering a nation’s wealth was dizzying even to Aiven.

Numerous bearer gold notes, gold products, renowned artworks, gemstones, jewelry, foreign commerce association stock certificates...

There were six top-grade natural gemstones alone at the "Gem Star" level. Even the super pink diamond "Artemis" weighing 20 carats acquired by Olivia earlier should have been among them...

"So that’s how profitable robbing a country can be!"

Anita and Olivia, responsible for inventory, felt their legs go weak upon seeing the figures.

In fact.

The Phaletis Kingdom’s Intelligence Department had already estimated without the Ilyans needing to say anything.

The recent fiscal surplus of the entire Ilya Kingdom amounted to roughly 250 million Golden Lions, not even counting the royal family’s and nobility’s private assets. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Following a bloodthirsty campaign to eliminate the entire traditional aristocratic classes, the asset holders naturally seized all their assets.

Evidently, political persecution was one cause, while bloody primitive accumulation of capital was another.

Through colonial plunder overseas and exploitation at home across various classes, capital concentration among a few could be achieved, allowing the asset holder class to quickly expand.

In an era where banking wasn’t developed and many traditional aristocrats distrusted private banking systems, most of this wealth was kept in their home treasuries as tangible assets.

Finally caught in an asset holder net.

Actually, the most valuable components of this country were fixed assets such as fleets, ports, ranches, factories, mines, and forests... They were impossible to carry away.

Those land contracts and factory ownership documents became waste paper after regime changes.

The asset holders were undoubtedly far broader in vision than traditional aristocrats and had already diversified and transferred many assets early.

Some hid them in treasuries as reserve funds; others deposited into banks outside the alliance and even stationed outside alliance territories; some were even invested globally as international investments...

Fortunately, it hadn’t been long; their principles of "each second of idle funds being a sin" hadn’t yet transformed them into worldwide investments.

Once it was on someone else’s territory, retrieving through normal means would become very challenging.

Aiven, looking at the figures his sister and Olivia reported, felt his heart tremble.

"One cannot get rich without windfalls; Pirates are indeed a promising career!"

The value of the capture was approximately one-fourth of Ilya’s fiscal surplus, reaching an immense sum of 60 million Golden Lions!

Asset holders need primitive capital accumulation, and Aiven, of course, needed accumulation far more. With such wealth, state capitalism could already be implemented first in the Georgia Territory!