Twelve more times, Ozzy drained the sails of heat to turn barrels of rotten rum into make-shift bombs. Each time they cleared the top deck of the galley, destroying the tight-packed undead. The wood of the Black Ship was too old and hard to catch fire or char. The ship had been making the trip from the bottom of the smoke to collect the dead since humans had first come to the smoke. It was an artifact of another age. The charred were another matter and were destroyed by the released heat.

Black gut sat and watched as his crew of undead slowly overwhelmed the sailors of the Dauntless. As time passed, the sailors were more cautious and went about killing the undead and guarding the ship like professionals. The crew was also grinding experience at an accelerated pace. Ozzy noticed that some men were calling out their new levels and that several had reached level 5. He caught Woodrat's attention and passed on his idea. Captain Woodrat had a short talk with Captain Cavendish, who listened to the unconventional plan and then laughed. "I approve. Desperate times outweigh following old rules. Tell the other captains to do the same!" If they lived, there would be a huge promotion party when they hit port.

As a sailor became eligible for promotion to Mate, one of the Captains would approve the choice and slap him on the back. They gained a dozen mates in the first hour of the ongoing attacks and three times that many in the second hour of fighting. More levels meant tougher fighters. Most chose either Boarding Actions or Gunner as their specialty. Lower-level sailors were carefully brought to the battle line and protected as they stabbed with long gaffs at the undead and accumulated experience. The spot between Ozzy and Butterbelly was especially good.

Ozzy hadn't noticed because his level was too high for him to gain any points, but some of the charred were Named Bosses. They were slightly tougher than normal and gave some CSP to sailors in the first tier and half that to the Mates. Lookouts were posted to point them out and allow lower-level sailors to injure them before someone stronger killed them. The average level of the remaining crew slowly grew. Stats increased as they maxed out weapon skills. Lookouts and gunners were gaining perception. And each man was gaining CSP both for killing the Named Bosses and for attaining the rank of Mate. In a similar but slower process, the first and second mates achieved the rank of Captain. Cavendish hugged them and drank a mug of rum with each. Each chose the Follow me to Hell! Perk, and the fighting became easier, if no less exhausting.

The ship's doctor had set up a triage center on the main deck and again used the hold as a makeshift hospital. He, too, had gained promotion to the third tier and ruefully wondered if he might reach the fourth tier before the voyage ended. He ordered barrels of food brought to the top deck, where the smoked meats and sausages were distributed to everyone to make sure they kept up their fuel.

Twice Splinter made runs at Blackgut. The ship appeared like a fiery ghost coming in fast and hard from the fog. All four ballistae targeted Blackgut at close range and let fly. The first flight of four spears was turned aside by strong winds that blew them to one side. The second attempt had Derrek at the wheel and Mariah as a gunner. Three spears were turned aside, but the winds didn't affect the fourth. Captain Mariah put a bolt into Blackgut's chest, pinning him to the ship. With a roar of anger that made even the undead pause, he ripped out the weapon and gestured toward Splinter. "Play games with me? With me! I'll blow out your sails and skewer you to your own mast." He unleashed a whirlwind at the small ship as it sped away, but Mariah countered with her own, leaving Blackgut fuming and walking back and forth on his deck. He began to take more interest in the battle.

Woodrat noticed. "I think she got his attention. And more than that, she injured him." Ozzy had certainly seen that as well. "I wonder what else can hurt him? Kill him?" He called Captain Shively over and made plans to have all of the ballistae on the ship target Blackgut at once. The junior captain smiled and said, "Surely, we can do that. It's worth a try."

Five minutes later, after a pause in firing, eighteen ballistae fired bolts at Blackgut. Each warmachine was crewed by a mate with the Gunner ability. As the bolts flew at him, Blackgut summoned a whirlwind around himself and blew each bolt off course. He laughed, amused when a barrel of flaming, heat-enhanced bear grease hit him dead center and exploded into a blazing fire. The charred nearby raced to him, trying to smother the blaze with their own bodies. Blackgut stepped out of the grease fire, chewing on a charred sailor's arm. "My compliments to the chef, delicious." His delight was short-lived as a thirty-foot mast slammed into him hard, knocking him back into the fire.

Butterbelly was thoughtful. "Caber Tossing, you call that? It does look like fun. That had to have hurt like hell."

Woodrat was scanning the decks of the Black Galley. "But did it hurt enough? The charred have paused and are milling about aimlessly."

Blackgut crawled from the flames, obviously injured badly. "Ah, curse me for playing with you." He tried to stand, but one leg didn't work, and he had to order two charred sailors to hold him up. They started to carry him away.

With a nod at Ozzy, Woodrat threw a chain to the mast of the Black Galley and leaped from the railing. He swung across to the other ship and charged at Blackgut. Ozzy had seen what he was doing and jumped down to the galley's deck, charging through the milling undead. Blackgut turned on unsteady legs and glared at them. Up close, they could see that the illusion of still being human had faded. A bare skull with wild, flaming hair and a full beard made of flames were all that was left of his face. "Taking advantage of my weakness to make a sneak attack? Bold of you, but it won't carry the day." Undead surged at them, but they cut their way through a half dozen to attack Blackgut directly.

Ozzy brought his flaming hatchet down hard onto the bony neck. Woodrat stabbed into his guts with his enchanted sword. Neither blow penetrated Blackgut's hull, and the blades rebounded as he laughed. The undead carrying him fell away, and he stepped forward and punched Ozzy hard in the gut, knocking the Butcher backward and to the deck.

Blackgut has hit you for 1200 points of damage. Your hull negates 270 points. You have taken 930 points of damage. You are stunned.

Before Woodrat could react, Blackgut grabbed his sword arm and slapped him twice with his open hand. "Is this what a Captain of the Seven amounts to now? I'm not even sure I should keep you. Should I toss you back into the smoke until you get bigger? He laughed as he threw Woodrat to the deck beside Ozzy.

"Your little act of bravery amuses me, but this ends now. I've taken your worth, and I think your sailors became stronger. I'm adding all of you to my crew." His aura washed out over them, and men dropped to their knees. Cavendish still stood, but with difficulty. He tried to speak but couldn't form any words. The charred moved back into the holds, leaving the deck clear with only Blackgut standing. Ozzy and Woodrat couldn't think and couldn't stand. Blackgut's aura was too high to resist.

"This is what happens now. You can join my crew as living men and join me in my adventures—some I'll take, and some I won't. Any I don't take, I'll burn. Anyone that looks at me funny, I'll burn. You can't defy me. You can't win. My power is far beyond you and has no rivals." Winds blew hard, clearing the seas of mist and fog. The Splinter was revealed a hundred yards away, moving toward the Black Gally. "Ah, there you are." Blackgut snapped his fingers, and her sails were extinguished, as were the sails of Dauntless. "Playtime is over. But it was fun; I'll give you that. After how easy the last six ships were to take, I'd almost given up hope of having any fun."

Blackgut quit talking and looked up.

In the sky, there came a roaring sound, and the winds around the three ships grew stronger. On the deck of the Black Galley, an old man appeared, wearing grey overalls and carrying a shovel. "I agree. Playtime is over. I came for my boy here, but I suspect I've got time to kick your ass."

Black Gut looked interested. "Oh? Do you really want to do this?

Old Joe nodded. "Why not? You think you're strong? You're too young to know what strong is. In my day, we wrestled across the planes, and only one thing in the smoke bested me in any fight."

Ozzy found his voice as Blackgut concentrated on Joe. "Joe! He bound the Old Smoke!" Black gut smirked.

Joe's eyes narrowed, and he cocked his head, looking hard at Blackgut. "Well, this should be interesting then. I'm sure Smokey still brags about how he beat my ass, but he probably left out the part where I won the match, best two out of three." Joe's shovel whipped around and hit Blackgut in the face knocking him a mile across the smoke. What looked like an old man rose into the air, becoming a jet-black cyclone with burning eyes. "Be back when I can; Old Smoke was never an easy fight."