"Hm?" Tia Dalma asked.
"Do you intend to help me?"
Given that Morin already knew her true identity, it wasn't strange that he also knew what she wanted.
"Not help," Morin corrected calmly. "A transaction."
"A fair and just transaction. Voluntary. For both sides."
"As part of the deal, I can unseal you. In return-"
"I'm very interested in you. I agree. You can pick any pose you like~" Tia Dalma licked her lips and struck a confident, flirtatious pose before Morin could finish.
Morin: "..."
Did she really have to be this confident?
"No," Morin said slowly, firmly. "I want knowledge. Magic knowledge. And information about the gods."
"...Why should I deal with you?" Tia Dalma's tone cooled instantly.
She was furious.
She hid it well, but the chill was unmistakable.
"I have my methods."
Morin pointed at Barbossa's body.
"No one else can help you do this. I can."
"I'll give you a chance to resurrect him. After that, you can command him properly to help you."
"He's one of the Pirate Lords. Jack is another."
"I'll also provide some additional help. Your seal can be broken."
"You have a very good plan," Tia Dalma laughed in anger.
"So you plan to gain everything from me while doing nothing?"
"How is this 'nothing'?" Morin countered.
"Barbossa is my employee. His business is my business."
"If I don't agree, you can't resurrect him. And without him, you can't collect the tokens needed to lift the seal."
"He's dead!" Tia Dalma snapped. "He's just a corpse!"
"Employees are employees," Morin replied calmly. "If they have value, it's reasonable for a boss to use them."
He smiled.
A model of professional conscience.
He felt no guilt whatsoever.
Considering Barbossa's past crimes, this kind of posthumous labor was mercy.
Atonement, even.
"..." Jack, listening nearby, felt a chill crawl up his spine.
For the first time, he wondered if becoming Morin's employee had been a bit... rushed.
"...I can also forcibly take it," Tia Dalma said after steadying herself, "or wait for another chance."
Even this well-informed sea goddess was shaken.
She had never seen someone this shameless.
Morin didn't walk away.
Instead, he calmly laid out the pros and cons.
As long as she hadn't attacked or left, it meant she was interested.
She was just bargaining.
"If you fight me now, while sealed, and get injured," Morin said evenly, "your power will only weaken further."
"Or you can wait longer. Stay trapped in this body. This form."
"Of course, I can't force you."
"So," he asked, "which do you choose?"
"A normal person would know."
"For humans, yes," Tia Dalma chuckled. "For gods, no."
"Your magic is interesting, but compared to me, it's child's play."
"If you claim you can hurt me, then prove it."
"So we fight after all," Morin said, glancing around.
He pointed at Barbossa's corpse and casually stored it in his system space.
"Beat me, and I'll give you the corpse and the token."
"If you lose-"
"I'm very fair."
"I'll still give you both."
"But you'll tell me everything. All your magic knowledge. All information about the other gods."
"Defeat me first, you arrogant brat!" Tia Dalma roared.
Her water-based body dissolved completely, turning into a mass of seawater.
Her voice echoed, vast and boundless.
The wind began to howl.
With a splash, the seawater drenched Jack completely.
"Ugh!" Jack spat, coughing up water-and a small fish.
He shivered violently.
"Why... why did it suddenly get so cold?"
"She cast a reversal spell," Morin replied. "The ice I created is melting."
"Do you want to return to the ship," he asked, "or stay?"
"As a loyal employee..." Jack began.
He turned away, quietly pulled out his compass, glanced at it, then put it back.
He turned and bowed with exaggerated elegance.
"I will, of course, remain by your side."
Normally, a large ship was safer than a small boat.
But not always.
Not when the strongest presence was clearly on the small boat.
Freezing the sea with a single move.
Challenging a sea goddess.
Against unknown attacks from beneath the ocean, was there any safer place than beside Morin?
Jack believed his judgment was impeccable.
And absolutely not because the compass pointed at Morin.
"I have to say," Morin smiled, "you chose correctly."
"It's coming."
His Aura of Justice had already detected the attack.
Tia Dalma was sealed.
Her control over the ocean was severely limited.
Melting Morin's ice had already consumed enormous power.
So she chose a simpler method.
Summoning.
As the sea goddess, she could summon sea creatures.
This time-
The Kraken.
A legendary monster capable of dragging massive ships into the depths.
Countless tentacles.
A mouth filled with teeth.
Pure nightmare fuel.
The sea had only just thawed.
Chunks of ice still floated.
Dark clouds pressed down.
Thunder rolled.
The air felt heavy.
The calm before the storm.
"It..." Jack glanced around nervously.
Though he trusted Morin, his throat still tightened.
"Boss. What is 'it'?"
Morin ignored the question.
Instead, he asked calmly, "Do you like squid?"
"Squid?" Jack froze.
He wiggled his pinky finger thoughtfully.
"Not really."
"Me neither," Morin nodded.
"Especially the ugly kind."
"Squid. Octopus. Close enough."
As if responding, a terrifying roar erupted from beneath the sea.
A colossal form surged upward.
Two massive tentacles lashed out toward the small boat.
One would've been enough.
Two were used for balance.
A very reasonable mechanical choice.
The roar echoed across the ocean, heavy and soul-crushing.
Far below the sea, aboard a ghostly ship, an octopus-faced captain opened his eyes.
Davy Jones.
He heard it.
Partly because the Kraken resembled an octopus.
Mostly because-
He had a Kraken too.
There were more than one in the world.
Few.
But not unique.
The one summoned now wasn't his.
Tia Dalma didn't yet know he had betrayed her.
Which was why she hadn't used his pet.
That would've been troublesome.
"Full speed ahead!"
Davy Jones drew his sword.
The Flying Dutchman surged forward beneath the sea.
Back above-
The Kraken missed.
Jack squeezed his eyes shut the instant the tentacles struck.
Then he felt himself rising.
Rapidly.
The roar echoed.
The distance grew.
He cautiously opened his eyes.
A massive metallic hand held the small boat.
They were airborne.
A monster.
No.
A machine.
Jack stared.
Sharp lines.
Cold colors.
A massive blade of light.
Six radiant wings.
Aatrox.
"I imagine even the great Captain Jack Sparrow hasn't seen something like this," Morin said.
"Th-this..." Jack gestured wildly between Morin and the mech.
"Yours?"
"Of course," Morin nodded. "Aatrox."
"What is this?" Jack whispered. "A god's creation?"
"No," Morin replied calmly. "Mine."
"A creation of humanity."
He stepped out of the boat, landed on Aatrox's hand, crouched, and leapt toward the cockpit.
"Hey!" Jack ran in place, panicked. "Boss! What about me?!"
In the next instant, he was placed inside an auxiliary cockpit on Aatrox's shoulder.
A safety compartment.
No control access.
Pure protection.
Letting Jack pilot a mech was not an option.
Morin imagined Aatrox wiggling a pinky finger and walking in an S-shape.
Absolutely not.
Problem solved, Morin looked down.
The Kraken had fully surfaced.
Roaring uselessly.
Fully extended, it was nearly two hundred meters long.
For ships of this era, it was a calamity.
For Aatrox-
One hundred meters tall.
Forty-meter blade.
There was only one outcome.
"Prepare to face-" Morin paused. "Sorry. Wrong line."
Lightning struck Aatrox repeatedly.
It did nothing.
Instead, it coated him in crackling energy.
An external buff.
Stun.
Heat.
Aatrox raised the blade.
The six wings flared brighter than the storm itself.
"I will cut, slice, and dice your filthy body!"
The voice echoed across the seas.
A giant figure reflected in the sky.
Then-
Aatrox descended.
Like a god.
Like the end.
On the sea's surface, Tia Dalma trembled.
She hadn't expected this.
The Kraken's size betrayed it.
Too slow.
A guaranteed hit.
The blade pierced straight through its gaping maw.
No resistance.
Straight through.
Aatrox plunged into the sea.
A massive wave erupted outward.
A small tsunami.
The battle was over.
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