"What are you working on?" Gaya entered the captain's cabin to see Michael leaning back on his chair fiddling with nuts and bolts.
"I just have to calibrate a few things" he was too focused on the project as he failed to notice Gaya looking at his world over his shoulder. She could see it kinda look like the grappling hook they were using but instead of hooks, she saw him place multiple syringes on a gauntlet. The gauntlet was smaller than the grappling hook.
"Oh you're here" Michael finally noticed Gaya.
"Give me your hand" He didn't even wait for her as he just took her right hand. With her hand on his hand, Michael grabbed the gauntlet before gently placing it around Gaya's wrist.
"It's gonna sting a bit"
"What? Ouch!" She felt a sharp pain in her wrist. It was like a couple of bees stinging at the same time. She looked at the gauntlet to see the syringes plunging themselves into her wrist before completely disappearing.
"Are you gonna-"
"Don't move" She was interjected by Michael. She rolled her eyes a bit and looked at him and placed a transparent glass-like sticker on the back of her neck.
She expected it to sting as earlier but she only felt a slight tingling sensation in her brain.
"When I cut your hand, think of a healing potion" She frowned but she ultimately nodded her head. With a gentle smile, he picked the dagger hanging from her slender waist.
Carefully Michael made a cut on her left forearm as she thought of a healing potion as he instructed her to. Suddenly, she felt the syringes inside her right wrist move,
"Can you feel something?"
"Yes, those needles are moving" As she said, a wide grin emerged on Michael's face.
"It's working"
"When did I become a guinea pig for you?"
"A cute little guinea pig" Michael chuckled, pinching both of her soft cheeks.
"It's my new invention, I call this APD. Automatic Potion Dispenser" Michael rummaged through the junk on the table to grab another gauntlet.
"The name is pretty explanatory. I was able to squeeze in eight syringes, fill the syringes with whatever potion we need and whenever we need it, we just have to think about it. APD will inject the potion directly into our bloodstream. The best part is, it's made of junk metal so no energy radiation" She could tell by his wide grin that he's so proud of his invention. After hearing what he said, it was obvious how useful this could be in a real battle where enemies won't wait until one takes out his potion and uses it.
"With this, it's almost guaranteed that we'll win the championship tournaments" Gaya's face lit up instantly. She knew in the first couple of rounds, using potions would be forbidden. However, if they used this gadget, the judges would have no idea as it would radiate zero energy.
"It's cheating but I like it" She revealed an evil grin.
Making the device wasn't costly as it only required him to use some common materials. However, what cost him more was the sticker he placed on Gaya's neck. The sticker was an advanced metal that controls the pulses between the drive and the brain. Since his inventor trait was not high enough to build components that manipulate biochemical signals inside the body, he had to buy it from the system. A single sticker cost him 5000 badass points and it could only allow two kinds of potions to be loaded into the APD.
"Ah...Captain...Lord" suddenly, someone awkwardly knocked on the door. He could tell it's Gibson who is standing outside by the voice.
"What does he want?"
"Let's go see" Michael put on the APD beneath the sleeve before leaving the captain's cabin. When he opened the door, he saw Gibson, Shorty, and a few other pirates waiting for them.
In their eyes, there was fear more than respect. The way he killed Bull was still freaking out the pirates.
"Lord Lucifer, we'll reach the pirate's cove in an hour," Gibson said. The sky was unusually clear. Nodding at Gibson, Michael walked to the edge of the ship to soak in all the sunlight. After numerous days of heavy downpour, it was a welcome sight to see the sun once again.
"I need you to stop drinking, Gibson" looking at the clear sky, Michael said.
"I can't have a drunk for a first mate" his words stunned Gibson,
"This will help you stop the habit" Michael tossed a slimy purple potion to Gibson. He knew how hard it was for addicts to stop their habit. If it was on earth, recovering from addiction would take an immense amount of willpower and dedication but in this world, all Michael has to do is make a potion that would help one get rid of the addiction.
"It's either drink this, get rid of your addiction, and get fucking rich like a king or end up as a snack for the sharks below" Michael let his words sink into Gibson's mind for a few seconds before offering something that he won't be able to refuse.
"Plus, I'll get you a new leg, not some wooden artificial stuff, a real leg" Although Michael had no way of making limbs grow again at the current time, he was positive he would get the ability through the system or find a 6-star Healer subordinate to do so in the future.
Also, he didn't give a shit about others' drinking habits. For all he cared, they could do whatever they want with their gold coins in their free time but he wanted Gibson to stay clean.
"Lord Lucifer...you can...do that?"
"Gotcha" Michael snickered inside after seeing the excitement in Gibson's voice.
"Yes, get clean and I'll get you a new leg" the other pirates including Shorty also looked excited for their fellow pirate Gibson.
"Loyalty towards us is the only price you have to pay us" Gaya leaned on the ship's mainsail beam and said.
*******************************
"That's the pirate cove, Captain" Gibson pointed out the big island surrounded by countless ocean boulders. The boulders acted as a natural defense against the ships as they prevented the ships from reaching the island.
The only way to get into the island without swimming seemed to be the large docks at the far side of the island. Surrounding waters were filled with small fishing boats and nets. In the distance, a couple of pirate sail ships with skulls and swords for flags docking at the docks.
"It's good to be back here after all these years," Gibson exclaimed with a burst of joy. Gaya noticed all the pirates were bouncing in joy.
"Listen up, when you get into the island, do not say anything about what happened to Bull or anything related to me. I'm just a pirate like you and she's my girlfriend. If you blabber anything to anyone, I'll personally end you"
For a few moments, the pirates looked dumbstruck but soon, they all just nodded in agreement.
"If anyone asked about the curse or Captain Bull, Captain Bull lost his life lifting the curse, that's the story"
"Captain, it'd be hard for them to believe that you two are pirates" Gibson whispered to Michael standing beside him near the rudder.
"Just say we came from the Northern Continents" Since it was not possible to get dirty like the rest of the pirates, Michael asked Gibson to tell the truth to cover up his real identity.
Besides, he would soon reveal himself as the Captain of the Silent Reaper to the world. He just wanted to gather more information about this part of the world before making any important steps.
"Gibson, I also want you to buy everything on the list" Michael handed over a piece of paper to Gibson with a pouch of gold coins. Gibson opened up the paper to see a list of familiar names. They were all items, metals, and things related to the ship itself.
The closer his ship got to the docks, the clearer he could see the island. The pirate cove was a tropical island with various wooded buildings and occasional watchtowers. Trees such as palm and coconut added a certain charm to the island. What made the island more beautiful was the colorful coral reefs, they were like nature's carpet welcoming them into the island.
The tv shows and movies didn't do justice to the beauty of pirate cove in Michael's view.
"This is gonna be fun"
The Silent Reaper slowly made its way to the docks under the shocked gazes of little children who were standing on the shore. Its black eerie look gave chills to many citizens of the pirate cove.
Just by looking at all those fresh fishes caught by the net, Gaya's stomach started to scream for some grilled fish.
"I assume you're all headed to a tavern"
"Of course Captain...sorry...how do we call you now?" Shorty seemed like he cannot wait to step on the shore and get drunk to his throat.
"For now, I'm David and she's Eli"
"See you at the burning candle David, Eli " Shorty don't wait for the ship to get docked but jumped into the water outside. The other pirates were slightly afraid of stepping onto the shore yet Shorty decided to rush towards the shore with no worries.
"He's excited" Gaya chuckled seeing the little guy swimming like a shark chasing him behind.
"Get yourself a bath and meet me at the tavern," Michael said to Gibson before leaving him behind. Gibson took a sniff of his shirt and realized the urgency of a bath and a set of new clothes.