Hearing Roger's words, Jack Sparrow's eyes, which always held a hint of drunkenness, instantly sparkled with spirit.
He leaped up from the rum barrel at the stern.
It was as if the decadent vagrant, who had just been drinking gloomily, wasn't him at all.
He walked in front of Roger, extended his hand, which was always adorned with several rings, and waved it in the air.
With his pinky finger held high, he began to elaborate on his "great" plan in his uniquely theatrical voice.
"Port Royal? Oh, my dear Lin, you've certainly asked the right person!"
"Speaking of that place, it's as familiar as the chicken feather on my worn-out tricorn hat, couldn't be more familiar."
Jack said, spinning around flamboyantly, nearly slipping on the wet deck.
"First, we need a perfect disguise."
"We can pretend to be a group of fig merchants from Portugal."
"You know, those chaps always wear ridiculous tight breeches and spray themselves with perfume that could suffocate a whole ship of rats."
He pinched his nose, making a disgusted face.
"Then, we need an inside man."
"I know the stable boy of the lover of the port tax collector's sister-in-law, give him two gold coins, and he can lead us through Port Royal's most hidden sewer, without anyone knowing!"
"Next, we split into two groups."
"Gibbs, my dear Gibbs,"
He patted Gibbs's sturdy shoulder.
"You take half the men and cause a ruckus, the bigger the better!"
"Preferably, set Commodore Norrington's wig on fire!"
"And I," Jack puffed out his chest, an expression of immense pride on his face.
"I will go alone, like a breeze, infiltrate the Governor's Mansion, and with my unparalleled charm, make the lady I'm looking for willingly hand over her most precious possession."
"As for you, Lin,"
Jack pointed at Roger.
"You just wait on the ship for my good news, and by the way, prepare the celebratory rum for me, understand?"
His wild, flawed plan left the pirates on the explorer stunned.
Billy's eyes lit up; he thought this plan was incredibly exciting!
As expected of the legendary Captain Jack Sparrow, he dared to dream and dared to act!
"Captain! I think this plan is feasible!"
"Especially the part about setting the Englishman's wig on fire, I like it!"
Billy shouted excitedly.
Gibbs, however, was stomping his feet anxiously; he tugged Roger's sleeve and whispered:
"Captain, don't listen to his nonsense! This fellow's plans have never been reliable!"
"Last time we believed his tall tale about stealing the Spanish governor's wooden leg, and we almost got trapped in the restroom!"
Roger listened to Gibbs's complaints, then looked at Jack's smug "praise me, adore me" expression, almost bursting out laughing.
Damn it, how did this guy's brain even work?
Fig merchants?
The stable boy of the lover of the tax collector's sister-in-law?
What was all this nonsense?!
If his plan succeeded, I'd eat this sextant right here and now!
Roger was ranting internally, but his face remained impassive.
"Hmm, Captain Sparrow, your plan..."
"Hahahaha, I'm sorry, I don't mean to mock you."
"It certainly sounds very creative."
Roger nodded approvingly.
Jack's chin immediately rose three inches.
"However," Roger changed the subject, "your plan seems to have a tiny flaw."
"I have a small question."
"You said we should pretend to be fig merchants, but this ship of ours is a warship flying the Albatross pirate flag, with eight 12-pound cannons mounted on its sides."
"Do you think the Port Royal guards would believe we're here to sell fruit?"
Jack's smile stiffened.
"Uh... well..."
"We can hide the cannons, and we can change the flag..."
"Change it to what? The Portuguese flag?" Roger pressed.
"Captain Sparrow, with all due respect, among these thirty-odd brothers on board, how many can speak Portuguese?"
There was silence on the deck, the pirates exchanged glances.
Forget Portuguese, half of them couldn't even speak English fluently.
They were all utterly illiterate.
A bead of cold sweat appeared on Jack's forehead.
"Also, about that inside man you mentioned, the stable boy of the lover of the tax collector's sister-in-law,"
Roger continued to inquire in a very sincere tone.
"How can we be sure he won't sell us out for three gold coins?"
"Captain Jack, you're worth quite a few gold coins!"
"Uh... well... among pirates, it's about... it's about trust!" Jack said, sticking out his neck.
"Well said!" Roger clapped his hands.
"Therefore, I trust my own plan more."
He took out the detailed map of Port Royal he had already drawn from his In my arms.
The precision of this map was ten times higher than the Royal Navy's own official charts.
"Captain Sparrow, I know you're very familiar with Port Royal."
"But you might not know that in the southwest corner of the port fortress, there's a derelict old dock they abandoned."
"The fortifications there, due to years of disrepair, are practically useless."
"Moreover, beneath that stretch of water, there's a natural undercurrent channel formed by the tides, which can only be safely navigated within half an hour before high tide at midnight every day."
"At other times, it's all deadly reefs."
Roger pointed to a spot on the map and slowly explained.
"We can use that undercurrent under the cover of night to let the explorer silently slip into that old dock."
"From there, the Governor's Mansion's back garden is no more than a thousand meters in a straight line."
After Roger finished speaking, the entire deck fell silent.
Everyone looked at him with eyes as if he were a monster.
Billy's mouth hung open, his axe nearly slipping from his grasp.
In Gibbs's single eye, besides fanaticism, there was also a hint of fear.
Hanson and the others felt even more that their decision to switch allegiances was the wisest thing they had ever done in their lives.
Who the hell was this Captain Roger?
How did he even have a map of Port Royal's sewers?
Jack Sparrow was even more thunderstruck.
He stared intently at the map, then at Roger's calm face, feeling his worldview had been completely upended.
He thought he knew Port Royal like the back of his hand, but he had never even heard of the place Roger mentioned, that waterway!
This young man, how many more secrets did he know that he didn't?
Jack, I felt like a naked clown in front of him, all my secrets laid bare.
This feeling was too terrifying.
"So, Captain Sparrow?"
Roger looked at him, a mischievous smile on his face.
Jack opened his mouth but couldn't utter a single word.
For the first time, in front of someone so much younger than himself, he felt the frustration of having his intelligence crushed.
Even though he considered himself very clever.
"Alright... Lin."
After a long pause, Jack finally sighed dejectedly.
He took a big swig of rum, as if to hide his embarrassment.
"This time, you win."
"However, infiltrating the Governor's Mansion, that still has to be me!"
"You clumsy, big, burly guys make too much noise."
He was trying to save a little face for himself.
"Of course."
Roger nodded, this was exactly what he wanted.
"You're responsible for infiltrating, finding Elizabeth Swann, and confirming the gold coin is on her."
"But, you need to create a bit of a commotion, not too big, not too small, to draw away the guards of the Governor's Mansion."
"Then, I will personally lead people in to 'invite' that young lady onto the ship."
Roger emphasized the word "invite" especially.
"No problem!"
Jack immediately perked up; creating chaos was his specialty.
"Tell me who you're looking for, and I guarantee she won't be able to fly away!"
"Elizabeth Swann, the governor's daughter."
Roger said.
"The gold coin should be around her neck, it's a necklace."
"The governor's daughter?"
Jack whistled.
"Oh, I like this challenge."
Roger watched his eager expression, smiling inwardly.
Jack, you chosen troublemaker, don't disappoint me.
He looked up, gazing into the distance.
Where the sea met the sky, a faint line of lights, like starlight, had already appeared.
Port Royal, they had arrived.
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