Taking the Chest

For this chapter, I made some estimates and calculations using ChatGPT. So I believe the margin of error shouldn't be too far off, even if some values seem absurd.

If you have questions about the numbers, let me know and I'll try to explain how I got there and why I found it logical.

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The great Aztec gold chest was made of stone, and its weight—together with the 882 gold coins—was quite considerable.

In total, despite looking small, it weighed over half a ton.

Though very strong, Puss still wasn't able to carry such a weight by himself.

Fortunately, the chest was on top of a rock, which, although it made Puss wonder how it had been placed there, still helped with his plan. So, making a path from the chest to the toad's mouth by taking advantage of the slope was relatively easy.

To carry out the plan, they first took the oars from the rowboats, which they had silently sunk when they arrived to prevent the pirates from escaping, and used them as planks for the chest to slide down into the toad's mouth—which had grown significantly after swallowing so much treasure.

"Let's do this." Seeing everything ready, Puss nodded in satisfaction and looked at them.

Even though they were somewhat against the idea of taking—or even moving—a cursed chest from its place, they still sighed and helped Puss carry out his plan.

"Alright. I'll lift one side, and you'll push with all your strength so it slides forward onto the oars," he explained the plan, and as they nodded, he got into position.

Taking a deep breath, Puss crouched down and grabbed the underside of the chest, and shouted:

"Go!" And with all his strength, he began lifting the chest's edge.

It was impressive to see a cat lift over half a ton with sheer physical strength. Even though he was a mutant cat, he was still a cat. His physique wasn't made for strength, but for agility and flexibility—which only made his current strength even more terrifying.

Jack and Elizabeth pushed the tilted chest with all their might toward Puss, where the oars were, but it didn't budge.

"Arrgh!!" Even yelling, the chest didn't move.

Below, holding the toad at the end of the oar ramp and preventing its mouth from dumping the treasures into its stomach, was Will, watching Jack and Elizabeth—faces red—struggling to push a chest that a cat could lift.

Puss, holding the heavy chest, had his arms trembling slightly from lifting the enormous weight for so long.

"Tornado!" he shouted, gritting his teeth, veins about to burst in his arms.

The powerful horse appeared behind Jack and Elizabeth and, placing his front hooves on their shoulders, pushed them aside as he passed through.

"Ehh?"

"Ahh?"

Jack and Elizabeth, caught by surprise as they were suddenly shoved aside, gasped.

Tornado then placed his powerful hooves on the chest's edge and, with his massive body weight—possibly even greater than the chest's—he didn't struggle much to push it down the slope.

The chest slid with Puss holding it, taking small steps backward.

Seeing the chest almost completely on the oars, Puss immediately shouted:

"Stop, Tornado! That's enough!" he yelled, and Tornado stopped at once, lifting his hooves off the chest.

Puss, gritting his teeth, slowly lowered the heavy chest onto the oars, which groaned slightly under the weight but held firm.

He then quickly turned around and supported the chest with his back and arms so it wouldn't slide down on its own.

His fists and fingers ached, and his arms tingled slightly, but Puss didn't care. He'd felt worse during the training he'd done since childhood.

Taking a moment to recover and breathe, Puss slowly calmed down.

"Are you okay?" Elizabeth asked as she approached, concern in her voice—but also admiration for his impressive strength and masculinity.

Jack and Tornado also came closer and looked at him curiously, relieved to see he was alright.

"I'm fine. Don't worry. Just… catching my breath," Puss replied, breathing a little heavier.

After a few more seconds of recovery, he felt better.

"Let's go, I'm fine," Puss said, and began easing the counter-pressure he was applying, letting the chest slowly slide toward the toad's mouth.

He stepped cautiously down the rock, supporting the chest with his back and arms so it wouldn't rush down all at once.

Seeing that he was no longer far from the toad, which had the tips of the oars inside its closed mouth and half of its body submerged in the water, he stopped letting the chest slide down.

"Ready?" Puss asked with a firm look toward Will.

"Yes, go ahead," Will replied, meeting his gaze seriously.

"Good..." Taking a deep breath, Puss closed his eyes, then opened them. "...NOW!" he shouted and jumped aside.

The chest began to slide freely, and Will immediately opened the toad's mouth, from which treasures began to emerge, eager to be expelled. But before they could get far, the chest slid down and pushed the treasures back in, along with itself, into the toad's mouth.

Once the whole chest was inside, Will quickly shut the toad's mouth so nothing would escape.

Puss ran over, grabbed the toad, and pulled it out of the water.

Even though the weight of everything inside had been reduced by 100 times, the amount of loot and gold in the cave was extremely overwhelming.

Puss pulled the toad, and he could feel there must have been more than fifteen tons of various goods inside. The toad's body was now nearly a meter in size, which, for a toad, seemed huge—but was incredible considering the mountain of treasures it had swallowed and its relatively small size.

"Well, good job." Puss clapped his hands and smiled. "Now, let's carry all this—and those pirates—to the ship."

"Ugh..." Everyone groaned at those words.

They felt like they had never worked so hard in their lives as they did that day.

…

It was almost dawn again by the time they finished everything.

On the deck of the Pearl, the hundreds of surviving pirates were firmly tied up.

In the captain's cabin, a large toad was bound—especially its mouth—to keep it from vomiting the treasures it had devoured.

Will and Elizabeth went to get some sleep after the exhausting night. After a few hours of rest, they would take over the shift from Jack and Puss, who would then get some sleep while Will and Elizabeth kept watch over the pirates. Once everyone had rested, they would continue the journey.

As for Jack, at that moment, he was gently caressing the ship's wheel with tenderness and joy in his eyes.

A few minutes passed as he slowly reconnected with his old partner.

"...Mi amigo. Has your freedom returned to your hands?" A voice came from the side, drawing Jack's attention.

He looked over and saw Puss, sitting calmly on the jet-black railing.

Jack smiled and looked forward again, gazing at the black-sailed ship he had spent countless nights dreaming of reclaiming, while his fists tightened around the wheel.

"Yes, she has," he whispered, as the breeze brushed against his serene face.

"What's the plan now? We need to take these pirates to be judged in Port Royal and return Elizabeth and Will there. I also need to stay a few days for some matters—maybe even a month. After that, we finish our agreement with you taking me to Far Far Away," Puss said, focused as he thought about what they should do, calmly swaying his tail over the side of the ship.

"A month?" Jack couldn't help but make a difficult face and gnaw on his nails, clearly uneasy.

Puss saw this and immediately understood. That was the look of a man who had just bought a brand-new car and found out he couldn't drive it for a month.

"Haha, Jack. Don't make that face. You can sail and meet me in a month. No need to wait," Puss smiled, unconcerned.

He didn't believe Jack would leave him hanging and not return when it was time to depart. Even in the unlikely event that it happened, he could always hire another ship to go.

Jack's face softened at Puss's words, and a smile returned to his face—but then his brows furrowed again.

"But I don't have a crew. I can't sail the Pearl alone... unless..." he pondered aloud, and as he reached that point, one word came to mind.

"Tortuga?" Puss, as if reading his thoughts, smiled.

Jack's eyes sparkled, and a roguish grin formed at the corner of his mouth.

"Tortuga."