"Shouldn't you be dead?" Flanker asked.

"Oh, ain't I dead enough for ye, priest?" Gangplank replied and stood up. He handed a piece of the orange he was peeling to Dave.

"Thanks, but I'm not a fan of oranges. Say, what are you doing here? Gafgar told us you died at the World's Edge." Dave said.

"Gafgar? That lad still be living? Ha, right that'b true, I died there but revived into undeath. Some wicked sorcerer came and revived me to this form and I managed to climb up from the World's Edge and come back here to this accursed island." Gangplank said and turned to the wall.

"But d.a.m.n me luck, I forgot me own key to this d.a.m.n vault. I should've got'n it when I climbed up."

"You mean you can't open this vault?" Dave asked.

"Yeah, this be me treasures, all of em. But I can't get a coin out of this d.a.m.n place. Curses." Gangplank kicked a pebble at the wall and the moment the pebble touched the wall, it turned into dust.

Dave stepped back, that wall was dangerous.

"I can't even shoot it with me cannons," Gangplank said.

"Where did you say you lost your 'key'?" Flanker asked.

"World's Edge, it's still inside me old s.h.i.+p." Gangplank said.

"How come you've not gone to go get it if you know where it is?" Blaster asked.

"Ya aren't very bright laddy, that's the World's Edge, the pitfall to the abyss itself. Ya can't go there and expect to come back. Me s.h.i.+p was lucky enough to fall on a ledge protruding from the World's Edge. And it's only because of that that I managed to luckily come back." The Pirate King said solemnly.

"And where is this World's Edge?" Lone asked.

"Ya aren't much of a sailor if ya don't know where it is. It's less than a day's travel through the sea waters to the north. Why ya asking?"

"Sightseeing," Lone replied.

"Ha, that's new. But I'll tell ya something, once you're at the World's Edge, not even the G.o.ds can save ye. That's why I gave up on retaking the key and why now I be loitering on this here accursed island. At least I be next to me treasures."

Dave was thinking about what the pirate was saying, then Flanker jumped in.

"Say, if we get that 'key'…" but before Flanker finished the pirate interrupted him.

"Ha, that'd be impossible, but if ya get the key I'd be willing to part with half me gold!"

Dave's brows rose up, and Fortress was about to speak when Dave shook his head at him.

A notification appeared in front of Dave.

***

You have been offered half of Gangplank's treasures if you retrieve the key to the vault.

A new marker location has been added to your map.

World's Edge

***

"Nice, alright guys what are we waiting for?" Flanker said.

"Yeah, let's get going,and see if it's possible to get the key, we can't promise anything though." Dave said.

"Best of luck," Gangplank said and sat back down on his crate. He pulled out another orange and began peeling it.

Dave led the party back outside the palace and through the cave until they were outside again.

"Skelly, I don't like this one bit," Fortress said.

"Yeah, I know man. You noticed it too?" said Dave.

"Yeah." Fortress replied.

"What's going on?" Tess asked.

"Well, you've seen a lot of Pirate movies right?" Dave asked.

"Yeah," Lone replied.

"Did you ever see a pirate sharing his treasure?" Dave asked again.

"You mean he's lying? We got the notification and everything ," Flanker replied.

"The notification gives you information and doesn't specify if its true or false. Also there are a lot of inconsistencies with what Gangplank said and what we know." Dave said as they climbed down the mountain.

"Like what?" Mercy asked.

"First of all, he wasn't hostile. I find it strange that all of his crew were hostile to us except for him. Also, he was too 'friendly' unlike a real pirate. And if what Gafgar said was true, Gangplank fell into the World's Edge. How can you survive that fall? And the sorcerer he talked about could be from the Black Skull Order. Those guys are d.a.m.n troublesome and scheme a lot. This whole quest could be a ploy or a ma.s.sive trap." Dave said.

"Then should we not get the key and give up?" Lone asked .

"Nah, we came all this way and I'm not planning on giving up the treasures. Let's go to the World's Edge, I believe we will find our answers there." Dave said.

The players moved through the forest and encountered Gafgar and the rest of the undead crew at the sh.o.r.e.

"Gafgar, you said Gangplank fell at the World's Edge, right?" Dave asked.

"Aye, Captain. I was there." Gafgar replied .

"How did it happen?" Dave asked.

"I don't remember all the details but there was a mutiny against Gangplank, led by Rogger Glynn, his right hand man. He wanted to take Gangplank's treasure for himself. But Gangplank had locked them all somewhere and kept the key on his person. A few loyal crew members remained with Gangplank and they escaped to the high seas with the Leviathan."

"I was among them. We were chased by Rogger Glynn's fleet for seven days and nights until Gangplank reached the World's Edge. Finding nowhere for us escape, Gangplank ordered all the crewmembers to abandon s.h.i.+p and he sailed it straight to the depth of the World's Edge. His last words were, 'If they want me treasures then they better come find me in the abyss'."

Gafgar said with a grave tone .

"Strange, then how come Gangplank is on this very island?" Dave asked.

"That's impossible, I saw him fall down with my own eyes Captain. I wouldn't lie to you," Gafgar said.

"He said someone came after him and revived him to Undeath, saving him from the World's Edge, but that he left his key on the Leviathan," Dave said.

Gafgar shook his head, "There's no way Gangplank would forget his key. He cherished it more than his own life. It was a gift given to him by his first love."

"This is getting more and more suspicious," Fortress said.

"Right, let's get to the World's Edge then. I'm sure we'll have some answers by then." Dave said and took the row-boats back to the Leviathan.

Gafgar ordered the anchor hoisted and the sails raised, while Dave spun the tiller and guided the s.h.i.+p to the north.

The wind blew strong, guiding the s.h.i.+p toward the high seas and away from the island.

What Dave's crew didn't notice was a huge a.s.sortment of s.h.i.+ps that were hidden on the other side of the island.

Gangplank smiled as he walked towards these s.h.i.+ps, "Awaken, ya salty sea dogs! We got a fish to chase!"

Thousands of undead ran out from the other side of the mountain that Dave had been on and climbed onto the s.h.i.+ps. They raised the sails and guided the fleet towards the north and after the Leviathan.

The Leviathan moved through the sea with ease. The wind began picking up and the s.h.i.+p's speed increased even more. The players soon became bored as they had spent half a day on the s.h.i.+p . So they decided to watch scenes from the Guild wWar event that was happening.

The Devastators had already claimed ten flags thanks to Warlord and Valentine's efforts. They teleported their whole team to the Gnomish ruins and were the first to explore the area.

Among the 20 members of the Devastator team, Dave recognized Warlord, Valentine, Satan Slayer and Jeffery. He was using his Mecha as he moved through the dimly lit underground hallways.

There were hundreds of pillars supporting a long path that was lit thanks to crystals embedded in the pillars.

Every few hundred meters a metallic spider would sp.a.w.n or mechanical golem. They were level 400 and were hard to kill. Their resistances were astronomical, and forced the Devastators to be on the defensive with every encounter.

"They should have taken more casters. Those Defensive Values are crazy," Tess spoke.

"Didn't you get invited?" Dave asked.

"Yeah, but it's better to go on a cruise with my hunny-bun than with all those Devis, they are boring as heck," Tess said as she looked at Fortress tenderly.

Fortress looked at Tess with a loving gaze and the two of them soon entered their own pink world.

"Ama throw up, and I don't think it's just sea sickness," Flanker gagged as he attempted to keep his stomach from lurching.

Everyone rolled their eyes at Flanker and continued watching the feed.

The Blood Ragers and the Heaven Dawn guilds also obtained ten flags each and followed after the Devastators. As soon as everyone was inside the ruin, a free for all battle started. No one cared for the loot and only wanted to take out the other guilds so they could have the dungeon to themselves.

Soon, the ground shuddered as if an earthquake was happening. It stopped all the fighting for a moment, until the players heard the steady sound of loud footsteps. Two glowing yellow orbs lit up from the far end of the hallway. They were the eyes of a metallic golem at least a hundred meter in size that was steadily walking toward all the guild members.

The giant golem aimed its palms at the players and began shooting rays of light toward all the players. The rays of light exploded decimating dozens of players in seconds.

Then the golem summoned more spiders and smaller metallic golems surrounding the players.

At first, the guilds decided to group back in their respective groups and tried to defend themselves from the a.s.sault of the golem.

Jeffry shot dozens of missiles at the ma.s.sive golem but it was futile, all the missiles exploded in front of the golem revealing a barrier that surrounded it. The situation was hopeless so Warlord issued the retreat order and tore a teleportation scroll leaving the ruin.

The Devastator guild followed after and left. But the Blood Ragers decided to stay, and fight. With one guild leaving the area it meant that if they won this fight they had the chance to take more loot out of this area. But it was soon proven that their thinking was wrong as another of these golems appeared from behind them.

More players fell and White Ghost also ordered the guild's retreat. Unfortunately the BBlood RRagers had suffered a ma.s.sive amount of casualties by the time he gave the order to leave the area.

"Wow, this new Expansion is crazy. Did you guys see the firepower on that thing?" Lone said.

"Yeah, it's interesting. Thanks to the guildies we now know it's too early to venture off into one of those ruins," Dave replied.

An undead in the Crow's Nest shouted, "World's Edge Ahead!"

Dave stood up and went to the s.h.i.+p's bow. On the horizon, an enormous rift that looked like the end of the sea appeared. The sea water fell from the edge of the cliff and down to the unknown.

"This'll give flat-earthers a lot to talk about," Flanker said jokingly.

"Nah, Conquest's world is a round planet. This is probably just a rift in the sea." Dave replied.

"How would you know it's round?" Flanker asked.

"I've been to s.p.a.ce, well I was dragged there," Dave said as he remembered when Nick took him to see Demiurge.

"I have a question. Didn't Gangplank say his s.h.i.+p fell down the World's Edge?" Perfect asked.

"Yeah, so?" Dave replied.

"You mean, we'll go down that rift!" Perfect added.

"Yep," Dave replied in a smile as he looked ahead to the closing World's Edge.