‘Pirate Island is a collapsed volcano, its crater flooded by the sea,’ explained Captain Kurogumo, steering the Black Spider towards an empty mooring. ‘As a secret sealed in blood, no Wind Demon will ever reveal its location. And nor will you,’ he added ominously.

Jack looked gravely at his friends. They all shared the same condemned expression and he too wondered if this hidden lagoon would be their final resting place. Despite all their efforts and hardships, he now realized his quest to reach Nagasaki and return home to his sister, Jess, had been little more than a pipe dream, a mountain that would forever remain insurmountable.

The crew of the Black Spider threw dock lines to the awaiting pirates on the jetty, and the ship was secured and the gangway lowered.

‘Now we mustn’t keep Tatsumaki waiting,’ said Captain Kurogumo, ordering Skullface and his gang to escort the prisoners.

The sharp end of Skullface’s sword ensured that Jack and his friends didn’t dawdle. They were forced down the gangway and on to the jetty. As they headed for a winched lift, they heard a scream from above. Looking up, they saw a body flailing through the air. Having fallen from the balcony, the man dropped like a stone. He hit the water with a bone-cracking smack, the impact instantly killing him.

The Wind Demons barely paid the dead man any attention as he sank into the lagoon without a trace. The dark figure at the end of the balcony remained.

‘Tatsumaki must be in a bad mood today,’ observed Captain Kurogumo with a sorry shake of his head.

Stepping on to a bamboo-framed platform, the captain indicated for Jack, Yori and Skullface to join him. Miyuki, Saburo and Cheng stayed behind, guarded by Tiger and Snakehead, as four men worked a winch to draw the lift upwards. The rickety construction ascended steadily. Jack was glad he had a head for heights, but Yori looked far less at ease, clutching on to the frame with white knuckles. As each level passed, Jack noted there was an obvious hierarchy – the further up the cliff face they went, the more prevalent the share of ill-gotten gains became, with the dwellings increasingly spacious and well-appointed. By the time they neared the top, some houses were as opulent as royal palaces.

The lift finally reached the citadel level. The four of them stepped off on to a suspended walkway and the lift descended to collect the others. As they stood outside a barred gate waiting for its return, Jack feared what the leader of the Wind Demons might have in store for him and his friends. To toss a man from such a perilous height was the act of a cruel and callous pirate. By all counts, Tatsumaki seemed to be even more sadistic and ruthless than the Sea Samurai Captain Arashi.