Old Turner's Flying Dutchman measures about 55 m; it's already one of the most formidable pirate ships on the sea.
Yet The Jackdaw he's looking at now is more than ten metres longer than The Flying Dutchman, and judging by the sailors moving about on deck, her crew outnumbers an ordinary pirate vessel many times over.
The sight shakes the old pirate to the core.
"How many souls aboard?" Old Turner asks.
Jack lifts his chin. "Six hundred."
"Are you pirates or the navy?" Old Turner shakes his head.
What he's seeing is, of course, the 3.0 version of the prototype Dauntless.
Just manning her hundred guns takes two hundred hands; add the powder boys, the logistics crews, and the deck-fighters, and six hundred is hardly outrageous.
Anyone else, though, would never think so.
"A First-rate Ship-of-the-line as a pirate vessel—you people are insane," Old Turner mutters.
The Flying Dutchman already packs heavy firepower and even carries Triple-barrelled Chase Pieces, but when Old Turner sees The Jackdaw's three packed tiers of gun-ports he still feels a shiver run down his spine.
Under Jack's lead, Old Turner soon meets Fang Yuan.
At the moment Fang Yuan is lying with his head in Elizabeth's lap, eating fruit from her fingers.
Governor Swann has surrendered; Elizabeth therefore cuddles up to Fang Yuan without the least guilt.
Spotting the man behind Jack, Fang Yuan realises Davy Jones has come knocking and immediately sends Elizabeth and the others away.
"Bill Turner?"
"Your look is… unexpected."
Fang Yuan greets him, teasing Turner about the barnacles on his face.
Old Turner shakes his head. "The Black King's image is equally surprising."
He never imagined a pirate could be as handsome as Fang Yuan, or that he'd have a beauty at his side.
Is this even a proper pirate?
"Where's Will?" Old Turner asks anxiously.
Fang Yuan says nothing; he simply hands over a document.
"Will Turner, Royal Navy Commodore of England, commanding officer of HMS George?"
Old Turner jerks his head up in shock.
"Is… is this real?"
Only the name Will Turner feels familiar; the rest of the words he can read, yet linked to the name Turner they seem utterly alien.
"It's still a proposal, but formal appointment is only a matter of time," Fang Yuan nods, grinning.
"Young Turner's quite something—he's hooked a Duke's daughter, and even caught a royal's eye. Truly an elf."
Old Turner doesn't know what he means by "elf", but he understands his son is doing splendidly.
"With my help, it won't be hard for Will to become a real power-wielding admiral," Fang Yuan states with complete confidence.
Between a Duke for a father-in-law and a favourite at court singing his praises, it would be against heaven's law for Will Turner not to rise.
Although England has a constitutional monarchy, the king still wields great power.
Old Turner beams; he only hoped his boy would grow up safe and stay clear of piracy, yet now he's practically upper-crust.
"But…" Fang Yuan heaves a heavy sigh.
Old Turner's heart leaps into his throat.
"What is it?" he asks hurriedly.
Fang Yuan pats his shoulder. "You've an outstanding son; even while enjoying wealth and glory he still wants to drag you out of the abyss."
"But you know Davy Jones wields part of a sea-god's power—how could Will stand against him?"
Old Turner's brow knots; of course he knows how fearsome Davy Jones is.
He's overjoyed his boy hasn't forgotten him, yet terrified that Will intends to fight Davy Jones.
Fang Yuan strikes while the iron is hot.
"I've given Will another task to divert him; if we deal with Davy Jones first, you'll never have to fear him walking into danger."
"How?" Old Turner presses.
"Jack and I plan to hunt down Davy Jones's only weakness—his heart."
Fang Yuan at last states his aim.
"But Davy Jones's heart is locked in a special Chest; we need the Key he keeps on his person to open it."
We can't sneak onto The Flying Dutchman," Fang Yuan says, turning to Billy Turner, "but you can."
Old Turner instantly grasps his mission: steal the Key to the Chest that holds Davy Jones's heart.
"You've already found Davy Jones's heart?" Old Turner asks hopefully.
At that Jack jerks his head down, and Fang Yuan says irritably, "Previous distractions weren't enough; whenever Sparrow uses the compass he's lured off by Rum or women."
"Now that you're here, shattering his last fluke, I'm sure Jack will locate the heart!" Fang Yuan threatens. "If he can't, he can go play with Davy Jones's pet for a while."
Besides The Flying Dutchman, Davy Jones commands a monstrous squid—call it the Kraken of Norway.
Jack shudders and shakes his head frantically. "I repent!"
He swore an oath: "I swear I'll find Davy Jones's heart!"
"For the Black King!" Jack's finger tapped each of the three in turn. "For Will!"
Finally himself: "For me!"
Mm, the important bit always comes last.
So the three of them hit it off at once.
Jack would hunt the Chest, Old Turner would steal the Key, and Fang Yuan… well, his job was actually the toughest.
"That fellow Becket's come to Port Royal?"
After Old Turner left, Jack asked Fang Yuan.
"That's right." Fang Yuan nodded. "Becket's promotion has been swift—he's now Lord Beckett, a director of the British East India Company, and wields great power inside the Royal Navy."
This was yet another fantastical quirk of the pirates of the caribbean World.
Lord Beckett is a director of the East India Company, yet he sails to the Americas to throw his weight around.
Still, Beckett is a favorite of King George II, so such clout is only to be expected.
"I hear Governor Swann and George II aren't on the best of terms?" Jack asked with relish. "Does this mean the good times for the Black Emperor Pirates are over?"
Fang Yuan answered without batting an eye: "Speaking of which, your own relationship with Beckett seems worse. If push comes to shove I could hand you over—Beckett would be delighted to negotiate with me."
Jack froze, studied Fang Yuan's expression, and cautiously asked, "You're joking, right?"
"You've got to be joking—so funny, ha-ha." Jack forced a laugh.
"That depends on how fast you find Davy Jones's heart." Fang Yuan looked anything but joking.
Jack sprinted off at once. "I'm on it—right now!"
Fang Yuan shook his head; without a little pressure Jack would never shake off his laziness.
He checked his current progress.
[Reputation: 121]
Thanks to seizing the Dauntless and remaking her into Jackdaw 3.0, Fang Yuan had become Captain of the World's largest pirate vessel, sending his reputation soaring again.
Naturally, his Bounty had climbed as well—now standing at 8,000 gold pieces.
George II, though not the George I who bombarded London, pursued far more radical politics, hence his backing of Beckett's campaign to unify the seas.
Pirates were thorns in his side, none more so than the ever-active Black King; George II wanted them swept up in one net.
Beckett was still en route to Port Royal; Governor Swann hadn't yet received word, but Fang Yuan had friends inside the Crown and learned of Beckett's movements even before the Caribbean's highest official.
"The next chunk of reputation will come from Beckett," Fang Yuan mused.
With his present strength, taking Beckett out before the man arrived would be easy, but Fang Yuan's goal was to complete the World Quest—so Beckett was far more useful as a pawn than as fish food.
In the original pirates of the caribbean Trilogy, Beckett is pivotal—practically the final boss.
His aim is to wipe out every pirate and rule the seas, a goal that drags all pirates into the fray.
As for the fourth and Fifth Films, their events lie two or three decades ahead—no need to consider them yet.
"Dragging every pirate in? Perfect—I love a grand spectacle." Fang Yuan smiled.
"Our objective is to eliminate every pirate!"
"So how can we fear a mere Caribbean Sea?"
Meanwhile, beyond the Caribbean, an English gentleman was shouting the same line.
Lord Beckett was furious: as his soldiers neared the Caribbean, morale plunged by more than half.
Everyone muttered the name "Black King"; even a passing gull made someone shriek, "Is that The Jackdaw?"
Could troops like these even fight?
Beckett knew the Black Emperor Pirates were infamous in the Caribbean, but he hadn't expected his own soldiers to be rattled.
In high dudgeon he reached Port Royal, where Governor Swann hurried out to greet him upon the news.
"What's the matter with you people? Letting pirates run wild like this?"
The moment he saw Swann, Beckett let loose a barrage of blame.
As the king's personal envoy, he had every right to lecture even the governor.
"Heh-heh, our fault entirely." Swann played the amiable elder. "Ever since Commodore Norrington fell in battle, Port Royal's navy hasn't had the strength to match the Black Emperor Pirates."
"That's because you let a Ship-of-the-Line like the Dauntless be captured!" Beckett was exasperated. "According to the report she was surrounded by pirates, but had gallant Commodore Norrington not gone overboard and fought to the last, the Dauntless would never have fallen!"
He had a fair opinion of Norrington—after all, the submitted report had glorified the commodore's deeds.
Since Governor Swann had committed no overt crime this time, Beckett had to curb his temper and set about reorganizing Port Royal's navy.
Two Weeks passed, and then Beckett received delightful news—
the missing Commodore Norrington was alive and had returned!
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