CHAPTER 61: [61] HOW TO ROB A SERPENT

Alyssa’s pale green eyes locked onto Raven’s cat-like blue ones without flinching. The harbor wind whipped her platinum blonde hair across her face, but she didn’t brush it away. Water still dripped from Raven’s soaked clothes, marking time like a metronome on the deck between them.

"Yes."

The word came out clear and unwavering, carrying the weight of a decision that would reshape everything. This wasn’t the spoiled Navy princess who’d demanded respect in restaurants or thrown tantrums over sleeping arrangements. This was someone who’d watched her father’s tyranny crumble and chosen to walk away from everything she’d ever known.

Raven’s expression softened, just slightly. Her fingers stopped wringing water from her hair, and for the first time since climbing aboard, she looked genuinely surprised.

"You don’t even know what you’re agreeing to," she said, though her voice had lost its sharp edge.

"I know enough." Alyssa’s posture remained rigid, but her hands relaxed at her sides. "I know you’re risking everything for someone you love. I know Pierre put himself between me and a dozen pirates without hesitation. I know that’s more honor than I ever saw in twenty years of Navy life."

Pierre watched the exchange, feeling the weight of Hardy’s borrowed darkness still coiled in his chest like a sleeping serpent. The irony wasn’t lost on him—he’d gained power by absorbing the essence of a tyrant, and now he was using that strength to protect people who’d chosen loyalty over safety.

This is what Jack never understood, Pierre thought. It’s not about being the strongest. It’s about being worth following.

Raven studied Alyssa for another long moment, then let out a breath that seemed to carry months of tension. She sank onto a nearby crate, her wet clothes squelching against the wood.

"Thirty-one million," she said quietly.

Pierre’s eyebrows rose. "What?"

"That’s what Moreau offered me. Six million for the charts, plus twenty-five million as a signing bonus." Raven’s fingers traced patterns in the water pooled on the deck. "Privateer papers from one of the Ten Marquis. A real fleet, not just a single ship operation."

Alyssa’s breath caught. "That’s more than enough—"

"For what I need." Raven’s voice carried old pain, carefully controlled. "All I had to do was abandon you both and join her crew permanently."

Pierre’s gaze snapped toward the town. "She doesn’t have that kind of money lying around," he said slowly, the words forming as the thoughts connected. "Not unless she’s found something worth significantly more."

Raven nodded, her cat-like eyes sharpening. "She mentioned the Ancient Caves. Said Orellia’s amber deposits were just the surface layer of something much older. Much more valuable."

Bingo.

"Think about it," he said, moving to the ship’s rail and gesturing toward the town. "Moreau’s not just occupying Orellia—she’s investing in it. Professional crews, organized administration, public works projects. That’s not a pirate raid. That’s an occupation. She’s digging in for the long haul."

Alyssa followed his gaze, her Naval training evident in how she assessed the harbor’s defensive positions. "The lighthouse modifications. I noticed those earlier—they’ve reinforced it beyond what’s needed for navigation. It’s more like a fortress now."

"Exactly." Pierre turned back to face them both. "She’s not here for the amber trade. She’s here because something under Orellia is worth more than controlling an entire sea route."

Raven stood up, water still dripping from her clothes but her posture regaining its usual predatory grace. "So what are you suggesting? That we dig up whatever she’s after and steal it from under her nose?"

"Why not?" Pierre’s hand found the sea-blue stone at his throat, drawing comfort from Mika’s gift. "She thinks she has us trapped. Three small-time pirates against her entire organization. But she’s made a crucial mistake."

"Which is?" Alyssa asked, though her posture straightened almost imperceptibly, her eyes narrowing as she mentally mapped out the implications.

Pierre smiled, and for the first time since absorbing Hardy’s essence, it felt genuine. "She’s gathered all her treasure in one place. Her crew, her resources, her attention—everything focused on this island. That doesn’t make us trapped. It makes us perfectly positioned."

Raven’s laugh was sharp but appreciative. "You want to rob the serpent while she’s coiled around her hoard. That’s either brilliant or suicidal."

"Probably both," Pierre admitted. "But consider our alternatives. We run now, and Moreau hunts us across the Dawn Sea with a fleet and privateer backing Or..."

He let the word hang in the salt air. On Raven’s face, a flicker of greedy excitement warred with her ingrained caution. On Alyssa’s, the shock gave way to a cold, calculating focus she’d learned at her father’s side.

"Or we take everything she’s worked for and use it to fund our own operation," Alyssa finished. Her aristocratic accent made the words sound almost reasonable, like a business proposition rather than an act of war against one of the Dawn Sea’s most dangerous pirates.

"The caves," Raven said, her tactical mind already working through possibilities. "If Moreau’s obsessed with them, that’s where the real prize is. Not in her treasury or her ships."

"And if we’re wrong?" Alyssa asked. "If there’s nothing there, or if it’s too well-guarded?"

"Then we improvise." Pierre’s voice carried the confidence of someone who’d already died once and found the experience surprisingly liberating. "But Moreau wouldn’t commit this many resources to a maybe. She knows something’s down there."

Raven began pacing the deck, her movements sharp and focused despite her waterlogged state. Her red-and-white hair left small droplets in her wake, creating a trail across the weathered planks.

"The timing would have to be perfect," she said, her mind clearly racing through logistics. "Tonight, while she’s dealing with the aftermath of Jack’s little rampage. Half her crew’s busy with damage control and public relations."

"Plus she’ll expect us to run," Alyssa added, her strategic training evident. "The last thing she’ll anticipate is an assault on her primary objective."

Pierre felt the familiar weight of tactical planning settling over him, the same mental state that had served him well in the octagon and against Hardy. But this was bigger than any fight he’d faced—three people against an entire organization, with stakes that reached far beyond their own survival.

In the original story, Jack stumbled onto this by accident, Pierre thought. Pure protagonist luck and overwhelming power. We’ll have to be smarter.

"We’ll need equipment," he said aloud. "Rope, lights, possibly explosives for sealed passages. And we’ll need to move fast once we’re inside—Moreau will notice our absence eventually."

Raven stopped pacing and fixed him with a stare that could have cut glass. "You’re serious about this. Actually serious."

"Dead serious." Pierre met her gaze without flinching. "You said choices have prices. Well, I’m choosing to help you save your sister, and Alyssa’s choosing to risk her new freedom for the same cause. The price is going up against Moreau on her own territory."

"And if we die?" Raven’s voice was flat.

Pierre’s smile was all sharp edges, a flash of Hardy’s cruelty repurposed. "Then we die trying to steal a fortune instead of running with nothing. I know which I prefer. Besides," he added, the smile becoming his own again, "she made it personal."

Alyssa stepped forward, placing herself between Pierre and Raven. Her posture radiated the same authority she’d inherited from her father, but tempered with something Hardy had never possessed—genuine care for others.

"We’re stronger together than apart," she said simply. "Moreau counted on us being selfish, on choosing individual survival over collective action. She was wrong."

Raven looked between them, her cat-like eyes reflecting something that might have been hope mixed with terror. The water had stopped dripping from her clothes, but she still looked like a half-drowned cat—dangerous, unpredictable, and absolutely committed to survival.

"You’re both insane," she said finally. "Moreau has fifty crew members, defensive positions, and home field advantage. We have a rusty pipe, some sailing equipment, and whatever’s left in your pockets."

"Don’t forget the ship," Alyssa pointed out.

That earned her a snort of amusement from Raven, which Pierre took as progress.

"The ship stays here," Pierre said. "Too conspicuous for infiltration, and we’ll need it intact for our escape. This is a stealth operation—get in, find whatever Moreau’s really after, and get out before she realizes what happened."

"And then?"

Pierre’s hand tightened on the sea-blue stone.

"Then we use whatever we find to buy our own piece of the world. We get strong enough that the only choices we make are our own."

The harbor wind picked up, carrying the scent of smoke from the merchant quarter where Jack’s heroics had left their mark. In the distance, Pierre could see Black Serpent pirates still coordinating cleanup efforts, their green bandanas bright against the amber-dusted streets.

"Tonight," he said, his voice carrying across the deck like a promise. "We rob the serpent."

Raven’s grin was sharp enough to cut rope. "I’ve always wanted to see what a snake looks like without its skin."

Alyssa nodded once, her pale green eyes hard as sea glass. "Then let’s get to work."