Shadows flickered across weary faces as the survivors stood in a loose formation, their focus still centered around Jack and the three girls. The earlier accusations and argunts had settled, and now there was little doubt left—Jack hadn't been the one. Even Madison, Bella, and Alice, despite their initial suspicions, had co to the sa conclusion. There was simply no way he could have been in two places at once.
If anything, the only logical explanation was that either soone had deliberately tricked them or sothing far more disturbing was at play. But at this point, it didn't matter. What mattered now was what ca next.
Ryder stepped forward, his gaze steady, his expression serious. His presence alone was enough to gather attention, and when he finally spoke, his voice carried the weight of a problem that had been lingering in everyone's minds.
"Maybe it's ti we talk about the real problem."
Madison arched a brow, arms crossed as she tilted her head. "Which is?"
Ryder turned his sharp gaze toward her, then to the rest of the group. "Our location is exposed."
A heavy silence followed his words.
Faces dropped, shoulders tensed, and the murmurs that had once filled the space died down instantly. It was a thought that had been gnawing at the back of everyone's minds, but hearing it spoken aloud made it all the more real.
"We've been here for months," Ryder continued, his voice level but firm. "And now that they know where we are, staying here isn't an option anymore."
So of the survivors exchanged uneasy glances. They knew he was right. Staying in one place for too long was dangerous—especially now that it was clear Zoro's reach extended further than they had anticipated. Moving was the safest course of action, even if it ant starting over yet again.
But Jack didn't seem to share that sa line of thinking.
While the others were ntally preparing for another relocation, his expression remained unreadable, his eyes darting from one person to the next. Then, as the quiet tension lingered, he finally spoke, his tone sharp, cutting through the air like a blade.
"You're all thinking about running again?" He shook his head, looking almost disgusted. "Are we just gonna keep doing this forever?"
So people turned to him, puzzled. Others frowned.
Jack's eyes narrowed slightly. "How about, instead of running, we finally talk about sothing that actually matters?"
Ryder folded his arms. "And what would that be?"
Jack's gaze swept over the group before he answered, his voice filled with conviction.
"Getting the hell off this island."
A wave of silence crashed over the survivors. So flinched at the suggestion, as if the re ntion of escape was sothing foolish—sothing dangerous.
Jack continued, stepping forward. "We tried once, and yeah, we failed. But that was a long ti ago. And instead of trying again, we've been stuck in the sa damn cycle—running, hiding, surviving, waiting for what? For Zoro to hunt us down one by one?" He scoffed, shaking his head. "That's stupid."
Alice t his eyes, nodding slightly. She had been thinking the sa thing. In fact, all three of them had. No matter how far they ran, no matter how well they hid, Zoro would always find them. The only real solution wasn't to keep running—it was to leave.
But how?
Ryder, skeptical as ever, voiced the sa thought running through everyone's minds. "And how exactly do you plan on pulling that off?"
Jack smirked. He had been waiting for that question.
"We all know that Zoro uses teleportation arrays whenever he needs to travel across long distances," Jack began, pacing slightly as he spoke. "We've seen him do it before."
Everyone nodded in agreent. That much was true.
Jack continued, his voice gaining montum. "And we also know that about a month ago, he used the sa teleportation array to move a massive amount of equipnt and minerals off this island."
That piece of information caught so of them off guard. A few exchanged glances, realizing where he was going with this.
Jack's smirk widened as he drove his point ho. "Which ans his portal isn't just so small-scale thing. It has the capacity to transport a lot of things at once. Maybe even lots people."
A murmur spread through the crowd. More people were paying attention now, the weight of Jack's words settling in.
"Think about it," Jack pressed on. "If we can find a way to harness the power of his portal, then we might finally have a way off this damned island."
The idea was bold. Reckless, even. But for the first ti in a long ti, it wasn't just about surviving—it was about escaping.
Then, from sowhere in the crowd, a voice finally spoke up.
"And how do you expect us to do that?"
Jack's expression darkened slightly, his smirk turning into sothing sharper. Sothing dangerous.
"Simple," he said, his voice dripping with confidence.
"We play his ga."
A few people stiffened, unsure of where he was going with this.
Jack's grin widened.
"Zoro wants to hunt us?" His eyes glinted with a dangerous edge. "Then this ti… we hunt him back."
The silence that followed was deafening.
Everyone stared at Jack as if he had lost his mind.
But even through their disbelief, a shift had begun. A thought—no, a possibility—had been planted. And for the first ti, the idea of fighting back wasn't just a wild fantasy.
It was a plan.
And it had just begun.
Jack turned, lifting his arm as he pointed toward the distant area where the Gorvaks had first erged. His sharp gaze scanned the terrain, his mind working fast, piecing everything together. The group watched him in silence, waiting for him to continue.
"Earlier," Jack said, his voice firm, "Alice told that Zoro used a portal to bring those things here." His eyes flickered toward Alice for confirmation, and she gave a small nod.
"That's right," Alice confird. "The portal was one-way. It let them in, but they couldn't go back through it."
Jack turned back to the others. "Which ans if we want to figure out how his portal works, we need to cover every possible location he might use to bring sothing else in." His voice was steady, but his words carried a weight that made so of the survivors exchange uneasy glances.
Ryder furrowed his brows. "And how exactly do you plan on doing that?"
Jack's smirk was sharp. "We put people in every possible location he could co from."
A small murmur spread through the crowd as people processed his words. So looked unsure, others intrigued.
Madison crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes. "So what, we just stake out every inch of this place and wait?"
Jack shrugged. "That's the general idea."
"That's suicide," soone muttered from the back.
Jack shook his head. "Not if we do it right." He stepped forward, scanning the faces of the people around him. "Zoro isn't expecting us to think like this. He expects us to run, to keep hiding like we always do. But if we change that—if we start tracking him—then we get the upper hand for the first ti."
Ryder exhaled sharply, rubbing the back of his neck. "Alright, let's say we do this. How do we even know where to set up? The Gorvaks ca from a portal, yeah, but that doesn't an he'll use the sa place twice."
Jack furrowed his brows. "Which part of small groups covering key locations—places where he's most likely to set up another portal don't you understand. The more ground we cover, the better our chances of catching him in the act."
Alice spoke up. "And once we do?"
Jack's smirk widened. "Then we take the portal for ourselves."
A few people inhaled sharply at the boldness of his statent.
Madison sighed, shaking her head. "You make it sound so damn simple."
Jack chuckled as he dropped a bomb on them. "Nothing about this is simple. If we fail and he gets to us first we will have too many people fanned out and little less people to defend."
****
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