Before Lucy reached the cell control panel, a loud roar blasted behind her and her feet slid to a stop. She turned and saw a bear in an armor suit, carrying a gatling gun. He was big and brown with an angry face. With all the armor plates on his body, it almost looked like a metal armadillo.

Captain Fury Level: 35 Race: Bear HP: 350 Non-player character

"What are you intruders doing on my ship!" The captain roared, aiming his mini gun at Lucy and Byron. "And who the heck are you? A shark?"

"A Wereshark!" Byron shouted. "You capture half of my tribe! We are here to set them free!"

The bear snarled. "They are my property now, freak! And I will make sure no one leaves this ship!"

Lucy flashed her fangs beneath her gums. "How could you take innocent people from their homes? Can't you see this is wrong, what your company is doing?"

The bear laughed. "They are not people! Anyone who isn't part of the empire is trash waiting to be toss away or stole to the wealthiest. I capture slaves for a living because the gold is good. Selling lives are more valuable than trading food and weapons."

"A man who sells lives is nothing but a monster!" Byron shouted.

The captain shrugged. "I don't care as long as I get paid. As for you two, you can become my new slaves or die here now."

Lucy pointed her cutlass at the bear. "We will never become slaves for the likes of you!"

"What a shame. A Wereshark and a cute spaniel would be priceless. Oh well. DIE!!!" The bear's gatling gun rotated and fired.

Lucy and Byron dropped to the floor as the bullets flew over them. If they get shot, half of their health points will go down.

As Captain Fury stopped and lowered his gun, aiming at his targets with a chuckle, brown muck spatted onto his face. "What the barnacles?"

More muck rained upon the bear as he held up his gun to shield his face. The slaves were throwing the muck at the bear from their cages while yelling at the captain. It only a moment for Lucy to realize the strange was actually feces the slaves used to distract the bear. Gross, but it worked.

Lucy looked back at the panel, realizing if she frees all the slaves, they could take the captain down quickly. The bear couldn't shoot all of them.

"Get his gun!" Lucy ordered, raising on all-fours. "I am setting the slaves free so we can all attack him!"

"I shall do it!" The Wereshark charged toward the bear. He grabbed the gun, but Fury yanked it back.

As they enter a tuck of war for the gatling gun, Lucy dashed toward the panel. She pushed every switch down without hesitation. All the doors at the bottom and above opened with metal clicks.

When Byron pushed the bear back while taking his gun, all the slaves jumped down on him. Cats, dogs, birds, and a badger clawed and bit Fury's vulnerable spots. The herbivores, cattle, and gazelles kicked and banged his armor.

"Curse you!" The bear vanished after his health points fell down to zero.

Captain Fury is killed!

"Can I have your attention?" Lucy announced.

Everyone turned toward her attention.

With their eyes on her, Lucy held her cutlass up. "Let's kill all the slavers on this ship for our freedom!!!"

The freed slaves cheered, filling the chamber with their loud voices of excitement.

Behind them, Byron approached the stairway and raised the gatling gun up. "Follow me! Let's send those monsters into the dark pit of the afterlife!"

As their morality grew, the slaves followed the Wereshark out of the cargo hold. Lucy took their lead to the next ship's level.

*****

Above the slope behind the camp, Tashina kneeled behind a bush, smiling at her masterpiece.

The fear gas faded off in the breeze and the remaining guards and slavers were still panicking like frighten insects. The explosion made had forced to gas to last longer around the camp, or the gas got trapped in the enemy's lungs. So far, there weren't many of them left.

After the gas spread, the entire camp turned into a battleground. The slavers thought they were being attacked by zombies and shadows from the jungle. So they grabbed their weapons and shot each other. The fire from the explosion torched their tents and ruined their supplies. It left nothing except a few survivors who Tashina could finish.

Indeed, Tashina could turn the remaining guards into zombies if she has powder from a Black Nightingale flower. A poison that kills the host and turns him into a walking corpse. With a spell, Tashina could control them like her minions. What a bunch of sweet puppets she could have instead of using the fear gas. But she would have to find the plant on another island. The swamp types instead of her old home.

Huffing and puffing alerted Tashina's ears, and she turned around. It was Kiki, rushing through the grass toward Tashina. She bent down to catch her breath.

Tashina crossed her arms. "Weh di guards?"

Kiki padded her fluffy chest. "Squawk! I lost them. They tried to catch me near a small lake. But a giant serpent attacked from the water. Boy, that was close. Squawk!"

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Tashina padded Kiki's head. "Gud birdie. Mi wi gi yaah treat wen wi return tuh fi wi ship."

Kiki swiped Tashina's hand off her head. "Stop that! I'm not your pet! Squawk! But I do like a treat!"

Tashina giggled and stared at the ship. Gunshots and minor explosions erupted around the vessel as it drifted toward the beach. She could barely hear the war cries echoing from the ship.

Kiki gazed at the ship while she stood next to Tashina. "Looks like Lucy and Byron already freed the slaves. Squawk!"

Tashina nodded. "Indeed, an all wi cya duh now wait an watch."

Kiki clicked her beak with a little apprehension. "I hope they will make it back here. Squawk!"

*****

On the maindeck, slaves and masters tackled each other as if they were having a bar fight on the ship. The captives grabbed muskets and fired from wherever they could take cover. Some didn't know how to use the muskets to defend themselves. So they swung the muskets at the soldiers, knocking the foes down.

While the battle raged around them, Lucy and Byron reached the door to the bridge. Lucy pulled the lever on the door, but it didn't click open. Whoever was left inside didn't want the slaves to commandeer the Goliath.

"Barnacles! It is locked!" Lucy shouted.

Byron grinned. "Stand aside."

Lucy stepped back and watched the Wereshark gripped the door on both sides. He yanked it back, gritting his shark teeth together, and his muscles bulged. By a snap, the Wereshark pulled the door off its metal hatches and tossed it to the floor.

He breathed harshly and glanced at Lucy. "My strength increases after I transform, but it does wear me out."

"Thank you!" Lucy dashed into the bridge and stopped in her tracks.

Among the control panel, a duck in a sailor uniform placed a key into a keyhole on the panel and twisted it. A clock timer above the keyhole clicked, counting down in 5 minutes.

When the duck spotted Lucy, aimed his pistol at her. "You are too late! For the good of the company, you will never take this ship!"

Navigator Level: 20 Race: Duck HP: 200 Non-player character

Lucy's frigid breath escaped from her lungs. The duck already set the Goliath to self-destruct, which will destroy everything on the ship. Nothing could stop it now, but Lucy still has the chance to help the slaves escape.

She glared at the duck. "We will escape, but not you!"

She charged with her sword up. The duck shot at her three times. He only hit her torso and thigh, but it still hurt.

Lucy Longsilver HP: 150/170

She reached the duck and swung her blade through his duck. He instantly vanished before her eyes.

You killed Navigator!

You received 2,000 EXP!

You leveled up!

You received one proficiency point!

Lucy looked at the window, noticing the steamship was almost close to the beach. At least nobody needs to use the longboats to get off. The water shouldn't be deep close to the shore.

She pulled down the throttle lever, braking the ship before its hull touched the beach. After it stopped, Lucy rushed outside toward Byron. "We have to get everyone off this ship now! It is going to blow!"

Byron nodded. "Then we better tell them all before it is too late."

Lucy rushed toward the thong after they killed the last slaver. She waved her arms for their attention. "Hey! This ship is going to blow! We only have four minutes to get off!"

"Barnacles!" an orange bobcat in a white shirt and trousers shouted in the group. "I thought we could take this ship for ourselves!"

"The company lets no one take it, but we are close to the beach! Now get off if you value your lives!"

"What about the food and items in the other cargo hold?" A panther woman asked.

"We don't have bloody time to loot the ship! Come on!"

The slaves growled and moaned in disappointment, but they raced toward the ship's edge and leaped off to the beach.

Lucy wished she could loot the entire ship too. All their weapons and supplies could help her crew fight against Captain Flipper's crew. But there won't be a victory if everyone dies on the Goliath.

*****

Lucy and Byron clambered up the cliff until she reached the top where Tashina held out her hand to her. After gripping the hyena’s hand, Tashina pulled Lucy up onto the edge. Byron was back in his normal panther form. He probably changed back while he was swimming.

All the slaves, including Lucy’s friends, stood on the cliff staring down at the beach. The Goliath ship still drifted near the shore until it suddenly exploded.

The bang was loud like thunder, spreading a cloud of fire over the water and sand. It was so bright, Lucy almost went blinded while staring at it.

After the explosion faded, there was nothing left of the ship. Nothing! Not even scapes of metal or items that were left aboard. It literally vanished, as if the explosion vaporized the vessel. No wonder nobody has ever hijacked a Goliath. But at least nobody was left aboard to face an exploding doom.

Quest completed!

You received 1,000 EXP!

Behind Lucy, all the freed captives cheered at the night sky. One of them picked up Lucy and Byron, tossing them up and down.

Lucy laughed, feeling like she has won a competition. But it wasn’t a competition Byron, and she had won. They literally saved about hundreds of slaves from their captivity. And Byron has got his tribe back until one of them decided to join Lucy’s crew. With the slavers gone and their ship destroyed, the WITC might not return to Bengar unless they were tapping taps on the camp. But there were plenty of more places for them to go.

After the slaves placed Lucy and Byron down, Tashina and Kiki approached them in the middle of the crowd.

“You did it!” Kiki cheered, flapping her wings up. “You saved us all!”

Tashina raised one eyebrow at the bird. “But yuh run away.”

“But she saved my life from the giant spider too. Squawk! That still counts!”

Lucy rubbed the back of her head while smiling. “Yeah, it was something. You should have seen Byron. He is a Wereshark!”

Tashina eyed Byron. “Dat true?”

Byron shrugged. “It is a long story, but we should return to my village now. Morning is already coming, but the creatures might still be out.”

Lucy grinned. “I think we have enough people who can scare the creatures away.” She turned toward the men and women. “Right?”

“Yes!” Everyone shouted.

“Then let’s return to the village!”