Chapter 1712: It’s time
Pebbles was invincible, and immortal, and now he even had the cultivation realm of an immortal. That did not make him immune to pain, however. Fly swatter arms or now, he was no match for the ferocious Captain Jack.
So, reluctantly, Pebbles took off his parrot feather captain’s hat and shoved it in his cheek, saving it for later.
Although Jack was not fully satisfied with the beating he had given Pebbles for trying to steal his natal treasure, there were only so many hours in the day he could spend on that. Once Pebbles relented, Jack, much to his dissatisfaction, had to stop beating the hamster.
Right after that, Jack called for a crew meeting. Now, logic dictated that he hurry up and bond with his ship first, but now that he had already come out, there was no point in going back to his quarters. Best to hold the meeting first.
For once, Jack was pretty serious, because the first thing he did once the meeting was held was not explain the reason, but question the three Boblings. Jack had never bothered asking any of the crew their histories or affiliations, so the fact that he was doing so now with the Boblings immediately alerted the crew to how serious the impending conversation was.
"Under normal circumstances, I’m quite welcoming of others into my crew," Jack said, looking at the three blobs of smoke.
The Boblings weren’t actually made of smoke, it was just that their actual bodies could not be seen, even by Jack. The fact that he saw smoke was a big deal at all, for none of the others from the crew seemed to notice anything amiss, or if they did, they didn’t show it.
"However, this is a critical time for the crew, so I cannot afford any security risks. So, who are you? What do you want? And how can you track Bob? If you answer these three questions honestly, I will consider letting you join us."
Longbeard resisted the urge to whistle. It was rare to see Jack so serious. What he didn’t know was that Jack was finally free of that accursed stench after a very long period of time, so he could finally put his entire mind on the tasks at hand instead of using a large part of his mind and will power to resist the urge to rip off his own nose.
"Well, this is awkward," said Bobling 1, scratching his head. Jack noticed that when the Boblings talked, they took on the appearance of a fairy - most likely since he, the observer, was a fairy. To Pebbles, they probably looked like hamsters.
"You have to add more gravitas in your voice when you say ’awkward’. Take note. Well, this is awkward," said Bobling 2, living up to his own advice and adding real feeling into his last sentence.