I am Smollet Equdors.

  Captain of the Equdor Pirates.

  For years, I have sailed the Fleet Lands and the Driftwaters, commanding my crew, plundering what I could, and leaving my mark on these familiar seas. My bounty? Fifteen thousand rubies. A decent sum, a respectable price on my head.

  But in the grand scale of piracy, it was nothing.

  I was stuck. My name, my infamy—it had stopped growing. Two years, and not a single bounty increase. I had reached my limit.

  And so I asked myself—what was I missing? What did the true legends of the sea have that I did not?

  And then, the answer hit me.

  Curses.

  All the greatest pirates—the ones whose names shook the seas, whose bounties soared beyond belief—they had curses.

  Mythical shortcuts to unfathomable power.

  I had searched for them, hunted for them, obsessed over them. Yet all I found were stories, half-truths, drunken ramblings in the back of seedy taverns.

  I was beginning to lose hope.

  But now… standing before me, in the flesh, was living proof that curses were real.

  This guy

  the way he moved, the sheer force behind his strike—

  That was not human.

  This was the answer. If curses truly existed, then I could find one.

  And so—

  I sheathed my bde.

  The sound of metal sliding into its scabbard echoed across the silent deck.

  Every pirate, every crew member, every soul on board froze.

  Even Mk and Gego, who had been watching in tense anticipation, looked stunned.

  Jack, on the other hand, clicked his tongue.

  "Damn it."

  He smacked himself lightly on the forehead, shaking his head in frustration. "I should've held back a little longer..."

  Smollet ignored his compints.

  Instead, he stepped forward, meeting Jack's gaze, his expression unreadable. "Where did you find it?"

  Jack raised an eyebrow. "Find what?"

  "Your curse," Smollet said. "Was it in the Fleet Lands?"

  Jack hesitated. Then, after a pause, he sighed and nodded. "Yeah."

  Smollet exhaled, as if confirming something to himself. "I see."

  With that, he turned to his men.

  "Gather what you can. We're leaving."

  The pirates blinked.

  Some shifted uncomfortably, gncing at one another in disbelief. But no one dared question their captain. One by one, they began moving, retrieving their belongings, some even taking what little loot they could carry.

  Mk finally snapped out of his shock.

  "Wait, what?! That's it?"

  Gego chattered in agreement, equally confused.

  Smollet walked past them, ignoring their outbursts. "We'll be taking two of the lifeboats. Consider it a parting gift."

  Jack crossed his arms, watching Smollet's composed retreat with an expression of utter boredom. "Huh. That's it? Thought you'd put up more of a fight."

  Smollet didn't look back. "Pointless battles are for fools."

  Jack rolled his eyes. "Right, right. Hey—before you go," he called out, "you got an isle map?"

  Smollet chuckled. "Isle maps? Those are old school."

  He smirked, stepping onto one of the lifeboats. "Two easts and a west."

  Jack frowned. "That's it?"

  "That's it."

  Without another word, Smollet and his crew set off, rowing away from the ship.

  Mk stood there, still trying to process everything. "Did that really just happen?"

  Gego simply scratched his head, muttering something in his own little nguage.

  Jack just watched the boats drift further away, his expression still filled with disappointment.

  "Tch." He turned on his heel and stretched. "That was boring."

  Jack let out a deep sigh, rubbing his temples as he turned away from the retreating boats.

  "Welp." He rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. "No point in dwelling on it."

  With that, he shifted his attention to Mk, a small smirk creeping onto his face. "C'mon, kid, let's go find ourselves a compass or somethin'."

  Mk, still processing everything, blinked. "Huh?"

  Gego chirped and hopped onto Jack's shoulder as the pirate stretched his arms. "The captain's quarters. Gotta be something useful in there, right?"

  Mk hesitated for a second before finally snapping out of it. "Oh—uh, yeah. Right."

  With that, the two made their way across the deck, stepping over fallen barrels and scattered weapons from the previous fight. The wooden pnks creaked under their feet as they approached the captain's cabin.

  The door swung open with a loud creak, revealing a room cluttered with stolen treasures, old documents, and scattered trinkets. A rge desk sat in the middle, with a window overlooking the vast ocean.

  Jack and Mk immediately began rummaging through drawers and cabinets. Gego, in the meantime, was busy inspecting a rusted telescope, rolling it back and forth on the desk.

  As they searched, Jack casually tossed things aside—a pile of gold coins, a bottle of aged rum, a very suspicious-looking shrunken head.

  Mk, on the other hand, was a bit more careful. He lifted a few maps, unrolled them, then sighed when he realized they were just old, torn sea charts.

  Jack, still rummaging, muttered, "Man, Smollet really cleared this pce out before leavin'."

  Mk hesitated for a moment before gncing at Jack.

  "...Mk."

  Jack raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

  "My name," Mk crified. "It's Mk."

  Mk shrugged. "Figured I should tell you since… well, I guess I'm sticking around."

  Jack smirked at that. "Heh. Guess you are."

  Gego chirped in agreement, hopping onto Mk's head as if sealing the deal.

  But before the moment could settle, Jack groaned, smming a drawer shut. "Alright, that's it. No compass, no map—Smollet took everything useful."

  Mk frowned. "Then… how are we supposed to navigate?"

  Jack turned to him with a confident grin. "Easy. We use the directions Smollet gave us."

  Mk blinked. "You mean 'two easts and a west'?"

  "Yep." Jack dusted off his hands and stretched. "That's all we need."

  Mk's face scrunched up. "But… how do we know which way is east?"

  There was a brief silence.

  Jack's grin faltered slightly.

  Mk's eyes widened. "You don't know?"

  Jack scoffed, waving a hand dismissively. "Course I know! It's—uh—" He looked around, then pointed randomly toward the horizon. "That way!"

  Mk stared at him. "That's south."

  Jack lowered his arm. "...Right."

  Gego, still perched on Mk's head, raised a tiny hand and pointed in a different direction.

  Mk looked at him, then at Jack. "I think Gego's right."

  Jack narrowed his eyes at the tiny creature. "You know how to navigate?"

  Gego puffed out his chest proudly.

  Mk sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Okay. So we go two easts and one west. But how do we do that with the ship's wheel?"

  Jack crossed his arms, deep in thought. "Well, obviously, you turn it two times to the right…"

  Mk nodded. "Right."

  Jack nodded back. "Right."

  Mk frowned. "...Wait. Right as in right or right as in 'I agree'?"

  Jack blinked. "...Yes."

  Mk groaned. "Jack!"

  "Look, look," Jack waved his hands. "We'll figure it out! It's just turning a wheel. How hard can it be?"