Under a sky writhing with serpents of lightning, Davy Jones's face remained hidden in the shadows. His voice, low and heavy, broke the silence:
> "I am not Vander Decken.
I am Davy Jones, captain of this ship — the Terror Ghost."
Davy Jones? Terror Ghost?
Not Vander Decken? And not the Flying Dutchman?
Koby's eyes widened in shock. His mouth hung open, speechless.
Even Alvida turned to look at Koby in surprise, as if questioning how he could make such a mistake.
If Davy Jones and Vander Decken were enemies, wouldn't that blunder just have offended him again?
But Koby was already paralyzed by an even deeper fear.
Davy Jones…
Wasn't that the name of the mythical Dread Lord of the Deep, the original captain of the Flying Dutchman?
How could he be here?
That was the demon of the abyss — the very one that even Vander Decken feared!
> No… no, it can't be. It must be someone with the same name. I'm overthinking it!
Koby wiped his cold sweat over and over, shivering harder the more he thought about it.
Davy Jones walked slowly forward. The deck creaked beneath his boots — every step like a hammer striking Koby and Alvida's hearts.
He reached into his coat and pulled out a pristine pipe, lighting it calmly. He placed the long, slender stem between his lips and drew a puff of smoke.
With tentacles twitching beneath his octopus head, he exhaled a misty ring in their direction. His eyes, unfeeling, watched them shiver as he asked:
> "Are you afraid of death?"
> "Do you tremble before the black abyss?"
Just two questions — and Koby and Alvida felt their hearts plunge into the depths.
It was over.
This time, they were truly done for.
Koby fell to his knees, kowtowing like a woodpecker in panic. Alvida quickly lowered her head, too afraid to act otherwise.
Davy Jones took another puff and recited the words he had spoken countless times before — to those he had fished from the bottom of the sea aboard the Flying Dutchman:
> "Your lives are laid bare before me. Your sins shall be judged.
Life is cruel…
Why should death be any different?"
He lowered the pipe and gently tapped it against his crab claw, scattering glowing embers like fireflies across the deck.
> "But I'll give you a chance.
Join my crew… and I will delay your judgment.
You'll have a little longer to live."
> "Will you accept?"
Koby and Alvida looked up from the brink of despair, their eyes suddenly ignited with hope.
Koby, ever eager to survive, kowtowed again — more fervently than before:
> "Yes! I will!
Great Captain Davy Jones — I swear my loyalty!"
Alvida hesitated, but seeing the broken corpses of her crew, she too pressed her face to the deck and rasped:
> "I pledge myself to you, Great Captain Davy Jones…
Just spare my life."
But Davy Jones frowned slightly as he watched them.
Inwardly, he felt disgusted by Koby.
A man, yet so weak, so spineless? Even as a rookie sailor, Jones had never been this pathetic.
Alvida, on the other hand, fared slightly better in his estimation. Despite her size, she at least had presence — and in a crew like his, appearance was the least of anyone's problems.
Regardless of how he judged them, he needed information. So he spoke again, voice steady:
> "Now, I will ask you some questions.
You must answer truthfully."
> "Yes, Captain!" Koby said quickly.
Jones began questioning Koby about the Flying Dutchman, learning of Vander Decken's legend — and more importantly, the Dutchman's current location:
> Fish-Man Island.
Fish-Man Island…
If he could reach it, he could recover all of his missing powers.
That confirmed his theory. This was a completely different world — a place where Fish-Men and Merfolk had their own kingdoms.
Nothing like his own.
Davy Jones continued asking more. Some questions Koby answered, some were filled in by Alvida.
Piece by piece, the picture of this world began to take shape.
The world was divided into four seas: East, West, South, and North, split by the massive Red Line.
The Celestial Dragons and World Government ruled from above, using the Navy as their iron fist.
But pirates and revolutionaries were rising in rebellion against that order.
Davy Jones also heard about Devil Fruits — strange fruits that granted extraordinary powers, at the cost of being unable to swim.
That immediately made him lose interest.
> What use is power if you can't survive in the sea?
The powers of the Deep and the Sea Goddess mean nothing if they cannot exist in water.
He would never eat such a fruit.
What did interest him were the Sea Kings — colossal sea beasts dwelling in the Calm Belt.
Perhaps he could tame them, like he once did with the Kraken he was forced to slay.
> To imagine the future Dread Lord of the Deep, surrounded by a host of Sea Kings... what a sight that would be.
He also learned of the pirate king Gol D. Roger, and the legend of his Great Treasure.
Roger's route — the Grand Line — was flanked by the Calm Belt, and he had claimed his treasure lay at its end.
Countless pirates had chased that dream — and died for it.
Only a rare few had survived the first half of the Grand Line, reaching the second half known as the New World, continuing the hunt for Roger's treasure.
But Davy Jones had little interest in the Pirate King's riches.
> Compared to the treasures I left on the Flying Dutchman… nothing else is worth as much.
That said, he was curious about Roger himself.
Back in his own world, when the Flying Dutchman appeared, even the most powerful Pirate Lords would flee.
Yet here, there had only ever been one Pirate King — and he had been acknowledged as the strongest man on the seas.
> If he was stronger than me… then there must be others like him still alive.
That thought gave Jones a sense of unease.
He refused to be anyone's puppet again — not ever.
Never again would his heart be used to chain him.
After a pause, he felt the Thriller Bark stirring beneath his feet.
It was still hungry.
Clearly, one pirate ship wasn't enough to satisfy it.
He turned to Koby.
Koby forced another fake smile, the same kind he had once used to please Alvida.
Jones tucked away his pipe and asked calmly:
> "Your name is Koby, correct?"
> "Yes, great Captain Davy Jones!" Koby replied quickly.
The tentacles beneath Jones's mouth squirmed as he asked:
> "Tell me — where is the nearest island?"
Koby froze.
He thought of what had happened to the pirate ship… to the crew… and instantly understood what Jones was planning.
He hesitated — but the fear of death overwhelmed his guilt.
> As long as I live… I have hope.
He nodded.
> "Great Captain Davy Jones, I know of an island northwest of here.
There's a town there called Shells Town."
Alvida's eyes flicked to Koby, but she lowered her head and stayed silent.
Jones nodded.
> "Very well. We'll go there. You'll guide the way."
> "Yes, I'll lead you, Captain!" Koby said eagerly.
But inwardly, he was already plotting.
Though he had sworn to be Davy Jones's crewman, he hadn't done so willingly — this was a strategy to stay alive.
He was waiting for a chance to escape.
What he didn't say was that Shells Town had a Navy base.
He planned to lead Davy Jones right into the heart of the Marines.
To Koby — a boy who had always dreamed of joining the Navy — the Marines were the embodiment of justice.
And Davy Jones was the embodiment of evil.
Koby firmly believed:
> Justice will always triumph over evil!
He would watch as the Navy sank this terrifying ship.
Watch as they arrested Davy Jones — just like he had once dreamed they would defeat Alvida.
But even as he thought this, a cold unease gnawed at him.
> Unless… unless this really is that Davy Jones — the Dread Lord himself…
> No, no… I'm just overthinking it… it can't be… right…?