After a long stretch of work, everyone set up a makeshift camp in a sheltered spot. The camps of the different ships were clearly separated, revealing their mutual distrust.
They were pirates, after all, not good people. Even with shared interests at the moment, they still guarded against one another.
The five captains gathered, each bringing two subordinates. Dunn brought Annie and Engels. As for Green, Dunn had sent him ahead with the joint scouting party assembled by the other captains to investigate the route to the ruins.
"Hey, Grant, you never told us about this." As soon as everyone arrived, Feishman, captain of the Flying Fish, was the first to challenge Captain Grant.
"That's right. There was clearly something unnatural about that storm. Don't tell us you didn't know," Astor, captain of the Blood Bird, said grimly.
Clearly, Annie was not the only one who had noticed something unnatural about the storm. The Navigators aboard the other ships had noticed it too.
"Everyone, please calm down." Grant looked at them with a smile. "Think about it. These are the ruins of a Pirate King. How could getting in possibly be so simple?"
"If it really were that easy, how would we ever have gotten a chance?"
"That's no excuse for not telling us beforehand! Do you know how many sailors fell overboard from my ship in that storm?" Feishman, captain of the Flying Fish, immediately shouted at Grant in a fury.
The other captains looked grim as well. It was not hard to see that they had all suffered considerable losses in the storm.
"My apologies, everyone." Grant first offered an apologetic smile, then changed tack. "But this was also a test. I wanted to take this opportunity to see whether certain people really had what it took to claim a share."
Certain people? Recalling Grant's earlier attitude, Dunn felt that remark was probably aimed at him.
Dunn was not alone in thinking so. Annie and Engels beside him had heard the implication too, and their expressions immediately changed. Annie even made to stand up and angrily confront Grant.
"Grant, what the hell do you mean? You were the one who approached us in the first place! Now you pull this? Are you toying with us?" Feishman, captain of the Flying Fish, sprang to his feet in a rage, looking ready to come to blows at the slightest disagreement. His subordinates beside him also laid their hands on their weapons.
Although Dunn and his companions thought the remark was directed at them, the other captains considered the Black Pearl the least likely target. As the largest of the five pirate ships, the Black Pearl was unquestionably the strongest overall in anyone's eyes.
Even setting aside its crew of over two hundred, the sight of its hundred-plus cannons alone made the captains tremble inwardly.
True, the solid shot used at present had difficulty sinking a ship, but that was merely a matter of insufficient firepower. A broadside from over a hundred cannons was enough to turn any pirate ship into a sieve and leave it unable to move.
At that point, there was little difference from sinking it. A ship that stayed afloat would be nothing more than a tomb at sea.
As Feishman rose in fury, Astor, captain of the Blood Bird, and Hawkins, captain of the Chasing Waves, also stood up indignantly and glared at Grant.
Seeing things reach this point, Grant froze, unsure how he had angered these captains.
The tense standoff also made it difficult for Grant to speak, for fear that a careless word would turn it into an outright brawl, with everyone fighting on the spot.
"Captain, bad news!"
Just as the situation reached a deadlock, a group hurried in and drew everyone's attention. They turned toward the voices and saw that it was the joint scouting party sent out earlier.
Green was among them. As soon as he entered, he strode toward Dunn with his own sailors.
"Miss, Captain Dunn, there are other people on the island. They've already reached the ruins ahead of us." The moment Green returned, he quietly reported what he had learned.
Beside them, a sharp gleam flashed through Engels's eyes at Green's words.
Dunn and Annie, who had been watching the spectacle, immediately looked troubled as well.
"What? How is that possible?" Grant's astonished voice rang out. His expression was now far uglier than when the captains had been accusing him.
"It's true, Captain. We all saw them. There are dozens of people at the entrance to the ruins. From the look of things, they've probably been there for some time." The subordinate beside Grant steeled himself and continued.
By then, the members of each ship's scouting party had briefed their captains, and everyone knew what had happened. All eyes were now fixed on Grant. The coldness in those gazes instantly brought him to his senses, and he broke into a cold sweat.
"Everyone, please wait. Hear me out." Grant hurriedly tried to calm the captains, cold sweat beading on his forehead. His earlier composure was gone.
"Heh, I'd certainly like to hear how Captain Grant explains this. You don't take us for greenhorns fresh out of the nest, do you?" Hawkins, captain of the Chasing Waves, said, struggling to suppress his anger.
"This was unexpected, everyone," Grant said, steeling himself. "I wasn't the only one who discovered these ruins. Jaeger discovered them with me."
"'Angry Whale' Jaeger?" The captains' expressions changed dramatically.
Dunn's expression also darkened. Although he had never heard of this "Angry Whale" Jaeger, the title "Angry Whale" alone told him that Jaeger had to be a third-tier Great Pirate.
Since the Age of Exploration began, pirates had sprung up across the seas in an endless stream, as numerous as fish crossing a river.
At some point, an unwritten rule had emerged among pirates.
Only Great Pirates of the third tier or above could have titles.
Pirates below the third tier were known by the names of their pirate ships.
"I'm sorry, everyone. Jaeger is the reason I was in such a hurry to gather you all and come to these ruins," Grant said bitterly. "I didn't discover these ruins alone. Back then, Jaeger and I clashed, and we ended up on this island during the chase."
"When we discovered this island last time, Jaeger was still at the second tier. We both suffered heavy losses fighting each other."
"As a result, neither of us managed to explore it successfully."
"Not long ago, I heard Jaeger had successfully advanced to the third tier."
"I knew then that he would definitely return to explore these ruins."
"With the Captain's Council taking place, I thought I could make one last attempt to explore this Pirate King's ruins."
"But I never expected Jaeger to dare skip the Captain's Council for these ruins."
"I truly never imagined he would have the resolve to stay away from the Captain's Council."
Before you continue