Jack Sparrow's arrival caused a huge stir on the explorer.
The crew members were filled with curiosity, awe, and a hint of suspicion towards this legendary pirate king.
They found it difficult to connect the eccentric, rambling, and shameless fellow in front of them with the legendary figure who dominated the seven seas.
However, since it was Captain Roger's decision, they could only accept it.
Roger kept his promise and did not make Jack do any chores.
He gave Jack the title of "Chief Honorary Advisor of the Fleet."
This title sounded impressive, but in reality, it was a sinecure where he didn't have to do anything, only providing intelligence and advice at critical moments.
Of course, this was also a fallback Roger kept for himself.
If you made someone like Jack Sparrow work, he could dismantle the entire ship.
Only by letting him play his best role as a "troublemaker" could his value be maximized.
Jack was very satisfied with this.
He could finally legitimately freeload on this beautiful "gal."
His daily job was to stroll on the deck.
He held a bottle of rum, presumably pilfered from somewhere, sometimes pointing fingers at the sailors hoisting sails, and other times teasing Billy, who was cleaning a cannon.
"Hey, I say, my big friend."
Jack marveled at Billy's muscular physique.
"It's a pity you don't work as a foreman at the docks with that body."
"Get the hell out of here!"
Billy retorted angrily.
"I'm a gunner! The chief gunner of the explorer!"
"Oh? A gunner?" Jack immediately became interested upon hearing this.
He approached the 12-pound cannon and tapped its barrel like an expert.
"Hmm, a good English product."
"However, your gun carriage design is too complicated, flashy but impractical."
"This is science! What do you know!" Billy immediately retorted.
"This is a buffered gun carriage personally designed by Captain Roger! It allows our small ship to withstand the recoil of a 12-pound cannon!"
"What is science?"
Jack scoffed at the word.
"Pirates rely on courage and luck, and of course, rum."
"When did we ever need such strange things?"
Their argument quickly attracted other crew members to watch.
Then Gibbs quickly pulled Jack aside to a deserted corner and excitedly reminisced.
"Jack, my heavens, where have you been all these years?"
Gibbs looked at Jack, his single eye filled with emotion.
"Ever since you... ever since the black pearl had an accident, I haven't heard from you again."
"I thought you had already..."
"Already died, right?"
Jack took a swig of rum, a self-deprecating smile on his face. "Don't worry, my dear Gibbs, it's not so easy to kill me, Jack Sparrow."
"However, those days were indeed not easy."
Jack leaned against the ship's rail, gazing at the boundless sea, his eyes becoming somewhat distant.
He began to recount his "dark history" in his unique, exaggerated tone, a mix of three parts truth and seven parts fabrication.
He told how he was betrayed by that damned traitor Barraba, who led a mutiny and stole his beloved black pearl.
He told how he was marooned on a desolate island where not even birds would shit.
According to the pirate code, Barraba left him a gun with one bullet.
"You know, Gibbs."
Jack said conspiratorially.
"There was an endless supply of rum on that island; I drank for three days and three nights and still couldn't finish it."
"Then, I discovered a shocking secret!"
"What secret?" Gibbs asked curiously.
"I discovered that those sea turtles, they can't swim!"
Jack said seriously.
"So, I tied two sea turtles together, used my hair to make a rope, fashioned them into a raft, and escaped from that damned island just like that!"
His outrageous tale left Billy and Hanson, who were eavesdropping nearby, wide-mouthed.
Making a raft out of sea turtles?
This is... too absurd, isn't it?
But Jack Sparrow told it so vividly, as if it were true.
It made them almost believe it.
Only Roger, listening from the side, almost burst out laughing.
This guy was indeed still Captain Jack, full of tall tales.
Making a raft out of sea turtles?
How could he even think of that?
He clearly escaped from the island with the help of a rum smuggler.
However, Roger did not expose him.
He knew that Jack was using this method to maintain his pathetic "legendary" image.
"So, Gibbs, my friend."
Jack finished his story and brought the conversation back.
He put his arm around Gibbs's shoulder and asked:
"And you? How did you end up on this ship?"
"And this... Roger, who exactly is he?"
"He doesn't look like us."
This was Jack's real purpose.
He wanted to extract information about Roger from his old friend, Gibbs.
"Roger, ah..."
At the mention of Roger, Gibbs's single eye immediately filled with fervent admiration.
He lowered his voice and mysteriously told Jack:
"Jack, I'm telling you, you absolutely must not underestimate him."
"He... he is no ordinary person."
Gibbs began to eloquently recount Roger's "miracles."
From how they picked Roger up at sea.
To how Roger accurately predicted the storm.
Then to how Roger commanded the dilapidated sea serpent to cross the forbidden death zone, the Devil's Triangle.
Finally, he even spoke of how Roger used miraculous tactics to defeat a Spanish patrol ship several times stronger than them, turning the tables with a weaker force.
Gibbs spoke with spittle flying and gestures animated.
Billy and Hanson, too, nodded in agreement, adding various details.
"You mean, he can just dip his finger in some saliva and know when a storm is coming?"
"You mean, he can make the ship jump over rapids?"
"You mean, he used a broken ship to disable a two-masted warship?"
The more Jack listened, the more expressive his face became.
He knew Gibbs wouldn't lie to him.
He went from amusement to surprise, then to solemnity, and finally, to a deep sense of apprehension.
He had initially thought Roger was just a young captain with a bit of cleverness and good luck.
But now, hearing Gibbs and the others talk about it...
How could this be just good luck?
This was practically a god of the sea possessing him!
Predicting storms? Traversing the Devil's Triangle? Defeating the strong with the weak?
Any one of these feats would be enough to make a captain famous.
And this young man named Roger had done all of them in a short period!
Jack Sparrow looked at the young man standing at the bow, holding a strange brass instrument and gesturing towards the sun.
For the first time, he felt that this fellow named Roger harbored far more secrets than he had imagined.
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