Chapter 12:The Black Market City of Bacha

Watching Pete and Bernice navigate the teetering sheepskin raft down the turbulent river, Allen was filled with concern. This stretch of rapids was perilous, but it was a crucial juncture in their illicit logging operation. Now, all he could do was pray.

Despite being a good swimmer, Allen was too heavy to handle the raft laden with mahogany alone.

However, before chasing the raft downstream with his team, Allen made some arrangements.

As a former forest ranger, he harbored no ill will towards his old colleagues. But now, as a fierce illegal logger, how could he not leave a "present" for his former co-workers?

Thus, on the patrol's inevitable path, Allen set two bear traps and dug two pitfalls. These devices were designed for bears and wild boars; one could imagine the outcome for a human caught in them. Such an encounter would likely result in severe injury if not death, ensuring that enforcement would think twice before blindly pursuing them. After all, who would risk their life for a paltry salary?

Especially since the arrival of the miserly Obion, the forest ranger teams under his command were in disarray. Poor treatment of subordinates meant a lack of loyalty in critical moments.

After setting the traps, Allen and his team took a shortcut to catch up with Pete and Bernice. Though the river twisted and turned, some paths were nearly straight, albeit with steep gradients.

It goes without saying, the allure of wealth is infinite to the impoverished. Despite trekking through treacherous cliffs, the motivation among the smiths and others was unyielding as they recalled Allen's words: two pieces of high-quality redwood could fetch six thousand copper coins each, amounting to twelve thousand in total.

In the Redwood Continent, nobles could kill a commoner without owing compensation. A miner laboring day and night for a year could scarcely save up two hundred copper coins. Lives were so impoverished that a human life held less value than a horse's. To them, risking life for wealth seemed a fair gamble, though opportunities were not given to everyone.

...

After two hours of arduous travel, Allen and his team finally arrived at an expansive sandbank where they found Bernice and Pete in a bedraggled state, utterly exhausted but fortunately unharmed.

Back where Allen and his team had felled the redwood, near the massive waterfall, a group of ragged forest rangers was confronting a couple of camouflaged individuals, furiously staring at two of their companions on the ground—one injured, the other dead.

Tragically, one had been killed instantly by a falling log crushing his skull, while the other suffered a broken leg from a bear trap. 

"F**k! Who did this? I'll kill them myself," the bearded team leader of the rangers seethed with cold fury.

An old man with tree bark on him, clearly a tribal member, sneered, "The death doesn't matter. What matters is we've no word from the redwoods we sent out! Either the guy handling them is dead, or he's betrayed us, hogging the gains for himself!"

"Hmph! Impossible! He was my brother..."

It turned out the man Allen and his team had killed was not only part of the forest rangers but also dabbled in illicit logging, collaborating with the tribes in the rainforest to profit from the black market.

Despite the harsh circumstances since Obion's takeover had slashed their funding, Allen remained unaware and unconcerned.

He was leading his men towards another waterway, to the black-market city of Bacha.

Crossing the lorded areas of the rainforest and entering lawless waters, Allen sighed in relief. Beyond noble territories, there were no patrols to intercept.

However, in this chaotic region, robbery was commonplace. Allen navigated a known safe route, covering their valuable redwoods with sacks of unique rainforest figs to deflect attention. Though the figs also held some value, no one would bother robbing them due to their minimal worth.

Two days later, as they neared the confluence of the Bata and Baken rivers, the gateway to the sprawling market of Bacha, Allen led his team ashore. They constructed a temporary hideout under a giant banyan for safety.

"You four wait here; I'll take Pete and Bernice to scout the city," Allen instructed his crew before the trio ventured into the city built along the river, the notorious black market city of Bacha.

Despite its reputation, Bacha was more orderly than most of Redwood Continent's noble lands. Commercial gangs, underworld factions, and armed groups all mingled in chaos.

Under the free market's brutal logic and after countless bouts of violence, these forces recognized that some stability was crucial for commerce to thrive.

Thus, in Bacha, distinct zones were well-regulated by various powers within this small town or city. Here, anyone seeking freedom and profit could find their place.

One could even acquire a week-long stall in their chosen area for a deposit, though permanent spots were mostly held by established powers.

Upon entering, Allen, Bernice, and Pete donned animal skin masks and loose robes as per black market customs, paying a high deposit of one silver coin to enter the bustling timber trading area.

Annually, untraceable mahogany flowed here, a fact known to all. Despite the complex web of interests, the market grew wild and unchecked.

While selling redwood here meant lower prices, the safety and anonymity offered by the frequent dealings drew no undue attention to Allen's illicit harvest.

Given the sheepskin raft's limited durability and the mediocre quality of the wood acquired en route, Allen chose only the two segments he had personally felled for trade in Bacha.