The cheerful buzz Darren had been feeling from Captain Montague’s whiskey was doused by a cold chill that flooded his veins. In the top left of his vision was the party interface with Wilson and Samantha’s basic information. Most importantly, their health.

  Wilson’s health had just taken a hit. Back on Isla Cascadura, someone had hurt his coconut.

  Rage swiftly followed. Hands clenched into fists, nails biting into his palms. His face burned. He was going to destroy the little empire Rod had built for himself and then destroy Rod. Reduce his character to dust. Whether Rod was punted back to level 1 at the launch or not, he was going to have to work hard to regain what Darren was gonna take from him. And when he did, Darren would be waiting to take it again.

  “Are you alright?” Captain Montague asked.

  Darren started at the words. And forced his hands to unclench. “Yes. Fine. I was just reminded why I’m here and how little time we really have.”

  The captain didn’t push.

  Darren peered down at the holographic map of the ocean surrounding the ship and tried to get his temper in check. Decisions made in anger rarely worked. “So,” he said, “we have two choices. Try make it to an island large enough to settle, or build a floating city. Can you read the requirement for a floating city again?”

  Captain Montague traced a finger down the page. “Here we go: ‘a floating mass with a perimeter covering an area of at least 50 acres.’”

  “Perimeter,” Darren said, slowly. “Is it just me, or does that make it sound like we could build a square 447 metres on a side, but we could technically make it a one metre wide track? Or even a fence. It doesn’t have to be one solid platform by the sound of it. A series of hulls with a network of paths joining them together?”

  “That… may just work,” Montague said.

  Darren tapped a finger against his jaw. “So the question is, how are we going to achieve any of this? Will your crew just do what you say? You said there are spies on board.”

  “Correct. There are several spies,” Montague said. “At least one of whom is amongst my officers. I have three officers I trust implicitly, but the Countess very generously assigned a cadre of new ones to the Sea Dagger. Our main advantage is that the reason you’re here was kept under wraps. I imagine the Countess doesn’t want anyone knowing about the grenades she’s after. That is to our benefit.

  “What I propose is that I establish you as an agent of the crown. You were sent by the King on a top-secret mission to test out the deployment of siege ships behind enemy lines. I will tell my officers that you were brought on board as a prisoner to hide your purpose from spies on Isla Cascadura.”

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  Darren paced back and forth in the great cabin. “That could work. I see some flaws, though: first, why would the crown choose a level 5 person, Classless, to do this? Surely the King would send a high-level person with a class?”

  Montague seesawed his head. “Not necessarily. Quite a number of the King’s top advisors are Classless. It is primarily the military that is heavily skewed towards Classed. You’re less noticeable than a Classed, so you can travel places with ease that the elite Classed cannot. Certainly, one doesn’t have the stats and skills of a Classed, but there is more to life than skills and numbers.”

  “Yeah, right’o. Next question: how are we going to have a third of your crew join me to found this floating fortress? That will leave you with a light crew.”

  “My crew are competent. I can comfortably sail with the remaining. So long as we don’t see heavy combat, there’s an adequate number.”

  “Cool, cool,” Darren said. “Do you have any crew with the shipwright skill?”

  Montague quirked an eyebrow. “What for? You don’t need to build any ships, you’re building a city.”

  It was Darren’s turn to raise an eyebrow. He chose to one-up Montague and arched both. “You don’t know that shipwright applies to any floating vessel?”

  The captain grunted. “I have never needed to pay that close attention to the skill, if I’m completely honest. My career has been centred around traditional ships. While I have heard of some floating fortresses, they are often considered impractical compared to traditional fortresses and fleets. Though I suppose what you say about it being a series of hulls joined together would make sense, that the skill would apply.”

  Darren chuckled. His gut told him that there were exploits to be found here. A technology that seemed almost artificially suppressed? It felt at times that the technology level of this world had been repressed during development until players arrived to explore and “discover” things for themselves.

  He caught sight of Wilson’s health bar again, down a little but slowly recovering. The smile faded from his face. He needed to stay focused.

  “Well,” Captain Montague said, “if you’re correct in that this floating fortress idea of yours counts as a seafaring vessel, then yes. I can help. As fortune would have it, I have put considerable effort into ensuring a large number of my crew have the Shipwright skill—being able to repair damage swiftly while in combat is an incredible boon. I can spare perhaps 25 sailors with Shipwright?”

  Darren nodded, worry over Wilson warring with his inner gamer, who was doing backflips. “Alright. That works well. Now, what does that little book of yours say about what happens once a settlement is founded? I’m assuming there’s some kind of access to a town interface, defences, and the like?”

  Montague opened the book again and scanned through it. “I’ll summarise: On successful founding the settlement undergoes a transformation. Settlement interface becomes available to the mayor, who gains control over options such as: defences, production, construction, and finances. To name a few. Floating settlements have an additional menu related to mobility.

  “Construction can either be done manually at a reduced cost but longer time frame, or instantly but at a far higher cost.”

  Darren rubbed his chin. “What does it say about levelling up?”

  “Levelling up is achieved through completion of certain targets: certain buildings, population number, et cetera.”

  Nothing wild, but certainly a lot of fun once he got there. Maybe he’d try keep the floating city afterall… “Well, that’s for later. But now we need an island with an arse-tonne of trees.”