Reincarnated at Level Two Million - Chapter 146

“Yeah, the one from the news feeds.” Yun explained. “It’s been crazy hearing about the stuff he did.”

“Oh, right, the one who saved that planet.” Skel’s mom said. “That must be why the Tilites want him. They must want to find out if this god is the real deal. I mean his existence flies in the face of everything they have ever said, so they might even be mad.”

“I need their help, so I hope anger is not on their mind.” Zell said.

“Could be helpful.” She replied. “They might help you just to get rid of you.”

“Mother.” Skel interrupted. “Why did father’s admiral come knocking? You just said that he did, not why. I need to know why.”

“Always the good boy.” She said with a smile, giving Skel a tiny slap on the cheek. “There’s a war between your father’s old faction and a new group that has popped up inside of their territory.”

“And you thought it would be fun to join a war?!” Skel yelled out, furious at his mother.

“I think she was lying about the fun part.” Zell said as he crossed his arms. “You are hiding something.”

“What are you some kind of mountain sized lie detector?” She asked. “Fine, I wanted to save my baby from the truth, but I know him, and you are just as annoying as he can be. So, I will save everyone time and just tell the truth.”

“Please mother.” Skel said. “Also, I am not annoying.”

“Oh, Zell, help me.” She yelled.

“Help with what?” Zell asked.

“It was figurative.” She said with a sigh. “You are just like your Zell damned father! When you want to know something, you won’t drop it and will keep asking, or finding ways to ask. It is annoying, just accept it. You are who you are, and you cannot help who your father was.”

“You’re using my name in place of god, aren’t you?” Zell asked, uncrossing his arms and raising a finger.

“You are God are you not?” She asked. “Now back to my story, no more interruptions. Your father owed his admiral a great debt of service. Since he died the debt gets passed on to his son. The admiral came to my house that day looking for you. I joined in your stead; you should not have to pay for your father’s mistakes. I, however, signed up to share in his mistakes when I married him.”

“Why would he owe a debt like that?” Skel asked.

“Your father broke the pirate code.” She replied. “The debt was his punishment placed on him by the seat of admirals. Although his admiral never intended on cashing in on the debt, with the war he did not have a choice.”

“May I ask madam, what code did your husband break?” Zell asked.

“Please call me Shai.” She said laughing. “I am nobody’s madam. As for the code my worthless sack of a husband broke, well I couldn’t be prouder.

So, they were raiding a cargo vessel, it was supposed to be a fully robotic crew. My husband hated confrontation and would only take jobs that didn’t involve people. When they got there the ship was fully manned. Apparently, the robots had a malfunction somewhere along the way and a crew was brought in to bring the ship to port.

The pirate code demanded that they would be sold to slavers. The code is very serious about losing potential sources of profit. The concept of slavery never set well with my husband, and he opted to defy the code. He let the people go and didn’t even ransack the ship as planned. He wanted to ensure they had enough supplies to get home.

The damned fool even offered to help them get to where they were going. All of this of course did not sit well with the higher ups. Having a pirate captain who was not a pirate at heart was a problem. So, they gave him that punishment, and kept him to the dangerous jobs from then on out. Eventually one of those jobs got him killed. You play with fire long enough you get burned.”

“Sounds like he was a good man.” Zell said. “So how can we free you of this debt? In my mind no one should be punished for doing the right thing.”

“You are a sweet god, just like my son.” Shai said. “Don’t you worry about it. I have everything under control.”

“And what happens when the pirate’s code makes you do something that you don’t agree with?” Skel asked. “They will just take on more punishment and end up getting you killed. Let us help you. If anyone can solve the problem Zell can.”

“My service is until the war ends.” Shai said. “That is what the admiral told me.”

“Sounds like we have another war to end.” Skel said. “How about it Zell are you in? I know you just want to go see the Tilites and get what you need from them, but this is my mother. We have to help her.”

“There is no need for a god to help an old woman like me.” Shai said. “Besides, I have the support of my crew and I am enjoying being out of the house.”

“She really is a good captain.” Yun said.

Skel turned his attention to his cousin. “Why are you a pirate? Mother explained why she is. But not why you are.”

Yun used her left arm to rub the back of her head. “Oh, I just needed the money.” She said with a smile. “I kind of lost everything in the gambling hall and this was the best bet to make a quick score to settle my debts.”

“You know those places are rigged!” Skel yelled. “Zell damn it! I leave for just a little while and everyone goes crazy.”

“You know I am not even going to fight it at this point.” Zell said with a sigh, accepting that he was the god of this universe. “We will assist them, Skel. Tell me more about this new faction that has the pirates entangled in a war, Shai.”

“They are not another pirate group.” Shai said. “They are a unified federation of planets that have formed for the sole purpose of ending piracy in the galaxy. Their goal is to act as the galaxy’s police force. Making life safer for its citizens and for its merchants. They are even backed by the Tilites and have made them an honorary member.”

“That complicates things.” Zell said.

“Tell me about it.” Shai replied. “If it weren’t for this debt, I would be rooting for them. Sadly because of it I hope that they are defeated, because if they win it means that I would die.”

Zell and Skel stood there in silence, and they pondered on their course of action.

“What happens if you break the debt?” Skel asked.

“They would hunt our family down and either kill us or enslave us.” Shai explained. “They know where all of your cousins and extended family live. It wouldn’t just be your immediate family; they punish your entire family if you break the debt.”

“But they couldn’t do anything if they no longer existed.” Skel said. “If the federation of planets win and successfully wipe the pirates out, then there is nothing to fear from breaking the debt.”

“If it were only that simple.” Shai said. “There is no guarantee that they will be able to capture or kill all of the pirates. They may just injure them and make them hide in a hole. There is no more dangerous animal than one that is trapped in a corner. Breaking the debt is far too risky. I cannot have our family placed in jeopardy like that.”

“Maybe there is another way.” Zell said. “You said earlier that the pirate’s code is full of ways to make profit. That they care most about profit, above everything else.”

“Yeah, so?” Shai said. “How would that help us in this situation? We don’t need to make money.”

“It tells me the motivation of the pirates at their core is greed.” Zell explained. “If we can find a way for the two to coexist, it may solve the problem. The question is how do we do it? How can we make the pirates see that turning straight will be more profitable and make the federation see the continuation of the pirates as good for the galaxy?”

“Beats me.” Shai said. “That’s why I just do what they tell me and hope I survive the war.”

Skel paced back and forth with his hand on his chin while he thought. After a few minutes of pacing, he slammed his fist into his open palm. “I think I got it!” He yelled. “Trade. We can use trade as our thing that brings it all together.”

“That might work.” Shai said. “Good job son of mine.”

“Can someone explain this to me?” Yun asked. “How is trade going to save us? Are we trading someone?”