The pirates were laughing and chatting, while Hawkins instructed his subordinates with a calm expression to send a few people farther away to keep watch and see if anyone would come.
Sage was given the role of strategist for the Disaster Pirates, separate from Bienta Lily's duties, as that woman was better at commanding, which was evident from the way she set up camp.
As a strategist, it's mostly about aftermath and supplementing the captain's plans, not about contradicting the captain.
This point was crystal clear to Hawkins.
He also had his own pride; even though surrender was disgraceful, not putting in effort after agreeing to join the Pirates was even more disgraceful.
"Grumble—"
Sage was tearing off a large piece of meat strip, his ears twitched as he shouted, "Who the hell is hungry, hurry up and eat. If you're not full, how can you have the strength to work."
"Yes, Captain!" the subordinates responded simultaneously, quickly finishing their bento boxes.
Their meals were certainly not bad; the chef team was there to prepare for them, providing the maximum amount of food with any budget possible. Marika even used leftover ingredients when cooking for Sage, specially preparing food for the Pirates.
For example, leftover beef bones could be used to make broth, the remaining entrails could be cooked into stews, and fish bones could be minced with meat to make meatballs.
After all, Marika led a group of people to survive for two years in the Shallow Sand Kingdom, where other than sand, there was nothing; maximizing logistical support was Marika's expertise.
And it tasted really good.
Supplies on the ocean are never too much. Pirates might waste anything but never food or wine, and their rations were rich enough that they shouldn't have empty stomachs.
"Grumble—"
But near Sage's ear, the soft sound of a stomach rumbling still emerged.
"Mute! You didn't get full? Then come eat a bit with me!" Sage turned his head to look at the big guy not far away.
"Nom nom nom!"
Mute opened his mouth, pointed a few times, then patted his belly, indicating the three empty bento boxes wrapped up, showing he was quite full.
The surrounding people were not eating hastily and even chatted leisurely with their companions.
Then...
Sage was startled, as a red dot burst in his pupils; he quickly sensed with Observation around him and noticed there was an inexplicable presence among his subordinates...
He gazed towards the quarry not far away, and within its digging pits, a vague silhouette seemed to be visible.
"Gin! Bring him over!" Sage shouted.
The moment the words were spoken, the Pirates were stunned altogether, instinctively following their captain's gaze to look into the pits.
Whoosh!
Nearby, Gin darted directly into the pit Sage was watching, and soon there came a scream.
"Let go of me! Let go! Let go!"
Being grabbed by the collar was a dirty little child who struggled fiercely to free his hands, but where could he break Gin's grip, he was gradually dragged over.
Someone in this pit...?
"Captain, it's a kid..."
Gin tossed the child onto the ground and said to Sage.
This child was no older than Renedia yet was quite slender, covered head-to-toe in dust, wearing ragged clothes seemingly modified from an adult's miner suit, hanging loosely, but the openings around his limbs looked like they were torn open, revealing his hands and feet.
The child's hair almost covered his nose, as he was tossed down, some dust shook off, revealing his gaze filled with terror yet extreme vigilance.
"A kid in a hole? What are you up to?" Sage asked curiously.
"Don't come over!"
The child quickly picked up the pickaxe that fell with him, gripped it tightly with both hands, stood straight up, and faced Sage, though the grip on the pickaxe faintly trembled.
"Quite bold..."
Sage laughed, "Daring to point a weapon at me, are you prepared for that?"
"I don't care about you!"
The child shouted, "This is my stuff, I won't let you take it!"
As soon as the words fell, Gin chopped down the pickaxe in his hand, seized his hands again, and after a bit of rummaging on the boy, he pulled out a stone the size of a pebble from his chest, put the child back down, walked over to Sage holding the stone with both hands and handed it to him.
"A broken piece of rock...what's so precious about it."
Sage took the stone, glanced at it up and down, then suddenly froze again, inside the stone, there was a gold color the size of a fingernail, under the cover of night's darkness and campfire, he suddenly couldn't clearly see it.
Such small gold, Sage originally wouldn't care, but now it appeared in an odd place.
"Give it back!"
After being tossed down, the child suddenly bolted up, attempting to snatch the stone from Sage's hand, but with so many people present, how could he possibly succeed; Gin frowned and was about to stop the child, but Sage tossed the stone back at him, landing directly in his hand.
The child's action froze, looking at the stone with gold in his hand, swept a glance at Sage, somewhat confused.
"A fingernail-sized bit of gold, I'm not interested in snatching that. You look like a poor guy."
Sage waved his hand, grinning as he spoke, "Come now, eat if you're hungry, and while you're at it, tell me whether you've dug up gold underground."
The child's iris hidden by his hair shrank sharply at those words, instinctively wanting to run away.