Rain began falling that night. Aladdin gathered the crew on deck, then stood outside the Captain's Quarters to announce the "heartbreaking" news.
"Everyone... the captain... Captain Fisher Tiger is dead..."
"What?!"
"Impossible!"
"Aladdin! That's not funny! Didn't we already give Brother Tai a transfusion of human blood?!"
"Exactly! How could our big brother die after getting blood?!"
Cries of disbelief and alarm rose from the deck, led by Arlong and Jinbe. They could not believe that Fisher Tiger, their pillar of strength, could die so easily.
Aladdin had naturally prepared for Jinbe and Arlong's questions. Covering his face with one hand, he spoke in anguish.
"When Captain Fisher Tiger woke up and realized the blood flowing through his body was human blood, he... he killed himself..."
Even Barn admired Aladdin's acting. As he announced the news in a voice so grief-stricken that anyone who heard it would weep, tears streamed from his eyes, moving the entire crew. If Barn had not known the truth, he might have been fooled too.
That was, of course, if he ignored the hand Aladdin had pressed firmly against his wound.
Barn stood on Laboon, using Mind's Eye to watch everyone aboard.
There was no denying how beloved Fisher Tiger was. Everyone aboard was stunned when they first heard of his death. Coupled with the ship's doctor Aladdin's emotionally charged "performance," it stirred genuine grief in them all, leaving them sobbing their hearts out on deck.
"Aaaaah! Brother Tai!"
"Waaaaah! Big brother!"
"Brother Fisher Tiger!"
"Boss!"
Once everyone had cried for a while, Aladdin pulled a heavily folded sheet of paper from behind his back. He said it was Fisher Tiger's final letter, containing his last wishes for them:
"Everyone, by the time you read this letter, I will already be dead."
"All these years,