AN: The third chapter published together with the previous two. Do read them if you missed them!

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

A few days later, after Diego helped the five injured men in the guerrilla camp back to health, he and Emmanuel took their goodbyes from the rebels, and left, heading south.

After long discussions, both he and Emmanuel concluded that the best course of action was for them to search for the treasure first, and only then make their way towards Madrid.

In truth, Diego had no certainty that there was a treasure to be found at all. While in prison, he had heard the guards laugh at the abbot on a few occasions, certain he was lying or was a madman when promising them a fortune to help him escape. That had been long before he even met the man. But it was precisely because he had met him that he trusted he had not been deceived. That the treasure truly existed, and it was what would eventually help him get home.

The Island of Dragonera was an uninhabited rock just west of Mallorca, and they first had to find a ship willing to take them there. Emmanuel still had some money with him. Not much, and Diego had never asked about its source, but it was just enough for them to get passage. Once there, in exchange for a week's work helping a fisherman build a new house for his daughter and her husband-to-be, the man lent them his boat to head for the island.

As soon as they arrived, they carried the boat to the shore and started following the map the abbot had given Diego.

They had to cross half the island, until coming to a waterfall. There, swimming through the shallow waters, the tall caballero, who insisted on going first, exited into a cave. The place was well-hidden, and Diego risked drowning in the rather long tunnel leading to it. Right in the middle of the cave was the treasure the abbot had promised: ten large coffers filled with gold, jewels, precious stones, pearls and silver.

"When you said treasure, I expected a small box filled with gold. Enough to buy us and my compadres in Barcelona tickets to the Americas…" Emmanuel said as he joined his friend and they started opening the coffers. "But this… This could buy us an entire country…"

"A country, perhaps not… But it will certainly buy us anything we need to find out the truth about what happened over five years ago, when I was arrested and you lost everything," Diego said.

Choosing some of the smaller diamonds, sapphires, and rubies, as well as about five hundred silver and gold coins, they returned to Mallorca, where they used the money to acquire a ship and about two hundred African slaves from a merchant who was transporting them to the New World. The man who had sold them was more than happy to be rid of them so easily, with no casualties due to the long voyage ahead, and was already planning on returning to Africa to catch more before heading for the Americas. He was less thrilled the following morning when he vaguely remembered having lost all his money at cards the previous evening, then headed for the port to find that his ship had started sinking overnight due to a few mysterious holes in the lower decks that had not been there a day earlier.

Diego watched from afar as the slave merchant was shouting at his men in desperation, then rejoined Emmanuel who was just explaining to the Africans that they were free but, should they agree, the two of them would like to hire them, promising to treat them fairly. Some of them, those who had no family left to return to, agreed. Most of them, however, decided to return to their tribes, despite the risk of being caught again.

The Californian, thus, found a ship owned by an old sailor who despised the slave traders, and, after dressing and arming the men and women he had rescued from that merchant, he issued them papers attesting they were free, and arranged for the poor people to be returned from whence the had come.

"All we can do is give them a fighting chance," Emmanuel said as they were watching the ship head away.

"We gave them the means to kill and be killed," Diego replied, though he knew it was the best they could do at the time and considering the white men hunting for slaves were certainly well-armed and didn't care about killing in the process of "acquiring" their new merchandise.

"Unfortunately, we cannot prevent all injustice in this world, my friend."

"No… But we will do our best and help those we can help, Emmanuel. After all, that's all we men can do."

His friend smiled at him. "You amaze me, you know?" he uttered. "All you've been through… Most men would lose their minds or be scarred for life. Yet you, somehow, can still find the power to smile… and hope. I envy you, Diego!"

"Most men don't come out of Chateau D'If, Emmanuel; certainly not ten times more knowledgeable than they had entered, in possession of a huge fortune, and still young enough to move on with their lives. Who knows? I might even be in time to marry Victoria and prevent some of the evil those two might still unleash."

His friend nodded. "We'll need a good plan. They must never see us coming."

"First, we need to make certain, beyond any doubt that Gilberto Risendo and Ignacio de Soto were behind it all. Then, we must find out all they have been up to during these last years since I was taken to that hellhole, who their protectors are, and what power they wield. We'll also need to know all their wrongdoings if we are to take them down. Know thy enemy, Emmanuel! We need to be patient, we need informers, and we need allies. Fortunately, I have a good idea where to start recruiting."

"Perfect. Then, I suggest we begin by getting that treasure onto our new ship."

With that, they headed for the almost 60 men who had agreed to remain in their service of their own free will, thankful for being spared the fate of a slave. Boarding the ship they had bought, Diego as its captain, they all headed for Dragonera.