Very quickly, a week passed in the blink of an eye, and Jack returned from the sea back onto the ship.
The Heart of the Ocean allowed Jack to control the flow of water while in the sea. His speed underwater was far faster than when he was on land.
In addition, Jack discovered that Poseidon's growth rate was quite fast—he grew about one centimeter every day.
After just one week, Poseidon's body length had already reached around fifty-seven centimeters.
Opening the ghost-scribble navigation chart left behind by his old father, Jack's handsome face nearly twisted into a knot.
It could only be said that he could understand it… but not completely.
Back then, his father's pirate crew had two ships. Jack and his father controlled one, while the other was commanded by his father's first mate.
So the original owner of this body understood some navigation techniques, but still couldn't fully read his father's hand-drawn sea charts. He absolutely needed to find a professional navigator.
"Looks like I can only rob myself a navigator," Jack said helplessly as he closed the chart.
As a pirate, it could be said that all one's wealth was obtained through plunder—this was the pirate way of life. Taking by force was better than toiling bitterly.
Once he had money, Jack planned to first go to Astapor to buy some ship slaves and Unsullied to serve as crew.
He also wanted to buy some skilled slaves in Meereen who knew how to repair ships, and he definitely had to take a stroll through Yunkai's bed-slave market as well.
Just as Jack was thinking about his next plans, a merchant ship about twenty meters long appeared in the distance ahead.
Jack's spirits instantly lifted as he examined the merchant ship from afar.
Although the distance was great, Jack still clearly saw the flag fluttering in the wind—the banner of the Sons of the Harpy.
It was actually a Slaver's Bay merchant ship!The only question was which city-state it belonged to. There was a very high chance it carried slaves or spices.
Jack slung Hai Xiao—the greatsword given by the system—onto his back.
Then he leapt straight into the sea, speeding toward the merchant ship underwater.
If he relied on piloting the Sea Dog himself, Jack might never catch up to that ship in his lifetime.
With the blessing of the Heart of the Ocean, Jack's speed in the water was astonishing, as if the surrounding currents were pushing him forward.
Very soon, Jack reached the bottom of the merchant ship and climbed aboard using a grappling spike.
The moment Jack climbed onto the deck, everyone froze, staring at the young man in utter confusion.
How did this person climb up here?
The merchant ship's captain was named Oginga·Yuli, a trader who traveled back and forth between Slaver's Bay and Qarth.
This time, he had swindled a dragon egg fossil from a farmer in Qarth at a very low price.
Having heard that the Magister of Pentos was buying dragon eggs at a high price, he planned to try his luck and see if he could sell it for a good sum.
Jack drew the Hai Xiao greatsword from his back and said smoothly, "This is a robbery. This ship and everything on it now belong to me."
Oginga·Yuli looked at Jack as if he were an idiot. It was his first time seeing someone try to rob a ship all by himself.
For merchant ships over twenty meters long like this one, there were usually no professional guards. When facing pirates, it was normally the slaves who picked up weapons to resist—but even then, it wasn't something a teenage boy could handle alone.
What's more, this boy had smooth skin and delicate features. He looked far more like a noble than a pirate who'd spent years under sun and sea spray!
Jack had inherited the original body's memories, so he naturally knew that merchant ships usually relied on slave guards.
Precisely because of this, he dared to come alone. The original owner of the body often participated in battles and understood some combat techniques.
Taking everything into account, Jack believed the advantage was on his side. He could strike.
After all, slave soldiers were still vastly inferior to professional guards or hired mercenaries.
Oginga clapped his hands. Very soon, amid the mocking gazes of the crowd, Jack saw seven fully armed mercenaries walk out from the cabin.
All seven wore leather armor and carried curved sabers.
Jack raised an eyebrow, secretly thinking that something was wrong here.
Hiring seven fully equipped mercenaries wasn't cheap. Just this single voyage would cost at least several hundred gold coins.
(1 Gold Dragon equals 30 Silver Moons, 210 Silver Stags, 1,470 Copper Stars, 2,940 Copper Grains, 5,880 Half-Copper Grains, 11,760 Copper Bits, 23,520 Copper Plates. The exchange progression is 30, 7, 7, 2, 2, 2, 2. The currency system in ASOIAF is ridiculously complicated—a complete mess. Let's simplify it: 1 gold coin (dragon) = 100 silver coins = 10,000 copper coins.)
"Kid, you look pretty young. Which noble house are you from?" Oginga asked.
If Jack wasn't from a great noble house, he would capture him alive and exchange him for a hefty ransom.
But if Jack was the child of some major noble, then he would kill him without hesitation to eliminate future trouble.
Those petty nobles—especially the children of great houses—would have their subordinates deal with people on a whim.
"I'm not a noble. I'm a pure-blood pirate," Jack replied.
"Heh. Let's see if your mouth is still this tough later," Oginga said with a grin. He had plenty of ways to torture people.
And these so-called noble brats were all soft persimmons—one scare and they'd turn into jelly-legged cowards.
"It's not just my mouth that's hard. I've got something even harder. Want your mom to try it?"
Oginga's face darkened. He immediately decided that Jack couldn't possibly be a noble—no noble would be this crude and vulgar.
Besides, he hated it most when people talked about his mother. His first pot of gold had been saved up by her entertaining clients.
"Capture him alive. I want to torture him to death!" Oginga roared in fury.
As soon as the words fell, before the seven mercenaries could even move, Jack flipped backward and jumped straight into the sea, leaving everyone on deck completely dumbfounded.
No joke—seven mercenaries in leather armor wielding sabers were not something Jack could deal with at his current strength.
The combat power level in the world of A Song of Ice and Fire was very low. There was no such thing as one person fighting dozens alone. Someone who could take on ten was already top-tier.
And although Jack's physical strength was great, he lacked powerful sword techniques and proper armor.
People die when they're killed.
Facing a group fight, without armor, Jack could easily be ambushed and cut down if he slipped up even once.
So Jack chose a far wiser method.
On the dark seabed beneath the merchant ship, a chubby Godzilla swam up beside Jack.
After receiving Jack's command, blue light flared from Poseidon's dorsal fins. A blast of atomic breath pierced straight through the merchant ship.
Meanwhile, Jack followed the damaged area and began destroying the hull. Hai Xiao cut through iron like mud—the bottom of the ship was as fragile as paper.
At this moment, Oginga on deck still hadn't figured out what was happening when his merchant ship suddenly developed a hole for no apparent reason.
Oginga immediately ordered the crew to go down into the hold to check the flooding.
"Damn that little bastard!"
Without even thinking, Oginga knew this was the work of that brat from earlier. He didn't know what method the boy had used to destroy the hull.
However, everything Oginga did was nothing more than a last struggle before death. The speed at which the hull was being destroyed far exceeded his expectations.
Shock and rage surged through Oginga's heart. He rushed into the cabin and rummaged through countless crates until he found a small wooden box.
Cradling the box, Oginga ran toward the ship's emergency raft. At this point, the sinking of the Purple Grape was already a foregone conclusion.
But as long as the dragon egg could be saved—if he could survive and resell it to the Magister of Pentos—not only would he recover his losses, he could even expand his fleet.
Yet before Oginga could reach the raft, a sharp spear pierced straight through his heart.
He turned his head with great difficulty. The one who had assassinated him was none other than the mercenary he had paid a fortune to hire!
Although mercenaries valued reputation above all else, this was not the time to talk about honor. For a small mercenary group like theirs, survival was what mattered most.
(End of Chapter)