Chapter Two: Su Yunyun

During the era of Madrid’s imperial colonization, the flourishing of treasure fleets transporting wealth from the New World gave rise to a golden age of piracy. But when the English and the Franks inherited the spoils of the Madrid Empire, their fledgling nations possessed navies far surpassing the aging Madrid fleet. They valued this wealth as their very lifeblood, for they were desperately poor.

Within just a few years, the English and Frankish navies had utterly crushed pirates in the Caribbean and beyond. Those human pirates who once dreamed of quick riches either changed trades or found their graves at the bottom of the sea.

Yet, the English and Franks’ persecution of the Wood Elves on the Golden Continent left countless families broken. Those Wood Elves who escaped with their lives formed loose resistance bands, appearing in any line of work that might cause trouble or losses for the colonizers. Naturally, piracy—striking at the commercial arteries of the English and Frankish empires—became their chosen domain. But unlike the human pirates of old, these Wood Elves did not seek personal fortune. Quite the opposite: every piece of plunder was given up to buy arms and munitions for their kin fighting on the front lines. United in sacrifice, the Wood Elves built a formidable war machine through robbery and selflessness. A band of outlaws with a spirit of devotion is nearly impossible to eradicate. Perhaps this is the only lingering curse the two new empires brought upon themselves as they grew fat on colonial plunder.

Thus, every time Su Yun-yun and her crew of pirates set sail, braving the English warships that patrolled the busy sea lanes, they risked everything. When they finally captured a young master whose appearance screamed wealth and privilege, how could they not squeeze him for all he was worth?

Years of guerrilla war against the colonizers had long since buried any trace of the Wood Elves’ innate kindness—except towards their own kind. As for humans, they felt no sympathy. Still, true to their nature, they would not slaughter indiscriminately; they only sought to arm themselves better against the invaders.

Looking into the pirate captain’s eyes, cold and fierce, Sun Li could not imagine what kind of suffering could turn such a beautiful lady into a hardened and ruthless pirate. Weren’t Wood Elves supposed to be gentle by nature?

He pushed aside his thoughts and carefully chose his words. Sun Li had no wish to clash with these Wood Elf pirates, who seemed to have at least some moral boundaries. In fact, he suddenly felt a desire to understand them, to learn what had happened on the Golden Continent to drive these lovely Wood Elves to a life of robbery.

“Beautiful lady, I’m sorry I didn’t bring much treasure on this voyage, so you and your crew may feel your efforts wasted. However, I’m willing to offer myself as a hostage and have my trading house provide a ransom of ten thousand Madrid gold coins. My only request is that you release my servants, so they can carry the message and prepare the ransom. We can agree on a location, and I swear on my life that my family will pay you every coin as promised. After all, my fate is in your hands. What do you think?” Sun Li addressed Su Yun-yun with great respect.

Ten thousand Madrid gold coins—a tidy sum, and a fitting ransom for the favored heir of a noble house. Madrid gold was renowned throughout Europa for its high purity. Truth be told, Su Yun-yun cared a great deal for that sum. This little merchant ship wasn’t worth much, and even if she sold it, those greedy merchants would only pay a pittance. As for the twenty crewmen, their lives meant nothing to the Wood Elves; they were not mortal enemies, and the Elves had no particular taste for killing. If this young master was willing to remain behind, she might as well trust him for now. And if he dared to lie with his life as the wager, she could always kill him later—what loss was there in that?

In a flash, Su Yun-yun weighed the pros and cons. She glanced at the twenty-one Song men surrounded by dozens of her followers and said, “Very well, I’ll trust you for now. You should know what fate awaits you if the ransom does not arrive on time. Bring our Song noble guest aboard our ship.”

Though she spoke of hospitality, the Wood Elves showed no such courtesy. Two of them roughly tied Sun Li up, arranged the details of the exchange for three days hence, and then Su Yun-yun led her crew and their trussed-up captive—like a roast suckling pig—back to their pirate ship.

Watching his vessel grow ever more distant, Sun Li began to doubt the wisdom of his choice. Was he being a fool? He’d let himself be taken prisoner by a queenly Elf beauty on a whim, all for a “three-day tour” of a pirate lair. He could only hope these Wood Elves weren’t so stubborn as to kill everyone. If they did, how was he supposed to sail home alone?

Moreover, such a beautiful Elf lass would be hard to harm, he thought. Seeing the noble’s odd look, Su Yun-yun grew curious. Swaying her alluring hips and moving with an elegant gait, she approached and asked, “What is your name? Are you of high status in Song?”

“I never change my name or surname,” he boasted, “I am Sun Li. My family is among the most prominent in Song, with immense wealth and countless servants—absolute local magnates. So, beautiful lady, you needn’t worry; your ransom will not go astray.” With such a stunning woman approaching him, Sun Li instantly switched to his braggart mode, painting himself as grandly as possible. If he could impress her, who knew what good fortune might follow?

Su Yun-yun ignored his self-aggrandizement, extracting only the essential fact: this arrogant young master was named Sun Li and his family seemed to have some money. That was all she gathered from his long-winded speech. If Sun Li knew how little impression he’d made, despite all his bluster, he would have been thoroughly vexed.

After less than an hour of conversation, Su Yun-yun was left speechless by Sun Li’s shamelessness. If everything he said was true, he’d be no different from the Emperor of Song! She’d met the bold before, but never anyone so brazen. That was Su Yun-yun’s honest thought.

Battered by Sun Li’s endless chatter, Su Yun-yun finally gave up trying to extract anything useful from him. She reached a conclusion: this was nothing but a thick-skinned, lecherous, boastful wastrel!

She ordered her men to bind Sun Li and toss him into the hold. Before the ransom was delivered, she resolved, she would never lay eyes on this shameless scoundrel again!