Bang! Bang!
Lex and Edward took turns providing cover, shooting down pirates who ran up from the bottom of the ship's hold. Anyway, these guys weren't good people, and for every one that died, one innocent person on the Sea would be spared harm.
When they reached the bottom of the hold, they saw Quincy resting on the flooded steps. Hearing footsteps, he looked up, glanced at Lex and Edward, and then said, "If you're here to help, there's no need. Because it's already over."
Over?
Lex noticed a body floating by. On the body's face, there was already melted greasepaint.
The pirate ship's First Mate?
Smile Clown?
Lex re-evaluated Quincy. He was short-tempered and unsociable, but not a rookie. A rookie wouldn't be so calm after killing a pirate.
"Well done. This way, we can all join 'Black Sail' together."
Quincy glanced at Lex, sneered, stood up, and rudely walked past the two of them.
"He looks like a powder keg, ready to explode at any moment." Edward made an exploding gesture with both hands.
Lex smiled faintly, patted the Poet's shoulder: "Let's go, it should be over up there too."
Just as Lex said.
When they returned to the deck, the battle had already ended. There were over a dozen surrendered pirates, and the Boatswain was directing his men to temporarily detain them.
Lex looked around, not seeing Mr. 'Thief', and asked in confusion, "Where did Frank go?"
In a washroom in the ship's hold, Frank pulled out various items from his pockets. He specifically moved a letter and an iron box to one side. Just as he was about to open the iron box, he heard a deep voice from outside.
"Mr. Frank, don't move, don't touch anything around you. Please come out. Or do you wish for me to use a 'command'?"
This was the voice of the Captain, Ken Angus.
"No, don't do that, I'll come out now," Frank said, his hand reaching for the iron box.
"I said, stop!"
A majestic voice rang out from outside the door, and Frank's hand immediately froze in mid-air. He sighed and turned to open the door.
Pulling down his boat-shaped hat, the gloomy-eyed Ken glanced into the washroom.
"So, everything is here?"
Frank walked out: "Everything is here."
"Take off your shoes," the Captain said without looking.
Frank looked at the ceiling, shrugged, and with a helpless expression, pulled out a wad of banknotes of various denominations from under his shoes.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to check your jacket pockets," Ken said again.
Frank, expressionless, pulled out another pocket watch from his jacket pocket: "That's all, there's really nothing left."
Ken took his money and pocket watch: "I don't mind you taking some pirate's things, but you can't steal things from our people's pockets."
"Where are the Butcher's things?"
Frank pointed to the iron box and the envelope.
Ken snorted, stuffing the banknotes into his pocket: "Don't let it happen again. Go on up."
After Frank left, the Captain entered the washroom and opened the iron box. Inside the box was a thumb-sized wooden statue, whose gender was indistinguishable, but its image was distorted and carved with strange symbols.
"One look and you know it's not a good thing." The Captain dared not touch it directly with his hand. He cautiously added a Wall of Spirituality to the item, then closed the lid, preparing to send it back to 'Black Sail' headquarters through a secret channel when he had a chance to go ashore.
Then he opened the envelope.
Inside the envelope was a letter, with crooked handwriting. Ken struggled greatly to decipher the words.
"Damn it, we got nothing, a wasted trip. Butcher, did you find anything on your end? I plan to go to Windmill Island, should arrive mid-October. If you haven't found anything, come meet me. I know a place where we might find what the 'Admiral' wants..."
The final words were too scrawled to make out what the 'Admiral' wanted.
"Admiral."
"Was this letter also sent by someone from the 'Blood Admiral' side? What is the 'Blood Admiral' looking for?"
"Today is the last day of September, so in about ten days, another group of pirates will be going to Windmill Island."
"These pirates really should go back to school. They should practice their handwriting properly, lest they cause trouble for themselves and others."
Ken casually crumpled the letter into a ball and threw it into the sink. He then took out a box of matches and lit the paper ball. After confirming the paper had turned to ash, he put all the things Frank had stolen from the pirate and from the Sailor into his pocket.
Arriving on the beach, the Captain saw Lex and the others. They were sitting or standing, cooling themselves under a few palm trees.
However, the sun had already set below the horizon, the sky was dotted with stars, and the weather was not hot.
"You passed."
Ken said loudly, "You all passed the test. From now on, you are official members of 'Black Sail'. Next, we will conduct a week-long training on the island."
"Additionally, I will report the bounties for the Butcher trio for you, but how to distribute them is up to you to decide."
The Captain looked at the sky and said, "Take a break, and then, dinner will be served."
After Ken walked away, Lex said, "Quincy gets the Smile Clown's bounty alone, and the Butcher and Silver Tongue's portion will be split evenly among me, Edward, and Frank. What do you all think?"
Quincy was the first to say, "Is there even a question? I won't let anyone steal my credit, nor will I covet other people's things. This is best."
He stood up and walked to the other side of the beach.
Edward smiled, "In the battle on the deck, Lex, your contribution was greater. I think you should take one share of the bounty, and Frank and I can split the other share evenly."
"Alright then, I'll take the Silver Tongue's bounty, and you two can split the Butcher's," Lex said straightforwardly, without declining.
Edward was stunned: "Shouldn't you take the Butcher's? That way, it wouldn't be much different from the previous distribution."
Lex smiled confidently: "Compared to bounties, I'd rather everyone cooperate well in the future. If we do that, why would we worry about not having bounties?"
"Let's go, I'm already hungry. I hope the Navy's food isn't bad."
Frank, who had remained silent, walked past him and whispered, "We are not the Navy."
Lex and Edward exchanged glances, and both shrugged simultaneously.
The next day.
On the beach, Lex looked at the makeshift hut in front of him, large enough to sleep six or seven people. It had been built by the Sailors using trees from the island and planks dismantled from the pirate ship, taking a whole morning to construct.
The Sailors successively brought the luggage of Lex and the others, including Natalie's, into this makeshift hut.
Just then, the Captain walked over: "Aren't you going to go inside and take a look? This is where you'll be staying for the next week."
Lex frowned, "Captain, it's fine for us, but for Miss Natalie to live with us, isn't that inappropriate?"
Quincy, for once, stood on the same side as Lex: "I think so too, Captain."
Ken Angus's eyes swept back and forth, scrutinizing Lex and the others, and the smile on his lips gradually widened.