Chapter 71: Pirate Congregation
Amongst the greedy and uncouth pirates, few could understand Ammand’s heart. Of course, that did not include the 2 contestants, Sheyan and Chris. Still, Chris had a faint inkling in his heart; if Sheyan wanted to display a front of no ambitions to Ammand, there were better ways to do so. Why would Sheyan be standing up for him? Nevertheless, he didn’t ponder further as Sheyan had already pulled him over.
Under the dim lighting of the cabin, Sheyan softly asked.
“What did you play with them?”
Under the violent and aggressive stares of the pirates, some furious stares while others harbouring malicious designs, Chris’s heart was terrified. He could only stammer.
“Its, Its Blackjack.”
There is nothing much to elaborate on the rules of Blackjack. You can play anything, the limit is 21 points. Exceeding 21 points would mean burst, only the amount of burst would be calculated.
Rat Shande was crafty and sly; when shuffling he used his own unique and distinct technique, easily causing Chris to pick 20 points while he would finish him off with 21 points. However, Sheyan had worked for a long time, he clearly understood such tactics. He could even see through Hong Kong gambling games. As such, before gambling, he suggested that he would be the one to shuffle the cards.
Obviously, Rat Shande and the rest objected fiercely to this sort of irregular request. Eventually, after strong arguments from Sheyan, they could only take a step back and allow Scarface Harry to be the dealer! With this, nobody could blame anyone, but at this moment, Rat Shande and gang knew that they had been caught in Sheyan’s passive aggressive trap.
Once Scarface Harry shuffled, both parties could only gamble based on their individual skills. In spite of that, Sheyan’s perceptive sense held an immovable advantage. Without any suspense, he easily won back the two antique gold guineas.
Rat Shande and gang looked at each other, but knew that today’s matter had already concluded at that. If they harboured further ill intentions, they would simply suffer the same fate as One-eye’s broken finger.
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Nightfall, a distant cannon urgently fired off. Far away in the sky, several flashes of blazing fire illuminated.
The pirates were finally gathering at Herb Island to distribute their loot.
After Ammand strictly delegated guarding appointments to his pirate crew, he retired into his own cabin. This was his first time being able to stand on equal footing with the other 3 legendary pirate ships. Even if he wasn’t feeling nervous, he would still be adjusting to this slightly.
At this moment, Sheyan was strolling around the deck with Chris. After observing the waves surging back and forth, he finally coldly said.
“Aren’t you curious why I would stand up for you?”
This was Chris’s primary concern. However, his personal safety relied solely on Sheyan and would never personally voice out his concern. Sheyan was also not expecting an answer, he merely continued.
“Because they do not dare to deal with me, therefore, they can only attempt to win you over to investigate me.”
Chris’s heart stirred, he was about to speak up but Sheyan continued.
“Have you seen the scene of an alpha wolf being replaced in a wolfpack? Once a young high wolf wants to replace an old alpha wolf, it would try every possible means to provoke the old wolf. At the start they would not face off, but the young wolf will only try to pillage the old wolf’s food, and even mate with the female wolves of the alpha wolf and so on. Once the reaction of the alpha male becomes weaker, the entire wolfpack will assault him!”
“That is why.” Sheyan summarized, “Don’t think too highly of yourself, I am just helping myself. If you slander my reputation amongst the pirates, the first one I will chop down is you.”
Chris hastily nodded and laughed.
“How could that happen? Oh right…. My golden guinea….?”
Sheyan revealed a stunned countenance and replied.
“Didn’t you lose your gold guinea to Rat Shande and gang?”
Chris’ expression froze, his smile looked uglier than crying itself.
“But…”
By now, Sheyan had already turned around and begun walking down the deck….Chris’ facial muscles convulsed. After awhile he shut his eyes and exhaled, consoling himself he said.
“At least I did not benefit that group of trash!”
Although the loss of those two valuable gold guineas were worse than physical pain, he at least found out the reason why Sheyan was willing to stand up for him. It was definitely the enticement of those two antique gold guineas! This completely resolved the earlier suspicions of Chris. Yet, Chris suddenly thought of something, if Sheyan really stood up for him because of those two gold guineas, then why would he bother explaining so much to him just now? After all in Sheyan’s eyes, Chris was just an insignificant contestant!
If it was said that daytime showcased the awe-inspiring turbulence of the Caribbean sea, then nightfall was a contrasting serenity; gentle waves rubbed against the hull of ships, as though the entire sea was a soft comfortable bed. Several pirate ships had anchored near Herb Island, with brightly lit torches illuminating the way. The middle region of the island was lit up with 7-8 huge bonfires. Silhouettes of human figures could be seen dancing about, partying and drinking rum.
This was the life of a pirate. Going with the flow, life and death on the seas. Excluding all fear or sorrows, what was left was frantic partying and getting drunk on rum!
The Bell and Mug swiftly glided through the sea waves. As it approached Herb Island, a group was already waiting on shore to welcome them. Ammand was clothed in new from head to toe; fully contented with himself, he stood on the springboard that was nearer to the shore.
Behind him stood Scarface Harry, navigator Xiaer and several others. Sheyan instead humbly mixed in with the pirates at the back, as though he had no intentions to show off. With regards to this ‘Seaman Yan from the east’, the pirates were filled with reverence and fear.
Ammand was pleased with Sheyan’s humble showing, faintly nodding his head as he took big strides towards the welcoming party on shore. Naturally, he was going off to participate in the assembly of pirate authorities.
Once Ammand left, the other pirates dispersed like ants on a frying pot. It was impossible to have expectations that they would obediently wait for orders like in the military. They scattered towards the 7-8 bonfires along the island. There was free rum, roasted meat, dice/playing cards and tobacco. This was the rewards paid by the different pirate captains, and were the irreplaceable crucial aspects of a pirate’s life.
Sheyan gazed upon the empty deck, before turning his head to Chris and said.
“Do you want to take a walk on the island?”
Chris was excited but painfully shook his head, because the bitter encounter on the Bell and Mug was still fresh in his mind. He had no powers to protect himself, and who knew he may even be assassinated silently under the night sky.
Sheyan casually waved his hands saying, “Up to you.” He then jumped off the springboard and stepped onto the beach.
Herb Island’s scenery was extraordinary, not the least bit inferior to those later generations first-rate tourism beaches. It even had infatuating spotlessly white sand. Sheyan had no intentions of appreciating the beautiful scenery, he walked towards several huge bonfires. Sheyan’s aim was very simple, that was the mission object on hand gathered from the decaying undead, Chewed Ear – the drop loot, ‘Still Beating Heart’.
Although there were two mission options regarding this mission object, after careful deliberations, Sheyan chose the Flying Dutchman’s second mate, Old Bill, ahead of Blackbeard. To Sheyan, if he missed out on today’s mass gathering, then it would be hard to encounter this Old Bill.
While he was still about 200 metres away from the center bonfire, the clear chaotic banters and celebrations of pirates could be heard. These merciless and savage pirates were no different from a ground of drunkards. Sheyan noticed several familiar faces, they were the pirates of the Bell and Mug, he then went to sit amongst them. Cutting off a fat and juicy chunk of meat from the roasting stick, he then casually snatched several rum bottles from the sluggish pirates to drink. Then, he sighed as though he was still unsatisfied.
Sitting beside Sheyan, was a pirate that previously stayed and guarded the Bell and Mug during the attack. He had personally witnessed the glory of Sheyan guarding the ship, and the impressive feat of taking on that decaying undead. Therefore, he held full admiration for him. Seeing Sheyan’s dissatisfaction, he immediately moved his ass to pour a huge pouch of rum for him.
Presently, the wine pouches were made with animal hide, and further enhanced with juice from a “Jidi grass” to prevent leakages. A filled pouch could contain about 1 – 1.5 lt. The way to drink from it was also unique, after removing the pouch cover, use both hands to raise the pouch in front of your face, straightening your arms and use your hands to squeeze it lightly. The rum would then squirt out like a water gun, after drinking enough, lower both hands and then the rum would stop flowing. If the user’s arms were not straighten fully, the rum would not accurately shoot out, often drenching the face as well as the clothes. Prior to this Sheyan had drank about half a pouch of rum, however he once again cleared out cleanly his new pouch of rum. This garnered the surprising gasps of the nearby pirates, whispering into each other’s ear to inquire who was this raw faced person.
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