"You... you said you can lift the curse?"
Barbossa's voice was thin, vibrating with a desperate, frantic hope. He lunged forward again, his fingers, heavy with stolen rings, trembling as they hovered near Hugo's sleeve.
"Master Hugo, don't play with a man's soul," Gibbs warned from the shadows of the cabin, his voice low and heavy. "This is old magic. Blacker than any storm we've weathered. How can a man, even one as gifted as you, stand against the Aztec dead?"
"I don't play, Gibbs. I calculate," Hugo said, his expression as unyielding as the Heart-Oak of his ship.
He looked at Barbossa, who was waiting for his next word as if it were a life sentence. "The curse is a blood-debt. It belongs to the god of the sun, and it was sealed with the greed of Cortez's men. To break it, two conditions must be met."
"Tell me! Name them!" Barbossa pressed, leaning in so close that Hugo could see the grey, waxen texture of his skin, a sign that the curse was already leeching the life from his cells.
"First," Hugo said, holding up a finger. "Every single piece of the gold must be returned to the Chest of Cortez. Not a single coin can be missing. Eight hundred and eighty-two in total."
"Eight hundred and eighty-two?" Barbossa's face fell. A look of pure horror crossed his features. "By the powers... where would we even find them all? We found but a handful in the Trinidad's hold, and I... I have only this one left!"
He clutched the silk-wrapped coin to his chest, his eyes darting around the room as if the other 881 were mocking him from the darkness. Hugo knew, however, that the "real" Captain Barbossa of legend was already out there, scouring the seas for the same prize. This version was merely a fragment of the story, but he was a fragment Hugo could use.
"And the second condition?" Barbossa whispered.
"The debt must be paid in blood," Hugo said, his voice dropping to a low, ominous tone. "The blood of every man who took a coin from that chest. Until the blood is spilled and the gold is returned, the dead will continue to whisper."
The cabin fell into a chilling silence. Gibbs and Billy stood frozen, the reality of the curse sinking in. But as Hugo spoke, the golden interface of the System erupted in his mind, drowning out the gloom of the cabin with a surge of technological data.
[Main Quest Initialized: Era Advancement]
[Objective: Collect all 882 Cursed Aztec Gold Fragments to forge the "Relic - Heart of Cortez."]
[Reward: Transition from "Ancient Era" to "Medieval Era." Unlock "Age of the Galleon" blueprints.]
[Current Progress: 1 / 882]
Hugo's mind raced through the implications. The "Medieval Era" wasn't just a label; it was a total revolution. In his mental preview, he saw the schematics for vessels that would make the Sea Serpent look like a dinghy.
It meant the transition to the full-rigged ship, vessels with three masts and complex rigging that could sail closer to the wind and carry five times the cargo. It meant the introduction of the double-hulled hull structure for incredible durability. Most importantly, it meant the 32-pounder long guns, cannons with a range and destructive power that could turn a stone fort into rubble from a mile out.
If he could unlock the Medieval Era, he wouldn't just be a pirate. He would be an apex predator.
"Captain," Hugo said, snapping his focus back to the shivering Barbossa. "Is the coin in your hand guiding you? Does it have a... direction?"
"Yes!" Barbossa nodded frantically. "It calls to me in my sleep! It tells me to go to a place of bones... a place called Isla de Muerta!"
"Then that is where we are going," Hugo stated. "The Chest is there. The other coins are there. We go to the island, we find the treasure, and we put the coins back. It is the only way you'll ever taste your rum again."
"But the legends say the island is guarded by monsters!" Barbossa whimpered. "Immortal things that cannot be killed by steel or lead!"
"I've led you through the Triangle and I've led you through the Razor," Hugo said, his confidence acting like an anchor for the Captain's drifting sanity. "If there are monsters, I will find their weakness. I am the Navigator. I don't just find the gold; I find the solution."
Hugo had a deeper plan. He knew that the Black Pearl would eventually be drawn to Isla de Muerta. If he could position himself there, he wouldn't have to hunt for the 882 coins, they would come to him.
"But before we set sail for the island," Hugo added, his gaze drifting toward the window, "we have one more stop to make. One more coin to collect."
"Another one?" Barbossa asked, his eyes wide. "Where?"
"In the hands of a young woman named Elizabeth Swann," Hugo replied, remembering the silver medallion from the future's history. "And to find her, we must sail for the heart of the Royal Navy."
"Port Royal," Gibbs whispered, a look of grim realization on his face. "You want to sail a pirate sloop into the most heavily fortified harbor in the Caribbean?"
Hugo looked at The Explorer sitting in the shipyard, her dark, reinforced hull gleaming under the moon.
"We won't just be sailing, Gibbs," Hugo said. "We'll be hunting."