In the year Eighteen Hundred and Sixty...

...the South China Sea continued to be an attractive and thriving refuge for pirates. Sea trade in and around the Orient was flourishing, while the local governments offered only helplessness and apathy. China was gradually breaking apart into civil war, and Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour had so much sea traffic that it became impossible for the British to police.

Trade between Hong Kong and other South China Sea ports was bustling with merchants transporting commodities, slaves—and even more sinister cargo. Only the bravest dared stow Opium, for fear of British patrols or worse...bloodthirsty pirates. The illegal Opium trade could bring high reward...and all too often, cruel death.

The last thing any ship loaded with precious cargo wanted to encounter was a Chinese Junk loaded with cannons at the ready. Pirate Junks lurked the rivers and harbors of China and Hong Kong, and it was often impossible to tell whether they belonged to merchants or pirates...