Holding a long, thick rope that looked incredibly sturdy in his hand, Jett glanced around, searching for a target to tie it to.
"On the ship, there's a place to secure it, but what am I supposed to tie it to here on shore?" Jett thought.
Just then, Kai saw him standing there absent-mindedly and yelled out:
"Hey, what are you spacing out for? Hurry up, so we can get to Windmill Village!"
"Damn it, say something useful, will you? Find something I can tie this boat to already." Jett replied in frustration.
Kai thought back to what might be useful on the ship. Though he had a multi-functional system that could give him tools with a bit of coercion, using it that way felt like cheating.
"Oh, right! Jett, there's a big iron bar and a shovel in the storage room. Go dig a hole and bury the bar in it, you can use that to secure the boat." Kai suggested.
Hearing this, Jett nodded. It would take a bit more time, but it was doable.
He went to the storage room, grabbed the tools, then headed ashore to get to work. Naturally, Kai just stood there watching him labor.
Veins popped on Jett's forehead as he cursed:
"Damn it! Why don't you do something useful? Why am I the only one working while you're just standing there watching?"
Kai showed no embarrassment at all. Instead, he just laughed and asked:
"Ha ha, between the two of us, who's stronger?"
"Me." Jett replied firmly.
"Well then, since you're the stronger one, you'll dig faster too. Do you want us to waste even more time?"
Jett nodded, it made sense so he went back to digging. But a few moments later, he frowned, realizing something was off.
He threw the shovel down, stormed over, grabbed Kai by the collar, and shook him hard.
"Damn it, are you messing with me? I don't mind taking a little extra time, but get over there and dig! Why is all the work on this boat dumped on me? What kind of unreliable captain are you?"
Kai scoffed and replied:
"Hmph, I'm not doing it. I dragged you out of slavery so you could help me with things like this. If I had to work, what would I need you for?"
Jett was left speechless, unable to argue back, as what Kai said was true. He thought to himself:
"Damn, he's right, and I can't argue against it. Should I just surrender? Or should I keep working until we get more crew members to share the load? No way—I can't give in so easily.
Even if I lose, it has to be with dignity. If you're not going to do it, then I'm going on strike! Hmph, you want adventure, right? I won't let you, what can you do to me."
With a sly grin, he sat down on the ground, refusing to lift a finger.
Kai was stunned for a few seconds and asked:
"What are you doing?"
"What does it look like? Absolutely nothing."
"If you keep this up, I'll throw you into the sea."
"Go ahead and try—let's see who ends up overboard, you or me."
"But this is my boat."
"And I'm a pirate. Pirates take what they want. If I beat you up, wouldn't this sloop be mine?"
Kai had to admit he had no good comeback. Jett's words were perfectly reasonable. So, left with no other option, he also sat down.
"If you can sit, then so can I. Let's see who holds out longer."
"Hmph, who's scared of who?" Jett huffed, refusing to budge.
The two remained locked in a silent standoff, each staring the other down, for an entire hour.
Finally, Kai started feeling bored and said:
"Damn it, hurry up already. Sitting here until nightfall would be a complete waste of time."
"Fine." Jett nodded in agreement.
Though Kai didn't admit defeat aloud, it was enough for Jett. He thought to himself:
"Ha ha ha, he practically admitted defeat. I knew this unreliable captain wouldn't have the patience for a real standoff."
Meanwhile, Kai was silently laughing to himself too:
"Ha ha ha, look at how thrilled he is! Just goes to show, the young lack patience. I pretended to lose a little, and now he's all fired up to work. Think you can outsmart me? You've got a long way to go."
In the end, both of them won, oddly enough. The lesson learned? When interests don't clash, you and your opponent can both emerge victorious.
Jett's strength at this time was not small, it didn't take long for him to finish tying the boat. He announced:
"Alright, let's go check out this village."
"Hold on. Make sure you bring plenty of water with you." Kai said suddenly.
Hearing that, Jett frowned, not understanding why he needed to bring water. He asked:
"Why? It doesn't seem like this island is lacking water."
"Are you dumb or something? If you don't bring water, what are you going to control if we end up somewhere without any?" Kai retorted.
Jett's eyes widened in realization:
"Damn, so I can play it like that. It's like how I always bring ammo for shooting."
Without another word, he grabbed a large jug from the ship and filled it with seawater.
Naturally, he didn't use drinkable water since that would be wasteful.
After all, seawater is undrinkable for most people, and even though Jett's body was in great shape, he hadn't entirely transcended normal human limits.
With the jug of water strapped to his back, Jett returned to shore. He announced:
"All set, now we're ready to rob… uh, I mean, explore."
Just moments ago, he had felt fully equipped, like he was ready for a rob at any time.
And really, why not? He was a pirate, after all. If a pirate isn't robbing, are they doing charity?
He wasn't a kid anymore, choosing to become a pirate meant embracing a life of crime—essentially, putting himself against the government and the people.
The two of them navigated through the island, finding the path that would lead to Windmill Village, the area inhabited by people.
Since it was a relatively small village, they had docked at a quiet corner of the island.
After a while, they spotted the silhouette of a windmill. Walking further, they saw even more windmills appear on the horizon.
Kai's eyes lit up like stars as he excitedly exclaimed:
"Ha ha, look, look! There are so many windmills here. It's the first time I've ever seen this many in one place!"
Jett also stood still, a bit awestruck. It was his first time seeing traditional windmills in person rather than just in pictures.
And obviously, Kai was telling the truth because having his memories sealed of course didn't count.
This was also the reason he sealed his memories, the excitement of seeing strange things for the first time was wonderful.