Chapter 412: The Enforcer Became a Catering Problem

The pirate enforcer stepped onto the prize dock wearing a treatment frame, an expensive coat, and the expression of a man who expected the first two things to protect the third.

An extra joint flexed beneath the flesh beside his shoulder. It pressed against his skin, then unfolded into a thick armored limb while the metal frame pumped something cloudy through a clear tube.

The older judge quietly moved the spectators behind the registration booth. Lukas set his prize towel down and watched the two restrained people in the launch instead of staring at the growing shoulder problem.

I watched the hooked limb scrape our prize dock and took immediate offense. We had just won a towel, and this bastard was behaving as if we hadn’t earned a peaceful afternoon of boasting.

"Captain’s licensed combat graft," the enforcer announced, rolling the new limb until its hooked end scraped the dock. "You get one chance to hand over everything you took."

[System: A licensed graft, he says. Reckon the license covers becoming sandwich filling, or will he need to queue at another counter?]

Give me a moment to ask whether he kept the receipt, because somebody might want proof of purchase after this.

The two armed crewmen behind him looked pleased with the performance. One held a short spear, while the other kept a pistol low beside his thigh. Neither had pointed it at the crowd yet, but they were close enough to making that choice that I didn’t intend to give them time.

"Untie those two and put the weapons down. My friend just won a towel, and I won’t have you ruining what is apparently the best day of his life."

The enforcer laughed and leaned his head toward me, making sure I could see his eyes.

"You think this is funny? Keep talking, and I’ll hang you off the front of his boat."

[System: New objective, clear this shakedown and get those two prisoners safely off the launch. Thirty-five thousand experience and sixty IP after they’re free and the weapons are secured. The exciting meat incident is included in the price.]

I hummed while he lifted the graft. He mistook it for nerves, which was generous of him and extremely unhelpful to his future.

Lukas moved toward the launch’s stern, where the captives could see him. I held the enforcer’s stare and activated Aggressive Bio-Recall before he could bring the hooked limb down.

The result was immediate. The altered body collapsed into the skill’s horrifying little package before the hooked limb completed its first strike, leaving the enforcer’s coat to fall across a neat vacuum-sealed cube.

His empty coat settled over the package, one sleeve hanging into the water. Somebody behind the judging booth made a noise like a kettle giving up.

I looked at Lukas’s towel and decided we would not be using it for cleanup. He had worked far too hard to get that woman to sign it.

The pistol man stared at the coat. His hand began to rise, so I snapped a tendril around his wrist, drove it down against the launch rail, and took the weapon before he could aim.

The other crewman dropped his spear voluntarily, which suggested he had received a better education.

[System: That’s him sorted, mate. Ask the other two if they’ve had any work done, and watch how quickly they develop an interest in surrender.]

"Lie down with your hands where Lukas can see them. If you start explaining how expensive your weapons are, I’m taking that as a donation offer."

They obeyed. Lukas took the spear, secured both men with the launch’s own rope, and checked that the restraints weren’t cutting off circulation. Then he freed the two deckhands while I unloaded the pistol and placed it away from every reachable hand.

One of the prisoners had a split lip and an angry bruise on his cheek. He explained that Gullet’s men had dragged them from a local cargo boat for refusing a collection fee.

The bruised man looked from me to the coat and asked whether it was over. I told him the exciting part was, but we still had to explain it to someone with a clipboard.

The judge returned with two watch officers. She described the graft and the threat while I stood beside the evidence trying to look like somebody who hadn’t enjoyed himself quite so much.

Lukas handed over the weapons and told them what he’d seen. The freed deckhands identified their captors, and an officer asked me to move my tail off the coat so he could photograph it.

I asked whether he wanted a description of the skill. He fetched a sealed container instead, which struck me as the wisest decision anyone had made since the man started growing extra parts.

[System: Shakedown stopped, prisoners safe, weapons secured, and nobody’s asked you to join a committee. Thirty-five thousand experience and sixty IP paid. You’re sitting on one hundred and forty-three thousand five hundred experience, with twelve hundred and ninety-five points.]

The harbor master sent the captured launch to a guarded berth. I suggested a salvage discussion, and he said no before I finished. Apparently public service still came with limits.

Lukas retrieved his towel, checked the woman’s signature, and announced that the afternoon still qualified as successful.

"Keep the towel somewhere safe. If we lose that autograph after all this, I’m not sitting through another performance."

The launch radio crackled before we left. An officer turned the speaker up and held a recorder beside it, giving everyone nearby the same chance to hear.

A voice requested the enforcer’s status twice, then a lower, colder voice took over.

Captain Gullet asked whether the red snake remained at the harbor. Nobody answered, and the silence told him enough to make the next order sound deliberate.

"Bring all three gunboats to the outer entrance before dawn. He leaves with my property, he doesn’t leave at all."

The harbor master looked toward the channel markers while Lukas checked the tide table pinned beside the dock office.

I looked at our repaired skiff, the three routes beyond the breakwater, and the money we had already secured.

For the first time, the captain was sending something expensive enough that taking it personally might also become a sound investment.