Chapter 83

"Heh-heh, hey, guy, your captain's a sweet one, huh? How about you join my team, and I'll give her to you?"

In response, Bill quickly slapped the pirate across the mouth.

As the pirate fell to the ground, Bill turned his attention to the remaining seventeen. They all held wooden shovels or makeshift picks, but none of them moved.

Looking back at Hollandez, Bill saw the pirate clutching his bloody nose, repeating, "I was joking! I was just joking!"

Approaching closer, Bill tossed the shovel a few feet away and then lifted the pirate by his grimy shirt.

Pushing his hand away from his nose, and as the blood started to flow more heavily, Bill said loudly so all the pirates could hear, "I don't like those kinds of jokes!"

Shoving Hollandez back a few steps, Bill picked the shovel up from the ground and spoke again.

"You pirates have only one job. Don't talk and don't joke. You'll dig where and how I tell you. If you don't, you'll go without food."

As he said this, his gaze swept over all eighteen weary pirates.

"If you get the job done, I'll write it down so you can present it at sentencing. If you get the job done, you'll get food."

Bill believed that for people like them, the prospect of getting food should be mentioned both at the beginning and the end.

He didn't know what crimes they had committed, but he knew that a reward of 20 million Berries for their captain meant these people had caused significant harm.

Approaching Hollandez, Bill handed him a shovel, then went to the place where they were supposed to start.

Due to the dangers Captain Hina had mentioned, they would begin the work from the camp and move deeper into the island.

The first stage would be both the easiest and the hardest.

First, they had to dig a small reservoir that could hold enough water for the needs of a hundred and fifty people.

Theoretically, this would be the safest part of the work, being so close to the camp, but it would also be the most physically demanding, as the pirates were going to dig a pool-sized hole two meters deep using picks and wooden shovels.

Once they reached the work site, Bill set the dimensions of the reservoir and ordered the men to start working.

As they began to dig, he headed to the stream to outline their path. He didn't want the work to be interrupted, and they couldn't afford to dig a trench in the wrong direction.

Warning the pirates not to run away, Bill went deeper into the island.

Following a rough map, Bill focused on the landscape, listening to the surroundings.

Everything was too quiet, he thought.

Bill hadn't spent years in the various forests of Vallipo for nothing. Forests of any kind are usually filled with constant sound, so much so that the noise can drive a person crazy.

This was not right, but he didn't have time to investigate. He just needed to set some rough markers and get back to the pirates.

At a brisk pace, it took him about five minutes to reach the stream, and ten minutes to return, as he marked the path.

Once he had marked it, Bill decided to see which pirates would cause trouble.

When he came into view, he was somewhat surprised that the motley group was actually working and not talking. Even the pirate Hollandez was using a wooden shovel and loading makeshift wheelbarrows.

Bill hid behind a tree and waited for more than an hour. There were conversations among the pirates, but they were about the digging process.

They shouted to each other when a wheelbarrow needed to be brought over or when an area of ground needed to be loosened with picks—everything was going smoothly.

A little more time passed, and Bill emerged from hiding, appearing from the direction in which he had left.

Reviewing the work done, Bill only nodded.

The reservoir was not something grandiose. After all, they were just digging a pool-sized hole two meters deep.

In a little more than an hour, the group had dug half a meter deep. As the ground became harder, the work slowed down, but it was still an impressive amount of work by ordinary standards.

However, there was still a lot of work ahead, and Bill didn't want to spend a week digging in the forest, so he shouted, "Hollandez!"

At his call, the dirty pirate ran over to him. His shirt was almost entirely brown.

"Yes, sir?"

Bill looked him up and down and replied disdainfully, "Don't call me sir. For you, Mr. or Sir will suffice. Call five of your most capable mates—two with picks and three with shovels."

Seeing the foolish expression on his face, Bill hurried him, and within a few minutes, the team gathered.

When the five stood before Bill, the remaining twelve slowed down, half-watching.

"Guys, I've marked our next path. Five of you will start digging the trench."

After he explained the exact dimensions of the trench they needed to dig, Bill added, "I advise you not to try to escape. If you do, you'll surely perish."

The five flinched at these words, and Hollandez interjected, "Hey, sir, I don't think these people will run. But what is it, is it dangerous in these woods?"

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