When the Silver Wings heard the rumbling cannon fire from the distant horizon and saw the signal flares burst in the sky, it took another hour to daringly cross the Chaotic Stone Islands and reach the battlefield.
Crack—
"Help—!"
"..."
In the raging flames, the once mighty Navy Level 5 Battleship "Warrior" had completely turned into burning timber, and cries for help, screams, and desperations echoed to the sky!
Countless sailors on the warships, without lifeboats, were forced to jump ship to survive.
Just before the Silver Wings could move forward to rescue the injured people in the water, the fierce explosion erupted from the ammunition depot of the Warrior, which had caught fire, with a tremendous roar!
"Boom—!!!"
Afterward, the entire battlefield fell silent for a brief moment.
Aiven opened his mouth wide in shock; a warship that was lively and cheerful yesterday was destroyed right before his eyes. This kind of shock was far beyond the playful battles with the Blood Anchor and could not be described merely in written reports.
"Target pirate ship, all hands on deck, open the cannon ports, take the advantage, blood for blood!"
"Blood for blood! Blood for blood!"
The scene before them deeply enraged everyone on the Silver Wings; internal conflict is one thing, but the audacious act of pirates sinking a battleship and attacking the Navy openly, under such tragic circumstances, made the crew resolve to seek vengeance for their comrades with blood-red eyes!
And Gel's order to seize the weather advantage showed his resolve to fight to the end without leaving a retreat.
Because trying to escape while at the windward side would only deliver them to the pirates' cannons, making it unavoidable.
"Gagong!! Tell me how come there is a second warship? Is this the prey you predicted?!"
Grabbing the clothes of the Old Aboriginal Wizard and throwing him to the ground, One-Eyed Becky had a twisted expression; the excitement from unlocking the Ocean Treasure was instantly replaced by fury.
As the captain, he could not admit that he was immersed in the joy of his dream coming true and did not think about the significance behind the Warrior's signal flare.
This mess could only fall on Gagong.
Anyone would be upset when their plan is unexpectedly interrupted, but he also knew that anger would solve nothing. Moreover, with the help of the Ocean Treasure "Shipwreck Elegy," the casualty in the battle with the Warrior wasn't significant, and he might not necessarily lose.
Picking up the shipwreck statue that had begun to emit visible black mist, One-Eyed Becky rushed into the captain's room, shutting the door fiercely before yelling at his pirate officers: "Hold them off for half an hour; anyone who dares to retreat, I'll sink them to feed the fish!"
The pirate officers looked bitter, although they used trickery to lure the Warrior into a trap, but after all, it's still a Level 5 Battleship!
Even without boarding melee combat, their pirate ship suffered significant damage in the shelling.
In a situation already battered, going head-to-head with another Level 5 Battleship was akin to courting death, wasn't it?
But the brutality and viciousness of One-Eyed Becky overshadowed their fear of the Navy, forcing them to order the gunners to return fire and hastily raise the anchor, trying to trade space for time. As long as they could hold out until the captain emerged, there should be no problem... right?
Whosh—
Splash—
The sails were full, the bow cutting through the waves.
One chasing, one fleeing, the two ships left the Chaotic Stone Islands and sailed into the deep sea. Passing the Warrior's wreckage, the Silver Wings still lowered all the lifeboats from the warship, but as for how many survivors were left on the Warrior, only the Goddess could answer.
"Boom! ....."
The pursuit only lasted twenty minutes, although the pirate ship successfully slowed the Silver Wings by using chain shots to sever its front mast, but it was immediately hit in the rudder by a shot from the Silver Wings, utterly losing its chance to escape.
Boom—
Boom—
Boom—
With three subsequent volleys of cannon fire, combining shrapnel and chain shots, ensuring the pirate ship lost mobility and heavily damaging the pirates on deck, the Silver Wings chose the best angle to approach the pirate ship.
Although they were filled with rage, the Navy did not forget that their target this time was One-Eyed Becky's head.
"Drop anchor! Fight them!"
Driven to despair, the pirates did not lack ferocious bravery, and after the ship was anchored to stabilize it, all pirates swarmed out of the cabin.
Not waiting for the Silver Wings to attack first, they took the lead under the pirate officers, yelling using ropes to start the boarding battle.
"Kill!"
"Fight the damned Navy!"
"..."
The sailors on the Silver Wings were not to be outdone, some engaged on the deck while others directly boarded the pirate ship.
With one side being pirates and the other being Navy, at this point there were no cowards or hesitancy from either side, and in the blink of an eye, both ships turned into battlefields filled with blood and iron.
Gel, as the strongest force on the Silver Wings, glanced around without spotting the so-called Knight Level strength of One-Eyed Becky, then handed over the command of the Silver Wings' battle to the First Mate.
"Boom—"
With a sudden pause, he launched himself like a cannonball onto the pirate ship opposite, heading straight for the captain's cabin. Although he didn't know what scheme One-Eyed Becky had, preventing the adversary's success was surely the best choice at this moment.
Of course, Aiven couldn't just stand by idly. Having been in the military for so long, this was his first encounter with pirates; he was eager to test out the results of his rigorous training during this time.
No need for words, he directly initiated the "Sword Style: Floating Boat"!
His figure blurred, following the sword as it moved, transforming into a dazzling silver light. The blade flashed across the Silver Wings' deck, with every flicker a spray of blood, as one pirate after another fell beneath his sword.
If Gel dominated the Tier 2 realm at the pinnacle of an Official Knight, Aiven was confident that he himself had reached the peak of an Apprentice Knight, wielding dominion over the Tier 1 realm.
If he had to struggle against these ordinary pirates, wouldn't his eight years of Extraordinary Swordsmanship have gone to waste?
Using firearms in combination, he easily slew a pirate officer with evident traces of extraordinary power, and the situation on Silver Wings gradually stabilized.
This wave of pirates was evidently much more fortified with extraordinary power than the former Blood Anchor, but after Aiven single-handedly dispatched three pirate officers, the balance of naval versus pirate combat capability became overwhelming.
The pirates were already fewer in number than the navy, and one had just been through a battle while the other was fresh and ready, so unless there was a turn of events from higher-tier forces, the outcome was already sealed.
Whoosh—
"Heh... Heh... Ah!"
Gradually, even the pirates' screams began to dwindle; the navy realized these guys were just pawns, as the true target, One-Eyed Becky, never once appeared.
Aiven shot a look at Gary, signaling for him to hold the position.
Grabbing a rope, he swung himself onto the pirate ship. Even if Uncle Gel didn't need his help, witnessing a knights' battle was a precious opportunity.
"Stop him, don't let him into the captain's cabin!"
"Go, all of you, go."
"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"
The pirates left behind took on the crucial task of defending the captain, pushing through their fear of the Official Knights, swarming to block Gel's path to the captain's cabin.
They even brought in a flurry of firearms, using a three-staged shooting strategy to prevent Gel from getting closer.
Even if Gel was an extraordinary human, with physical qualities far surpassing human limits, that didn't mean he could ignore gunfire, especially the relentless close-range shots of firearms.
As he modified his footwork, continuously evading and darting, time ticked away second by second.
By now Gel also realized something was wrong with One-Eyed Becky, as his subordinates were buying him time. The more time dragged on, the bigger the uncertainties, so since they hadn't chosen to flee, they must still believe they could turn the tables.
So there was no time to delay.
Swiftly retreating, he ran in two strides to the prow, simultaneously swinging his sword to sever the smallest foremast, grabbing the mast with both hands and exhaling loudly.
"Hyaah!"
A force over four times the human limit, which was far beyond what numbers could describe, the discrepancy akin to an ant swinging a chopstick, harshly swept the mast out.
"Boom—!"
What does it feel like to be struck on the head with a siege hammer?
These pirates would tell you, it felt like flying!
Screams stifled in their throats, the mast twining with storm and thunder swept twice and the path of blood and gore was thoroughly cleared.
A few pirates were flung into the sea; many more became paste, forever merging with the deck.
There was no longer any obstruction between Gel and the captain's cabin.
As if an ironclad knight, brave and fearless in the mounted combat era centuries ago, Gel wielded the long mast like a knight holding his lance, charging toward the enemy's core, the "captain's cabin."
With large strides, every step he took on the deck resounded with a mighty boom, as if a war elephant was charging, not a man.
"Boom—! Crash!"
As Aiven boarded the pirate ship, this was the massive crash echoing from the stern he heard.
Looking up, he saw the captain's cabin at the rear already blown to a pile of shattered debris.
Two figures, tangled with the broken planks, plummeted into the sea.
Just a fleeting glimpse, the data visualization had already captured the two figures, one tall and clad in military uniform, naturally Gel, and the other "oddly-shaped" person undoubtedly One-Eyed Becky.
Aiven was taken aback: "Is this guy still human?"
The upper half of his body was largely transformed into crab or lobster shells, the other half retaining human form but covered with numerous varied marine parasites, barnacles, tubeworms, bryozoans, mussels, algae, resembling planking that had sunk to the seabed for years, looking bizarre and grotesque.
Most terrifying, the originally blinded left eye, with the eye patch fallen off, had a cluster of fine black tendrils writhing in the empty socket like living entities, much like the vengeful hands of a sea ghost.
Even from a distance, Aiven felt the air in his nostrils filled with the rotten stench of the sea.
"Is this the real extraordinary world?"
Suddenly witnessing such oddity, Aiven's worldview was violently shaken, leaving him momentarily stunned. He was completely unaware of the elderly, shriveled figure draped in bone ornaments slowly emerging from the hatch leading to the lower deck behind him.