Gunpowder Garry was a simple man.
His entire life could be summed up in the words a drunkard, a pirate and a friend.
Especially as a drunkard.
But, as a pirate captain he also had the qualities of a leader although he didn't really show it much.
And despite what his image was like in the outside world, he was much smarter then he looked.
Since he knew that when sailing to the coordinates stated on the parchment in search of treasure could lead to tons of danger.
On the off chance that they would somehow live through the danger just like how it was now when he was being bound.
He made sure to keep someone on the shore containing all of the knowledge of the treasure that he was heading to.
They would release the information once it was confirmed that the Red Sharks had foregone sight of the shore.
And once that happened, after the brief period as it was being spread around and confirmed by various officials in the black market.
It would be sold for a tidy sum and a fleet of treasure seekers would follow the Red Sharks path.
This led to three different endings.
One, if there was no treasure to be found in the weeks gap that they were given, then they would just raise anchor and bypass the fleet while returning to shore to collect the sum of cash..
Two, if there was treasure then they would loot as much as possible before bypassing the fleet once again while going back to shore for that sweet sweet gold.
And Three, in the incredibly small off chance that they were held up by danger, although they were rivals in business, it was a common interaction to deal with the most dangerous enemy first.
This meant that no matter the result, at the least they got enough gold to tide them over to the next adventure in the sea.
So... Gunpowder Garry was fully expecting treasure hunters to come here.
It was just a surprise that the Guardians he had just fought with them... That and the Empire's distinct golden purple insignia.
A very grand surprise that caused Gunpowder Garry to spit out the drink he was drinking.
And if anyone knew any small bit of him, it was really that surprising that the empire that was embroiled with it's own little war with the Pillagers had taken notice to what the pirate thought was an ancient civilization.
God knew who the ancient Civilization used to be.
'This Skeleton key is so damn good.'
Grinning widely, Gunpowder Garry grasped the skeleton key in his hands which was the main culprit for his freedom.
And right now he was rapidly kicking in the water towards the jail where last he saw his weapons were being kept.
Partly because he was being chased by several mermen guards who swam out of alcoves and corners from who knows where.
Mostly because the Empire definitely wouldn't mind taking in a pirate that had been more than once on the side of the Pillagers harassment operations on their supply lines.
That and if he didn't dodge the mermen guarding his weapons, the only fate left for him was to become a shish kebab of Eastern Origin.
And he would much rather not want to be the main meal of someone unknown mer person.
So without further ado, Gunpowder Garry whipped out a simple weapon from within his spatial suit and charged forwards.
Right before back pedaling backwards once the giant body of a squid shark crashed into the cliff side where his weapons were, collapsing it with a boom.
'...That is convenient.'
Quickly sneaking behind the corpse to enter the weapons room, Gunpowder Garry used his sixth sense to locate his guns...
Turning to stare at a large gun that was similar to the minishark except that it was much larger, Garry glanced at his personal minishark which was laying next to it.
'...'
Taking the Megashark and holding the weapon in his hands he grabbed its ammo and fed the belt into the muzzle of the weapon while simultaneously pocketing all of his other weapons as if nothing was wrong.
And strangely enough, all of the other weapons in the room including a sword leaking blood, a purple bow and a spear were replaced by several bear bottles.
Scratching his neck where his gills were Gunpowder Garry took a light swig of his booze right and took a deep breath before he rushed out gun in hand.
"HAHAHAH!! Gunpowder Garry is back boys! Begin the plan!"
Grinning widely, his one good eye skimmed the sea as mermen who came to investigate the fallen squid shark were met by a hail of mega shark bullets.
"AHAHAHAHA"
Mad laughter spreading around a light beam fell onto him the next second.
---
Minaft
It was one of the two major continents that lived on planet Aria and had several major powers contesting over the continent with an incomplete history.
Of course, the major powers wouldn't be able to call themselves the hegemons and locals of the Western continent if they couldn't piece together their broken history.
So through the combined efforts of historians taking the results from each other to complete their own historical facts, the history of Minaft came to light on how the continent came to be how it is now.
And it was all due to the Great war of the past involving an unknown deity with all of the heroes of the world gathering together to banish the evil deity to a place so far that it was unfathomable.
The battle was so devastating that it erased the geography of several maps and changed them.
This led to several unique landmarks that were only visible in the continent of Minaft such as the Floating islands of Kordaunt now populated by the Technological Empire of Gllivera.
But that wasn't the point.
The point was, that through the historians, the major hegemons of Minaft were able to find out that an unknown evil deity devastated the continent.
They were also, as a bonus, able to find out where a fragment of said deity was sealed.
The mythical city of Atlantis.
Of course, since no one knows where the mythical city containing the epitome of enchantment technology had disappeared to the knowledge was placed as a minor goal for them to solve.
But from who knows where, the knowledge that the mythical city of Atlantis had been found.
This was major cause for celebration since the epitome of enchanting was recorded in Atlantis, but it was also a major cause for concern.
Because as stated previously.
The fragment of an evil deity was contained there.
Just waiting to be released.
'And I think we're supposed to stop them?'
Looking down at the murky depths below the ship Amanda fussed over her now upgraded cross bow that had several enchanted arrows as a back up.
'Is it really worth it to risk my life for this weapon?'
Staring at the enchanted weapon which had been lent to her as the commission price she wondered.
'I mean it has piercing, flame and unbreaking as its enchantments.'
Fiddling with the string which was immensely more durable than that of her previous cross bow and was by a side effect harder to pull back a voice pulled her out of her thoughts.
"Don't think much about it Amanda, you are already here, it's to late to back out now."
Turning to look at Rina the rogue of their party who was twirling her own set of enchanted daggers, the purple gleam reflected the light on its surface in a multicolored sheen.
"No I..."
"Are worried that we might regret this?" Bluntly interpreting what Amanda might say next, Rina continued while pursing her lips.
"...Yeah." Amanda turned to look at the rest of the fleet that had several other adventurers and mercenaries preparing to dive into the sea.
"I just think that we're not suited for this profession."
"Adventuring?"
"No, just... Ugh." Amanda roughed up her hair. " I don't know anymore" Grimacing slightly she rubbed her hands over here animal like ears.
"Well..." Mulling over the topic Rina looked at her long time friend who had noticeably changed since meeting sir Slade.
Ever since they first met the strange man in the midst of a normal exploration mission Rina... had changed.
Not as significantly as Katarina of course, but she changed.
And speaking of Katarina...
Turning to look at her friend's personal quarters which was locked away at the back of the ship right next to the captain's quarters.
Rina imagined how she would look like right now.
'I shouldn't be thinking like this.'
Staring at her gloved hands that hid the numerous callouses underneath their surface she clenched her fists around the daggers.
'At the least I'm stronger now.'
Recalling the teachings imparted to her by a strange master she also recalled Tinnel which was currently going through it.
'Hopefully that strength will allow me to gain the fame to put an end to that tyrants spoiled reign.'
Recalling the portly face of a twisted and smug face of a fat bastard who had to much power for their own good, Rina turned her attention to the seas below where the waters churned from beyond her sight.
+++
Tree