Across the great ocean, pirates have three iconic common hobbies: strong liquor, women, and gambling.
It was a quarter past eleven. Brothels and bars were not yet open. Only the casinos were sure to have gathered a group of people hoping to get rich easily.
Alger was more familiar with the port city of Bayam than with his small hometown. Without any hesitation in choosing a direction, he smoothly turned corners and twisted through the alleys until he reached a casino without a sign, located deep in a quiet lane.
As far as he knew, the owner of this "Gold Coin Casino" was a gang leader with a deep background, who had an inexplicable but faint connection with a certain big shot in the Governor's mansion. It was the preferred place for many pirates to get rid of their stolen goods and buy what they needed. Because of this, pirates were often seen here. They might have exchanged their loot for thick gold pounds in the morning, and by evening, they had already lost everything and been kicked out.
Alger pulled at his thick brown coat, adjusted the peaked cap that had come from the mainland, and pushed open the half-closed door, entering the casino under the watchful eyes of the bodyguards.
Inside the
Looking around, Alger saw various card games and the roulette-type gambling derived from dice.
Because it was still early, there weren't many gamblers. Alger quickly scanned them.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he keenly recognized who someone disguised by makeup actually was.
He took off his hat, walked up to a table playing Texas Hold'em, slapped the target on the shoulder, bent down, leaned close to the other's ear, and lowered his voice: "Blaze."
Danitz was just opening the corner of his hole card with his right hand. The sudden pat and call startled him so much that he almost jumped, nearly setting the guy behind him on fire.
After being attacked by "Steel" Mawiti, he understood he shouldn't show his true face to ask around. He would be targeted by many greedy pirates.
Although most pirates were not strong enough to be taken seriously by Danitz, he was still unwilling to reveal his presence and cause complications in his plan to hunt down "Steel" Mawiti.
What he didn't expect was that his careful disguise was seen through just one hour after he went out.
Danitz, highly tense, quickly turned his head and glanced out of the corner of his eye at who had "greeted" him.
When he saw the iconic dark blue hair like seaweed, Danitz relaxed slightly and, in turn, checked if the other players at the table had heard what was said.
The gamblers were all seriously studying their hole cards, folding or discarding, completely oblivious to what had happened here.
"What are you doing here?" Danitz asked, feigning nonchalance.
He and Alger had met at the last Pirate Gathering. He knew the other had a ghost ship and a dozen or so sailors, a guy with decent strength but not much fame.
And according to "the Iceberg's" judgment, a pirate group that was neither big nor very strong, yet managed to keep an ancient ghost ship, indicated support from a major power. They might be people from the Church of Storms, or related to one of the Pirate Kings or some secret organization. They would pretend to be ordinary pirates, gathering intelligence on targets for their true masters, making pinpoint removals easier. Sometimes, they would do the dirty work their backers couldn't, like silencing witnesses or stealing specific items.
There were quite a few pirate groups like this. No one paid them much mind.
Alger pulled a nearby chair over and sat down, leaning his head slightly and lowering his voice: "I heard your captain got the 'Key of Death'?"
Danitz let out a snort of contemptuous laughter: "I thought you still had a brain, but you disappointed me. "How could something like that be obtained so easily? "If you want it and can pay the price, we'll definitely sell it! "What do you think? Want to consider the deal?"
Alger replied casually: "Maybe it has another secret. Maybe someone wants to move against your captain."
"Who knows? Shit!" Danitz was pissed off by the new round of hole cards and cursed loudly.
Then, he lowered his voice again:
"That thing doesn't seem like a human creation. It might belong to a
"Creation? Your captain insists on teaching you literacy?" Alger asked with some amusement. Rumor had it that "the Iceberg" was a woman with a strict attitude towards knowledge. She couldn't tolerate her subordinates being illiterate. So, on the *Golden Dream*, there were general knowledge and reading classes every day, with the crew forced to attend on a rotating basis.
Danitz showed an expression of not wanting to look back: "This is harder than fighting people! "Because of this, we always have trouble recruiting enough crew. Every time we dock for supplies, someone resigns..."
He didn't continue this topic, instead focusing on the dealer and saying to himself: "Keep an eye out for 'Steel's' movements."
"Steel" Mawiti? The Second Mate of the "Admiral of Blood"? Alger looked down at the bandages slightly propping up the left arm of "Blaze" Danitz, and asked with dawning realization: "Attacked by him? "For that key?"
"His brain has been eaten by his own walking corpse!" Danitz emphasized.
"You want revenge on him?" Alger inferred from the other's tone and request.
"Heh heh." Danitz laughed without speaking, feigning concentration on his new hole cards.
Alger thought for a moment and said: