Chapter 227
"Captain Kidd's ship... does that mean the Pirate King's treasure?"
Peter Pan nodded, gazing at the ship.
"Wow, to actually see Captain Kidd's ship...!"
Muttering to herself, she soon ran towards the vessel.
Then, she summoned a stream of water and leaped nimbly onto the deck.
Watching Peter Pan, Zeke clicked his tongue inwardly.
'It might be cursed or have defensive magic on it. Reckless.'
If the ship was cursed, it was Peter Pan who would take the hit anyway, so it didn't really matter to him.
A moment later, Peter Pan, who had jumped inside the ship, shouted.
"Whoa! What is this! There's a mountain of treasure!"
Zeke chuckled at Peter Pan's voice, which had unknowingly slipped into her local dialect. While Peter Pan explored the inside of the ship, Zeke looked around, thinking there might be a way to the outside.
'That ship probably can't go in and out through a well like the Deep Sea Clan.'
After a while, Zeke discovered a lava cave that seemed to lead to the outside. However, the path to the outside was blocked by rocks.
'I wonder if I can open that with the system too.'
Zeke tried to connect to the Administrator System.
[Would you like to open the exit of the Deep Sea Clan's Tomb?]
As Zeke expected, it was possible to open the rock gate.
The descendants of the Sea God seemed to have used this passage to travel to the ship when interacting with humans.
'Wait, then was Captain Kidd, who was the Pirate King, also a descendant of the Sea God?'
If Captain Kidd hadn't been a descendant of the Sea God, he wouldn't have known the location of this island or the Deep Sea Clan's Tomb.
Zeke realized that the legend of becoming the Pirate King by finding Captain Kidd's treasure must have arisen because only descendants of the Sea God could enter this place.
Captain Kidd had essentially told his descendants to find this place and take the treasures and the Deep Sea Clan's legacy, but that seemed to have been distorted in the transmission of the legend.
'In fact, Peter Pan is probably the rightful owner of the legacy.'
However, strangely, the message that the mission Zeke had received was completed didn't appear.
'The mission was clearly to find the forgotten Sea God's Island. Shouldn't the mission have been completed the moment I found this island?'
He had never experienced this before, so it felt strange.
Just then, Peter Pan shouted from the ship.
"Hey, Draker! Since I'm in a good mood, I'll give you a special chance to ride this ship! Come on over!"
Giving a human she disliked the chance to ride the ship meant she must be in a really good mood.
'But why does she think that ship is hers?'
Zeke shook his head and, carrying the unconscious cali, lightly jumped onto the ship.
Thump!
Stepping onto the deck, Zeke looked around the Triangle.
Despite being left abandoned inside for a long time, the deck was as clean as if it were new.
Peter Pan stood proudly on the deck, looking at Zeke as if it were her own ship, and said triumphantly.
"This is it! The Pirate King Captain Kidd's indestructible ship! The Triangle, that's what this is!"
"Indestructible ship?"
"Yeah. The Pirate King's ship was famous for being indestructible! Haven't you ever heard of it?"
Zeke shrugged and shook his head.
Then Peter Pan clicked her tongue and said to Zeke.
"Tsk tsk, typical landlubber. Listen up! Captain Kidd was the first one to find the sea route across that terrifying Sea of Death to the Eastern Empire! He was a legendary pirate and explorer!"
Peter Pan began to rattle off legendary tales of Captain Kidd.
While roughly listening and looking around the ship's hull, one thing Peter Pan said caught Zeke's ear.
"Captain Kidd even went to the Dark Sea, where no one else could go, with this ship..."
Zeke turned to Peter Pan.
"What did you just say?"
Peter Pan, surprised by Zeke's sudden serious turn, flinched.
"W-what?"
"Did you say Captain Kidd went to the Dark Sea?"
Peter Pan nodded and said,
"Y-yeah... that's right. Captain Kidd went to the Dark Sea on this. Normal ships would all break apart, but the Triangle is an indestructible ship, so it was possible to sail there."
"What did Captain Kidd do in the Dark Sea?"
Then Peter Pan tilted her head.
"Hmm... I've only heard that he went to the Dark Sea, but I haven't heard what he did there."
Zeke recalled that Terakan Draker had tried to go somewhere beyond the Dark Sea to revive the dead Bahamut.
If Captain Kidd had been to the Dark Sea, he might have discovered traces of Terakan Draker there.
'Captain Kidd. I should look up his records sometime.'
Zeke organized his thoughts and asked Peter Pan.
"Peter Pan, can you move this ship?"
Then Peter Pan looked flustered.
"How can I move such a big ship by myself? It needs oarsmen, or wind. I don't know if this size can be moved by wind though..."
"Hmm."
Zeke somehow felt that this ship was also an ancient relic.
He left Peter Pan and went up to the helm.
Looking at the helm, Zeke saw that the structure was different from ordinary ships, just as he had expected.
'It's similar to the structure I saw on the Ark.'
Smaller in scale than the Ark, the control panel was embedded with various colorful crystal stones.
Before long, Peter Pan came up to the helm with cali.
Peter Pan, seeing the view of the helm, gaped.
"W-what is this? Why is the helm like this?"
Zeke grabbed the helm, just like he had done on the Ark.
Then, he poured mana into it.
[Upper Administrator Code Verified]
[Temporary Administrator Rights Granted for the Vessel]
[Activating Vessel.]
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
Just as Zeke had guessed, the ship vibrated and slowly began to move.
"Uh-oh? The ship, the ship is moving!"
With no one rowing and no wind, the ship moving on its own was enough to shock Peter Pan.
At that moment, a holographic image emerged from the crystal stone embedded in the center of the helm's control panel, showing the scenery ahead of the ship and a map of the direction the ship was heading.
It was as if they were looking at the latest holographic projector from the Delphoi Wizarding Order.
"W-what is all this?"
Having lived her whole life on an island, Peter Pan had never even encountered modern magical devices, so she couldn't help but be amazed by a system even more advanced than those.
On the other hand, Zeke was somewhat familiar with such control systems through the Administrator System, so he adapted quickly.
'This is the direction, and this must be how you adjust it.'
He turned the helm, looking at the screen to set the course, and turned a crystal stone to set the speed.
Then, the ship turned and began to move towards the lava cave.
"I-is this magic?"
Peter Pan, who inherited ancient spiritism, was dumbfounded seeing the massive ship move on its own.
Soon, Peter Pan, looking around, was horrified as the ship approached the lava cave.
"Wh-what is it! Hey! Hey! We're gonna crash! We're gonna crash!"
Her dialect burst out in her urgency.
Zeke used the system to open the exit.
Crumble-rumble-rumble!
The rock gate opened, creating an exit for the ship.
As the ship smoothly sailed out through the exit, Peter Pan finally wiped her chest in relief.
"Phew. I thought I was gonna die. What the heck is this thing?"
Zeke, who had been watching her, said to Peter Pan.
"You seem more comfortable speaking in your dialect. Is there a reason you're trying so hard to use standard common language?"
At Zeke's words, Peter Pan's face instantly turned red.
"W-when did I ever use my dialect! I don't use it!"
Zeke chuckled inwardly at Peter Pan's reaction.
'Is her dialect a complex?'
Leaving the flustered Peter Pan, whose face was red, Zeke steered the ship towards the front of the island.
He planned to move towards where the Reinhardt Trading Company's ship they had come on was located, and then immediately gather his companions and leave the island.
'I'd like to wipe out all those Empire bastards before leaving, but first, I need to heal cali, big sister, and take her safely back to the territory.'
The Triangle could move straight and at high speed without the ship shaking even when the waves crashed against it.
It hardly shook at all, so it didn't even feel like they were on a ship.
Confirming that the voyage was smooth, Zeke said to Peter Pan.
"Do you happen to know where the other Merfolk are being held captive?"
At those words, Peter Pan's expression changed.
"They're holding them captive on the warship at the back of the island to keep me under their thumb. Those damn Empire bastards."
As Peter Pan became agitated, the water bed where cali was lying turned red and began to bubble. Zeke calmed Peter Pan down and said,
"Take big sister to the inner cabin and lay her down. Let's think together about how to rescue the Merfolk."
Peter Pan looked slightly surprised at Zeke's words.
"Are you really going to help rescue the villagers with me?"
"Didn't I promise you?"
In truth, Peter Pan didn't trust the human Zeke's words.
The humans she had seen treated promises as lightly as seaweed floating on the sea.
So, Peter Pan was slightly moved by Zeke's words.
Zeke, for his part, shook his head as he looked at Peter Pan.
'To react like that to a business agreement that should be obvious. It's a wonder she hasn't been scammed living like that.'
Despite pretending otherwise, Peter Pan was as innocent as the Merfolk youth group.
While Peter Pan went to lay cali down in the cabin, Zeke examined the ship's functions.
Just then, a warning message appeared on the screen.
[Twenty armed vessels are approaching from the side.]
Zeke brought up the screen to check.
"What are those?"
Surprisingly, the ships were flying pirate flags, the insignia of Captain Hook.
Hook's approaching ships stopped at regular intervals, turned sideways, and opened their gunports, aiming magic cannons.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Magic cannons fired from ten ships, and massive iron balls flew towards the Triangle.
Crash!
The iron ball struck the side of the ship, causing the hull to shake violently.
"Wh-what is it!"
Peter Pan, startled, rushed up to the helm.
Zeke pointed at the screen and said,
"It's Hook's pirate crew."
Seeing Captain Hook's pirate flag, Peter Pan gritted her teeth.
"That rotten, son-of-a-bitch pirate bastard again! I'm gonna sink those bastards today and feed 'em to the fishes!"
Just as Peter Pan, fuming, was about to go outside, another cannonball flew towards the ship's hull.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Being an indestructible ship, it wouldn't sink even if hit by cannonballs, but it couldn't negate the impact.
Peter Pan, who had tumbled towards the deck, gritted her teeth.
"That crazy pirate bastard!"
At that moment, Captain Hook's pirate ship rapidly approached the Triangle.
Then, they threw a grappling hook towards the ship.
Whoosh!
Before anyone could stop them, pirates who had secured the grappling hook swung over onto the deck via the rope.
"Kyahaha! The Pirate King's treasure is mine!"
Peter Pan urgently summoned spirits and shot water cannons at the pirates who had boarded the ship.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
The pirates hit by the massive water cannons fell into the sea.
However, their numbers were so great that some of them avoided it and leaped onto the deck.
"Kiyoooooo!"
The pirates let out bizarre screams and swung their swords at Peter Pan.
Peter Pan gathered streams of water and created the shape of a sea serpent.
"Catch those bastards!"
The sea serpent lunged at the pirates.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
The sea serpent, having absorbed seawater and grown in size, coiled around not only the pirates but also the pirate ship that had gotten too close.
Groooooooan!
While Peter Pan controlled it and wrecked the pirate ship, other ships of Captain Hook surrounded the Triangle.
Looking at the pirate ships that had surrounded their vessel, Peter Pan gritted her teeth.
"Damn it..."
The largest ship among the pirate vessels, the flagship, blocked the front of the Triangle.
And from that ship, someone leaped nimbly onto the deck of the Triangle.
Thump!
A burly man with a hook-shaped beard.
It was Captain Hook, one of the great pirates of the Southern Sea.
He looked at Peter Pan, stroked his beard, and smirked.
"Peter Pan. You look even more wretchedly provincial today. Where did you leave those smelly Merfolk brats?"
Peter Pan glared at Hook and shouted.
"You pirate bastard! Today I'm going to sink you all and feed you to the fishes!"
At those words, Hook smirked and drew his sword.
"Go ahead and try if you can. Though I doubt you can with your pathetic skills."
It was when Peter Pan and Hook were facing off.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
One of the pirate ships blocking the Triangle was seen sinking with a loud crash.
Captain Hook stared at the sinking pirate ship with a dumbfounded expression.
"Wh-what suddenly...?"
Thump!
Zeke, holding Bahamut, leaped down onto the deck.
He looked at Hook and said,
"Long time no see, Captain Hook."
Captain Hook, recognizing Zeke's face, said in surprise.
"That impudent little brat from back then?"
He aimed Bahamut and said,
"I don't have any whiskey to spare today, so get lost right now. Or else..."
Zeke's sword flashed.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
With a deafening sound, another ship beside them sank.
Hook, as well as Peter Pan, gaped.
Zeke aimed his sword at Hook again and said,
"You won't make it out alive."