A pirate touched the gun holster of his, and felt the cold metal against his fingertips. He was ready to pull it out and put a few holes in Reed's forehead.
"With the Abrahamic God as our witness, I want to make a Pact!" Reed shouted. "You, pirates of filth, leave this island, and everyone here unharmed, and NEVER come back!"
When the words left his mouth, it was complete silence.
'That's it?' Kiernan wondered. 'I expected some kind of rumble in the skies or a dramatic response from the heavens, but nothing. Was the pact even successful?'
"Alright." Ambrose said and reached his hand towards Kiernan. "May you let go of him now?"
"I'll come with you to your ship; I will let him go there." Reed said.
Ambrose waved his hand, and the rest of the pirates, carrying the supplies they found, followed after their captain while eyeing Reed and his two friends.
Eddy and Webber awkwardly walked behind Reed.
They didn't expect the pirates to leave so easily, as most pirates were heathens and wouldn't believe in something like the God's Pact.
However, without any issue, they arrived back at the silver-sailed ship, and the pirates boarded the ship while Ambrose stayed behind.
"Now?" Ambrose looked at Reed. "Let him go, and we'll be on our way."
Reed narrowed his eyes and then pushed Kiernan towards Ambrose.
Kiernan stumbled for a couple of steps before straightening his back and letting out a tired sigh.
Ambrose nodded briefly, then turned around and boarded the ship with Kiernan right behind him.
The silver-sailed ship started to move away from the dock, leaving Reed and his friends alone on the shore.
"D-did that really work?" Eddy asked.
"Of course, pirates are cowards!" Reed puffed his chest.
Inside the silver-sailed ship, Ambrose sat on top of one of the food barrels and lit a cigarette before placing it between his lips.
"You okay?" Julian asked from Kiernan. "I didn't expect you, of all people, to get caught lacking by some ordinary folks."
"Haha!" Ambrose suddenly laughed. "Kiernan, you could've freed yourself, couldn't you? Why didn't you?"
The pirates looked over.
"I was curious, that's all." Kiernan said. "God's Pact intrigued me. I wanted to know what they were planning to do. I honestly thought that you would still beat them to a pulp."
"The God's Pact is something you don't play around with, boy," Ambrose said. "I might be strong, but if I get struck by tribulation lightning, there will be nothing left of me."
Kiernan nodded and then asked out of curiosity.
"That God's Pact sounds powerful. Everyone can't use it, right?"
Ambrose took a deep drag of the cigarette, then blew the smoke into the air and said.
"It isn't enough to be religious; one has to be a true believer. It's very rare for someone to be able to do God's Pact."
"Was that guy a true believer? It's surprising for there to be someone like that in such a random island as that, and especially someone who looks so normal."
Kiernan looked surprised at Ambrose's "I don't know" response.
"Like I said, God's Pact is something you can't take lightly. I didn't want to risk whether that guy was a believer or not. I am also fine with never coming back to that island; there is nothing of value there."
Ambrose said, then dropped the cigarette to the ground and stomped on it with his boot. The smoke was still lingering.
"Julian, go take the floor scrubbing brush and clean the deck for us, won't you?"
"Bro…" Julian scratched the back of his head and then muttered under his breath. "You could've tossed the cigarette into the sea, but fucking no…"
He left to get the floor scrubbing brush from the storage closet.
It was getting pretty late, and the sky was almost pitch black, but the silver-sailed ship kept moving towards the horizon.
Currently inside his cabin, Kiernan lay on his bed and looked at the holographic light-blue screen in front of his face.
He had already taken money from Julian's bag to make his total wealth over five thousand. He could buy the treasure map if he wanted to.
'If this doesn't work, we will be even further away from buying our freedom, but I have no other choice.'
Kiernan looked around the cabin and saw that the door was tightly closed. He was all alone in the cabin currently.
After finishing cleaning, Julian was playing some cards with the other pirates. It was his only way of earning money, but it was also quite risky as the pirates were notorious for not taking losing that well.
Kiernan took a deep breath and pressed the purchase option on the treasure map.
At his hand, which he used to press the purchase option, a faded-colored scroll materialized out of thin air.
It felt like parchment, but thicker and more durable.
He then opened the scroll, and the map of a sea region appeared, with an X marking the spot where the treasure was buried.
The X was on an island that was surrounded by five smaller islands.
In that moment, Kiernan looked to the left upper corner of the map. There were some things written in an ink that looked brand new.
[Location: Letzer Island]
'The difficulty is not bad!' Kiernan was pleased. 'It tells the location and the difficulty, but not the reward. I am slightly disappointed, but it looks like the system wants me to make the trip there.'
He hopped off his bed, folded the scroll, and slid it inside his pocket.
'I will go talk to Ambrose. I don't know how the hell I can convince him to go into some desperate treasure hunting, but I must try.'
As he stepped out of the room, he came across tired-looking Julian, looking sullen as he walked over to the cabin.
"How is it going…?" Kiernan raised an eyebrow as he asked.
"Not good, I lost my money…" Julian stormed inside the cabin and plopped down on his bed. "We're never going to be able to buy our freedom, fuck!"
'Playing cards is risky,' Kiernan closed the door, and started walking down the hallway. 'Please, let this treasure map work. It might be our only chance.'