Bab 3: CHAPTER - 3 [At Sea]
The soft and cool breeze touched Corpse's dry skin, giving him a chilling sensation. The bright sun, blazing slow heat, hung up in the sky telling that the storm from last night had passed away.
Standing on the quarterdeck, Corpse gently directed the ship on a straight path in the sea. Then, he used a small wooden piece to lock the giant wheel, the helm, in its position so as not to change the ship's direction when one wasn't steering.
"Captain, do you have a heading?"
Walking up the stairs, Jackson came beside him and asked. Since the sails were tied and there wasn't much for the crew to work on, they all listened to Jackson and Corpse's conversation.
"I do have a heading."
He replied to Jackson with a smile. Rubbing his beard, Corpse stepped down from the quarterdeck and arrived in the middle of the main deck.
"Listen carefully! Our destination is the capital city of the [Augustus Empire]."
The crew were obviously confused and curious as to why they were going to the capital city of the great and mighty [Augustus Empire], one of three biggest and strongest empires in the world.
Currently, there are seven five mainlands in the world with millions of islands scattered around these seven mainlands.
[Augustus Empire], together with the other two strongest empires, [Pili Empire] and [Marry Empire]; shared the same mainland, the biggest mainland of all five.
The rest of the mainlands each had an empire ruling them, except for one, which was still without any big power and authority.
"You all must be wondering why I am leading us there. Have any of you ever heard of the map owned by the Emperor Augustus-the-III?"
Corpse moved his gaze to his crew, all of them were showing various expressions because most of them had heard of it.
"Captain, if I am not wrong. This map you're talking about, is it the legendary world map named Augustus' World Map?"
"Ayee… That's exactly what I was talking about."
Responded Corpse to one of the crew member's questions. Jackson, who was still on the quarterdeck, hurriedly rushed down and once again came beside Corpse.
"Captain, are we after this world map?"
He asked with a dry throat, his hand began to sweat and his eyes stared at Corpse's face without blinking.
Corpse chuckled, he slowly walked to the port side of the ship and rested his back on the traffrail. Crossing his arms over his chest, he looked at his crewmates.
"I have seen it, the Augustus' World Map, with my own eyes and I still remember what it has to offer to whoever the owner of it is."
His words caused the crew to gasp in shock and horror. Their faces paled and some even wanted to throw up whatever they had eaten last night.
"C-Captain, how did you survive then? I remember twenty-three years ago that the map was stolen and later recovered by the Navy. But whoever had seen it, were all killed without mercy by the soldiers from the empire. Almost a hundred pirates, the ones who managed to steal it, were all killed!"
Jackson asked, he couldn't care about his rise of voice due to the shock he was receiving from Corpse.
Memories of the past, the night that he couldn't forget, the cold room in dimming light from the candles, all resurfaced up in his mind.
Corpse closed his eyes, then opened them after calming his mind. He explained with his deep voice to the crew of his encounter with the world map.
"I was eight years old then. Sitting in the captain's room, with a small wooden sword in my hands. Suddenly the door opened, and the ship's captain, my father and a few more crew members came in.
Their faces revealed their excitement, their laughs spread in the room. I curiously followed them to the long table.
There I saw the captain pull out a map, made from the finest material I had ever seen in my life. It was shining and giving off a pure aura, full of life.
When he opened it and placed it wide on the table, everyone including me saw, white and blank it was. All frowned, I neared it and then my father raised me up on his lap.
Just as they pondered whether the legendary world map was real, the white and blank map, rippled like that of what water does. I gulped in, my eyes wide open glaring at the map with full focus.
On the map, finally something appeared, lines stretched out, lands formed, names floated.
The legendary map, Augustus' World Map, was real. Everyone rejoiced, while I was bush trying to see and observe the changes in the map.
Names I still remember were floating on that map, for various locations in the world, like the "Valley of Time", "Emerald Sea", "Giral Ba Butor", many more of which I barely remember now."
The crew was listening to Corpse attentively, their ears perked up so as not to miss any details.
"Giral Ba Butor? What's that? I know about the Valley of Time and Emerald Sea but this."
The young man, probably the youngest on the ship, took off his blue bandana and scratched his head which was etching for quite a while.
"I don't know. Do you?"
"Don't ask me, I also don't know."
"Quiet! Captain's talking!"
Jackson shouted and made the crew turn quiet. It seems that traveling in the sea for years gained him many noticeable skills to manage a crew.
"Giral Ba Butor, I don't really know much about it since I was only told very little by my father. It is said that somewhere in the sea, there's a hidden cave where many treasures are stored by an infamous and immortal pirate.
In his dying days, that pirate hid the secret to his immortality in that cave."
Explained Corpse. There was a thought in his mind, not just him but others as well. That pirate was immortal yet he died, why was it?
"Anyways, our reason for going to [Gorgorta] is to sneak in the Royal Palace of Augustus-the-III and steal the legendary world map."
"But Captain, isn't it a bit too difficult? I mean that's the Royal Palace we are talking about."
Jackson was worried that they might be captured even before getting to lay their eyes on that map. The security of the Royal Palace, where the Emperor Augustus-the-III lived, no question would be tight.
"Worry not my fellas, for I have all that planned in my mind. Years, for years I have been preparing. The world map is just the beginning, there's more after."
Giving a crazy grinning look to his crew, Corpse turned and headed to the captain's quarter, which was a spacious cabin specially designed by him.
* * *
TAK TAK!
His footsteps and his shadow entered the cabin before he came. The room was dark and without any lights, so Corpse picked the lantern hung on the side of the door and walked in.
Using the lantern, he found candles and lit them up. Now with the little amount of light, he could see the room.
A long and wide table at the end of the cabin next to the windows, a chair behind the table for him, some extra chairs with more plain design and a huge normal world map on the wall opposite to his tiny bed.
There were many handguns and swords as well. All of which were stolen from the Navy base in [Anbis Dele]. A wardrobe for his clothes, some drawers and finally, a bookshelf.
About seven thick books were neatly kept in the bookshelf, two of which were for learning various languages.
"Ahge… Huuu."
After he took off his long coat and hat, he lay down on the tiny bed, just perfect for him, then let out a groan. All the actions he took last night, all the body movements, caused him to get tired.
He couldn't even think what the crew must be suffering. Unfortunately for them, Corpse wasn't going to go easy.
Closing his eyes, he slowly drifted into a deep sleep lasting for a few hours. What woke him up was the loud shout from one of his crewmates.
"Starboard! Ship! Merchant ship! It's a merchant ship!"
Corpse quickly got up from the bed, put on his hat and grabbed his weapons, a handgun with two barrels and a long refined cutlass which was a special crafted sword.
After stepping out of his cabin, he looked up at the top of the main mast, where the crow's nest was, a structure in the upper part of the main mast of a ship or a structure that is used as a lookout point.
The young man, who was assigned as the lookout for the ship, pointed towards the starboard side of the ship and repeatedly alerted the crew.
"Captain, ship! A merchant ship! And it's the latest Birex-X ship!"
Corpse shifted his eyes towards the direction where the young man was pointing. Far at the sea horizon, there was a small shadow of a ship sailing away from them.
It seems that they were not the only ones who saw the other. Corpse walked to the traffrail. Jackson hurried to his side and handed him the spyglass.
He positioned the spyglass on his left eye and looked at the merchant ship far away. It was as the young man had said, a Birex-X ship.
The fastest sailing ship that could be owned by any individual from the public in the [Augustus Empire]. There were one or two faster ships but the empire didn't want the public to own them.
It had a bigger body than his beloved ship, which obviously makes it slower in a race of catch. Its sails were spreading wide and could help the ship to gain some extra speed but unfortunately for them, they met the wrong ship to escape.
With his spyglass, he raised his sight on the top of the merchant ship's main mast. There was a man, wearing a white sailor's hat, he was also using a spyglass.
Their eyes caught each other. While the sailor was beyond frightened and dropped his spyglass, Corpse showed a grin.
"Chase her down! This will be our first hunt as pirates! Be as cruel as you can, show no mercy, only then will they fear us! Only then will our name echo in the sea!"
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone