Chapter 37 The Return

Eva dashed out of the cabin with a beaming smile, likely to fetch her belongings, leaving Elysia alone with Ione.

With nothing else to do, Elysia wandered into the control room. She flipped up the couch to grab her hoard, stuffing is much as she could in one of the backpack. Several trips later, the serpent parts, crab daggers, and spheres were laid out on the bed. Her eyes gravitated toward the doors on both the right and left side of the nightstands. Curious, she opened one to find both doors led to an expansive triangular closet with a large safe bolted to the floor against the wall between the doors.

Elysia approached the safe, finding an instruction sheet taped to the door almost big enough to not look out of place in a bank. Following the instructions, she entered the code in the keypad before spinning the spoked wheel to open the door. The door, likely much heavier than her, swung open easily on well lubricated hinges to reveal padded shelves and drawers.

Wow, this thing is bigger than my old bedroom closet! The safe must weigh a ton. I hope they reinforced the floor I would hate to sink before I built too big of hoard. Though according to the instructions, the safe is waterproof up to a depth of three kilometers. So unless I sink in the middle of the ocean, I think my hoard is safe. How much did they spend in fixing Umbra? This safe alone is probably worth more than a new car. I hope Eva didn’t overdo their generosity with her order, though to be fair, I am putting my life on the line to help. Am I a mercenary now? Getting paid to hunt things sounds like one to me. Maybe that’s my new career path. Going to college to be an engineer seems boring in comparison.

After checking the time on the alarm clock on the left nightstand, she returned to work, transporting her hoard into the safe, then she followed the instructions to change the default code. Before she left the closet, she opened and closed the safe several times with the code committing it to memory.

Next, she returned to the control room to grab her stash of gas station clothes. She deposited the heap of bags in the far closet triangular corner, then wandered back upstairs. At least I still have my basic clothing stash in case Eva picked useless clothes. I probably should have checked the cart before she sent the order. Oh well, I’m sure I’ll find a use for whatever she bought.

Lastly, she transported down her two backpacks, hanging them on the hooks just inside the closet along the right wall.

Done with moving into her new bedroom, she wandered out onto the rear deck just as a forklift drove down the pier to her boat. It transported a stack of boxes shrink wrapped together. The fork extended, dropping the pallet on the deck with surprising gentleness. After dropping its payload, it buzzed off to fetch another pallet on a flatbed truck parked at the other end of the pier.

Soon, four pallets stacked with boxes as tall as she was rested on Umbra’s deck. Elysia stared at the pallets, at a loss for what to do. How much did she order!? I hope this isn’t just clothes though my new closet could fit everything if it was. Still, we need to eat too, so I hope at least one of these has food or I’ll have to go fishing.

As if answering her silent plea, a team of four muscular men approached Umbra, giving her a respectful nod before hopping on deck. They sliced through the plastic, then transported the boxes below deck into the storage room while a middle-aged woman with graying brown hair tied in a ponytail handed her a tablet.

Elysia scanned through the displayed list of items, eyes widening as she scrolled down. Sighing in relief when she found several months’ worth of nonperishable and dry food at the bottom of the list. Well, at least I have food, but what will I do with so much clothes? And what about the gear I asked for?

Again, answering her question, another smaller pallet arrived carrying three familiar boxes from her forced dungeon dive. Like the rest, the men carried the boxes inside just as Eva arrived with an overstuffed backpack and a massive suitcase rolling behind her. Her thin arms clenched to lift the likely hefty suitcase. She lifted it off the pier but stumbled backward, back arching to compensate. Eva’s face reddened as she took short choppy steps toward Umbra, only for her arms to give out, dropping the suitcase on her foot. Tears of pain and frustration formed in her eyes, but she moved to lift it once more.

Taking pity on the petite girl, one of the nearby dock workers lifted the suitcase onboard before returning to his job. Eva gave him a grateful smile as she rolled the suitcase inside the cabin, excitement returning to her demeanor.

Elysia left Eva to moving in as she paced the deck awaiting the final fifteen minutes until they were set to leave. Five minutes before the time of departure, the same group led by Major Evans floated up to the pier near Umbra on a rugged camo boat loaded with turrets on the front and rear deck. The group looked ready to take on an army with camo face paint and all sorts of bladed weapons strapped to their body armor.

Major Evans gave her a nod before pulling further out into the water to wait for her. Elysia moved to unhook the tethers, but several dock workers beat her to it. Her stride froze upon entering the control room, eyes roaming the clothes war zone. She turned to the culprit of the mess, bent over, rummaging in the massive suitcase.

While trying to keep her eyes off the mess, she approached the console, picking a bra off the steering with her fingertips before pressing the start button. Umbra started on the first push. The rpm gauge being the only indication it was running now near silent with perfect balance and high-quality soundproofing.

She flicked a pair of panties off the shifter, shaking her head at the absurd mess. Did her suitcase explode? How could someone make a mess like this so fast? I think I’ll have to rethink her sleeping arraignments maybe we can set up a second bedroom below deck.

A muffled purr of a deeper tone than Ione’s own purr motoring away in the crook of her left arm rumbled as she pulled away from the pier. Elysia turned Umbra toward the other camo boat before shifting into drive. The other boat took off the moment she approached. Umbra easily caught up to the smaller heavily armed boat. She aligned herself a dozen meters behind their boat before turning toward the other girl, still leaned over her suitcase and the somehow worse mess.

With a loud, authoritative voice, Elysia commanded. “Take the wheel. I need to get ready. We will talk about this mess later.”

Eva squeaked, falling into her suitcase in surprise. A moment later, her sheepish gaze connected with Elysia’s impatient expression with a hint of amusement twinkling in her eyes.

After Eva took control of steering, Elysia trotted to her bedroom. She found a box full of gear sitting just outside her bedroom. She flipped it open, then grabbed the combat suit and boots, leaving the provided spear and knives for later. With the door closed, she deposited Ione on the bed, who instantly stopped purring. Ione lifted her head, radiating distress as she stared up at Elysia.

Elysia pet the distressed kitten as she spoke, “I’m sorry Ione, but you will have to stay here. I have to fight something dangerous.”

A growl rumbled in Ione’s throat, but it soon turned into purry mush under Elysia’s fingers. Ione continued to purr in bliss as Elysia stripped naked, pulling on the tight combat suit and boots. She gave Ione a few more head scratches before sneaking out of the bedroom. Her gaze landed on the spear and dozen throwing knives identical to her previous gear. Should I make my own weapons with the serpent loot, or use crab daggers? The weapons they gave me didn’t hold up well to my lightning.

In indecision, she glanced back at the closed door to her bedroom before shaking her head. I’ll use the provided gear instead of some makeshift weapons. The spikes from the serpent are likely of much higher quality, but I don’t have time to make proper weapons out of them.

With her decision made, she slide the knives into the sheathes on the combat armor and grabbed the spear before wandering upstairs back into the control room. She looked out the front window, spotting China Creek off in the distance.

A few minutes later, they slowed down, floating in the water just outside the marina. They found the marina just as they left it before the monsters came.

With practiced ease, the armed group dropped anchor and loaded onto an inflatable raft. All but one crew member left on the raft, with the last person remaining to operate the turrets.

Elysia followed suit. She jogged to the back of Umbra, down onto the lower rear deck. After opening the storage hatch under the steps, she found her raft still inside. With a heave, the raft slide into the water laden with a heavy meter and gas tank.

A sharp yank fired up the motor. After one last glance at Umbra, she turned her raft toward the marina just as Major Evans’ team landed on shore. As she approached the rocky shore, the crew in front of her vanished from sight. Let go of the throttle, coasting to a stop a couple meters from the shore. Confusion reigned for a moment before a worrying thought formed. Please tell me this place isn’t a dungeon now.

She released a sigh giving into the inevitable as she coasted forward, tying her raft to the pier, afraid of cutting a hole on the rocky shore. With spear in hand, she walked toward the seemingly normal looking marina. As she expected, just as she reached the paved parking lot, she felt the familiar feeling of passing a barrier.

Welcome to the Overtaken Marina. As the second group, you receive 25% bonus experience.

Warning! Current dungeon level far beyond the user’s current level. User advised to seek aid.

That doesn’t sound good. I got a similar warning for the Port Alberni dungeon, but it wasn’t too bad as far as deadly dungeons go. Though getting eaten by a giant baby serpent wasn’t fun.

Elysia pushed those thoughts away as she surveyed the marina, but she found nothing changed. Still knowing how the spider dungeon looked normal, she treaded forward, head on a swivel, spear raised. First, she checked the still open warehouse, finding it just as they left it. Where did the team go? They couldn’t have gone far in a minute. Is the dungeon instanced? None of the previous dungeons were as far as I could tell, though I only ran into someone alive in Port Alberni.

A quick scan of the ceiling of the warehouse yielded no webs, scratching spiders off the list. After leaving the warehouse, she peeked inside the nearest RV but found it empty and a mess as the previous occupant left in a hurry. Next, she checked out some of the few remaining boats, mostly smaller fishing boats, before discovering the dungeon barrier halfway down the pier.

After finding nothing of interest or anything ready to jump out at her, she turned back toward the warehouse. As she wandered back to the warehouse, figuring if they were in the dungeon, they would end up there at some point.

Just as she stepped into the warehouse, several pairs of footsteps from the right made her pause. She peeked back outside, spear at the ready, only to lower it when she spotted the familiar team. Elysia nodded her head at the team, but frowned when they didn’t respond. Instead, they raised their weapons at her.

Well crap.