A few judicious minutes later, Darren, still in the stern cabin of the sloop, had Twist of Fate fully charged off of his handy-dandy fish-in-a-bucket. All it would take now was a handful of seconds to summon his swivel gun, set it charging, cast Twist of Fate on it, and unleash a cannonball that would decimate the little sloop’s keel.

  Being the lynch pin of this threat, he was also stuck in the cabin, which proved just large enough to summon the gun.

  Samantha had the job of guarding the entryway and pulling off the bluff. Obviously, the one downside to sinking the ship was, well, the fact that they were on it too. Darren didn’t fancy himself that crash hot of a swimmer, but at least he’d sunk a few points into strength, so he’d do okay.

  But they were in the middle of the ocean.

  He could only hope the old pirate was as good with words as she was with killing. He had some doubts, given that she’d lost her previous ship.

  Though perhaps that was too harsh a judgment. She had kept it for decades before that.

  Voices drifted down through the entry to the cabin. Samantha’s cold, calm voice and the enraged voices of the five pirates. He could just make out the negotiation.

  “—no proof that he can do that,” a gruff male voice said. Darren dubbed him Gruffy.

  “You saw what he did to your cannon and crew with just one shot,” Samantha said.

  “Yeah,” said another pirate, a woman, “but you’ll all drown with the rest of us.”

  The air seemed to chill as Samantha spoke, her voice as cold and hard as the blade in her hand, “I am the captain of the Sea Witch. One crew of bilge-drinkers has already mutinied against me this month. If you think for one moment that I won’t take us all straight to Davey Jones… well. Let’s just say that I’ll make sure you drown first.”

  Gruffy said, “You might be willing to die, but what about that Biggus guy?”

  Darren groaned.

  “He’s an Interloper,” Samantha said.

  Silence.

  Then a chorus of disbelief from the pirates.

  “We’d have seen it when we inspected him!” the female pirate said.

  “What? When you were Classless and his level?” Samantha asked, her words dripping with scorn. “You’ve never heard of items that protect your stats from inspection? He knows your names, and you can’t kill him. He will come for you all, and he will keep hunting until every single one of you is floating face down in the ocean the moment you let your guard down.

  “He’s already defied Themis and has four skills at level 5. Even she has been powerless to stop him. What hope do you believe you have?”

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Darren’s jaw clenched. He’d hardly call putting his real body in a coma powerless. Buuut, he had told her to bluff. He slunk back into a corner to make sure he was well out of sight of any of the pirates.

  One inspection of him would blow the whole ruse. The only items he’d seen that changed an Interloper’s status to Local only worked against similar level people. Or those with very low INT. That item had been Legendary quality, so he needed to be careful, as they’d know for sure he wasn’t an Interloper when inspecting him now.

  “Doesn’t matter,” Gruffy said. “It’ll be worth trying. Themis offered us a quest with 25,000 experience when we kill him.”

  Ahh. So that’s why they all levelled up. Darren groaned. The AI, Themis, was still after him. At their levels, 25,000 XP would push all of them up another level.

  “That is lucrative, yes,” Samantha said. “Given how few quests us Locals receive, I would leap at that opportunity too.”

  Darren stiffened. What? Was she turning traitor? He prepared to cast Summoned Swivel Gun, just in case…

  “However,” Samantha continued, “are you aware of how many quests Interlopers receive? I’m sure you’ve heard rumours of how quickly they’ll be able to level compared to us—even those of us with classes. They can reach level 18 in days. It takes us years to do that, if we get blessed with a class.

  “But what you can’t know, because you haven’t done it, is how much experience you get when you work with them.”

  The air of open hostility seemed to abate at that, replaced with one of greed. “What are you saying?” the female pirate asked.

  “I’m saying that during the last few days of sailing with this Interloper, I’ve been receiving experience whenever he completes quests. I don’t know why, but the gods reward those who help Interlopers. Those who stay loyal to Interlopers will reap great rewards.”

  Interesting, Darren mused. So while the devs had built in a system for the Locals to distrust players, they’d also given players a way to lure the greedy and opportunistic to their cause. Who was he to complain?

  “If you sail with us,” Samantha said, “you’ll receive far more reward from Poseidon himself than you will from Themis.”

  “Poseidon is his deity?” Gruffy said, a note of fear in his voice.

  “Don’t listen to her!” the female pirate said. “Themis has given us classes and a quest. If we turn on her, she will hunt us. You want a god against you?”

  “Poseidon is more powerful than Themis,” Gruffy said. “If we follow his chosen Interloper, Themis wouldn’t dare strike us.”

  The female pirate snorted. “Idiot. She’s already given five of us levels and a quest to kill him. She’s proven she’s not scared of Poseidon.”

  “You’re pirates!” Samantha bellowed. “Risk for reward is your life. If you wanted a safe and secure life, ignored by the gods, you should have stayed on land. But here on the seas? You’re pawns in the hands of the gods. Every god knows that the best reward will win the pirate’s heart. Why do you think Themis was so ‘generous’ with her quest? She fears this Interloper because she knows he will be a force to be reckoned with in this world. And those who have the courage to stand by him like I do will rise to the top.

  “If you join me in helping him survive the trials he will face, I swear on the Sea Witch that you will become the most feared pirates this world has ever seen. Darren, Biggus, is one of the first Interlopers this world has seen, but the lorekeepers have warned us that tens of thousands, perhaps millions, will follow.

  “Our world is changing, and those with the courage to leap now will ride a wave of glory beyond imagining.” Samantha paused, her words having silenced the pirates. After a moment, she continued, softly, “So, are you lily-livered cowards? Or pirates?”

  Darren did a silent chef’s kiss from his hiding spot. Damn, she was good.

  “I’ll follow him,” Gruffy said at last.

  There was a slow chorus of assent. Except from the female pirate. “You’re all fools,” she spat. “Themis will kill you all!”

  A scuffle broke out on the deck. Darren risked a peek in time to see a rangy woman drive a sword into the gut of one of the men.

  A gunshot thundered, and Darren flinched back.