Chapter 886 (2/2)

Yet it somehow made Kerrar more miserable. If this character had obtained so many high Leveled pieces of equipment that he could simply toss them away every ten minutes or so… Had Kerrar made a mistake to not research him a bit more before taking his money…? Had he been lured into association with some sinister figure from the other Zones…?

Should I have charged more…? Kerrar wondered as he gnawed at his lip.

Very quickly, all of those thoughts and worries were wiped away from Kerrar’s mind; Dangerous Depths activated again. And this time, it was ringing at another octave higher than the previous warnings.

There was something strange about the signal on this occasion, but Kerrar bolted to his feet and swiftly climbed up the mast to get a better view of the surrounding area. Unlike most warnings, there was no direction. There was only a deep sense that they had wandered somewhere they shouldn’t. But Kerrar was a practical man; he knew his Skill wouldn’t provide all the answers. Some things he needed to find out by himself.

Although he was getting older, the System had given him a bit of his old spark back which enabled him to fly up toward the crow’s nest. Although the world was becoming more fucked up every day, with dangerous wooden plank weapons of all things, those that didn’t die obtained capability from the System.

Once up in the crow’s nest, it only took a single glance to find the likely culprit of the suffocating feeling that Kerrar had in his chest.

A huge vessel, fully twenty-five times the size of Kerrar’s modest ship, cruising swiftly toward them. It had fucking cannons, for christ sake. This was not a fishing vessel or even a monster hunting expedition; that boat was made to kill and plunder men.

And the black flag flying above the ship was a snide declaration of that very intent.

On the way down, Kerrar didn’t bother with the ropes. He simply leapt and landed, the boards of the deck quaking from the impact. Very quickly, he picked his way across the vessel to Randidly, who stood on the starboard side and seemed to be contemplating the waves.

“We have a problem,” Kerrar said without any real greeting. As time passed, the urgency that Dangerous Depths warned about seemed to grow even more hysterical. “Pirates. Murderers. General characters of ill repute-”

“Don’t worry,” Randidly waved a hand. “Stay the course. If they try anything, I’ll handle them.”

“They have cannons,” Kerrar hissed. How much clearer could he be? Immediately, Kerrar felt a flash of regret. He shouldn’t have even bothered to inform this fool. This calmness was that of someone who doesn’t know how seriously out of their depth that they are. Kerrar should have just turned the ship and dealt with Randidly’s ire. “They aren’t here to make friends.”

“Unless cannons have gotten a hell of a lot more powerful since the System arrived, I think I can handle it, stay the course-” Then Randidly stopped speaking, as he glanced up and frowned.

Kerrar didn’t know what was more disturbing: the fact that Randidly seemed surprised, the fact that there was a huge shadow across the deck of his baby, or that his Dangerous Depths was now conspicuously silent.

Turning around, Kerrar only caught a glimpse of a figure cracking onto his deck with enough force to splinter and crack the wood. The shockwave sent Kerrar sprawling, but he was up again in a flash with two daggers in hand. If these pirates thought that he would go quietly into the soft night, they had another thing coming!

Yet the ambiance of the deck was somewhat strange. Even Kerrar, who was ready to leap into action, paused as he considered the two figures who remained at the center of the deck.

A tall and gaunt figure stood on the far side of the deck. Belatedly, Kerrar recognized him as the Pale Killer, the scourge of the entire sea, and took an involuntary step back. He had seen the man’s wanted poster hanging all across Scant. Hell, he had used to joke about one time he had seen a tall mast with a black flag on the horizon and fled immediately.

And now…!

Now the Pale Killer just stared at Randidly.

And Randidly’s face twisted with a grimace as he stared back. Finally, he shook his head and said. “It was hard on you, wasn’t it? I-”

“You don’t even fucking know the half of it,” The Pale Killer hissed. His hands were balled into fists. Lightning fast, he pulled a dagger from his waist and raised it. Again, Kerrar took a step back in shock, but Randidly just stood there.

“Do you want to fight?” Randidly said in a soft voice.

“Fuck you,” The Pale Killer whispered. Then his limbs went limp and he collapsed onto the deck, his dagger bouncing several meters away to skitter next to Kerrar’s feet. Then the Pale Killer’s shoulders began to shake, as though the infamous killer of the seas… was crying.

Time slowly passed.

Kerrar tried to decide how long was an appropriate amount of time to allow the situation to go on before he spoke up and they addressed the rather obvious issue of a crying murderer on his deck.

The boat slowly bobbed up and down on the waves. The other ship loomed over them, similarly frozen.

Very gradually, Kerrar paled. How long was this going to take?!?