"What a pirate!"
Jack paddled the small boat toward the cave alone, grumbling under his breath.
In the end he couldn't out-stubborn Fang Yuan and had agreed to come alone and stall Barbossa.
Fortunately, with the aztec gold coin as his trump card, Jack wasn't too worried.
Watching Jack disappear into the distance, Fang Yuan quickly shifted his gaze.
Sending Jack to delay Barbossa was only a casual move; his real focus wasn't on the Black Pearl at all.
"Captain, the Dauntless has entered the kill zone!" White reported as he ran over.
That's right—Fang Yuan's actual prey was this first-rate Ship of the Line.
Barbossa and his undead pirates were formidable, but all they wanted was to break the curse; with Turner's blood in hand, Fang Yuan could handle Barbossa easily.
Therefore, Barbossa had never been considered a true opponent.
The Dauntless, on the other hand, was the real final boss.
A first-rate ship not only packed tremendous firepower but also boasted thick armor, more than capable of taking on several enemies at once.
Even in the controversial sinking of the Effort in pirates of the caribbean 3, when caught between the Black Pearl and The Flying Dutchman, the Effort—without firing a single shot—endured many close-range broadsides before her magazine finally detonated.
Now, even though The Jackdaw's guns were powerful and accurate, crippling the Dauntless would still take a long time—whereas the Dauntless could sink The Jackdaw much faster.
Moreover, Fang Yuan believed that even if the Dauntless were surrounded, she could still fight her way out, since they couldn't infiltrate her underwater like undead pirates.
Fang Yuan alone could do it, but he wasn't an assassin—no need to solo a hundred men.
"Pick a few men, disguise them as black pearl pirates, and lure the Dauntless into the cave," Fang Yuan ordered White.
"Roger that!" White answered loudly.
He knew tonight was crucial for the Black Emperor Pirates; if everything went smoothly, they would become the only pirate crew in history to possess a first-rate Ship of the Line!
Meanwhile, Jack had reached the cave shore and slipped in via a narrow path.
Inside, Barbossa and the pirates were gathered round the chest of coins, propping up Elizabeth's arm.
"Gentlemen, today we break this vile curse!"
Barbossa raised a dagger and shouted, "Rejoice!"
"Waaah!"
"Hahaha!"
The pirates howled; for a moment the cave looked like a demon's carnival.
Barbossa could wait no longer. In one hand the dagger, in the other an apple—his greatest wish was to taste its fragrance again.
He swiftly slashed Elizabeth's palm, dropped the coin back into the chest, and opened his own hand wide, ready to welcome the moment the curse lifted.
The pirates watched expectantly, but after a long while nothing seemed to change.
"Did it work?" asked a pirate with a Mediterranean hairline.
Without a word Barbossa pulled a pistol and shot him in the heart.
BANG!
The pirate flinched, then patted himself and laughed, "I didn't die!"
"No!" he realized at once. "The curse isn't broken!"
Barbossa's voice rang out, cursing: "Pintel, Ragetti, you idiots—you got the wrong person!"
The pirates turned hostile stares on them.
The balding Pintel hastily explained, "She had the coin and said her name was Turner—how were we to know?"
"Your name really Turner?" Barbossa demanded, seizing Elizabeth by the neck.
"No. I thought you were after the Governor's Daughter, so I gave a false name." Elizabeth stayed calm, unfazed by the horde of pirates.
She had chosen the name Turner because Fang Yuan had said the coin came from someone surnamed Turner, so under pressure she blurted it out.
In fact she felt annoyed—Fang Yuan's alias was Arthur Curry; she should have said her name was Curry.
Barbossa deflated and lowered Elizabeth to the ground. After so long they'd gathered every coin, yet without Turner's blood it had all been for nothing.
But Barbossa was an old hand; he quickly seized the key point.
"If you're not a Turner, who told you that name?" he pressed, step by step. "And who gave you this coin?"
Watching from the shadows, Jack grew anxious—if Elizabeth's answer didn't satisfy the pirates, they might kill her in frustration.
If he failed to save the Black King's woman, who knew how many extra years Fang Yuan would add to his sentence?
Just as Jack was about to show himself, Elizabeth spoke.
"Will Turner? That's who you're looking for?"
Lightning struck in her mind; she swore earnestly, "I can tell you where he is—but you have to let me go!"
At that name Barbossa grew excited once more.
Will Turner's full English name is William Turner—the same name as his father, Bill Turner. Old Turner had already been sent to the bottom of the sea; anyone who didn't know the younger Turner would never recognize the name, so Barbossa and the other pirates instantly believed every word Elizabeth said.
"Where is he?"
Barbossa pressed. Seeing Elizabeth clamp her mouth shut, he forced a smile. "No problem. Just tell us where young Turner's hiding and I'll let you go—straight away."
Elizabeth breathed a small sigh of relief; thank goodness she'd memorized everything Fang Yuan had drilled into her—otherwise she'd never have remembered the name Will Turner.
But as to where young Turner actually was, she had no idea. During that conversation her attention had been glued to Fang Yuan's face; why would she care about some irrelevant fellow?
"He's a blacksmith in Port Royal. Before he left he gave me this necklace."
Left with no choice, she improvised.
The pirates didn't doubt her; at eighteen, Elizabeth hardly looked like a girl who could lie to a pack of buccaneers without batting an eye.
Only Jack, there in the cave, realized Elizabeth was bluffing, but seeing her defuse the crisis on her own, he drew back the foot he'd started to step forward with.
"Won't die—good enough," he muttered.
Yet wanting to lie low still depended on whether the others would allow it.
Boom! Boom!
Suddenly everyone heard cannon fire outside—clearly the heavy guns mounted on a naval warship.
"We're done for!"
"The navy's here!"
The pirates broke into chaos—outlaws naturally fear officers.
"Shut it, you fools!" Barbossa roared. "Can a cannonball kill you?"
"Huh?"
Only then did they remember they were undead; even if someone shoved them into a gun barrel they still couldn't die.
The pirates rallied, some shouting they'd take on the navy head-on.
But Barbossa frowned. "The navy found this cave too fast—someone must have led them."
A pirate pointed at Elizabeth. "This woman?"
Barbossa shook his head. "We brought her here; she never had a chance to tip them off."
He swept his gaze across the cave, then the realization struck. "Someone's scouting for the navy—that's how they found us so precisely. Search the place!"
The pirates scattered at once, hunting for any living intruder. Jack panicked and tried to hide, but the pirates knew every nook of the cave and soon dragged him out.
"Well, well—look who we have here."
The sight of Jack stunned them.
Jack could only wave. "Hello, traitors."
Yet the pirates showed their former Captain no respect; they hauled him straight to Barbossa.
"You brought the navy?" Barbossa leveled his pistol at Jack's head.
"Yes. The navy asked me to pass along a message," Jack placated. "Surrender and release the Governor's Daughter, and they'll let you sail away."
"Of course, with your current strength..."
While speaking Jack edged forward until he reached the chest of aztec gold coins.
He scooped up a handful, then dropped them back one by one. "You could wipe out the navy one by one and capture a Ship of the Line."
He leaned to Barbossa's ear and, the moment the pirate looked away, quietly slipped one coin into his pocket. "Then you'd have two pirate ships—and your own fleet."
Barbossa's eyes narrowed. "And what do you want?"
He knew Jack would never offer advice to an enemy out of kindness.
"Heh-heh!"
Lies rolled off Jack's tongue without Effort.
"Once you take the Dauntless, the Black Pearl will be empty—so you could give her back to me."
Barbossa saw nothing odd in the request; to him Jack had always viewed the black pearl as the most precious thing in life, so allying for her sake was normal.
Still, Barbossa snorted. "You weren't thinking that when you led them here."
But they were pirates—past deeds didn't matter, only present profit.
So he accepted Jack's proposal.
"Men..." Barbossa ordered, "let's go give the navy a surprise."
Jack was puzzled. "You're not taking a ship?"
Barbossa merely gave a cryptic chuckle and offered no explanation.
Only then did Jack realize how formidable these undead were.
"Walking along the seabed for a sneak attack—creative," Jack muttered.
Besides Barbossa and Jack only three pirates remained in the cave, and Barbossa pressed Elizabeth again: "So where exactly is Will Turner?"
"Right here!"
Fang Yuan's voice rang out as forty or fifty brawny black men packed the cavern to the brim.
"While the pirates march along the seabed, the crew of The Jackdaw sails over the water—everyone's creative today," Jack laughed.
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