"Hohohoho!"
Sage's cocky and unruly laughter echoed through the night sky. He slapped Hawkins on the shoulder and raised his wooden cup high, "Boys, welcome Hawkins to our Pirates!"
"Oh!!"
The deck was crowded with many crew members, and the chefs hurriedly roasted food to supply the feast for a thousand people.
After Hawkins drank the acceptance wine, Sage started the party. At this time, not many of the crew were asleep; most were drinking inside the cabin. People like Gin were silently training alone.
Gin, also an officer of the Disaster Pirates, had his own room in the cabin. Others were less fortunate and generally crammed ten or so people into one room with bunk beds.
Of course, more people just found a spot in the passageways and open spaces in the cabin, getting drunk and sleeping wherever they fell, maybe covering themselves with a fur rug.
Everyone was a pirate, strong and hearty, and didn't care much about such things.
The Death Star was quite stable.
"You drink too, drink more, bottoms up, eh, yes! What a blast!"
Sage watched as Hawkins lifted the wooden cup, drinking the liquid inside in one go, and laughed heartily. "Later, give me a reading. If I fish out of nowhere again, can I catch something?"
Hawkins shook his head slightly: "I don't calculate; I only perform divination. Comparatively..."
"Same thing, no difference." Sage waved his hand with a smile: "Anyway, it's up to you, Old Ho!"
Hawkins: "..."
"My name is Basil Hawkins, not Old Ho, and I'm not old; I'm only twenty-nine this year."
Sage nodded, indicating he heard, "Okay, Old Ho, hurry up and give me a reading. Your ability is so useful, don't waste it."
"The ability is just amplification..."
Hawkins shook his head slightly, took out the Tarot cards, spread them with both hands, and the cards shuffled and reorganized elegantly in his hands, "My divination is a power I possess inherently; I am originally a Divination Master."
There are other forces existing on the sea, sometimes not weaker than Fruit Ability.
Hawkins had been a renowned Divination Master long ago, the Straw-Straw Fruit only amplified it, making him an absolute probability. As long as he performed divination, he never went wrong.
He drew the top few cards and placed them on a few strands of straw extending from his trouser leg, glanced at them, and said lightly: "Failure rate 99.99%, success rate 0.01%, same as before, Sage... Captain, you're not suited for fishing right now."
"Hahahaha!"
Sage tilted his head back and laughed: "After the banquet, remember to get me a fishing rod!"
"Eh? Sage, didn't the divination say today isn't suitable for fishing?" Renedia asked curiously.
"A one-in-ten-thousand chance isn't a chance? If there's an opportunity, you have to try!"
Sage drank a large cup of wine, laughing: "Until the final moment, no one knows the outcome. Not trying means failure, trying gives you one in ten thousand—either way is failure, so what if!"
Hawkins' eyes moved, deeply looking at Sage.
Not angry at Sage for ignoring his divination result, nor upset for not following his advice, he had just joined and couldn't talk about loyalty.
But having agreed to board, he wouldn't sneak away—that wasn't his character.
Just...
"So what if?" Hawkins murmured.
Many things aren't actually 100%, nor 0%. His survival and escape rate, doesn't exist in absolute 100% terms, just that probability, which Hawkins has ignored, determining it as 100% or 0%.
There's no path of absolute success or failure, no matter how difficult, divination will show a glimmer of hope.
But that's almost meaningless.
Divination is divination, not gambling on luck; exactly what to do still depends on Hawkins himself.
He doesn't have the strength to gamble on probability. Conversely, Sage's strength is clearly overwhelming.
But now, Sage wasn't pretending with his words, nor looking down on his divination ability, Hawkins felt it—he simply believed he could influence that incredibly small probability...
"I have a question."
Hawkins watched the wooden cup in his hand, and said: "If you were me, in that situation, what would you do?"
"Me?"
Sage was surprised, then smiled: "Fight if I can, run if I can't, and if I can't escape... the enemy won't have it easy!"
Hawkins thought about it, shaking his head: "But the result would be death."
"You..."
Sage patted his shoulder and said: "First, our situations are different. I'm stronger than you, I have more ways, whoever it is, I'll have the strength to fight, don't fight, do you think the enemy will just spare you? Don't rely on ability too much, a one-percent chance is a chance, a one-in-ten-thousand chance is also a chance..."
He grinned: "Afraid of dying, being a pirate for what!"
A pirate places life and death aside.
Sage was dedicated as a pirate. Besides stealing, he was also prepared to die!
Hawkins knew what Sage meant very well. At that time, would surrendering be a better choice? As long as life remained, he could wait for the future.
But setting sail with such a mentality...
Sage would only weaken more and more!
This is also why Hawkins himself isn't strong.
The power of will can grow or diminish, even if he hasn't mastered Haki, the inherent strength can still be seen.