Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Royal Port.
Admiral Philip and a few staff officers gathered to stare at an ancient ocean map with doubtful expressions on their faces. “Sun Crown?”
“Yes… According to our source, the Pirate King’s next target is to find where the legendary Sun collapsed and obtain the Sun King’s crown!”
Vice Admiral Norton pointed a black stick at the mark of a crown in the middle of the map.
“This… is simply… absurd!” Admiral Philip’s fingers were trembling. “Vice Admiral Norton, please explain yourself! Otherwise, I will start doubting if you’re even deserving of your current position!”
“Yes, Sir!” Vice Admiral Norton bowed. “First, we have to make something clear. This Sun King who conquered ancient dynasty after dynasty is not merely a legend. I’ve already gathered concrete evidence to prove that this king existed… Additionally, he really did leave his Sun Crown behind…”
“You… Don’t tell me you actually believe that legend—The Sun King was born of the sun, and his crown possesses the ability to beckon an endless army of soldiers. These soldiers are tireless and fearless of death. They helped him conquer country after country and defeat all sorts of enemies… Finally, the Sun King was disheartened because he did not have an heir, so he chose to bury himself on an uninhabited island… He left his crown inside his tomb, and whoever obtains the Sun Crown will have the strength to conquer the world…” said one of the advisors the legend.
“Since sea monsters, elves, dwarves, and so many legendary ships exist… a Sun Crown isn’t totally unbelievable!”
Vice Admiral Norton continued, “Moreover, I’ve already gathered reliable evidence that the glorious Sun Dynasty truly existed… From a practical point of view, this shouldn’t concern us, but those pirates believe that possession of this Sun Crown will give them enough strength to defeat us.”
“You mean…” Admiral Philip’s eyes lit up.
“Regardless of whether this information is true or not, we should make our move. However, our first target shouldn’t be the Sun Crown but those pirates instead… Due to the uncertainty of our source, I believe we should increase the preparations for our pirate enticing plan…”
Evidently, Vice Admiral Norton had thought through this thoroughly.
“Hmm… Indeed… Our current strength surpasses the pirates, so with sufficient preparation, there isn’t much for us to worry about… If we give that Pirate King some time to reorganize, it won’t be beneficial to us!”
Admiral Philip instantly made his decision.
“Also… we have a few active privateer captains under us who are a decent force,” Vice Admiral Norton added, causing everyone to smile faintly.
Privateer captains could be considered a force for Ettoman, but in the eyes of the official navy, they were still too inferior to show in public.
Furthermore, they truly loathed pirates from the bottom of their hearts.
Since this operation might be a trap, the privateer captains would definitely be acting as cannon fodder for the navy by charging and breaking through enemy lines.
…
Pirate King City.
Fang Yuan opened up a nautical chart and smiled when he looked at the mark of the crown.
The accumulated wealth of Pirate King City and the pirate governors was seriously not a small amount. Other than some gold, silver, or treasures, the most exciting ones were the accurate nautical charts showing the locations of treasures.
Items that he might be interested in, which the pirate governors had not yet excavated, were naturally not ordinary.
If it was not too distant, the locations would be close to impossible to decipher, or maybe the sea routes would be too dangerous.
This nautical chart involving the Sun Crown was offered by Wang Zhi, the pirate governor of the East.
Because this secret treasure belonged to the West yet ended up in the hands of the pirate governor of the East, it made things extremely awkward. Due to the location, even if he could not bear to use it as part of a deal with other pirate governors, he could not go look for the secret treasure with great fanfare. Therefore, it had been left idle for a long time until now.
Offering it to Fang Yuan was similar to giving up something that was of dubious worth.
This nautical chart was not something that one could just follow and be certain to find the hidden treasure.
The codewords, hidden dangers, changes in the present sea routes, migration of beasts, and many other considerations had to be taken into account as well.
After analyzing it, Fang Yuan estimated that even if he really wanted the Sun Crown, he would have to mobilize at least half of the troops under him.
Instead of treasure hunting with great fanfare and allowing the navy to scheme against him, Fang Yuan would rather spread the news and tempt the main forces of the navy into a decisive battle. At the very least, he would be able to grasp the initiative.
Of course, Fang Yuan did not care about how legendary or mystical the Sun Crown was.
Even if the Sun Crown was truly able to beckon a formidable army, that was on land and not at sea.
Out at sea, ships would always be the most important! Otherwise, the Sun Dynasty would not have been limited to only one continent.
“By tossing out this bait, I’m confident that the navy will be hooked because it can’t stand seeing Pirate King City expanding at this pace!”
Fang Yuan gathered his four pirate governors, as well as his original subordinates. “We’re going to go all out, and we won’t be leaving behind any third-level ships. We shouldn’t treat the royal navy as idiots and think that it’ll definitely fall for our trap. Instead, we have to be well prepared to fight a hard battle!”
…
Three days later.
At the common boundary between the Coral Ocean and the Golden Ocean, the Cornelian Ocean…
Incredibly captivating, multi-colored radiances reflected from the bottom of the ocean.
Inexperienced newbies out at sea would certainly think that there were treasures on the seabed.
However, these gorgeous radiances were dangerous and not riches.
Nobody knew why, but the ocean water in this region was contaminated with dense toxins. Even an old fur seal would not last five minutes swimming in this water.
There would not even be an opportunity to drift along the ocean if any misfortune happened here.
However, some sea monsters fancied such ocean waters, where humans could not adapt.
One example would be large longnose gudgeons. Fish like these were vicious in nature and had mouths that looked like nails. They were incredibly quick in water and loved attacking any floating objects.
For small and ordinary ships, it would not take long before these fish managed to pierce a hundred holes in the ship’s hull. Nobody on the ship would be able to escape from their attacks.
Because of all these dangers, the Cornelian Ocean became a forbidden zone.
However, at this very moment, a detachment of the Invincible Steel Fleet entered these waters brazenly.
The large number of shadows immediately incited the craziness of the dwelling longnose gudgeons, and they swam rapidly to attack these floating objects.
Ding! Ding! Dang! Dang!
After a series of metallic clashing sounds, all the longnose gudgeons fell to the bottom of the ocean, completely defeated by the ironclads’ hulls.
Admiral Philip stood on deck and said confidently, “Generally speaking, first-level battleships have nothing to fear regarding the attacks of these longnose gudgeons, and ironclads have even better defense… After eliminating those pirates, we can develop more steam merchant ships to open up this sea route. This will undoubtedly be an excellent source of wealth!”
“Commander, we haven’t spotted any traces of the pirates, but according to the messages from the privateer captains in front, they discovered a lot abandoned rubbish. Seeing how fresh the discarded rubbish is, we should be able to catch up to those pirates within a day…”
Vice Admiral Norton remained stern and serious.
This time, the royal navy had brought fifty ironclads, which basically meant that it was placing everything it had on the line. He had every reason to be worried and anxious.
“Relax… With our main forces gathered here, the enemies won’t be able to do anything to us. Besides, even if they have any traps planned, we still have that group of privateer captains ahead of us to test the route, right?” Admiral Philip replied in an unconcerned manner.
…
“A huge decisive battle, huh… After this battle, will this be the end of the show for the pirates?”
On Mermaid, Orlando was gulping down a bottle of rum.
Even though he dressed like a gentleman, he was still a pirate deep down.
At the thought of Philip’s plan, he could not help feeling sad.
Furthermore, the navy’s attitude toward the privateer captains who gave their lives to the navy was also heartbreaking.
It was probably because Ettoman was about to eliminate the pirates and take control of the four oceans that they were reluctant to show even the slightest bit of appreciation for them.
This time, the navy was basically sending these people to their deaths.
In Orlando’s eyes, they were no different from bait being thrown into the sea for this task.
Even though the pirates’ strength was reduced, the rise of the Pirate King led to their unity, so how could they ever underestimate that?
It was undoubtedly not a problem for the pirates to get rid of these advance forces.
Ettoman was clearly prepared to let these men be wiped out by the pirates!
“Ruthless… Even if the main forces of the pirates perish in this battle, the seed of pirates will never disappear…”
Orlando clenched his teeth.
Ding!
At this moment, he suddenly heard a weird sound, so he summoned the system without hesitation.
“Main quest chain triggered: Decisiveness!
“Quest explanation: Ettoman’s indistinct alienation begins to stir your emotions as a pirate. Everything will be decided in this decisive battle! Follow your heart and soul to make a decision on which camp you wish to belong to. After making your decision, display your usefulness in the battle!
“Quest reward: After the predestined fate of the battle is concluded, you will receive a variable reward based on your contribution!”
…
“Variable reward? That means the greater the contribution, the greater the reward…” Orlando muttered as he looked at his right palm.
In his heart, did he treasure having freedom or becoming an honorable nobleman?
“This answer… was decided since my very first day on a ship! My heart! My heart!”
Orlando was solemn as he clenched his fist tightly.
Splash!
The water surface burst as a massive tentacle extended from the water.
“Wh-what’s going on?”
An Ettoman crew member ran out immediately.
Looking at this small fry monitoring him, Orlando frowned momentarily before smiling warmly. “It’s just a small matter. Nothing much…”
