Puss, taking advantage of the pirates' confusion over the sudden events, quickly pulled up his system panel to take a look, curious to see how things had changed.
[Host: Puss in Boots
Age: 15 years
Status: Cursed (Immortal)
Talents:
Mutant Cat (Gold): Level 6 → 7 (Progress: 5%)
Natural Swordsman (Gold): Level 6 → 7 (Progress: 5%)
Furry Lover (Silver): Level 1 (Progress: 75%)
Lucky Feline (Gold): Level 3 (Progress: 38%)
Equipment: (+)]
During the boat trip to reach the Caribbean Sea, he had once again upgraded Mutant Cat and Natural Swordsman, and after fighting the immortal pirates in Port Royal, he had made another 5% of progress—which, while it seemed small, was a lot for talents of that level, saving him months of grinding.
But what he really wanted to see was his current status, which had changed from 9 lives remaining to Cursed (Immortal), something quite interesting. And although immortality sounded like a good word, the sensation of feeling absolutely nothing was terrible.
At that moment, Puss felt like he was playing a video game where he was the character. And even though he could control his body perfectly, there was a sense of detachment, as if he wasn't truly himself—just someone holding the controller. Of course, it was even worse, since he didn't even feel the sensations of the body holding the controller.
Splash!
While Puss was lost in thought, Barbossa emerged from the water, glaring menacingly at the cat on top of the treasure chest, who was mockingly staring down at him. He swam to shore and climbed up, joining his men, his angry gaze fixed on Puss.
"You must be the demon cat my men spoke of. I didn't expect you to be... so small." Barbossa's eye twitched, but then he gave a wicked grin. "Nice trick, catching me off guard. But even if you've become immortal, I've got hundreds of men with me, and you're alone." Barbossa sneered.
"No, he's not!" a very familiar voice rang out, turning Barbossa's face dark.
Climbing up the rock in the middle of the small lake was Jack—the voice's owner—alongside Elizabeth, Tornado, and the now-unbound Will.
Puss and his companions had used the distraction of Barbossa's men to secretly swim to the back of the rock, and then came Puss's surprise attack when he saw the curse had been broken.
Seeing his companions, Puss winked at them, and they quickly understood, rushing toward the chest.
Barbossa's eyes widened. He drew his sword from his belt and pointed it at them, shouting furiously at his subordinates.
"Don't let them take the coins, you bunch of idiots! Stop them!" he roared in anger.
"AAHHH!!" The pirates, roused by their captain's scream, charged at them without hesitation, yelling ferociously.
They leapt into the lake and swam, some climbing over rocks, others finding any way they could to reach the treasure.
Barbossa also ran in fury, cursing himself for having left the crossbows aboard the Pearl—otherwise, he would've brought them down in a hail of arrows.
And just as he feared, his men were too slow to arrive, and by the time the first got close, Puss's companions had already each taken a coin.
"Quick, toss them to me and shut the lid! I'll hold them off!" Puss shouted, pulling an empty cloth pouch from his boot.
Following the plan—which had also been whispered to Will as they were untying him—the four tossed their coins into their hands, and in Tornado's case, into his mouth, for Puss to catch. He quickly grabbed the coins and, along with his own, dropped them into the small pouch before stuffing it into his boot.
And just in time—because the pirates had reached them, and Puss leapt forward with his sword toward the enemy.
Puss's sword went straight for the first pirate's neck, who hadn't had enough time to react.
But in Puss's eyes, in that split second, hesitation was born. His sword drew back slightly, and instead only carved a bloody gash across the man's chest.
"AAAAHH!!" the man screamed, falling backward and taking several other pirates with him as they crashed into the lake below.
Splash! Splash!
Puss's hand holding the sword trembled slightly.
He wasn't a killer—and had never taken a life so directly.
At most, he had killed a few small non-sentient animals for food (not that he knew), or condemned a few criminals to the gallows—but he had never been the one to cut the last breath from a human. After all, he himself had once been human, in a past life, before becoming a cat in this one.
Even 15 years later, he still carried a bit of his modern-day mindset. Besides, he had lived under the care of the kind matron for 15 years in this life, and the idea of killing wasn't something that came easily to him—even in the face of such wicked men.
Then, the second pirate reached him while he was still lost in thought. And when Puss saw his face, his hand stopped trembling.
He clearly remembered that ugly face, the filthy beard, those yellowed, wicked eyes, and the large scar on his cheek. He was the one who had taken the life of a soldier a short distance away from Puss in the previous battle—someone Puss had failed to save.
And with that, the image of the many bodies scattered across the battlefield came to his mind—victims of the pirates now charging at him. He didn't even know how many more lives they had taken during their decade of piracy and immortality.
In that exact moment, Puss in Boots set aside his mercy.
Swish!
A sword flew through the air, still clutched by a severed hand.
"AAHHHHH!!" the pirate screamed, clutching the stump where his hand had been cut off.
But Puss's sword didn't stop there. With another swing, a bloody gash opened across the pirate's chest, sending him flying backward.
Splash!
Although it hadn't killed him outright, the pirate would be lucky if blood loss didn't finish the job later.
Then, Puss's sword didn't stop in the moments that followed, and the incoming pirates were quickly sent back, fresh wounds slashed across their bodies. Puss wasn't aiming to kill, but he no longer held his blade back.
The droplets of blood dripping from his sword, combined with the knowledge that he was likely taking lives directly with his own hands, unbalanced his mindset a bit—and his stomach would probably have churned if he weren't in a cursed state. Even the smell of blood, which was surely overwhelming, he could no longer sense—something that actually helped.
At the same time, the Accelerated Learning from the Mutant Cat talent was counterbalancing his guilt over killing and slowly overcoming his mental discomfort. After all, he knew these pirates weren't worthy of mercy.
As Puss fought and did his best to keep the pirates away from the chest—making sure none of them could become immortal again and complicate matters—Will and Jack ran over and sealed the coffin with its heavy stone lid.
Seeing that, Puss smiled in relief and looked toward the four.
"You three protect the chest—don't let anyone near it. Jack, you deal with Barbossa and settle your feud. I'll take down the rest." He assigned tasks, and seeing no objections, he leapt straight into the crowd.
"Damn cat! I'll kill you!" some pirates screamed, charging at him with swords—only to be thrown back seconds later.
Lacking sensation had greatly affected Puss's fighting style—his instincts were dulled, and it felt like he lacked a sense of balance. But even so, he adapted quickly.
Still, he made a special effort not to get stabbed. After all, even though he was immortal for the moment, he didn't want to lose his title as someone untouched by a blade.
Puss was like a machine on the battlefield. Pirates that came at him were sent flying, and those who tried to flee were hunted down.
His entire body moved like a battle machine—his tail coiled around dropped swords and flung them at the legs of fleeing pirates, the blade in his hand felt alive as it countered like a violent bear, disarming and felling men. His boots danced across the battlefield, kicking sword hilts into pirates or simply slamming into faces and backsides.
Slowly, Puss's mindset shifted from hesitant to cold, and he seemed like an unstoppable warrior on the battlefield—instilling fear and terror into the hearts of his enemies.