“Captain Dailin actually left a treasure!?” Ye Chui looked at Stari in shock.
Captain Dailin was the patriarch of the White Ship clan of the Twelve Phantom Beasts. He led the navy to resist dangerous invasions around the Tidal Empire. Later, while fighting the Apostle Sea Angel, his wife died unexpectedly. In his grief, his soul fused with the White Ship phantom beast and he became a ghost ship, using his own life to seal the Sea Angel forever.
His clan subordinates honoured him as the Pirate King, yet Ye Chui had never heard that he left any treasure.
After the initial surprise, a doubtful expression appeared on Ye Chui’s face. He asked Stari, “How do you know about this treasure?”
“When Captain Dailin turned into a ghost ship, my grandfather was there at the scene.” Seeing that Ye Chui and the others were hooked, Stari grew excited. He leaned forward and continued in a secretive voice, “Captain Dailin was holding his wife’s corpse, heartbroken. The White Ship phantom beast emerged from his body. His subordinates gathered around, staring in stunned silence as his body gradually fused with the White Ship. At that moment, Captain Dailin spoke to everyone about his treasure. He said that whoever found his treasure could become the Pirate King!”
“Finding the treasure makes you the Pirate King!?” Debbie asked curiously. “What exactly did Captain Dailin say?”
“Did he say something like, ‘Do you want my treasure? If you want it, go out to sea and find it. I’ve left it all there’?” Ye Chui suddenly interrupted.
Everyone turned to look at him in curiosity.
Ye Chui continued, “Many people were there at the time. They were inspired by those words and became pirates. Because of Captain Dailin’s statement, the Great Age of Navigation began. Countless powerful pirates emerged one after another, all searching for the treasure he left behind in order to become the Pirate King. Oh, right, is the treasure called One Piece?”
Everyone at the table stared at Ye Chui in astonishment.
“Many years later, a boy wearing a straw hat set sail on a tiny boat to find the legendary One Piece, and thus began a magnificent adventure…” Ye Chui carried on, then suddenly realised something and quickly stopped storytelling mode.
“And then? What happened next?” Stari, now thoroughly interested, took a swig of cheap beer and pressed him.
“Who exactly is telling this story here?” Ye Chui rolled his eyes. He turned to Stari. “You continue. What did Captain Dailin actually say?”
“Fine…”
Stari seemed a little disappointed that Ye Chui’s tale had ended. He carried on, “Captain Dailin said to the crowd, ‘Protect my treasure well. One day someone will inherit my mantle.’ The meaning is obvious. Whoever finds his treasure becomes the Pirate King.”
Ye Chui frowned, feeling something was off. “Protect my treasure well. One day someone will inherit my mantle.” For decades people had taken this as “find my treasure and you become Pirate King”, but when Dailin fused with the White Ship, he had not yet been called Pirate King. The “mantle” in those words clearly referred to something else…
Still, the Pirate King’s treasure definitely existed.
Ye Chui was certain Stari was not lying.
“Do you know where the Pirate King’s treasure is?” Ye Chui asked Stari gravely.
“Of course. I possess the sea chart that leads there.” Stari’s voice grew serious. He put down his mug and addressed everyone at the table. “Only I can find that place. If you agree to become my crew, then in future you will be the crew of the Pirate King!”
…
On the filthy main street of Pirate Bay, drunken pirates could be seen everywhere, noise rising ceaselessly. Stari walked ahead, greeting people left and right. He seemed to know every pirate in the bay. He could even name the prostitutes and tavern keepers with ease, showing his status among pirates was far from ordinary.
Ye Chui’s group followed behind. They had come simply to obtain a ship, but meeting Stari had sparked intense interest in Ye Chui.
Stari had approached them because he saw how easily they intimidated the local pirates earlier. What he said was not a lie. There was a real chance they could obtain interesting information from him.
For that reason, Ye Chui and the others decided to follow Stari to his base in Pirate Bay, where he claimed the sea chart was kept.
At that moment, a gaudily dressed woman who looked like a noble lady lifted her skirts and walked straight towards them.
She was clearly a prostitute.
She had obviously spotted Stari and was heading for him.
“Calia!” Stari smiled and hurried to greet her.
Smack!
The woman named Calia slapped him hard across the face, then turned and walked away without a word.
Stari gave Ye Chui’s group an awkward smile. Just then another prostitute approached, skirts raised. “Battis!” Stari called quickly.
Battis looked at him coldly, glanced at Ye Chui’s group, her gaze lingering a moment longer on Freya and Celc, then asked icily, “Who are they?”
“My friends…”
Smack!
Another crisp slap.
Battis turned and left, skirts in hand.
Ye Chui and company: “…”
“I have a few romantic entanglements. Nothing serious, of course.” Stari held his face with both hands and smiled awkwardly explained to Ye Chui.
“…Are you sure you’re Captain Pippi Xia and not actually called Jack Sparrow?” Ye Chui could not help asking curiously.
“Of course I’m Captain Pippi Xia… no, Captain Stari of the Red Dragon Pirate Crew!” Stari declared at once. He glanced nervously in the direction Calia and Battis had gone, then beckoned Ye Chui’s group and began tiptoeing away, clearly trying to avoid being noticed.
Ye Chui and his companions exchanged looks, suddenly feeling their earlier judgement that Stari might be a highly respected pirate captain had been completely wrong…
A few minutes later, they arrived at a broken-down ship moored at a dock.
The wreck had clearly not sailed for years. The hull was riddled with holes patched haphazardly with planks. A wooden ladder led to the deck, and from there into the cabins. The ship had been beached here and was now Stari’s home.
“Make yourselves comfortable. I’ll prepare dinner. Tavern food is barely edible. I promise my cooking will satisfy you.” Stari settled them in and spoke confidently as he headed to the galley.
As he entered the cabin he used as a kitchen, he felt rather pleased with himself. These people had never once mentioned payment for joining his crew. They clearly weren’t short of money. Perfect. He had found a rich, strong bunch. One good meal and they would work for him…
With that cheerful thought, he began cooking.
Pirate bread, cheese-baked fish, dried fish, caviar, roast pork, meat stew. Soon rich aromas filled the cabins. The place was far cleaner than the tavern, and the food looked far more appetising. A lavish dinner was quickly laid on the table. The smell and appearance alone made everyone’s mouth water.
“Not everyone gets to eat the future Pirate King’s cooking. As my crew, you’re lucky tonight.” Stari boasted proudly. “We set sail first thing tomorrow. Tonight I’m feeding you until you’re full!”
“Until we’re full, you say…”
Hearing this, Ye Chui gave Stari a strange look. Young man, you’re courting death!
Ye Chui of course knew what Stari was thinking. The reason they had not mentioned payment was simply that they had no interest in his ship. They were only here for the Pirate King’s treasure. Since Stari had misunderstood and declared the meal all-you-can-eat…
Heh heh. You asked for this.
“Captain Pippi Xia, your bread is delicious. Did you put fish in it?”
“Miss Guni, that’s my secret recipe. I grind dried fish into the flour. Tasty, right? Also, please call me Captain Red Dragon or Captain Stari.”
“Mmm, mmm. I’ve finished these pieces already, Captain Pippi Xia. Could you bake me a few more pounds?”
“A few… pounds?”
“And this roast meat. The stuff in the tavern still had blood in it. No appetite at all. Yours is much better… make me some more. Hmm, eating too much roast isn’t good, so just five times this portion.”
“…”
“Your dried fish is great too. How much is left… seven or eight pounds? Bring it all out.”
“…”
“This stew is delicious. Another pot, please.”
“…”
Two hours later.
The group, mainly Guni and Salome, finally finished dinner, though they clearly still had room left. Stari’s cooking was not actually exceptional. The chef guardian spirit of the Second Prince of Star (the chubby one) made truly exquisite food. But here by the sea, Stari’s dishes had a unique seaside flavour that was very appealing.
They had eaten heartily and enjoyed themselves, but they just were not completely full yet.
Guni leaned half her body against Ye Chui, rubbing her little tummy and sighing. “Only seventy percent full. This will have to do for now.”
Stari, whose entire food stock had been wiped out, clutched an empty flour sack and looked on the verge of tears. “…”
Bloody hell, they had just eaten three or four months’ worth of his reserves!
“Captain Pippi Xia, where’s that sea chart you mentioned? Bring it out so we can take a look,” Ye Chui asked, picking his teeth.
“…”
Stari suddenly felt as though he had not hired these people, but rather that they were brutally looting him (PS: it was not an illusion…). He hesitated for a moment, then went into the next cabin. After much rummaging, he returned carrying an old wooden box covered in dust.
He reverently placed the box in front of Ye Chui, opened it, and took out a strange pendant.
The pendant looked like a silver coin, yet it was covered in odd runic lines of unknown meaning.
“This is the sea chart you spoke of?” Ye Chui was stunned. He took the pendant and examined it closely.
“My grandfather was Captain Dailin’s first mate. After Captain Dailin spoke those last words about the treasure, he threw this pendant to my grandfather. Clearly this pendant is the key to finding his treasure. Because of it, my grandfather was hunted for years until he finally settled here.” Stari explained with a touch of emotion.
Ye Chui frowned at Stari was not lying, but how could a pendant count as a sea chart? Were the patterns the route?
“Huh?” Debbie suddenly exclaimed softly and held out her hand to Ye Chui. “Let me see that thing quickly.”
“You recognise it?” Ye Chui asked, surprised.
“No, I just feel a strange aura from it…” Debbie took the pendant, placed it in her palm, and sensed it carefully. She looked at Ye Chui. “It’s the unique aura of a summoner!”
The moment Debbie finished speaking, a strange ripple suddenly spread from the pendant. It let out a “hum” that swept in all directions before falling silent again.
“What just happened!?” Stari cried out in alarm.
…
In a dark, cold stretch of sea, large ships sailed slowly forward.
The vessels looked extremely dilapidated, not from age, but as though corroded by something, giving them an eerie, ghostly air.
The ships varied in design, and the flags on their masts differed too. Some bore a skull with a red beard, some a skull standing watch with arms folded, some a plain black skull on white. These were ships of the Red Beard, Watcher, and Black Sail pirate crews.
Over a month ago, a curse unleashed by the Missionary pirate crew had turned all three great crews into undead abominations of the sea known as Death Monks.
The instant Debbie accidentally activated some power within the pendant, aboard one of the ships, a Death Monk wearing a black pirate hat and sporting a thick red beard suddenly shuddered. He hurried to the rail and pointed in a certain direction.
In the moonlight one could see that he and the crew behind him looked like rotting corpses, tattered and decayed, bones showing in places, utterly horrifying.
This was a Death Monk, a cursed pirate.
With a note of excitement he declared, “Over there! Pirate Bay!”
