The main event of the day turned out not to be the farewells to emperor’s tribute, but the arrival of a large three masted ship with black sails. Looking out the kitchen window, Nick noticed streams of pirates running towards the docks and, after cleaning up a little, he joined the crowd as well.

The third pirate king had arrived. These were good news for Nick since the feast wouldn’t be postponed and he could follow Kate and princesses to the Nestri continent as planned.

The docks were full and almost everyone in the Paradise city was gathered here. After the ship anchored, Nick saw a small cargo boat approaching with few pirates in it and one of them standing in the middle. It was an older man with gray hair and beard, carrying a huge battleaxe on his back. He was not particularly big and even his clothes were similar to the ones other pirates on the boat wore.

“That’s king Black.” Billy had found Nick in the crowd and helpfully explained, “Don’t look down on him because he is smaller than king White. In fact they are equally matched in strength.”

‘These titles don’t suit them at all. ‘Red’ is just a random woman and ‘black’ is an elder with gray hair.’ Nick was a bit amused.

But as Billy advised, he didn’t look down on any of them. He knew how strong White was and how fast Red was. These people were extremely dangerous Qi masters.

When king Black came ashore, Nick noticed another minor thing – this king had a meteorite ring. Other two didn’t, but this one had. Was it because he was of a higher rank or it was his loot? Despite the fact that every elder in Holy Order had such ring, they were extremely rare. Even from the Sun kingdom’s royal family the only ones who had those were king Alexander, old king Albert and queen Hua, and the latter most likely got it as inheritance from the Eastern continent. Also, just because Nick got one from the deputy elder, didn’t mean that it was his – most likely it was elder Jan’s and was used only for the special delivery.

What drew Nick’s attention to the ring was the fact that king Black chose to carry his battleaxe on his back and not in the ring. From the looks of it the axe should weight hundred kilograms or even more and it didn’t make any sense to carry it around for other reason than intimidation or just weird love for the weapon.

Both other kings approached king Black and they looked at each other for a while.

Then Black started to laugh, “Hahaha, I see you managed to pull it off. Wanna settle it now?” He asked king White.

“Nah, tomorrow we will have a special celebration here, then we can do it properly.” King White replied.

“Why tomorrow? Let’s drink today!” Black was confused.

“Don’t worry, we will drink today.” White grinned back, “We just were not sure when you’ll be back, therefore we decided to make a feast tomorrow. No big deal. We’ll have something else tonight.”

Then he looked around, “Nick!”

White’s thunderous voice reverberated through the blue lagoon and grotto. Every pirate already knew this name, but not all had seen the mysterious new cook.

While hundreds pairs of eyes seized him up, Nick made his way through and then stood before king White.

“You want a special dinner?” Nick asked.

“Can you make three pigs like yesterday?” This was king White’s new toy and he proudly showed off in front of the other two kings. Black didn’t know it’s worth yet, but Red’s face was full of envy.

“It’ll take a long time to do that simultaneously.” Nick seemed to be deep in thoughts, “What would you say if I roasted one by one and made each a bit different? You, three kings, could feast on one at the time while chatting and drinking.”

“Alright, let’s move to my place!” King White declared and the welcoming ceremony ended.

Despite the fact that Nick deeply hated these murderers, he had to play his role perfectly and, until they all lie dead, he couldn’t make any mistakes. Thus Nick the cook, who loved cooking and was an artist, started to roast one big pig after another to show his cooking art to the world.

The three kings eliminated the first pig faster than a school of piranhas would have and impatiently waited for the next. The were so restless they even came to the kitchen and watched Nick roast while drinking and talking some nonsense. The cook was not angry at all as he could gather bits and pieces of information about Nestri continent, some habits and traditions he didn’t know yet, economical and political situation and much more.

While the first pig was still roasting, Nick threw one in the tub filled with strong alcohol and filled the other one with fruits similar to apples. When the kings came to the kitchen and saw his actions, they seemed to be extremely displeased, especially about the one that was soaking in alcohol to which Nick scornfully said “I don’t teach you how to rob ships, so you stand aside while I cook!”

Despite being insulted, trio really wanted to witness the results, therefore they didn’t bother him much after. Nick had no idea what the result of his cooking will be, but as long as he didn’t burn everything, he could always say that the pirates had no idea what a true flavor palette is or something smart along those lines. He had seen what they ate on everyday basis, so there was almost no risk involved and for the sake of tomorrow’s plan he had to strengthen his artist’s image.

In the end kings were left extremely satisfied, fought a little about what they wanted for breakfast and then left Nick to clean all the mess they left behind. When Nick finished it was past midnight and he decided to recover his strength first, and then go out to see the captives.

The moment he sat in meditative pose, he felt that something was not right – as if someone was watching him. Instantly his straight spine bent a little and he put his chin in both hands while supporting elbows on his knees. It was a regular pose of any random person thinking or daydreaming.

While circulating his Qi almost in panic mode, he sighed, scratched his head and sighed again. Then took off his clothes and went to bed. He was confident in his acting skills and there was no way anyone would take him for anything else that a regular person. Lying in the bed he continued to perform the first Qi technique and the more he did, the more distinct the feeling of being watched became.

‘Alright, looks like I’ll have to improvise tomorrow.’ He decided. If there was no risk free way to see captives, he wouldn’t do it, rather sleep to make sure he is at full strength in the morning.

Nick served the breakfast shortly before midday and told the three king’s he won’t be cooking anything else but the feast for the evening celebration. Tomorrow, they can decide their menu again, although he suggested a tasty sea turtle soup recipe. King’s were delighted and decided to eat that. Of course, what Nick meant was that the three kings would be the food for sea turtles the next day, but it was only for his own amusement.

After the breakfast he went down to the docks just to see the eleven Billies ready to work. They had already arranged the fireplaces, tables and utensils. Most of the necessary ingredients for the stew were also stacked nearby.

“Good work!” Nick praised, “Now, who can tell me what is the most important part of any party?”

“Booze!” Several Billies shouted at the same time with their eyes sparkling.

“Right!” Nick nodded, “But we need to keep the alcohol cooled, otherwise you can just drink hot water instead. To prevent alcohol from warming up during the day, we will submerge it in the water here at the docks and take it out only at night after the feast has begun.”

This simple trick was nothing new in this part of the world therefore no one was surprised.

“Billy, you and the boys bring the booze here, I’ll check on quality and, after we have taken care of it, we will start to cook. It will be a long process, so pull yourselves together and don’t loose concentration.” Nick did his best to make Billies realize the ‘importance’ of their tasks.

When pirates went to get the alcohol, Nick began to check the vegetables that were already brought to the docks and calculate the necessary amount of the water for the stew. Despite the planned tragic upcoming fate of the party guests, he still had to make a delicious feast. Of course, it was impossible to create anything truly luxurious, but pirates were used to bad food and anything half decent could be presented as the heavenly nectar.

White pacing around the food boxes and sacks, Nick suddenly felt he was being watched again.

‘Seriously? Even during the day?’ He was upset.

He could understand why someone would keep a watchful eye on him. And what really bugged him was – how he still didn’t manage to spot the person and who was the one behind it and ordered the surveillance. It had to be a skillful stealthy Qi master to avoid Nick discovering him during the bright daytime.

‘So what? Feel free to watch, I have nothing to hide!’ Nick grinned to himself at the end.

There was no way for anyone to find out he was adding something to the food or alcohol if the person was not standing right beside him. That was also the reason why he decided on cooking straight in front of the eyes of few dozens of bored pirates who were already watching him.

First, he had to prepare the alcohol and it would be safe under water till the very late evening – there was no way for anyone to accidentally taste it. And in the worst case scenario if someone had a gulp or two before Nick managed to submerge the barrels, there was only a hallucinogen mixed in, therefore the person might look simply drunk – the real poison will be in the stew.

Luckily there were no accidents. Nick ‘checked’ the alcohol and afterwards Billies sealed the barrels and submerged right next to the pier. Now Nick only needed to wait for the appropriate moment to give command to get them out and open.

After this stage they started the fire, filled up pots with water and began to peel the vegetables. To make pirates more impatient Nick decided to add meat as the last ingredient after roasting it on the open fire. The flavor of the roasted meat would switch off any last caution the pirates had. At this moment there were already hundred odd pirates sitting around, sipping cheap beer and watching him and Billies work, therefore Nick was confident that almost all two thousand will be gathered here in the afternoon.

To make things more mysterious and entertaining, he cut the meat and soaked it in alcohol mixed with onions, pepper and salt. He tried this out yesterday when roasting pigs for the kings. The result might not have been much tastier that usual, but the flavor was still lingering in the residence next morning. Alcohol and roasted meat were the perfect duo to be put out as a bait in front of pirates and tonight Nick intended to catch and kill every last ‘pirate fish’ in the Paradise city.