Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Blackbeard’s territory.
A massive fleet was slowly gathering.
With over a hundred ships and more than ten thousand sailors, the scale of this fleet could definitely be considered enormous.
The flagship at the core was Blackbeard’s ship—Monster!
The Blackbeard flag that represented the Nightmare Ocean’s pirate governor hung on the mast, waving in the wind. In addition, there were numerous other pirate flags along the periphery of the fleet.
The pirates who really wanted to take the risk and fight had all already gathered here.
This fleet was the last of the pirate forces in the Nightmare Ocean.
With such a force, it might not be unrivaled across the world, but at least any country in the Opher Continent would not be able to beat it easily.
Even the past Ettoman would not dare to brazenly fight Blackbeard in fear of obtaining victory at the cost of sustaining heavy losses.
However, the gathering of this fleet now had a hint of solemness.
“Captain… the negotiator is back!” Blackbeard’s most trusted chief officer stepped forward. “He returned with Ettoman’s latest terms. They demand that we abandon sovereignty of Blackbeard Island and the Nightmare Ocean and retain only one colony. Furthermore, we are to turn over seventy percent of all our wealth! If we do this, Ettoman’s newly established Far Ocean Development Corporation will accept us as privateer captains…”
Far Ocean Development Corporation—another new thing that Ettoman had invented.
Colonial methods were too underhanded. Using official means to carry them out would inevitably leave blemishes behind, while private means would not have too many scruples. Furthermore, a company’s paramount objective was to pursue its own interests. Thus, its operations were simple and highly efficient. It could also accept a certain amount of private capital to participate in its business.
“This isn’t a peace agreement, but a humiliating unconditional surrender!” Blackbeard suddenly stood up, and his iron leg produced a string of sounds on the deck. “Even if we fight till the last man, I won’t surrender! Pass the order down—prepare for battle!”
“Your will shall be carried out!”
The chief officer hesitated to say something, but he eventually obediently retreated.
Soon, Ettoman’s enormous fleet appeared in the Blackbeard Pirates’ line of sight.
Taking the lead were dozens of black smoke pillars soaring toward the sky, like a grim reaper’s cage that was continuously approaching at lightning speed.
An ordinary sailing ship could at most sail at twenty knots, but these experienced pirates only needed a glance to realize that all these warships sailed above twenty knots.
Soon, a group of densely packed black dots emerged from the horizon and was growing larger, eventually turning into numerous steel mountains giving off incomparable pressure.
“Their entire hull is made of steel. Even using our largest cannon, it probably won’t be able to cause any damage…”
“The smallest ship is over a hundred meters long, not to mention its displacement tonnage. It’s practically a steel mountain…”
“Even without doing anything, our ships would definitely sink if they collide into us…”
The old pirates instantly gained a huge amount of parameters from observation, and their faces lost color.
One would not be able to understand the terror of Ettoman’s Invincible Steel Fleet before seeing it with their own eyes.
“What are you scum afraid of?” On Monster, Blackbeard’s voice could be heard from afar. “We are pirates! Free pirates! The rulers of the sea!!! Now, someone wants to banish us, the sons of the ocean, away from our home. Can we agree to this?”
“Can’t!”
No matter what, the pirates currently gathered here were still relatively determined to fight. Upon hearing this, they immediately drew their weapons and shouted. The extremely low morale due to seeing the ironclads slightly rose.
“Besides, we aren’t fighting by ourselves!”
Blackbeard continued his speech vehemently, “Golden Ocean’s Pirate Prince, Coral Ocean’s Merfolk King, as well as Devil Ocean’s and Star Clusters Archipelago’s pirate governors are all supporting us! As long as we obtain even the slightest victory and advantage, our allied forces will not hesitate to dispatch troops and tear Ettoman into pieces… When that moment comes, all of its colonies and ports across the world and even its mainland will face the fury of pirates!”
“Long live the son of the Nightmare Ocean!”
“For freedom!”
One could not help but admit that Blackbeard’s speech was quite provocative.
The lowest rung of pirates was obviously unaware of the fact that the allied forces were nowhere to be seen at all and cheered wildly.
Soon, the full view of Ettoman’s Invincible Steel Fleet entered their vision.
Behind the thirty ironclads, it was thickly dotted with large sailing ships that were at least third-level warships.
They were surrounding Blackbeard’s forces like an open pocket.
The cheers suddenly stopped.
Facing an absolute disadvantage in numbers and ships, only fools would believe that they could still obtain victory today.
“Battle!”
Blackbeard took a deep breath and drew his cutlass.
“Roar! Roar!”
Monster immediately roared and slowly sailed forward.
A naval battle of the largest scale was about to break out!
Swoosh!
Right at this moment, a high-speed water arrow came flying over from outside the battlefield. However, it did not dash into the battlefield and took the stance of an onlooker instead.
Only after the waves fell did it reveal the ship’s smooth hull and the flag that was famous across the Golden Ocean.
“It’s Wanderer! The Golden Ocean’s Pirate Prince Edward is here!”
This caused an uproar among the royal navy, but it soon quieted down.
This was because Wanderer was only one ship, and it would not be able to change anything. Furthermore, it was only waiting from afar at the periphery and did not attempt to enter the battlefield.
The pirate governors wanted to make use of Blackbeard’s fall to obtain more data on the ironclads. Of course, there was also the tacit understanding that it would be most ideal if they could deplete the navy’s forces to the greatest extent.
Wanderer was quietly towering in the ocean with an aloof attitude.
There was no one from the navy attacking it.
After all, Wanderer was absolutely deserving of its reputation as the fastest in the oceans.
Even the fastest ironclad now was still unable to catch up to Wanderer’s speed. If they dared to besiege it, it would only be embarrassing themselves.
Even so, cheers could be heard coming from Wanderer.
After all, from the pirates’ perspective, the Pirate Prince’s reputation had intimidated the navy, and thus they did not dare to provoke him.
It was not only the Pirate Prince either.
At the edge of the battlefield, numerous strange pirate teams were also quietly appearing and watching this battle from afar.
These were all great pirates who were once famous on the Golden Sea Route, and perhaps there were even some low-profile pirate governors hiding among them.
They all had extremely grave looks while gazing at Monster’s enemy.
Bang!
At the center of attention, the royal navy’s flagship, Fearless, suddenly fired its main cannon.
Rumble!
The entire ocean shook.
The third-level pirate warship opposite had half of its deck explode into flames.
“How’s this possible? It destroyed a ship with merely one shot?”
Edward instantly became despondent after seeing this.
He could not sense the slightest hint of extraordinary powers from Fearless. If it were an extraordinary ship that had fired a cannon with extraordinary powers, he would have nothing to say about accomplishing this feat.
However, everything at this moment had proven that the ironclad had achieved this purely with the powers of technology.
This was undoubtedly very terrifying.
This was because the ordinary represented mass production.
What if the number of ironclads increased to a hundred in the future, and every warship fired a similar main cannon at the same time?
Cold sweat immediately fell from Edward’s forehead.
Even with Wanderer, he was still uncertain if he would be able to escape the cannon fire’s attack range in a split second.
“What if such an attack landed on Pirate King City?”
Edward had viewed Pirate King City as an unsinkable stronghold.
However, his originally impregnable confidence had wavered slightly after this.
“We must join forces!”
“Elect a Pirate King!”
“Share data and information on ironclads!”
“Everything must be fast. Otherwise, we’ll only be eliminated by this era!”
…
For a moment, almost all of the pirates spectating the battle had such a thought cross their minds.
“Captain!” At this moment, a sailor came over hurriedly with a strange expression. “There’s a lifeboat approaching. The man on board claims to be Vice Admiral Norton, and he wishes to meet you!”
“Invite him on!”
Edward rubbed his chin with a contemplative expression. Shortly after, he saw a middle-aged, Ettoman gentleman wearing the royal navy’s military uniform coming onto the deck.
“Good day, Invincible Fleet’s chief advisor!” Edward laughed exaggeratedly. “What do you think would happen… if I throw the man who planned this battle into the ocean to feed the sharks or kidnap him for ransom?”
“Nothing much!”
Vice Admiral Norton had distinct facial features and fox-like eyes. He laughed exaggeratedly after hearing what Edward said. “Such actions would only be deemed as challenging the royal navy and thus face an all-out attack from Admiral Philip! Besides… you can’t be thinking that Blackbeard’s defeat is due to my plan? In reality, with Ettoman’s current strength, regardless of which pirate governor it attacked, the chances of victory are very high!”
“Although it’s the truth, hearing it really causes one to be dispirited…” Edward’s eyes glistened. “However… it isn’t like we don’t have the ability to strike back, such as Sea God, King’s Throne, and Specter Ship…”
“Specter Ship? It still needs a captain!” Vice Admiral Norton smiled. “I’m here with Ettoman’s goodwill. As long as you pledge allegiance, the Queen is willing to pardon all of your crimes and issue you a privateer permit, and even let you become one of Far Ocean Development Corporation’s shareholders!”
“You’re asking few pirate governors to surrender?” Pirate Prince Edward tugged at his collar. “Then I can tell you right now that Wanderer was free in the past, is free now, and will continue to be free in the future!”
