Unexpectedly, the pirate Hollandez taught Bill one last lesson for the day.
After they had relieved the Marines at the camp perimeter, Bill sat down and relaxed while the pirates rummaged through the items Bill had taken from several men.
The pirates grumbled and complained, but they followed him nonetheless, not attempting to rebel.
Now armed and stationed at the perimeter, they merely grumbled. Though Bill didn't think a few pistols, muskets, and hatchets would make much of a difference, recalling the pirates' past exploits seemed to have reassured them.
Seven men lined up in a crescent on the beach as loud cracks began coming from the forest. Bill didn't feel particularly threatened by the pirates, believing that if they shot him, they'd end up as a meal for some crazed beast themselves.
Focusing on the sounds that were slowly but steadily approaching, Bill heard Hollandez speak: "Sir, I hope you'll see that my men and I are innocent. We're not that bad and we'll fight, not run away from you."
Despite this assurance and the fact that these men were working hard, Bill couldn't forget what the pirate had told him at their first meeting. The fact that there was a bounty "alive" on this pirate didn't affect his judgment.
Just as Bill was about to respond with something clichéd, one of the pirates whispered, "Just tell him, Captain!"
Looking over his shoulder, Bill saw Hollandez turn his head to the pirate, then back to him. Now speaking a bit more clearly, Hollandez said, "But in return, you must leave us here."
To this, Bill laughed cynically and replied in a mocking tone, "Leave you here? If I leave you here, be prepared to never leave anywhere again!
No. You guys are going to fight with me because this is literally your only chance to survive! Especially all of you!"— Bill said, pointing to the five beside Hollandez: "You don't have bounties on your heads, and as far as I can tell, I'm the only officer in this crew who remotely cares whether you live or die!
And if that doesn't matter, think about this," Bill said, now motioning to the group: "You've got a bounty 'alive', which means you'll just do hard labor or something similar for a while. Leave you here? Ha! Value your lives!"
Though only a few minutes had passed, the sounds in the distance were getting louder. Showing no concern for the sounds or the reprimand from the young sailor, the pirate captain continued: "Boy, you're a good sailor. I'm glad I won't see the day when you learn the truth."
Now fully heated, Bill couldn't just ignore the pirate and took the bait: "What exactly could your kind know about truth or anything, other than being sea wolves?"
Before Bill could finish speaking, another pirate whispered: "No time! Tell him, Captain!"
Seeing Hollandez nod, he spoke even more clearly: "Boy, we're from South Blue. Naturally, as traders, we dealt with the big Gran Tesoro casino. We found out about a big secret..."
"Oh, wait," Bill interrupted loudly with a cynical smile: "You mean to say you're being hunted not because some sailor wanted to steal your ship? The same ship you found at sea without a crew?"— continued Bill, nodding his head sarcastically: "And what about the rest of the story you told me? You know, the one you swore on your mother's grave was all true?"
Nodding with a hint of sadness, Hollandez replied: "My mother is dead, but my men are still here. I lied because we won't survive if we're caught."
Snorting disdainfully, Bill quickly said: "Well, I think you need to come up with a better lie." Then, pointing towards the forest, Bill said: "Do you hear that?"
By this point, the sounds of the animals were very close, possibly only a hundred meters away or so. Fortunately, the animals seemed just as interested in eating each other as in attacking people.
While several pirates repeated something like "just tell him," Hollandez spoke: "Just listen. On one of our voyages, my men and I learned about Pure Gold and its location. Cipher Pol suspected us, and since the world nobles will stop at nothing to get this information, a bounty was placed on our heads."
Interrupting him again, Bill said: "I think the world nobles have enough 'pure gold' that they don't need to arrest some traders."
Shaking his head in response, Hollandez continued passionately: "Not that gold. This gold makes you immortal! We met a girl who was two hundred years old! It's true! We fled from South Blue to sell the information to a big pirate for our safety."
By that time, the noise was getting louder and louder until it sounded right beyond the tree line. The pirates slowly retreated and readied their guns.
Now, unwilling to argue any further and preparing for battle, Bill sternly said, "Enough with the tales. Remember, if you want to survive, you'd better fight."
Unexpectedly, one of the pirates, whom Bill hadn't heard before, shouted, "Sir! It's not a tale! The girl we met wanted our help to find her home island, which was swallowed by a fish! But who are we!? We're nobodies! We couldn't believe her when she tried to take the captain hostage! Only when Cipher Pol came after us, did we realize she was telling the truth!"
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