Had this guy burned himself into an idiot with his own fire?
"Come on, let's head back to the Golden Dream."
"Heh, Golden Dream? What Golden Dream? It's already been reduced to ashes."
"..."
Edward finally understood why he was in such a state. "Relax, the Golden Dream wasn't destroyed in the fire."
"Really?"
Danitz's eyes widened instantly, and it was only then that he belatedly realised—while the Golden Dream wasn't exactly a ghost ship, it had already acquired some rudimentary mystical power. If they managed to save it in time, the fire might not have been enough to completely destroy it.
"So…my life isn't over yet?"
Edward chuckled. "No, your brilliant life is only just beginning."
"You're the man who burned down the fleets of seven Pirate Admirals in one blaze—The Legendary 'Blazing' Danitz, who took out dozens of pirate ships large and small!"
"From this moment on, you've truly earned your title: 'Blazing'!"
Danitz was utterly stunned.
---
The Golden Dream had indeed not been destroyed, though it was far from unscathed. After all, it wasn't a true ghost ship at its core, merely a sailing vessel imbued with traces of spirituality.
Fortunately, after the fire, its basic functions were still intact. As soon as the group boarded, they immediately set sail out of the harbour. Had they been a moment later, those pirates who had lost their own ships might have gone mad and stormed aboard to seize it.
The instant Edward appeared on deck with Danitz and Helene, everyone who had been busy making emergency repairs instinctively drew their weapons and pointed them at the trio.
"Danitz?"
"It is Danitz!"
"How did he just appear out of nowhere?"
"It was like whoosh—and then he was there."
"Was that a Traveler's teleportation?"
"No, looked more like a blink…but it's something different."
Once the crew recognised Danitz, they all lowered their weapons and relaxed, their conversations overlapping in curious excitement. It was clear that under Captain Edwina's influence, this bunch had developed a strong thirst for the unknown.
"And this is…"
The speaker was the Golden Dream's first mate, Bru Walls—a particularly memorable man to Edward, because he, too, wore a monocle.
"Heh, didn't you all want to meet Gehrman Sparrow?"
Danitz extended a hand. "Welcome, the moody and unpredictable Gehrman Sparrow!!!"
Silence fell like a stone.
In the next second, all the weapons that had just been put away were drawn once again—this time, pointed straight at Edward.
Danitz's face changed. He quickly raised his hands and stepped in front of Edward. "Hey, hey! What are you guys doing? This is Gehrman Sparrow—he's my…our Golden Dream's friend!"
"Friend?"
The second mate, Orpheus, a man with chiselled, statue-like features and a head of golden hair, sneered. "We don't consider the guy who nearly burned the Golden Dream to the ground to be our friend."
Uh-oh.
So Danitz was being thrown under the bus.
Edward shot him a sideways glance, then spoke up. "Apologies, everyone. I originally only intended to torch Senor's flagship fleet. I didn't expect the fire to spiral out of control like that. Truly, I'm sorry."
Danitz froze for a second, then turned back to look at Edward in disbelief. A surge of overwhelming emotion filled his chest, but he gritted his teeth and decided to come clean. "Actually—"
"Of course, just saying sorry isn't enough," Edward cut him off. "So…"
He gently waved his wand. "Reparo Maxima."
As the magical energy spread across the Golden Dream, everyone on board witnessed a scene they would never forget:
It was as if time itself were rewinding.
Every scorched, damaged, or broken part of the ship began to mend at a pace visible to the naked eye. Within seconds, the Golden Dream had been restored to the exact state it was in before the fire.
Danitz's jaw dropped. Helene kept rubbing her eyes in disbelief.
"This…this is a miracle."
The lower-sequence pirates murmured in awe.
Edward smiled. "It's not a miracle—just a mystical ability, that's all."
"But…what's the principle behind it?"
"Was that really time magic?"
"There's no trace at all of the fire—it's like nothing happened!"
"If I could learn that, I'd make a killing as a shipwright."
After a brief moment of stunned silence, the crew immediately began poking around the ship again, full of excitement and curiosity.
"You…you're telling me that wasn't time reversal?"
Danitz leaned in and whispered.
Edward shrugged. "Just a plain old repair spell."
"Plain old…"
Yeah right!
Magic in the world of Harry Potter was just that absurd—many so-called 'ordinary' spells, at first glance, really did look like miracles.
Unfortunately, the Repair Charm only worked on inanimate objects.
If the Golden Dream had truly been a ghost ship, the spell might not have worked at all.
Having already witnessed plenty of Edward's "miraculous abilities," Danitz didn't dwell on it too much. He puffed out his chest, lifted his chin, and grinned smugly.
"Heh! You saw that, didn't you? That's my friend—my friend, Danitz's!"
Then, suddenly, his expression froze. "Huh? Where's little Carlo? Get that kid out here—didn't he want to be Gehrman someday?"
The lively murmuring of the crowd died down again. One by one, their expressions dimmed.
Danitz's heart skipped a beat. He swallowed hard. "What…what do you all mean?"
He took a few steps forward, raising his voice.
"Carlo! Carlo! You little brat!"
First mate Bru Walls finally spoke in a deep voice.
"Carlo, he…"
Danitz turned to look at him, his face pale. "He…he's dead?"
"No," Bru Walls shook his head.
Relief swept over Danitz.
"But…perhaps something even more painful than death happened to him," the first mate continued.
"After Carlo went ashore, he couldn't control his hatred when he saw Senor. That drew Senor's attention, and he was attacked."
"When Senor realised Carlo was a survivor of the ship he raided six months ago, he didn't kill him. Instead, he controlled the soul remnants of Carlo's deceased parents…"
"He made them crush every bone in his body—piece by piece—leaving only his head intact. Then, he conducted necromancy."
Edward froze.
That…was indeed worse than death. It wasn't just the pain of having your bones shattered—it was the fact that the ones doing it…were your parents.
Senor…deserved to die.
At that moment, he also understood how Senor had known Danitz's true identity as Fire Fist Ace. There hadn't been a traitor aboard the Golden Dream—Senor had learned it through necromantic rituals on Carlo.
Danitz felt cold all over. He loosened his clenched fists.
"Then… where is he now?"
"In the captain's quarters," Bru replied. "The captain's taking care of him."
Danitz immediately strode off and pushed open the door to the captain's cabin.
Carlo was lying on Edwina's bed, eyes wide open. The spark of cleverness and mischief was completely gone, replaced by utter despair.
Danitz stood frozen for a long moment. Then, with a deep breath, he turned back around, gritted his teeth, and declared:
"I own properties at No. 12 through 16, Seawind Avenue, in Bayam."
He fixed his eyes on Edward. "If you kill Senor, they're all yours!"
Everyone outside the captain's cabin gasped—not because of Danitz's real estate, nor even his determination to kill Senor, but because…it seemed like Danitz actually believed Gehrman Sparrow could kill Senor.
Hunting down a Pirate Admiral!
Among the Seven Pirate Admirals, Blood Admiral Senor was certainly one of the most powerful.
Sure, Gehrman had done some "big things" recently, but none of them had really demonstrated that he could take on someone like Senor head-on.
Edward frowned and pondered for a moment.
"You said before—Senor rarely leaves his flagship, and when he does, he's always surrounded by his subordinates. Honestly, with just my abilities, I'm not confident I could take on all of them at once."
At that moment, Edwina stepped out and said softly, "What if you added me to the equation?"
Edward stroked his chin in thought. Then his gaze drifted to Helene, who was currently munching on snacks at the side.
"Hmm…with one more person, that should make it foolproof."
Helene: ???
"But before that," Edward said, "what we really need to do…is treat that child first."
Danitz's eyes widened. "You can heal Carlo?"
Edward pulled out a bottle of Skele-Gro.
"This potion can help him regrow all his shattered bones. But the process will be extremely painful…and we'll need to remove all the fragmented bone bits from his body first."
The crew immediately burst into excited chatter.
"That kind of pain—Carlo can handle it!"
"Gehrman Sparrow! I love you!"
"I love him more! More than I love the Captain!"
"You wanna say that again?!"
Edwina merely nodded at Edward.
"Thank you."
———
Elsewhere.
Tracy had returned to the Black Death, sitting alone in the captain's quarters and staring absentmindedly at the chair Helene usually occupied.
After everything that had happened today, her thoughts were a mess—uncertain whether to feel anger or hope.
And yet, she couldn't help but wonder…could what Gehrman Sparrow said—about knowing how to become a man again—really be true?
But she didn't want to let go of this sliver of hope that had come so unexpectedly.
At times, she'd think about asking her mother, Katarina. As a witch who had lived for thousands of years, Katrina had to know.
But Tracy also knew—if she asked, even if there was a way to return to being a man, Katarina would definitely stop her.
Crack!
Suddenly, a figure appeared out of nowhere just a few meters away. Before she could react, Gehrman's voice rang out:
"First order of business—help me hunt down Admiral of Blood Senor."
"!!!"
Tracy froze. "Why do you want to kill him?"
Edward smiled, "Because he wants to kill me. So I'm just striking first."
After a brief moment of silence, she furrowed her brow.
"Just the two of us?"
"And Vice Admiral Iceberg," Edward added.
Tracy didn't hesitate another second.
"Count me in."
——
Meanwhile—
The flagship of Senor, the Tree of Flesh and Blood, its hull blackened from flame, was speeding across the waves.
Senor, wearing a battered tricorn hat, stood at the bow, his hawk-like eyes scanning the sea.
First Mate Aird suddenly lowered his spyglass and called out, "Found the Golden Dream!"
———
[Note]: Don't forget to VOTE. It keeps me motivated.