Chapter 108: The First Offensive in France
Chapter 108 – The First Aggressiveness in France
Amidst a curtain of dust and smoke, Arthur assisted the fat, expensive Frenchman as he stepped up the stairs step by step toward the deck.
And in Arthur’s jacket pocket, he carried a clean, white receipt for the deposit Fred had gotten when he kidnapped the man – a five hundred pound bearer check from the Rothschild Bank.
Arthur, while holding the fat man upwards, opened his mouth and asked: “You are not cheap, the deposit for kidnapping you are five hundred pounds, if you bring you back to Paris, the bounty you get is estimated that even I have to be moved. You this French fat man in the end what is the identity? What makes it worth so much money?”
The fat Frenchman sniffed and couldn’t help but glare at Arthur beside him, “Although I’m very courteous, if you address me again with that contemptuous term that contains a demeaning connotation, I’ll refuse to answer any questions!”
“Oh, I’m sorry, sir. I really shouldn’t have used that derogatory prefix, it does lack basic manners and respect.”
Arthur smiled apologetically as he realized he had lost his manners, “So, Fatty, what exactly is your status?”
Hearing this, the fat Frenchman’s face reddened with anger, and he broke into a snarl, “So in the English dictionary, is ‘French’ more insulting than ‘fat’!”
Arthur nodded his head in embarrassment and said, “How could you reveal that secret? Well, since you don’t like it, I’ll call you by your pseudonym, would you prefer I call you ‘Friday’ or ‘Robinson’? I have to say, this pseudonym of yours is really strange. It is only those who have not read Robinson Crusoe who do not realize that you are making fun of them.”
Hearing this, the fat Frenchman just squeezed a breath out of his nose as he grunted and tugged at his collar.
“You don’t understand, I took this pseudonym for a meaning.”
“Whoa? Can I hear the details of why?”
The fat man glanced at Arthur and opened his mouth to read, “Because my destiny is just like Robinson’s, because of unfortunate encounters, we both stayed away from the civilized world and came to a barbaric island where civilization is invisible.”
Arthur sniffed and couldn’t help but stop and stare at the Frenchman seriously.
He pursed his lips and smiled, “You say that, it seems that you don’t read carefully, don’t you know that Robinson was an English sailor? Robinson Crusoe is none other than the representative work of British writer Daniel Defoe!”
“Wow! Is that so? Then Robinson is more unfortunate than I. At least I’ve seen civilization!”
At these words the Frenchman gave Arthur an angry glare, and then flinging away his arm, he did not wish him to assist him, but limped upwards as if in a gambling mood.
Arthur grabbed the hair scattered in front of his forehead and smoothed it back, he dumbly said, “Just kidding, why are you still really angry? The French really can’t play.”
Agareth sat on the edge of the stairs as the Red Devil slapped his leg and laughed so hard that tears came to his eyes.
“Arthur, you don’t understand, this unassuming fat man can have the highest offense France has seen in centuries.”
“Does he?” Arthur shook his head, “Then he’d better change that violent temper if he wants to live in England. But I must also admit that he is in some ways even stronger than Napoleon the Great, who was beloved by the French people.”
The Red Devil raised an eyebrow, “Which aspects, give me an example.”
“Give me an example?”
Arthur smoothed his wrinkled gloves and spoke faintly, “For example, Napoleon never set foot on Great Britain’s soil until his death, but this fat man did. From that perspective, his attacks are indeed sharper than Napoleon’s.”
Arthur had just finished saying this, and then he took light steps to catch up, leaving behind the sound of the red devil rolling on the ground with laughter behind him.
“Arthur, you’re the most offensive of the 19th century! If that fat man heard that, I guess he’d have to pounce on you and strangle you!”
Arthur’s footsteps suddenly lurched when he heard this, and he tasted a hint of something wrong in Agareth’s words.
He pondered, “Are you saying that this person is somewhat related to Napoleon? Is it possible that he is his relative? But if it’s a relative, isn’t the Frenchman’s deposit of five hundred pounds for kidnapping a man a bit low?”
Agareth looked at Arthur’s skeptical expression and spoke triumphantly, “Go ahead and guess, I’ll tell you, his relationship with Napoleon isn’t particularly far but also not particularly close, anyway, he’s not related to Napoleon by blood. If you want to know, get me a few more pirate lives.”
Arthur glanced back at the Red Devil as he stood in front of the hatch, “You really are full of business. Agareth, where are your promises? Where are your abilities? Can’t you answer all the riddles in the world? You have the nerve to ask me for a few more lives for such a trivial matter?”
Just as Arthur had become immune to the Red Devil’s wordsmithing, the Red Devil was now not eating Arthur’s agitation.
He pushed up his glasses and spoke while fiddling with the heavy book in his hand, “Arthur, you’d better save your energy. Today you’ve already killed more than enough, counting Fred just now, you’ve taken a total of thirteen lives up and down the Blackthorn. These three that are rich out, why don’t you simply even me out as an addition to my informing you of that Frenchman’s identity information, do you think it’s okay?” Arthur ignored the Red Devil’s invitation to trade and pushed the hatch open, “Forget it, if you don’t want to tell me, I’ll ask him myself. The extra three are stored with you first, remember to calculate the interest for me.”
The Red Devil hurriedly closed his book at his words, he pointed at Arthur’s back and cursed in anger.
“Arthur, Arthur! The strongest voice of Scotland Yard! Electromagnetism’s master Hastings Force! The most offensive of the nineteenth century! Eh! Fuck you, I’m calling you! Why don’t you do anything with any atmosphere at all for a man who’s going to be the Messiah in the future?!”
Arthur stepped out of the hatch, and as far as the eye could see, all of them were Blackthorn sailors who had been disarmed by marines holding guns to their heads.
And the fat Frenchman was leaning against the half-broken mast with his aching old back.
The Marine commander saw Arthur coming and smiled with a tug of his mouth, even as the sinuous scar on the right side of his face twisted with him.
He stepped forward, fished out the pipe in his pocket and rushed to hand it to Arthur.
He nodded and gestured for Arthur to take it in his mouth, then fished a match out of his pocket and lit it for him himself.
The Commander smiled and put a hand on Arthur’s shoulder, “Well done, old boy! It’s been a while since I’ve fought such a hearty pick-up fight, and the last time I did so well was when I was following the ‘Black Clown’ against slave ships off the coast of West Africa back in the day.”
Arthur exhaled a smoke ring and breathed a sigh of relief, then handed the pipe back, signaling the commander to take a puff as well.
He opened his mouth and asked, “Is the slave trade rampant in West Africa?”
The commander took two sips and nodded, “Isn’t it? Portuguese, Spanish, whatever. There’s no way around it, both South and North America need slaves, and as long as there’s a demand, there’s a trade.
But thanks to these slavers, those of us sailors who have worked in the slave fleet can usually make a few bucks off of them. Aside from having to watch out for infectious diseases like malaria, the income can be much higher than doing it in the Home Fleet.”
At this point, the commander raised his head again at the fat Frenchman off to the side, “So this is the guy you’re taking back? As soon as he just came out of his cabin, he exploded into French profanity on the deck, and I almost kicked him into the sea when I wasn’t paying attention.”
Arthur raised an eyebrow and asked, “It would have been fine if you had kicked him down, but do you know how to rescue a Frenchman who has fallen overboard?”
The commander shook his head with regret and said, “Sorry, that’s something I don’t really know.”
A Marine walking by whistled when he heard this, “Don’t know? It’s great if you don’t know!”
Just after a few people finished their words, they immediately triggered a round of laughter on the ship, and even the crew of the surrendered Blackthorn couldn’t help but grin.
The French fat man pointed at the boat with a red face and cursed, “You guys speak politely to me! I won’t allow you to insult a noble French artilleryman like this!”
“Whoa?” Arthur laughed shoulder to shoulder with the commander, “Artilleryman? You’re not still a French artillery lieutenant, are you? Graduated from the Paris Military Academy?”
The other Marines followed suit.
“Last name Bonaparte?”
“Name’s Napoleon?”
The fat man glanced at them disdainfully, then smoothed out his shirt and proclaimed loudly with both hands behind his back and his head held high in pride.
“Hmph! I am honored to inform you that standing before you is:
The upstanding citizens of Glorious France.
Former scribe of the Secretariat of the Duke of Orleans.
A republican soldier who accompanied the army that stormed the Palais de Sillery during the July Revolution.
Hero of the battle, who, when the insurgents were short of ammunition, was ordered to open the arsenals of Soissons and La Fère, thus laying the foundation stone for the victory of the revolution.
A great example of the French Republic, honored by General Lafayette himself.
He was a librarian in Paris and a captain in the French Army.
Deputy Commander of the 4th Artillery Company of the French National Guard.
A gallant exile who was persecuted for inciting a second revolution because of his republican views, his republican propaganda, and his refusal to recognize the usurper King Louis-Philippe.
Strong, resolute and indomitable, His Excellency Alexander Dumas!”
(End of chapter)