Helga had a contemplative look on her face but as I hadn't made an offer yet, there wasn't much to think about. She eventually got curious and asked.
"What kind of deal?
I tried giving her a reassuring smile and made my offer.
"This ship is abandoned and I'm quite sure the Hyrisians won't let the people they took go. Considering this was a passenger ship and that there weren't any signs of fighting I'll assume that the captain, crew and passengers just gave up and went willingly to avoid certain death."
She nodded to confirm my thoughts as to why there weren't signs of a struggle anywhere and I continued making my case.
"I don't know whether that is truly the case or not but none of that matters to people in our line of work anyway. What matters is that you are alone and can't sail this whole vessel by yourself. So my offer to you is this. I have a way to get you out of this predicament but in exchange, I want your secrecy and some information that is worth their weight in coin."
She didn't expect that it seems and was surprised, so she inquired more.
"You know, I half expected you to ask for coin or sex. Most pirates I had dealings with seem to prefer those two things."
I couldn't help but scoff as I answered.
"Hah, if I want to fuck I'll just buy a whore. If I need coins, I'll just take them. You know how pirates are. Take what you can -"
She looked intrigued by my words. So I finished it.
"And give nothing back."
She grinned and did that cute little giggle.
"Hihihi, fine let's make a deal. What are the specifics?"
"The deal is simple. In exchange for passage to a safe harbor, you will keep the knowledge of my ship secret and talk nothing of it to anyone, in addition to that you will answer questions about pirate coves, safe havens and information about people and places of interest and organization's to keep in mind. I'd also like to add that we don't try to hurt or kill each other but that's a given I guess. Just remember that if you break our deal I'll own you."
She raised an eyebrow at my last condition but thought nothing of it. Most likely thinking that it was just a blatant threat made just in case.
"Alright Edward, you got a deal."
The moment we shook hands I felt the Contract activate.
Poor Helga thought I was extending my trust to her by just getting a verbal agreement. What she doesn't know is that the moment she accepted the deal, she sealed her fate.
I could have made it so that she would be compelled to uphold the terms of the contract but I didn't. Instead, I made it so whether she upholds them or not is up to her. This means that when she inevitably tries selling the information about a self-sailing and self-repairing ship she will suffer the consequences of breaking the contract.
If she didn't actually break it? Well, that's fine. It will mean she deserves her freedom.
"Come on then let's go before those Hyrisians come back for whatever reason."
Before we left, Helga suggested that we might as well loot the place and take what we can but I stopped her and told her to just follow me.
When we climbed to the upper deck she witnessed the magnificent sight of The Devil's Queen but the real shocker came when we climbed aboard and she saw there wasn't a crew anywhere in sight.
"Wait wait wait, where is the crew? Do you seriously mean to tell me you came here on this ship all by yourself?"
I smiled and ordered Queen to just absorb the whole passenger ship and everything in it.
Helga was a bit apprehensive at first but the more she watched the more interested she became and realised why I asked her to keep this a secret.
The process of absorbing the whole passenger ship took a few hours but I didn't mind it at all as this gave me time to talk to Helga a bit more about the direction we needed to take to get to The Golden Bay.
According to Helga, it was a place similar to what I know of Tortuga from my world. Contested by multiple nations and used as a staging ground for pirates, privateers and mercenaries alike.
When the process of absorption was done I looked around a bit more curiously and observed the changes that took place. Ropes, sails, railings, glass windows, everything around me gave off this feeling of being brand new. I could feel through my connection with Queen that she somehow got more durable like she was reinforced.
Since that was all done with, I was going to speak with Helga and look through our maps when I noticed a mirror in my cabin.
It was a new face. Handsome too though not in that baby face type of face and more of a mature roguish look. Black hair and black beard and mustache though I already knew that since they grew to the point I could see them with just my eyes.
My body was more on the swimmer build side due to, you know, swimming. Something I did frequently during my stay on the island was practice swimming due to how much I would need it in the future.
I could also hold my breath underwater for 5 minutes and still improving.
My clothes were nothing to write home about. This was a fantasy world so even the clothes I found myself in when l first woke up on that island were old 18th-century clothes.
So I decided to check the luggage of the passengers. After digging through some clothes I found a good match.
A pair of sturdy dark brown leather boots that fit perfectly, raven black pants, a comfortable white shirt, brown leather belt to keep everything in place. I also found a leather armor for protection that I wore under the long raven black coat I found in the captain's belongings.
I was dripped out now.
"The only thing missing is the hat now."