In the bustling tavern, Jack, Gibbs, and Tornado drank from their bottles of rum while Will stood nearby, alert to the chaos around them, afraid of being suddenly attacked.
"Now, what's the nature of this venture of your'n?" Gibbs asked, lifting the bottle to his mouth.
"I've recovered the Pearl. Now I need a good crew," Jack said with a grin, taking a sip as well.
"Cough! Cough!" Gibbs choked on the drink, punching his chest to help it go down, then looked at Jack in disbelief. "Y-You said you recovered the Pearl?!" Gibbs stared at him, shocked.
"Yep!" Jack replied, leaning back in his chair, relaxed.
"H-How? Not long ago I heard about Barbossa's immortal crew attacking Port Royal," he asked, confused, looking at Jack strangely.
But Jack, showing off, simply put his feet up on the table while tilting his chair back on the rear legs.
With both rum bottles in his hands, he opened his arms and smiled.
"How? Simple. I'm Captain Jack Sparrow." He shamelessly took all the credit.
Will and Tornado rolled their eyes at him, while Gibbs stared frozen for a moment before a cheerful and admiring smile appeared on his face.
"Indeed, you are!" he said, smiling and raising a bottle to him excitedly—but then he blinked repeatedly, processing something. "Wait, isn't it Captain Jack Sparkle?"
"Sparkle is the past." Jack's face turned serious, and he sat up straight again, placing the bottles on the table with a dark look. "That name involves scars and pain I don't want to talk about..." he said in a low tone, gently touching the red bandana on his forehead.
"Gulp!" Gibbs swallowed hard and nodded heavily at him.
Will and Tornado couldn't help but roll their eyes again. It was just baldness.
"Well, Gibbs, I'm recruiting you for the crew. I also need good men to sail under my command, and finding them will be your first job. Try not to bring in any backstabbing rats, I don't want to lose my Pearl again," Jack said calmly and confidently.
"I'm honored, but..." Gibbs smiled at the offer, but didn't quite know how to respond to the task.
"What's the problem?" Jack frowned at his hesitation.
"Well… Jack, you're asking me to recruit pirates, but then you ask for no backstabbing rats. I'm not sure there are pirates who aren't like that," Gibbs said, rubbing his neck helplessly.
Jack paused, thought about it, and realized it made sense—so he offered an alternative.
"Then find the least backstabbing rats you can. Try the least demanding ones."
He changed the request a little, and this time, Gibbs smiled with confidence.
…
Thus, a recruitment began in the late hours of the night and ended by morning.
Jack had just finished reviewing his crew, with Will, Tornado, and Gibbs by his side.
Will's eyes couldn't help but twitch at the sight.
"So, a tongueless man with a parrot that speaks for him, a dwarf, a woman, and several men who look like they just woke up from a night of drinking are your qualified crew?" Will asked with a strange look, standing beside Jack.
"Yes, they're the best. And Anamaria's not coming with us. I'll just give her some money to buy herself a new ship, to repay what I borrowed," Jack explained with a shrug.
Some changes had occurred due to Jack going to Spain months before the original plot. Because of that, he never met Scarlett and Giselle or tricked them into thinking he would marry them—and without that happening, Scarlett never removed the four nails from the Jolly Mon, the ship Jack had stolen from Anamaria.
Even so, when boldly sailing to Spain with that tiny boat, Jack was lucky to arrive in one piece—but the same couldn't be said for Anamaria's ship.
Now, with gold in his pockets, Jack wasn't going to be so cruel to the woman he once stole a ship from. Just a few coins from the pile he had, and Anamaria would have a much better ship than the old one—and still have money left over.
"Yeah, bringing women on a ship brings bad luck, it's a good call. But Jack… do you really have money?" Gibbs nodded, smiling, satisfied—but then doubt crept into his eyes as he looked at Jack.
Jack and money weren't usually found in the same sentence—unless it was about debt—so his sudden generosity was suspiciously surprising.
"Don't worry. Barbossa and his crew worked hard to leave me gold for the past ten years," Jack said with a relaxed smile, making Gibbs' eyes light up in surprise.
"If that's the case, it seems there won't be any problems." Gibbs smiled and went to manage the men.
Jack watched with satisfaction as his new crew was slowly assembled under his command.
'Soon, I, Captain Jack Sparrow, will be a respected name on these seas again.' Jack's eyes sparkled with expectation and confidence.
…
Footsteps echoed as Puss sat on the ship's railing, bored.
Elizabeth had gone to sleep after staying awake all night.
Puss was also a bit sleepy, but he had to watch the ship, the captured pirates, and the pirates outside who might attack.
He soon heard footsteps, and when he looked, he saw Jack leading several people—and a smile appeared on his face.
'Finally. I want to sleep!' Puss thought, amused, and leapt from the railing directly to the dock.
In the air, he spread his arms and legs, letting the air slow his fall, before landing softly on the pier in front of them, making them stop.
Will looked around in confusion at the piles of people lying unconscious, with black eyes and bruises all over their bodies along the dock outside the ship.
"What happened here?" he asked instinctively.
"Thieves," Puss said, drawing their attention. "But since they were thieves trying to steal a pirate ship—which happens to be ours—I just knocked them out and left them there. I don't know what kind of lives they led for me to simply tie them up and send them to the gallows, so I decided to just knock them out. Do any of you know them? Do they deserve death?" Puss asked, raising an eyebrow.
He wasn't going to torture these men who had tried to rob the Pearl in search of information, nor go around town trying to find out each one's background. And he also didn't want to kill them just for trying to rob the Pearl.
But he would be upset if he let bad people go free—if they were murderers or village pillagers—without knowing. So he felt a little torn on what to do.
The pirates following Jack looked strangely at the talking cat standing there with a hat, cape, belt, boots, and sword, claiming to have taken down that crowd of men.
Jack turned to the men and saw them standing there.
"Go on! Take a look. If you recognize anyone, speak up." He waved both hands in a shooing motion, chasing them off to get to work.
He didn't care one bit about doing justice, but since Puss did, he didn't mind giving a hand.
Soon, the men were recognized by the pirates, and it was discovered they were just pirate ship thieves—not cruel people—so Puss simply left them there.
Even though Puss wasn't entirely sure, he still decided to let it go. Since they were just pirate ship thieves, and not the typical evil pirates who plunder and destroy cities.
"Well, then leave them there," he said, and looked at Jack. "I'm going to take a nap, then explore the city for a while, and then we leave, all right?" he asked—but he was already decided.
"Good. I have to deal with a few things too. Ah! That reminds me. I need some coins." Jack shrugged and remembered a more important matter, stretching out his hand.
Puss rolled his eyes at him.
"Get it from the frog. Your share's in there. Be careful not to spill everything and make a mess," Puss declared to the shameless Jack, who wanted to steal the coins from his boot.
"Stingy," Jack muttered, and started climbing up with the others.
Puss shook his head, amused, and went to take a nap before heading into the city.
He then climbed aboard the ship, found a dark corner for himself, and lay down to take a short nap.
"Purr… zzZZzz…"