The next day they prepared to leave Black Lagoon for the next treasure. Marcel was very excited after his little chat with Simon. Before they left the port they all gathered on the ship and Marcel gave them a motivational speech. "We came this far together, we went through adventures that many would not even dare to face. And from now on those adventures might become more harsh and rewarding. After I talked with Simon we both concluded that the trail of treasures we have followed until now will take us throughout all of the Seven Seas. This means we will face many more hard times than on the Flakin Sea we know and love. But... As I have told you many times. We are together in this. We will help each other, and we will support whenever one of us falls. We are not a crew, we are a family. We will find every treasure, we will explore every sea and we will live the life of a pirate until the end of days!". Everyone was moved to tears after they heard those words from Marcel and they all cheered and clapped. "So... Are we ready?" asked Marcel while holding the helm. "Aye!" they all exclaimed and left the Black Lagoon. They were heading East towards the Land of Storms because the location was somewhere near the border. After a couple of days, the weather changed as they entered the area. The waves were more agitated the clouds were gray and it was dark outside even during the day. They passed a couple of ships coming from the direction they were going. One of them blocked their way. "Are you sure you want to continue that way?" asked the captain of the ship. "Yes!" yelled Marcel from the helm. "You know that from this point on it is the Sea of Wrecks," continued the captain. "We have never heard that name before," said Greg. "You should know that around these parts it is dangerous to go alone," said the captain. "What do you mean by alone?" asked Marcel. "Usually people that venture into the Sea of Wrecks have at least two ships in case one gets damaged," said the captain. "But we only have this one," said Marcel. "We could accompany you for a small fee if you wish," continued the captain rubbing his hands. Marcel was naive and accepted the captain's proposal and they continued their way towards the treasure. As they were sailing through the Sea of Wrecks a lot of floating wood, barrels and flags were all around the place. The constant rain was making everyone tired and they took breaks more frequently. The other captain was trying to push them and exhaust them, but Marcel cared about his crew and he insisted on taking breaks. The other captain did not like that at all. "If we are going to take so many breaks, then we will leave you," said the captain. "What is wrong with taking breaks?" asked Marcel. "It will take us forever to leave this place," the captain continued. "So... What will it be?" asked the captain. "Lead the way," said Marcel without a second thought. They followed the ship until they reached an island. "We can only go this far," said the captain and stopped at the island. "Thank you," said Marcel and went to explore the island. The island was not habited and Simon said that they had not yet arrived at the destination of the treasure.

They spent the night on the island, but the storm made it hard for them to rest. In the morning they raised the sail and continued their way towards the treasure. After a couple more days on the sea, the weather started to calm down and they could see the abundance of islands. "Keep going!" said Simon. "But you said it is somewhere at the border," said Marcel while turning the helm. "I was misreading the map, sorry," said Simon. "No worries," said Greg and gently grabbed his shoulder. "It happens to the best of us," Greg continued. Anna and Bia prepared lunch and they took a break. "How are our supplies?" asked Marcel. "We still have a couple of days, but we should stop by a port to resupply," said Anna. "Any ports nearby?" Marcel asked while looking at Simon. "Yes, there is one close by," said Simon and looked at the map. "Maybe a couple of hours away from here," he continued. "We will spend the night there as well," said Marcel and got up. As soon as they finished eating they raised the sail and went towards the port. It took them as long as Simon said, but the port was on a small island. "Are you sure we will find enough supplies here?" asked Marcel while guiding the ship into the port. "Only one way to find out," said Greg. They got off the ship and went to the small town nearby. They were surprised to see that the town was crowded with traders and merchants. "See?" said Greg while looking around. "We have supplies," he continued. Marcel split his crew up, one searching for a tavern to stay the night and one to buy supplies for the ship. "Bear Claws, what an imposing name," said Fred. "Let us get inside and see what they have to offer," said Anna. Anna went ahead and talked with the tavern master for rooms and she was shocked to hear the price. It was lower than anything she heard to that point. "Are you sure?" asked Anna again. "Yes lady, I am sure," answered the tavern master. Anna paid for the rooms and told Fred to bring the others. As the night was falling they all gathered at the Bear Claws and spent the night there. "How long until we reach it?" asked Marcel. "One or two days off here," said Simon. "I can not wait to see what else is on this sea," said Marcel while being excited. "Besides storms and rain there is not much sightseeing," said an old man slamming his cup on the table. "Why would such young pirates venture through those poor lands?" the old man turned around and asked fixing his eyes on Marcel. "We are searching for a treasure," answered Marcel. "Ah... Young and inexperienced!" the old man slapped his right leg and laughed. "You do not go around saying that my boy," said the old man and got closer to Marcel. "There are pirates that will steal everything from you once the work is done," the old man whispered in Marcel's ear and then vanished. Everyone was shocked to hear the strange words of the old man. But at that moment they could not comprehend the meaning and went to sleep.

The next day they left the port in the morning. The cloudy sky was signaling a storm coming. "Should we go now, or wait until the storm passes?" asked Tim. "Hmm... What do you guys think?" Marcel asked his crew. After a unanimous vote, they all decided to keep going. In a couple of minutes, the storm was making the ship go from left to right leaving everyone on board with motion sickness. "I can not take this anymore!" said Fred and threw up. "Who said we should come during the storm?" said Rob. "Everyone!" they all yelled at each other. Despite the rough events that were happening they found a reason to raise their spirits and laugh. Luckily for them, the storm did not last long and they got out of it. The ship was not affected one bit by the wild waves. Simon approached the helm where Marcel was and whispered, "I might have misread the map again,". "What is it this time?" said Marcel quietly. "We are here!" whispered Simon. Marcel yelled to lower the anchor and everyone was confused. They were in the middle of the sea there was nothing around them. "What happened?" everyone asked. Marcel pointed at Simon. "We arrived at the location where the treasure is," he said. "But there is nothing here but water, are you sure?" asked Greg. "I am as sure as my name is Simon," he said and looked up. "Well then... This will be a first for everyone," said Marcel. "Who knows how to swim?" he asked and everyone raised their hands. "Figured as much... But who can hold his breath longer?" he continued. They all said the amount of time they could hold their breath, but not one passed four minutes. "I am not sure it is enough to get to the bottom of the sea and back in four minutes," said Marcel. "Wait, but Duke did not say how much he can hold his," said Hulio. "Ehm... because I never counted..." said Duke. "Would you like to give it a try?" asked Marcel. "Yes!" said Duke. Fred and Greg brought a barrel with water and Duke sunk his head in it. After a couple of minutes, he was still with his head in the barrel. They were all looking at him and not believing it. "Are we sure that he did not drown?" asked Rob. "I told him that when is close to his limit to get out," said Marcel. Marcel grabbed Duke's shoulder and pulled him out of the water. "Are you okay Duke?" said Marcel. Duke was looking at them and spit some water. "I am perfectly fine, is that enough?" he asked. "Enough? It has been twenty minutes," said Greg. "I guess we have a winner," said Marcel. "The only question now is how long is his limit," said Greg. "Hmm... I think that twenty minutes will do for the time being," said Marcel. They prepared Duke for the dive and then waited, and waited and waited. When the time almost reached twenty minutes Duke emerged from the water. They helped him get on board. "So... What is it down there?" asked Marcel. "I have seen a lot of buildings and ships," said Duke while drying himself. "Buildings? As in a town or a village?" asked Greg. "Town," said Duke and drank some water. "Do you think you can search for the wooden chest alone?" asked Marcel. "If not we can just leave it be until we find a better way to get down there," he continued. "Yes, I can do it. But the water is cold," said Duke. "When you feel that you are at your limit either because of cold or because of short breath you can come up and we will do our best to help you," said Marcel and everyone else agreed. They spent the rest of the day planning and preparing for Duke's diving. He also found out his limit, it was an astonishing three hours and fifteen minutes.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

The next day the sun was rising and the sky was clear. After eating breakfast Duke warmed up and swam around the ship for a couple of minutes. "Ready?" asked Marcel. "Ready!" answered Duke and started diving. He was asked by Simon to try and map out the town below them for a better understanding of where the treasure might be. After a whole day of diving and coming back to the ship they managed to map out the entire town. "Thank you," said Simon. "No worries," said Duke while warming himself with a blanket. The night has come and the weather changed once again. It was raining the whole night. Simon stayed up late and analyzed the map from the town below. In the morning after eating breakfast Simon showed Duke possible locations where the treasure might be. Duke went in the water to warm up a bit. It was still raining and the waves made it difficult for him to swim. After a couple of minutes, he came back on board, grabbed some rope, and went down into the town to search the spots Simon showed him. It took him a couple of hours to get to every spot and with no luck. It was still early in the afternoon and there were no other hints as to where the treasure was hidden. "Are we sure it is here?" asked Marcel while looking at Duke warming up. "It has to be," said Simon. "But we are missing something," he continued. Simon brought up the map and asked Duke, "Have you checked all the spots?". "I might have missed one or two," he answered. "Come here," said Simon. "Try this one next time," said Simon while pointing at the map. Duke went once again deep into the water and followed the route that Simon showed him. He was surprised to see that there were a couple of wooden chests. He grabbed one and tied it with the rope and went outside. Everyone was happy to see Duke with a wooden chest at the surface. When he got the wooden chest on board they opened it and the chest was half-empty, but it still contained some treasure. "There are more down there," said Duke while looking at the contents of the wooden chest. The weather outside started to pick up and the waves became wild, hitting the ship. "Leave it for tomorrow," said Marcel. "I don't want anything to happen to you because some treasure," he continued. Overnight the weather calmed down and Duke went back to the spot with the wooden chests. He brought them on the ship one by one until there was none left. "Let us get out of here before another storm picks up," said Marcel while signaling to raise the anchor. They returned to the island with the Bear Claws tavern and brought the wooden chests into the rooms. "I can not wait to see what is inside them," said Greg. "Me neither," said Duke. "We should let Duke open them, he worked hard to bring us those," said Marcel and everyone agreed. Duke opened the chests one by one and each one had more and more precious stones and jewels. Two of them also had a map in a bottle that Simon took to analyze. Later that night Fred and Greg took the wooden chests back to the ship and hid them. They spent a couple more days on the island, buying supplies and celebrating their treasure.