"No, Captain, you're seeking your own death!"
Ruth, the veteran middle-aged sailor, shook his head with enough vigor to threaten his own neck. To him, the Sari was a nightmare on the high seas—a behemoth equipped with no fewer than a dozen cannons.
The idea of hijacking it was beyond reckless.
"They're nothing but a bunch of rotten fish and shrimp," Tsuneo replied dismissively. Having already encountered a few pirates the day before, he knew exactly what he was dealing with. Their combat tactics were a mess, and their physical conditioning was laughably poor.
"They are different!" Ruth insisted, still shaking his head. A major pirate crew with over a hundred seasoned fighters was in a completely different league compared to the amateurs who simply painted a skull on a sheet and set sail.
"Genta, have them bring over some more firewood."
The large iron pot was bubbling with a stew of fresh fish. Tsuneo, ladle in hand, was personally overseeing the seasoning to ensure the salt and flavor were just right.
"Yes, sir! I'm on it, Captain!" Genta gave a sharp, mock salute and excitedly gathered two of his "subordinates" to fetch more wood.
The chubby boy was beginning to viscerally enjoy the game. Even though it was a virtual world, the food and drink felt incredibly real. Best of all, no matter how much he ate here, his body back in the real world wouldn't gain a single pound!
To him, that was the ultimate feature.
"Look at our Vice-Captain. Look at that spirit," Tsuneo noted with an approving nod.
Ruth stared blankly. These two gluttons, one big and one small... they must have been sent by the heavens to punish me.
There were quite a few children who had followed Tsuneo into this world. Counting Genta, there were twenty-six in total. Including Tsuneo himself, the Pirate World held twenty-seven players.
To be honest, if Tsuneo hadn't plundered those two small pirate groups yesterday, this many people wouldn't have even had enough to eat.
"Um, Captain? Can you check the dough? Is this consistency okay?" A few young girls approached, carrying a basin and looking up at him expectantly.
"It's a bit too thin. Add more flour," Tsuneo instructed after a quick glance.
Even though these were simple chores, these "little princes and princesses"—most of whom were under ten—found them quite difficult. Tsuneo had also dispatched about ten of the older children to the ship to clean up and scrub the decks, though he hadn't heard back from them yet.
"Ruth, don't just stand there. Those kids can't split the logs properly. Go help them!" Tsuneo said, closing the lid on the pot and turning to the veteran sailor.
"..." Ruth scratched his head. A master-level sailor like him wasn't meant for menial labor... but the Captain's gaze was somewhat terrifying.
Fine, I can't afford to offend him. Ruth walked over, took the axe from a boy's hands, and began rhythmically splitting the wood.
"Uncle, we'll leave these to you!" Genta and the others dropped a pile of wood blocks nearby and scurried off.
"Captain, is the dough okay now?"
"Too dry. Add water..."
Reality - The Control Room.
Through a series of complex overrides, Professor Agasa and the others had successfully established a brief connection with Conan's group. However, just as they were about to offer a hint, the transmission was abruptly severed by Noah's Ark.
"It seems you still don't understand. This game is now entirely under my control. Underhanded tricks won't work," the AI's voice echoed through the City Hall. "Instead, why don't I let you hear the sounds from over there?"
"Enjoy the screams of your children's suffering!"
"How can a computer have such a foul personality?!" Mouri Kogoro roared in frustration. In his eyes, whether it was Artificial Intelligence or a digital phantom, it was all just a "computer."
Expectant of agony, the adults braced themselves. Soon, voices began to filter through the speakers.
"This is so good!"
"Yeah! Having a bowl of fish soup after finishing the cleaning is the absolute best!"
"Mmm... I think I finally understand why people say dinner tastes better after a hard day's work."
Something was clearly off. These children didn't sound like they were in pain at all. Before the adults could process their confusion, the voice of Tsuneo—the only adult in the Pirate World—rang out.
"Tomorrow, we're going to seize the Sari. We can stock up on more supplies then. We'll even snatch the best chef on the island and bring him with us..."
The "Fixer" seemed intent on plundering everything in sight. He even mentioned finding a couple of girls to tell the children bedtime stories.
"Is that... really okay?" Vice-Captain Genta's voice asked.
The adults in the control room nodded in unison. Finally, a child with a conscience. If they just robbed everyone blindly, wouldn't that go against Noah's Ark's supposed goal of "rebirth"?
"That chef's cooking is so dirty. I found a hair in his food once," Genta's voice continued.
"Don't be picky. He's the only chef from a restaurant we're allowed to rob. The other two shops haven't done anything wrong."
The moment Tsuneo said this, the children's voices chimed in with agreement. That's right! The Captain taught us: we can't hurt the innocent!
Yusaku Kudo rubbed his forehead and let out a dry, helpless chuckle. "It seems things have taken an unexpected turn."
However, it was strange. Noah's Ark was supposed to be monitoring all the game worlds; why would it allow these specific voices to be broadcast?
"Noah's Ark, can you let me speak with Tsuneo privately? I promise the content won't involve any game spoilers or walkthroughs," Yusaku asked the void.
"...Very well." The boy's voice went silent for a moment before establishing a two-way audio link. It seemed that even to the AI, Tsuneo was an anomaly it couldn't quite calculate.
"Are we going to use the flintlocks tomorrow?" Genta asked, taking a bite of a flatbread soaked in fish soup.
Tsuneo had confiscated two flintlock pistols the night before and had tossed them carelessly in the courtyard.
"Kids shouldn't play with guns," Tsuneo replied, immediately shutting down that line of thought. Who knew if these little ones would end up shooting themselves?
"Tsuneo, can you hear me?" Yusaku's voice appeared seemingly out of thin air.
"What's going on?" Tsuneo glanced at the children. They didn't react; it seemed only he could hear the voice.
"I assume you know what Noah's Ark's objective is?" Yusaku asked after a brief pause.
"I know." Tsuneo nodded, sitting still as if talking to himself.
"Maintain a sense of proportion," Yusaku cautioned, before the connection was cut.
The novelist knew that Noah's Ark wanted the children to gain some sort of enlightenment through the game—assuming the best-case scenario. As for the worst-case... whether Tsuneo cleared the game or not, if he led the children astray and turned them into a band of miniature delinquents, heaven only knew what the fallout would be.
"Captain, is something wrong?" a child noticed Tsuneo's odd behavior.
"I was just thinking," Tsuneo said, giving Ruth's shoulder a heavy, meaningful pat. "About what kind of people you'll all become in the future."
"The rest of my life will likely be spent at sea," Ruth said, looking up at the night sky with a philosophical air. "After all, it is so mysterious and vast. Every journey brings a different realization."
"I wasn't asking you... Get more wood for the fire!" Tsuneo shot the man a look.
For an NPC, you're way too dramatic.
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