48 Hours a Day

To say that Zhang Heng was not interested in Kidd’s treasure was simply not true. Just like what Marvin said just now, it would easy for Zhang Heng to form his own private crew if he got his share of Kidd’s treasure. Pirates were not a scarcity in Nassau. However, pirates with a specific set of skills were something that every pirate ships were looking for. And the most important thing that Zhang Heng need to acquire before forming his own pirate crew was a ship with sufficient firepower.

Most of the pirates at Nassau were using ordinary fisherman boat with no weapons being mounted on them. When a fight happened, they would not be able to fight back. All they could do was to pray that they could get on the enemies’ ship before the enemies sunk their boats.

The first thing that Zhang Heng wanted to do right now was to look for a ship. Ever since he joined the Sea Lion to raid and loot other merchant ships, he had managed to save up quite a bit of money. In addition to that, he was helping Frazer to collect debt as well and Frazer would give him a good amount of commission every time. Still, there was a long way to go for him to purchase a decent ship. With the money that he had right now, he could not even afford to purchase an ordinary sloop.

It was no doubt that Kidd’s treasure could help him to solve the problem that he had right now. However, the problem he had right now was such a scary coincidence. It happened right when Goodwin wanted to challenge Orff and Orff somehow managed to win the trust of all the pirates on board again. The thing that was going to happen next was what Zhang Heng worried right now.

Everyone one the ship was so excited when Orff had announced that they were going to look for Kidd’s treasure. Without putting in any effort, Orff had managed to defeat Goodwin and fortify his position as helmsman. And the weird part was Orff did not stop right here. He had gone and promoted Kidd’s treasure to everyone to keep their fire burning.

Recently, Zhang Heng noticed that Goodwin was never Orff’s threat. It seemed like he had his own agenda. Kidd’s treasure was just a tool for him to deal with the tiny problem that he had. Right now, everyone on the Sea Lion was hyped about the treasure and they were not going to stop until they located the treasure. The previous raids that they had were the best example to explain the whole thing. Usually, the pirates on ship would refuse to do raids that give them small amount of loot. After Orff told them about Kidd’s treasure, none of them said no Orff anymore. They would say yes to Orff even if he wanted to set sail to hell.

In other words, if Orff did not like one of the crew, the person would be placed in a very dangerous circumstance. That was why Zhang Heng had chosen to lay low ever since he found out that Orff was watching him from the dark. In order to prevent to make unnecessary mistake, Zhang Heng had purposely avoided contact with others.

Sometimes, trouble would come looking for you even if you avoid it.

It was past midnight. Zhang Heng was woken up by the noise that came from outside. He saw a horse carriage parked outside his house.

“Who is that?” asked Anne while yawning.

“It has nothing to do with you. Go back to sleep.”

Zhang Heng recognized that horse carriage. Immediately, he put on his shirt, went downstairs, and opened the door. On the other hand, Marvin was in deep slumber. Usually, he would be able to sleep well and snore even if he was in a noisy environment. Instead of bringing the saber with him, Zhang Heng took his gun with him. The coachman then opened the door for him.

“I don’t wish you disturb you at a time like this. I think you wouldn’t want me to come during the day time, right?”

Zhang Heng sat opposite Frazer. The horse carriage was on move again when the door was closed.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you if you are here for Kidd’s treasure. Orff is being really cautious. No one knows when he hid the treasure map. As long as I still work for Sea Lion, I will never tell you the location of the treasure map even if I know about it.”

“Kidd’s treasure? No. No. No. That’s just a fairy tale for dumbasses. I don’t think you believe in it right? You have to admit that Orff has a talent at lying to others. I had fallen for his lie last time. I will not make the same mistake twice.”

“Why are you here tonight?”

“I come bearing gifts and news.”

Frazer then tossed a coin bag to Zhang Heng. There were some coins, leather ring, and some worthless small items.

“I want to thank you for what you have done for me so far. This is my gratitude. We should give our mutual friend Victor some final peace. This is the thing that he has left in this world. You and your friends don’t have to worry that someone might come and threaten you again.”

“Why would you do that for us?”

“I think there’s some misunderstanding between you and me. I was never your enemy. You have known me for quite some time now and I have never forced you to do something that you don’t want to do right? Even when I ask you to collect debt for me, I would always make sure to pay you a 10% commission after that. When you want to ask Rothko to teach you how to maneuver the mainsail, I told you his secret as well, right? You can never find someone as kind as me here in Nassau.”

Zhang Heng was left speechless. This was the question that he had all this time. For the past nine months, Frazer could actually use Victor to threaten him. When he saw the horse carriage parked in front of his house, Zhang Heng thought that he was going to use Victor to coerce him into something against his will. To his surprise, Frazer handed Victor’s personal belongings to him. In other words, he did not have to worry about others knowing that he was the one that killed Victor.

“I know how others talk about me. I’m pretty sure you heard the history between me and Orff. The reason why you are cautious of me is because you worry that I might use you to mess with Orff. To be frank I’ve not retired. Whatever that happened in the past, I have chosen to let it slide. Throughout history, there are very few pirates who get to enjoy the life of retirement. I’m pretty happy with what I have right now. Unfortunately, I know there are still some people on the ship who can’t let the past slide.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I’m so sorry for what happened to you. Orff doesn’t like me. That’s why he’s watching your every move. And I have just received bad news. Orff is planning to eliminate everyone that gets in his way. Anyway, I’m the reason why you are in this mess. I can’t just watch you suffer. I have little to no power on the ship right now. If you really need help on the ship, you can look for a carpenter named Kent.