Robin reluctantly closed his Motes menu, turning to sprint towards the vessels docked at the end of the hangar bay. There was a massive door at the end of the room, but it was half-closed, standing more than five meters over the waterline.

I should be able to trigger that to open, or at least get out through there. Those boats, though… There is no way that Tao managed to steal a United States Navy ship, is there?

Robin approached the boats at full speed, taking a running leap onto the deck of the largest vessel. He easily cleared the railing, landing on the crisply-painted grey deck, landing next to what he was only just now realizing was a machine gun.

Robin realized that there were, in fact, quite a few machine guns on the boat, as well as cameras, sensors, and other gadgets that Robin had no name for mounted in various places.

No time to stop and see that now. Robin kept running, leaping over the other side of the ship to what looked like a small control room booth set into the side of the ship. It had been nearly impossible to spot from the other end of the hangar, but from the top of the USN boat the cutout had been easy enough to see.

He landed on the walkway with a loud clang. The noise was immediately swallowed by the blaring klaxons, telling him yet again to abandon ship.

Robin hurriedly looked over the rusty panel, cursing whichever pirate had been responsible for maintaining it, and Tao for not making sure it was done. There were dozens of switches, but the one that looked like it had slightly less dirt on it than the others had “DECK WELL GATE”, and that seemed likely.

Robin hesitated for a moment, inspecting it. It looked like someone had rewired the panel in a somewhat sloppy fashion. Robin was not sure, but it looked like it was connected to a few of the other switches.

He shrugged and flipped the switch, realizing after a brief moment that it had been covering a button. He pressed it, yanking his finger back quickly as it sparked once, glaring at the panel.

A noise was cutting through the alarms, and Robin realized that he could feel it, as well, his legs vibrating as unseen machinery moved.

It was a creaking coming from the gate. The massive metal barricade was slowly lowering, sinking into the water.

I have no idea how to steer that thing, or how to turn it on. Better go for one of the smaller boats.

Robin leapt from the railing to the larger of the two motorboats that were beside the USN vessel, and started rummaging for the keys. There were not many places to look and he was starting to feel like he was running out of time, so he hopped over to the smaller motorboat.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

He was pleased to find the keys already in the ignition and sat down, turning them gently. He let it warm up for a moment, and then eased gently onto the throttle, turning slightly to put himself in front of the heavily-armed USN boat. Robin cut the throttle and moved to the back of the motorboat, withdrawing a coil of webbing from the Aliquam Pack. He secured one end of it to the rope tie that was was in the middle of the rear of the boat, and then looked up at the more massive vessel.

Yes! There it is!

Robin leapt off of the boat towards the navy ship, only to flop into the water as the smaller boat moved beneath him. Mildly embarrassed, and for the first time grateful that May had not made it in with him, he swam to the ship and climbed up the side, his mutated palms gripping the wet metal with no issue.

Robin secured the web to the rope hook on the underside of the prow of the USN vessel using Reshape Webs, forming it completely around the anchor point. When he was confident in his work, he climbed to the top and unhooked the chain that was securing the USN ship to the metal railing. He moved back to the side, and after briefly considering attempting to jump again, he dove into the water and swam to the motorboat.

I think I could have made that jump, but I might have punched through the bottom of the boat… Besides, this is kinda nice, he thought, easily hopping from the water to land smoothly on the deck. He slid into the driver’s seat, slowly rotated towards the now-open well deck gate, and eased onto the throttle, slowly taking the boat towards the gate.

As the web tightened, Robin eased off the throttle, though not completely, and the larger boat slowly turned towards the gate, as well. He slowly increased the throttle, and both ships began moving, gaining speed as they continued.

Robin passed over the gate, feeling a slight tingle pass through him. A notification popped up, and Robin scanned it quickly, willing it to become partially transparent to let him continue to monitor his towing operation.

You have completed the Pride of the Pirate Lord! System Coins are disabled for this dungeon. You will receive one random reward, generated from the list of possible rewards. The granted reward will appear in your preferred storage, on your person, or in your vicinity. Rewards: Boots of the Wavestrider

Robin glanced down. He did not see any newly-appeared boots on his armored feet, not any around him on the boat… He reached into the Aliquam Pack, willing boots to appear in his hand. He felt a touch of leather to his palm and pulled the boots out. They were ...very, very tall. They would easily go up to his knees, or just below, entirely by design. They had what could almost be described as collars hanging over the tops, somewhat like old-fashioned pirate boots.

Worse, they were bright blue, with the “collars” a darker royal blue. They had little silver buckles on the outer sides, with straps running up and down each side.

Robin used Identify, carefully steering the ship as he read the notification that appeared.

Boots of the Wavestrider (U) Worn by a dashing swashbuckler often in need of an unusual escape route, the Boots of the Wavestrider allow the wearer to walk upon any liquid surface as if it were solid. In addition, the RUN of the wearer increases by five.

Robin heard a small splash, barely perceptible, and he looked up sharply, dismissing the text box.

There was nothing to be seen on the surface, but after a moment, May surfaced, already shouting towards the pirate vessel.

“Robin! Shit! Where are… Robin!” She was looking around frantically, the anxiety clear on her face. She spotted him aboard the motorboat and cursed, only recognizing him after he stood up.

Robin slowly waved, puzzled.

...did she just now hit the water from when she dove off the ship before I entered the dungeon?