While the Silent Reaper was engaged in a battle with the Striker, Gibson was snoring regardless of the loud cannon exploding sounds on his tiny little bed that barely had enough space to support his whole body. One could see a couple of empty rum bottles on his hairy chest. His once first body now turned flabby, fat covered most of his muscles. A particularly notable feature was his missing limb. He lost his right leg when he was serving under Her Majesty many years ago. At that time, he wouldn't even have imagined a pirate life yet here he is, sleeping in a pirate ship.

Chap!

??

He slapped his own cheek in sleep to find a peanut stuck in his bushy sideburns. The empty rum bottle on his chest reflected a round face with a softly shaped jaw, a straight nose, and two sleepy brown eyes. His medium-length hair was all over the place as some of the strands were running into his mouth.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

"What now?!" Finally Gibson couldn't take any more of violent shakes or the loud booming sound. He picked his body from the bed before fitting the wooden leg to substitute his lack of right leg.

"Even a curse couldn't cure the hangover of mine, hehe" Gibson chuckled, throwing away his empty rum bottles. He then picked a small leather drinking pouch,

"Thank god" he smiled seeing that there's still some rum left in the pouch.

Pulch!

On top of his hangover, the shaking ship made walking in a straight line pain in the butt. While he was stumbling forwards, a broken splinter of wood exploded from the hull and stabbed him in his shoulder.

one would expect him to scream or atleast flinch but he didn't even notice the six-inch splinter sticking out of his shoulder.

"We are cursed yet here we are, destroying who knows what" Gibson mumbled taking a short sip from his leather pouch. None of the crew including the current Captain Bull knew the full extent of the curse.

The curse stripped away their sense of touch, smell, pain, and touch.

On top of that, the curse occasionally made the crew enter a deep slumber that could last from a couple of months to several years and no crew of the Silent Reaper could leave the ocean, if their feet touched the ground, they would be painfully turned into ashes.

He was telling the crew that the curse is also making the Silent Reaper playing with the minds of the enemy crew but the pirates were too dumb or ignorant to listen to his theory.

If the pleasure of getting drunk was stripped away by the curse, he would have taken a boat to some island and killed himself. Other than drinking rum, there was no pleasure in his life. It would be a lie if he said he didn't love the life before the curse. He loved being a pirate, more than being a soldier in the royal navy under her majesty.

After the curse, the previous Captain started to pillage every ship he saw, not just for gold but for more information about the curse. He believed someone could tell them how to break the curse. Although it was highly unlikely to find someone who knew about a curse put by a sea folk elder, it was better than just aimlessly roaming the ocean.

"Surrender or Die"

"Here it goes," Gibson halted his steps to take some deep breaths. After this, he wouldn't have time to take a breath because he would be busy interrogating the hostages. Just because he was a soldier before pirates, the pirates gave him the job of interrogating. Somehow they failed to understand the fact that he was a navigator on a royal navy ship. For the pirates, everyone on a royal navy ship was a soldier.

"Ye 'earrr that lads, 'e want to be the Cap'n o' our cursed Silent Reaper"

"Stop wasting my time Bull. Fall in line along with your crew or I'll kill you first to make a statement"

"'ahahaha, you'll kill me?" Bull laughed while the rest of the pirates stared at the young man with cold killing intent in their eyes.

"Alright, I'll let ye try" Bull took out his two cutlasses. The crew quickly cleared the center of the stage for Captain Bull to kill the young man.

"Give him a sword," Bull said to the short man but he saw the young man shake his head walking towards the center of the deck. Every pirate and hostage on the ship stared at Michael like he was the stupidest person they had ever met. By comparing their body alone they could tell that Bull could snap the young man in half. If he had taken the weapon, he would have at least had a fighting chance but now, he seemed like dead meat in their eyes.

"No need" the young man stood a few meters away from Captain Bull without a weapon in his hand.

"What is he doing?" Gibson asked himself looking at the young man.

"Are you gonna stand there all day?" Bull was provoked by his words and the careless look on his face. He clenched his two cutlasses tightly to leap at the young man.

The pirates and the hostages were expecting a gory beat down when they saw the young man calmly raise his hand.

Zzzz Rrrrrrrr!

Boom!

The next moment, they were stunned beyond words to see a thick bolt of golden lightning shoot out of the young man's hand. In a blink of an eye, the lightning bolt went straight through Captain Bull's head as his head exploded into a red mist.

"He...he...cast...spell..." Gibson's body went rigid while many people lost control over their bladders. They were scared shitless. For a long couple of seconds, they just stared at the headless body of Bull wandering around on the deck without uttering a word or moving a muscle.

It wasn't a long fight with fancy moves. In fact, the fight didn't even last for more than a couple of seconds. From Bull raising his cutlasses to his head exploring happened so quickly.

What shocked everyone more than Captain Bull's death was the lightning bolt shot out from his hand. They wanted to find another explanation except they simply couldn't.

"How did he cast a spell inside the Void line?" This was the question that ran inside the minds of many.

"Cap'n!"

"Ca...p..."

Words barely escaped from some of the loyal pirates. It had been a long time since the pirates felt fear.

While they were about to raise their cutlasses, Gibson heard the young man spoke again,

"I can break your curse"