In 1913, laconic sea captain Corto Maltese, adrift in the Pacific, gets rescued by his bandit friend Rasputin who's taking two rich shipwrecked teens to an island where his boss the Monk will hold them for ransom. WWI complicates things.

Hugo Pratt's famous comics adventurer, Corto Maltese while sojourning in Adana, Turkey, discovers a map to the treasure of Cyrus, an ancient king of Persia. To assist him in his quest, he enlists his old friend/nemesis the unbelievable Raspoutine whom he first has to help escape from the prison of Samarkand (aka "La maison dorée de Samarkand", the golden house of Samarkand). On the long and tortured way to the riches, he encounters all kind of interesting characters, soldiers of fortune, lost British actors, and even his doppelgänger.

In 1916, laconic adventurer Corto Maltese is in Paramaribo, Surinam visiting his mystic female friend Java. He helps a young heir haunted by voodoo spirits, delivers some weapons to rebels in Brazil and hunts for treasure with Rasputin.

In the year 1918, Corto Maltese embarks on an adventure in Shanghai, China, where he becomes involved with a secret organization. He is on a quest to find hidden treasure in the midst of the Russian Civil War and the chaos of Manchuria. Along the way, he encounters love, betrayal, and danger as he navigates through the treacherous world of spies and secret societies.