Chapter 53: "Green Hat" Link and Cyrus—the Strongest Man in the Great Sea!
On the arena, down in the fortress, Navi, Russell and Makar continued fighting. The three, even though they weren't the strongest in the crew, were definitely powerful enough to out power the bokoblin.
***EXPLANATION OF BOKOBLIN STRENGTH—The bokoblin are monsters, often said to be demons who aided the god Demise on his attack on the Surface World, long ago near the beginning of creation. These demons, now damned by the gods for aiding the evil, have been plagued to roam the earth as a species, forcing them to repopulate and live like normal humans. They have the life expectancy of roughly 60 years, but it's been reported that the stronger ones will live up to 150 years. Along with their curse, they are often very ugly and unattractive, which adds to the monstrous effect. Their strength varies. Most bokoblin only have the strength of a man and a half, while some only have about four fifth's a man's strength. These are also the weaker versions of moblin, who were equally cursed. However, their strength ranges from three normal men to six normal men, making them much stronger in battle.***
It seemed as though Cyrus' infinite pirate crew was finally ending. Some, including bokoblin, moblin and miniblin, fled from the scene and hid in the shipping dock, hiding behind a giant wooden door that Navi couldn't beam through. Some were killed by Navi's powerful beams or fire, or Makar's hand knives, or Russell's bites and cuts from his various animal forms. Some were simply overpowered and lay there, knocked out or simply out of energy to pursue a longer fight.
"Link sure put together one heck of a crew." Russell commented. "I wouldn't have expected a bunch of teenagers to overthrow the strongest man in the Great Sea's pirate crew."
"Wait, HE'S the strongest man in the Great Sea!?" Makar shouted.
"Well, I heard a man dubbed the 'White Leopard' lives somewhere on one of these islands, and he has been said to be one of the strongest men in the entire world. But, I doubt a guy that powerful would settle down in a sea like this. It's not something that would fit him." Russell replied. "So as far as I know, Cyrus is the strongest. He even has the highest bounty, but I'm not sure what it is."
"Does Link know what he's up against?" Makar asked.
"Sure he does." Navi commented, knocking out the last of the pirates. "Link knows that a tough fight is coming, but he seems determined to defend Gladius' right to stay with him." The crew questioned their captain's motives to keep Gladius at all costs, unaware of Orca's advice on keeping friends with him at all times. "Regardless, I'm sure he'll be fine. He has the Fort Gauntlet, after all."
"Yeah, you know what? I'm sure he'll be just fine!" Makar said. "But still…the strongest man in this whole sea? Stronger than anyone we've faced so far?" Makar grew nervous as he continued to think about this. "Is Link really ready? He's still not in full control of his gauntlet… It's only been four months."
Meanwhile, Link stood upon the giant door he had just kicked down. He looked up, and finally the moment had arrived. Cyrus, a Big Blin, sat on a chair behind a table, pouring some sort of hot drink into a mug. Link grunted, and Cyrus put the mugs down. "Ah, I suppose you're Green Hat."
"It's Link!" Link shouted. "I've been waiting FOREVER to tell you that face to face."
"It actually isn't even the name I gave you." Cyrus replied. "That's what Captain Mobogo referred to you as, and that's how his raven referred to you as after you killed him." Cyrus grew a little tense, but managed to stay calm. "Now, tell me, green hat. What urges you to attack a man such as me and kill my men, even taking one of them with you?" At about this time, Gladius ran into the room, taking his stand next to Link. Cyrus paid no attention to him.
"My motivation is to become the King of the Pirates!" Link shouted with pride. "I'm determined! I made a promise to a friend that I would."
"You shouldn't make a promise that you can't keep, green hat." Cyrus said, motioning for Link to take a seat. "Come, let us drink. I'm not in the mood to kill you yet." Link, carefree, went and took a seat.
"LINK! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Gladius shouted in his mind, freaking out.
"Now, tell me Link. You know what it takes to become the Pirate King, yes?"
"Nope. I just know that I have to become it." Link said cheerfully. Cyrus raised an eyebrow as he began to down some of his drink. He motioned for Link to drink some, which he did. Link's face scowled at the bitter drink, but he was thirsty and kept drinking.
"Well, surely you know the previous Pirate King?"
"Nope!" Link replied. Cyrus sat down his drink, his face growing tense.
"Seriously green hat. You can't be that stupid. Surely you must wonder why so many men sacrifice their lives and head out to the sea. Surely you must wonder about why there are so many pirates in the world?"
"I just thought it was fun to be one, so I decided I'd be the king of them!"
"Being a pirate isn't meant to be fun! Surely you know the name of the previous Pirate King!?" Cyrus was slowly growing angry at Link's ignorance.
"Nope, never heard the dude's name. I didn't even know that there was a previous pirate king."
"You've never heard of him?!"
"Nope. Who do you keep talking about?"
"You've never heard of the 'Sea Hawk', Captain Hawthorn T. Yahweh, the Pirate King?!"
"Hahahaha, Yahweh? What kind of name is that?" Link laughed.
"Please, tell me you've heard of the Second Earth! At least his legendary treasure he left behind, containing wealth beyond human imagination! Please, tell me you've heard of the Divine Opulence!" Cyrus' eyes grew large, and he grew very solemn.
"Divine what?" Link innocently asked. "His treasure…?"
"Green hat, surely you can't be this ignorant! Why else would there so many pirates on the sea? What do you think they're trying to gain?" Cyrus stood up and slammed his hands on the table. "Answer me!"
"I thought it was for the fun and adventure!" Link replied. "There's a treasure they're trying to gain?"
"On the island in the middle of the Second Earth!? The island of Tesero! Have you never heard of it?"
"I…I don't recall learning about this…Second Earth? Is this another planet!?" Link suddenly grew excited, thinking about the world outside of Earth.
"No!" Cyrus shouted back. "Must I explain all of this to you? The Second Earth?"
"Yes…" Link said. "You'll need to explain." Cyrus grunted.
"Well, the Second Earth is an ancient part of our world, something so sacred the gods put around the seas and the islands in the Second Earth multiple sectors of awful hurricanes. The Second Earth is about 10 times larger than the Great Sea, and is surrounded by a giant hurricane, like I said. This hurricane is so large, it's width is about the size of the Great Sea alone. It surrounds the entire Second Earth. That's all I know…or for that matter, that's all anyone knows. Barely anyone has been able to make it into the Second Earth and back out alive. The hurricane takes out most of them who try to go there, but even if they make it inside they have gigantic sea monsters. It's a death bed for anyone out for the treasure." Cyrus explained.
"Then why do people go there if they know they will die?"
"Ambitions, Green Hat. Far more dreams exist than you can imagine." Cyrus smiled. "I dream of going there one day. However, I lack the correct materials."
"Materials?"
"In this world, there are several ways to reach this Second Earth and to make it to Tesero. One must first obtain a compass, which will then lead to multiple maps. Each map leads to a different map, and eventually they all lead to the Second Earth."
"So, there are many different ways?"
"Yes, but it's impossible to make it into the Second Earth without a map. You'd die immediately." Cyrus frowned a little bit. "A good friend of mine tried to sail to the Second Earth without finding a compass first. From a lone survivor of his crew, he told me that they were wiped out within mere hours of entering the hurricane…that's why you must have a compass and maps."
"Why is the treasure there? What's so significant about the pirate king? What is the Divine Opulence? Where did these compasses and maps come from?" Link asked. Cyrus, even though he was an enemy, welcomed the curious new pirate to ask questions. When Link said this, he decided to tell him the story.
The story of the Pirate King…Hawthorn T. Yahweh.
To be continued…
