Chapter 401: The Captain Offered Me a Job With Terrible Benefits

Captain Gullet offered me employment before he threatened to sell my skin, which suggested his recruitment process could use a less confusing brochure.

I answered from the supply boat’s cabin with Lukas beside the table and the harbor officer recording outside the open door. The radio had a small fixed screen and a camera above it, allowing the captain to see who was eating his crew’s expensive smoked fish. Lukas recorded the screen on his own phone.

I moved the plate into the camera’s view and took another bite. Lukas nudged me, which only made me hold it higher. If the captain wanted a meeting, he could watch us enjoy his catering.

The picture showed a broad humanoid chest above a long, powerful fish body braced against a wet dock. His face had the narrow jaw and crowded teeth of a barracuda, with old pale scars crossing the natural scales beneath his throat.

A dark coat hung from his shoulders. It looked costly, which made his decision to sit in seawater while wearing it either impressive or financially stupid.

Ask him where he got the coat, because I’d like to be rich enough to ruin one like that.

"You’re the snake who’s been taking my equipment," he said. "I could use somebody with that sort of initiative."

"If this is about the fish, I can explain why there’s less of it than you remember."

[System: Tell him the recruitment lunch was excellent, mate. Ask whether the next interview comes with chips.]

You can handle salary negotiations if his next offer involves a knife in the throat.

The captain offered a share of future collections and protection in his waters. He didn’t mention the stolen rations or the men being loaded into the watch launch behind us.

I asked whether staff received trousers that faced forward. Lukas left the camera view, laughing, while Gullet waited in an increasingly expensive-looking silence.

"Those men were expendable. You don’t have to be."

I looked at Lukas and told him our prospective boss had skipped straight past the bit where he pretended to care. Gullet didn’t appreciate the career advice happening in front of him.

"I’m going to pass, but leave the fish supplier’s number before you hang up." I took another bite while he watched, because refusing employment should come with a little satisfaction.

[System: Get the staff discount first, ya greedy cunt. You’re throwing away benefits before we know whether they include sauce.]

I already work for a drunk who lives inside my head. Why would I take a second job with worse company?

Gullet’s gaze moved toward Lukas when my friend returned beside the table. He asked whether the spider was part of the arrangement, and I told him there was no arrangement to join.

"This is the Saltback Reach," the captain said. "You won’t cross it without meeting somebody who works for me."

The officer outside quietly held up a public wanted notice on his own screen. It identified Gullet as a natural Rank A beastman associated with the Blackwake pirate fleet, with a warning about pressure attacks in connected water.

Natural Rank A meant Bio-Recall wouldn’t turn him into lunch. I looked from the notice to the enormous fish glaring at me and stopped chewing quite so loudly.

[System: Keep eating, mate. If you look nervous now, he’ll know the sandwiches are all you’ve brought to the negotiation.]

"We’ve met your employees, and half of them still owe us an apology for the smell."

He struck the wet boards beside him with his lower body. Water gathered along the dock’s submerged edge, then drove upward in a thick, controlled burst that tore a loading post from its fittings.

The video shook as the post crashed out of frame. Somebody on his side swore and asked whether he understood how long that repair would take.

Gullet ignored them. He kept looking at us while the water settled and collected again around his lower body.

Lukas watched the screen rather than the captain’s face. Roughly ten seconds passed before a second full burst shattered a loose crate beside the damaged post.

Gullet was destroying his own dock to impress us, and I wanted another demonstration.

[System: Ask for another one, mate. At this rate he’ll demolish his own business before we have to leave the chair.]

"Do the roof next, because the crate didn’t look expensive enough to scare me."

Lukas kicked the table leg, and I finally set the fish down.

"When I find you, the little tricks won’t matter."

He meant it, judging by his look at Lukas. Radio calls couldn’t trigger my local lie warning, but I knew we’d angered a much larger fish.

"Lovely meeting you, but we’ve got your things to sort." I ended the call before Lukas could apologize on my behalf.

The officer kept his recording and directed us to the watched berth. Lukas made me wrap the remaining fish and leave the plate, apparently concerned about cheap theft.

Back in our room, Lukas replayed his notes from the screen while I set the cylinder on the table. Its numbered dial matched a small sequence written inside the released locker’s inventory card.

They kept the code beside the lock. Did pirates get cheaper insurance for being thick?

[System: Yours would cover the whole fucking coast, mate. Turn the dial before they come back for a reference.]

The lock clicked, and I made Lukas admit my next idea was already looking better.

The cylinder held a courier letter and a bathhouse route. Three payment boxes waited there for collection tomorrow evening, which I enjoyed reading twice.

A warning beside the diagram said not to disturb the pressure equipment. I pointed it out to Lukas before he could accuse me of only reading the money bits.

Lukas reread the warning, then looked at the fish I had unwrapped on our table.

"We could leave town with what we’ve got."

"We could, but he threatened us over dinner. I think we should stay for dessert."

Old Mate leaned over the diagram with his beer tucked against his furry belly. He tapped the bath entrance and looked far too pleased with the captain’s threat.

[System: Pack a towel, mate. Apparently your next financial opportunity comes with a complimentary bath.]