The air on the quarterdeck of the Sea Serpent was thick enough to choke a man. Barbossa's hand remained white-knuckled on the hilt of his cutlass, his eyes darting between the mountain of gold and the calm, unwavering face of the young man before him.
Logic warred with an ancient, oily avarice in the Captain's soul. He knew that killing Hugo would be the equivalent of burning a library to keep warm for a single night. But the gold was right there, singing to him, promising him a life where he never had to answer to a Governor or a King again.
The crew watched, their hands hovering near their own steel. One wrong word, one twitch of a nervous finger, and the Sea Serpent would become a slaughterhouse.
Just as the silence reached a breaking point, Hugo reached into his coat and produced a small, unassuming velvet box. He flipped the lid with a practiced flick of his thumb.
Inside, resting on a bed of faded silk, were three diamonds the size of pigeon eggs. Under the midday sun, they didn't just sparkle; they seemed to trap the light and refract it into a thousand dancing spectra. They were stones of impossible clarity, the kind of gems that found their way into the crowns of empires.
The collective gasp of the crew was louder than the wind in the sails.
"This," Hugo said, his voice steady and conversational, "is what I found in the Captain's private locker aboard the Trinidad. While everyone else was busy counting silver ingots, I was looking for the concentration of wealth."
Barbossa's jaw dropped. He had seen "gold-fever" take men, but these stones were a different kind of madness. They were concentrated power. In a world where a chest of gold was a target for every pirate hunter in the Caribbean, these three stones could be hidden in a man's boot and still buy him a plantation in the Carolinas.
"Let's settle this like men of business, Hector," Hugo continued, closing the box with a soft click. "The plan remains seventy-thirty. You take seventy percent of the gold and silver, the lion's share. The remaining thirty is divided among the crew and myself, as the code dictates. No one feels cheated. No one looks for a knife in your back while you sleep."
He tossed the velvet box into the air, catching it easily. "And this box? It's yours. A personal tribute to the Captain for the use of his ship and the 'protection' he provided."
"You... you'd give those up?" Barbossa whispered, his greed shifting from the gold to the stones. "Just for a thirty-percent split?"
"I'm not a man of greed, Hector. I'm a man of progress," Hugo said, his eyes narrowing slightly. "I want my share, and I want your assistance. When we hit Tortuga, I want you to personally see to the legalities of the Sea Fairy. I want a skeleton crew of ten men to help me haul her into the dry dock. And I want your word that we are even."
Barbossa's mind whirled. It was a masterpiece of a bargain. By giving up the diamonds, which Hugo had technically scavenged alone, he was buying the peace of the ship and the loyalty of the crew. More importantly, he was bribing Barbossa into becoming his protector rather than his predator.
Barbossa could keep his pride, his ninety percent (effectively, with the diamonds), and his status, all while the crew felt they had won a victory for the code.
"Done!" Barbossa barked, his voice filled with a sudden, relieved joviality. "By the powers, Hugo, you're a statesman as much as a sailor! Men! Open the barrels! We're following the Navigator's split! Seventy for the Owner, thirty for the Brotherhood! And double rum for every man who worked the pumps!"
The tension snapped like a frayed rope. The deck erupted in genuine cheers. The pirates, previously ready to mutiny, were now slapping each other on the back, their eyes gleaming with the reality of their payday. They looked at Hugo with a fervor that bordered on worship; he had saved their lives in the storm, and now he had saved their fortunes from their own Captain.
Hugo watched the division of the spoils with a quiet, detached satisfaction. He received his share, a staggering weight of gold that far exceeded his debt. But more importantly, he had bought the time and the goodwill he needed for his true work.
The return to Tortuga was a triumphal procession. Barbossa, now one of the wealthiest men in the harbor, kept his word with the fervor of a man who didn't want to lose his lucky charm. He marched into the Port Authority with Hugo at his side, his hand on his pistol, and made sure that Clark finalized the transfer of the Sea Fairy with a speed that left the clerk trembling.
By sunset, the Sea Fairy was no longer a condemned wreck in a graveyard. She was the legally registered property of Master Hugo, her deed stamped with the Governor's own wax.
Barbossa didn't stop there. He commanded the Sea Serpent to act as a tug, using its superior power to drag the waterlogged hull of the Sea Fairy into an abandoned, secluded shipyard on the leeward side of the island. He even left Gibbs, Billy, and a dozen of the most capable men behind to "assist" Hugo, while he took the rest of the crew to the taverns to drown themselves in celebration.
"When I return from fencing the bullion in Port Royal, lad," Barbossa shouted from the rail of the Sea Serpent as it prepared to depart, "we'll pull off a job that makes this one look like a petty theft! Keep your eyes on the stars!"
Hugo watched the Sea Serpent disappear into the twilight, a faint smile on his lips. He knew Barbossa would be back, greed like his never stayed satisfied for long. But by the time the Captain returned, Hugo intended to be sailing a vessel that would make the Sea Serpent look like a rowing boat.
Night fell over the shipyard. The Sea Fairy sat high in the dry mud, her skeletal ribs illuminated by the flickering light of a few whale-oil lamps. Gibbs and the others had retreated to a nearby shack to sleep, leaving Hugo alone with his ghost.
He walked to the bow, his hand brushing the rough, salt-encrusted timber. He could feel the "Heart-Oak" beneath the rot. He pulled the leather-bound deed from his coat and held it against the wood.
"The vessel is mine," Hugo whispered. "Legally. Spiritually. In every way that matters."
He closed his eyes and summoned the blue interface of the System.
[Ownership Verification: 100% Match.]
[Condition: Vessel "Sea Fairy" identified as a compatible Resonance Body.]
[Commencing Initial Scan and Data Modeling... Please wait.]
A low, resonant thrum began to vibrate through the deck, a sound that felt more like a heartbeat than a machine. A web of golden light, invisible to the sleeping island of Tortuga, began to knit itself into the very fibers of the ship's keel.
[Scan Complete. Foundational Blueprints Initializing.]
[The Age of the Great Navigator begins now.]
Hugo took a deep breath, the smell of pine tar and ancient wood filling his lungs. The weight of his gold was nothing compared to the weight of the knowledge now unfolding in his mind.
"Confirm," he commanded.