48 Hours a Day

Black Prince Sam was just as the rumors said he was. He did not kill or torture the sailors on the Goddess’ Spear after he took all their stuff. All he did was take half of their cannons and made sure that they could not retaliate. After that, he took some of their wood to fix the Quidah before he let them go. However, the Goddess’ Spear’s sailors less than grateful that Black Prince Sam spared them. All their hard work on the sea was now replaced by disappointment and void. Vengeance and anger started manifesting in their hearts when they saw the pirates sailing away from them.

 “Well, we are all pirates here. It’s totally normal that our victims hate us. I don’t expect any gratitude when I give their freedom back to them. I have no intention of killing them, as well. One day, if some of them were to quit their jobs to become pirate hunters, I welcome them to hunt me down. Life is too short, and I value happiness more than anything else in this world. It’s pointless to keep worrying about the future,” said Sam.

 Black Prince Sam was slightly older than Zhang Heng, who didn’t expect that he could live his life so freely. Maybe this was why he was so well-liked. In the very beginning, Zhang Heng was cautious about Black Prince Sam because of the black-market alliance. Now that he had the chance to work with him, Zhang Heng found out that he was worthy of becoming a friend.

 The pirate’s world was filled with cruelty, and it was nothing short of a miracle that Sam could live like this. When Zhang Heng was on the Quidah, Black Prince Sam was friendly toward him. He didn’t behave as if they were meeting for the first time. Zhang Heng was naturally a bit apprehensive. Since everything had settled down, Zhang Heng took the opportunity to ask a question that he always wanted to ask.

 “Have we met before?”

 “Oh. About this. Anne, the redhead, did me a favor before. Do you remember Frazer asking you to catch a thief? And the thief was killed in the end? I have been looking for the same thief for quite a long time now.”

 “Eh?”

 “I have a friend. He’s not from my ship, but he was a good friend of mine. During that time, he was promoted as the helmsman on another ship. I remember that he drank quite a lot on that night as a celebration, but he quickly realized that his pouch was gone when he left the tavern. It was filled with pearls that he exchanged earlier. These pearls belonged to the ship that he worked on. The pirates on his ship trusted him and asked him to exchange the money that they earned with something small and portable. The next day, his dead body was found on the beach.

 “The person that you guys killed was a regular thief, and he only steals jewelry that are made of pearls. Usually, he would loiter around where the pearl merchants stayed and follow his targets when they came out from their houses. I only knew about this way later. My friend wasn’t as smart, and he couldn’t figure out a way to prove that he didn’t steal those pearls. In the end, he chose the stupidest way to prove his innocence.

 “I don’t hate that thief. He was just like us, doing what he needed to do to survive. However, I still wished to avenge my friend. As it was a personal matter, I did not ask my crew to help me to hunt down the guy. To my surprise, the thief was more cunning than I thought. I found it hard to track him down and capture him. During that time, I had to go on another voyage and couldn’t spend too much time on land. When I returned from my trip, I heard that he had been killed by someone.

 “Frazer told me the names of his killers. Anyway, it’s all over now. My friend can finally rest in peace.”

 Finally, all of Zhang Heng’s questions were answered. To prevent Hutcheson from attacking the Quidah, Zhang Heng suggested that the Jackdaw escort the Quidah back to Nassau. Of course, Black Prince Sam would not say no. After this incident, Zhang Heng and Sam had gotten closer than before. While they were on the way back to Nassau, Sam would regularly board the Jackdaw with a small boat to have a chat with Zhang Heng. Through him, Zhang Heng learned about the numerous hardships that only captain could endure.

 Today, they talked about the distribution of forces on the island.

 “You’re interested in joining the meeting in Nassau?” asked Sam, who seemed surprised.

 Zhang Heng nodded his head. This meeting had a lot to do with his main goal in this game. When he first entered the game, he had no ship and wasn’t famous enough on the island either. Hence, he had never thought about digging his fingers in pies like this. As of now, the Jackdaw and his name were well known throughout the entire Nassau. Part of the reason why they became so famous was due to Zhang Heng’s conflict with the black-market alliance. Threats and opportunities coexisted with one another. The fact that he did not succumb to the pressure made it possible for him to lead the Jackdaw to the path of success. His fame was enough for him to qualify for the meeting.

 “Actually, that meeting is pointless. The black-market alliance claims that they want to help with maintaining the market’s order. Truth is, only a couple of meetings were held ever since the alliance had been set up. Nassau is a land with no master. No one on the island enjoys the feeling of being controlled by others. For the powerful landowners, they care about their land more than anything in this world. As for the pirates, we have our own ways and rules to deal with our business. Undoubtedly, the black-market merchants have their unwritten rules as well. Once the black-market alliance is formed, they would not resolve any conflict through meetings.”

 “The last time they sat together and had a meeting was two years ago. During that time, someone there spread the word that Spain was about to attack the island. It left all the island’s residents in a panic. In the end, the rumor did not come true. Ever since the incident, there were fewer and fewer people wanting to join the alliance. When someone joins the alliance, they are required to take an oath that they would protect Nassau. Back then, no one cared about this whole oath thing. When they found out that they needed to fight to protect Nassau, even fewer people volunteered to join the alliance since they would receive no benefit from the alliance other than a formal title.

 “What are the requirements to join the meeting?”

 “Nothing too difficult. Typically, the person would need to be an influential or famous individual on the island. Contributions to the island’s development are one of the requirements as well. The only difficult one is to get seven members from the meeting to vouch for the person. The brothel’s boss, Klay, has served the island well with his girls. That’s a huge contribution to the island. He was among the first batch that was chosen to join the meeting. Are you interested in joining the meeting as well? I can help you with getting the seven persons needed to vouch for you. Consider it a reward for helping me kill Jacob.”

 “Thank you, Captain Sam.”

 Black Prince Sam did not mind helping Zhang Heng at all. He was interested in hearing Zhang Heng telling him about the battle in Charleston. Just as he was about to ask Zhang Heng about it, he noticed that it had gone dark outside the window. Both of them lifted their heads at the same time and saw that the sky was covered in dark clouds.

 “The weather changed? That was fast. The weather was fine earlier. This damn weather is more unpredictable than a woman!”