From the looks of it, Hogan seemed to be doing fine. As such, Blackbeard's gaze retained its warmth as he called for a few relatively clean looking pirates and rumbled, "Prepare a feast for our guests. Let them know how we free folk enjoy ourselves out here in the wilderness."
The pirates returned their blackened smiles as they scurried away towards the open-air cooking establishment in order to ready the sumptuous feast ordered by their leader.
The leader's words carried a heavy weight as none of the pirates dared to disregard Hogan or the men who had accompanied here. They were given their due respect even though the pirates were used to being scallywags with foul mouths.
Blackbeard turned back towards his distinguished friend Hogan and wrapped his bulky arm around the latter's shoulders and said, "I will let you taste the finest wine available on my island. Let me tell you, it is something your city folk can never taste in your lifetimes. It is strong wine; stronger than you can imagine. It suits men like us who rely on personal strength to survive and earn a living."
Hogan laughed out loud at the sincere gesture from Blackbeard and nodded in kind as if to indicate that he was looking forward to it. Matching his pace with that of Blackbeard, he followed him to the round but massive table in the middle of the hall which was usually reserved for the leaders of the pirate group.
The guards accompanying Hogan were taken away by the pirates leaving behind only Nelson who followed after his father and the pirate captain hoping to make a good impression on the latter.
Two hours passed by in their reminiscence as they talked about the good old days while Nelson fully observed the conversation between the two as he stood behind his father. He knew that he was probably not qualified to sit with the two of them until or unless his father took the initiative to introduce him to Blackbeard.
The conversation died down as one of the pirates responsible for the daily chores came to report that the dinner was ready to be served. It was already evening and both of them felt pangs of hunger after talking for so long.
Therefore, Blackbeard ordered for the feast to be served immediately.
It was at this time that Hogan finally called for Nelson to sit beside him.
"This is my son, Nelson. He will be taking over the Hunter family in the future. I hope that he will receive the same support as me in the future should there be a need for that."
Blackbeard was a bit surprised. He had previously thought that Nelson was Hogan's guard. If he had known that Nelson was his Hogan's son, he would have invited the former to sit with them from the beginning.
He couldn't have known that Hogan had done this deliberately to make his son realize his failure.
Nelson felt gratified as he finally earned his father's forgiveness. His past few days were spent wondering whether his father had planned some elaborate punishment for him.
Turned out that it wasn't as bad as he had imagined. The failure of the previous plan wasn't all his fault. Some responsibility lay with his father as well since he had underestimated the involvement of Zach in the Windsor family's matters.
Nelson sat down excitedly. The happiness that came from earning his father's forgiveness and for making an acquaintance of the terrible and bloodthirsty pirate leader Blackbeard was unprecedented for him and his future development.
While Blackbeard said a few words to Nelson, the serving pirates laid down several mouth-watering dishes on the table that were giving off steam and a refreshing aroma of the wild.
Blackbeard took in a deep breath of the fragrance and roared, "This is what a feast should smell like….Bahahaha."
Nelson joined in his laugh, eager to please while Hogan only smiled gently while appreciating the aroma like a true and seasoned connoisseur.
Blackbeard motioned for his guests to dig in and was the first to take a bite of the food as was the custom in such feasts. Obviously, this custom was to assure the guests that the food wasn't poisoned. In this kind of line of work, such rules had to be followed in order to retain business.
The heavenly feast along with the treasured wine that Blackbeard brought out turned out to be the perfect combination.
While Hogan and Blackbeard drank mug after mug of the heavy smelling wine, Nelson wasn't able to drink more than a few mouthfuls. He was obviously a lightweight.
As everyone was getting drunk slowly, Hogan felt like it was finally time to discuss the matter he had come here for.
"Before one of us falls under the table, I want to discuss a matter with you. In fact, it is the main reason that I came to see you here." Hogan's voice turned solemn and the pitch of his voice lowered a few degrees to give it a mysterious air.
"Of course, don't be so formal and state your troubles without hesitation. That's what I am here for." replied Blackbeard magnanimously. Of course, this magnanimity was also for the business and not because he was such a helpful person. If Hogan had been penniless, Hogan would have fed him to the sharks without hesitation even if he was a close acquaintance.
"I won't stand on ceremony then."
Hogan felt relieved that Blackbeard was willing to listen to his request and began to reassemble the messy thoughts inside his head into a deliverable structure so as to give the pirate leader the complete and true picture of the confrontation between the Hunter family and the Smith and Windsor family alliance.
Blackbeard didn't urge him to hurry up but instead gave him enough time to gather his thoughts. Nothing good ever came out of being in a hurry after all.
"You already know that my family has been reigning as the top family of Byzantium city for a long time. No family has ever been able to shake the position of our family until now." Hogan began his narration of events in the chronological order with a slow but mystifying voice that added intrigue to his story.
Blackbeard nodded slightly several times in order to indicate that he understood everything so far.
"Lately the Windsor family got their hands on a new product and is rising in status. Those worms think they can compete with the Hunter family after finding short lived success. I couldn't stand their false arrogance and was forced to take action so they could figure out their true worth. Everything was going according to the plan but I failed to take an important element into account. There is a new supporter of the Windsor family who turned out to be very crafty. He has foiled my plan two times already due to his unnecessary interference and I need to eliminate his existence before I can continue forward with a new plan. Do you think you can help me?"
Hogan finally stopped his expectant gaze on Blackbeard's face.
Blackbeard took a moment to contemplate whether it was wise to cooperate with the Hunter family when the Windsor family was obviously threatening their position and was on the rise. He even considered the possibility of going to the Windsor family with a similar proposition to determine who was willing to pay a higher price. But then he noticed the zealous and cunning Hogan waiting for his answer with a manic gaze and changed his decision.
Considering how devious and underhanded Hogan could be, Blackbeard felt that the Windsor family stood no chance if they didn't resort to similar methods to take care of Hogan beforehand. They had to throw away their morals to reach the same position as that of the Hunter family.
Therefore, he still believed that the Hunter family would eventually come out on top.
"Of course, who do you think we are? In the entire empire, there is no force other than the royal family's forces that can take us on without suffering more losses than gains. Even the government forces are afraid of confronting my people, what can a single man do in front of our might?"
Blackbeard boisterously assured Hogan of success. Once he figured out that the target was a single man, Blackbeard couldn't help but start counting his money in advance.
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