With the coast clear, Killian and his comrade continued as planned, carrying out their assignment diligently.

Meanwhile, not too far away from the ships, Old Fru and his team had stealthily followed Crow Face, Jingo and a few other top leaders onto one of the estates.

They didn't know why these pirates dragged Josh here.

Wouldn't it have been better if they just took him directly to the ships?

Old Fru and his team were both confused and intrigued.

At present, they had already taken out a few guards around the estate and had stealthily made their way in after Jingo's team entered one of the estate buildings.

When they remembered the scene they had just witnessed, they couldn't help rushing up hastily.

'Hold on, Major General. Help is on the way.'

.

~Bam!

With brute force, Josh was thrown to the floor, banging his back hard against the wall.

His entire body was bloodied, with only his face being somewhat clear.

His damp, wet long hair stuck to his face as water droplets quickly slid down his cheeks.

The tiny flakes of snow that fell onto his hair earlier on had now turned into liquid.

Everyone in the too gave way to Jingo, who was calmly removing his black gloves.

Jingo silently observed Josh, taking in his full image as if trying to put his image into his brain.

With the light snowflakes and the darkness of the night, he didn't see Josh's appearance well when they were outside.

So this was the first time he could see the Hamunaptra spy properly.

Even though the man's face wasn't bloody, his ghastly pale appearance made Jingo frown.

"Quickly. Bring the water and the healer to recheck his wouldn't before we get aboard the ships.

And get the man warmer clothes. We can't afford anything to happen to him, or it will be our behinds!"

Old Crow Face nodded in understanding: "Sub-Captain, what about his face? They might still be looking for him. So we have to be extra careful in all or any moves we make... at least until we get to Morgany. 

"Hmmm... What you say makes sense. After all, we want his people to keep thinking that he never left this empire. So we can't let anyone see him get aboard our ships.

For all we know, those temple bastards might be watching our every move now and might willingly give out information to his people when they come back looking for him.

Yes. Many saw us bring him here.

But we could've killed him and buried him instead. So no one has to know that he boarded our ship.

That said, I need you to clean him up, redo his wounds, give him a quick face paint, tie his hair back and provide him with proper clothing for travel."

Crow Face and the rest nodded in understanding.

With that, Jungo turned around, flapping his oversized coat to the wind while exciting the room alongside a few other guards.

There were still a few loose ends that he needed tying up.

.

~Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

He walked up the stone stairway while a few men in front of him walked ahead with flaming torches in their hands.

Two men were ahead of him, and 4 men were behind him.

The group of 7 stone stairways, leaving the cold and mouldy room below.

At present, most people were out helping them load items, goods and people.

So the estate was a little desolate, with only a few guards strategically stationed around here and there.

Jingo touched the letters in his inner breast pockets once more and felt reassured again.

Yes. The secret letters were still there.

He and his gang proceeded along a narrow hallway while being greeted by a few guards stationed there.

Soon, they stepped out of the building and entered another nearby building.

This time, Jingo kept his men outside one of the main rooms and proceeded toward alone.

One might think that Josh was the only prisoner in this place.

But that would be a lie.

Jingo entered one of the rooms, shut the metal door tightly before walking towards the writing desk at the forefront.

Was he here to read the secret letters in private? Was he here to pass his time, waiting for the Hamunaptra spy to get cleaned up?

Wrong!!

With a smirk on his lips, he placed his hands on the desk.

And suddenly, the table divided into half from the middle, triggering some sort of pulley system.

~Drrrr~~

A rectangular hole formed on the ground, revealing a secret stairway beneath it!

Jingo broadened his smile, moved towards the corner of the room, lit a torch and took it with him down below.

He descended the metal ladder with his torch until he got to the bottom.

~Squeak. Squeak. Squeak.

The sounds of mice running about echoed loudly into his ears.

But Jingo couldn't be bothered with this.

Just below the ladder on the corner wall was a wheel with sturdy ropes attached to it.

With one hand, he rotated the ropes, which in turn brought the long table above together as if it never parted in the first place.

The table above opened at its center just like those Saloon doors in cowboy movies opened and closed.

.

With everything adequately sealed, Jingo steadily walked along the narrow hallway until he arrived at a circular open room.

Immediately, the hoarse sounds of someone breathing heavily greeted him the moment he stepped in.

~Houuu... Houuuu... Houuuu~~

The man had his head dropped downwards while his hands remained chained up against the walls.

Looking at the prisoner on his knees, Jingo couldn't help chuckling mysteriously. 

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

He placed his torch in one of the torch holders and slowly made his way forward.

And with a playful smile on his face, he suddenly stopped and burst out into hysteria.

"Hahahhahahaha!

I'm back.

Tell me.... Do you miss me, sub-Captain Jingo?"