Chapter 16:Naval assault!!
Translated by: Chua
Edited by: I and Elkassar
Captain Ammand harbored suspicions towards Sheyan who self proclaimed that he was a seaman from the east. For example, exaggerating one’s ability to an employer was widely commonplace even in the present world. Therefore, upon seeing his performance, his suspicions utterly vanished. No matter how much someone could put up a facade, only an experienced seaman was able to remain calm and composed out in the threatening sea. This was something that couldn’t be achieved through acting!
In contrary, the unlucky Chris whose leg injuries had not completely heal was in complete shambles. Following the bumpy ship, he had vomited excessively and even blacked out. Fortunately, his widely announced deep relationship with Sheyan had raked in benefits. Under the oppression of Sheyan, the compliant Ben Mugen effortlessly supported him, he looked as if he was on the line of duty to save his country. He hoped that this cousin/benefactor of Sheyan would put in a few good words and prevent himself from the miserable fate of getting chased out of the cabin.
The wind gradually grew fiercer as the seawaves freely crashed in layer by layer, containing a certain loftiness and an imposing strength. If one were to have a bird’s eye view, the Bell and Mug with a total crew strength of about 200, and a displacement* of 6 tonnes, would look like a fallen leaf gliding gently on this boundless vast body of water, it looked like so vulnerable like it would capsize anytime.
(TN: A ship’s displacement is the total weight of the ship including its contents)
At this precise moment, a blinding light flashed out in the distant sky! It was like a ferocious thunderbolt suddenly piercing through the empty sky, a layer of goosebumps formed on anyone who witnessed this. It was like their spirit drifted away from their skin, and their nostrils flared up. Watt, standing above them on the observation platform, shouted out loudly:
“Message from the Flying Dutchman!”
“Enemies to the west, 11 miles from here!”
Sheyan, currently observing the brilliance in the sky, were familiar with the history, because in the bar he overhead that the captain of the legendary ‘Queen Anne’s Revenge’, Blackbeard, was proficient in black magic. The lights in the sky was probably to illustrate certain warnings, this magic had no combat capabilities and was only like a large scale fireworks show to the Caribbean pirates. In Pirates of the Caribbean 4, Blackbeard was even able to stick the legendary Black Pearl pirate ship into a rum bottle and stored it as a collection, such were his immense black magic powers.
Upon witnessing the fireworks, Ammand’s body bolted upright. He was currently wearing a dark black commander hat, “Shinng” as he drew out his sword on his waist and loudly exclaimed:
“Full rudder to port! Raise the sails, full speed west!”
Presently, Ammand’s entire body was emitting a dazzling white brilliance, under the command and direction of his sword, the entire ship also was encapsulated with a faint white glow. Obviously the ship’s special ability: ‘Smooth sailing’ had been activated, with sails against the raging winds, the ship’s velocity greatly rose! As the pirate ship sailed rapidly towards the west. According to Sheyan’s estimation, there was at least a 30% increase in the velocity!
Although this ship rapidly sailed forward, when it approached the battlefield, the atmosphere had already lighted up in full swing! Without a doubt, the ocean’s king of speed Black Pearl was the first to engage in battle, following closely by the speedy HMS Victory. Two ships from the ‘Paragon fleet’ had turned to welcome them in battle. Next in line was the Flying Dutchman that signaled out the message. Once the Bell and Mug had charged into the battlefield, in their presence were the 3 merchant sheep that looked like naked sheep without any form of protection.
“Ready ~ Release!” Ammand once again raised his silver sword! Under his forceful command, the Bell and Mug inclined fully towards the right, simultaneously 10 tongues of flame spat out from the left! As the white fumes dispersed, the 10 cannons on the port (left) side of the ship started firing off again. However the spanish merchant, Fernandez, very early in his life became notorious for peddling black slaves, how would he be so easily dealt with? His 3 merchant ships were not inferior in any aspect to a military warship in terms of tonnage, in fact they were armed merchant ships! Amongst the 10 cannons fired from the Bell and Mug, only 2-3 cannons connected with the target, it was completely not threatening to the thickly fortified armed merchant ship!
Ammand on the other hand was not expecting much from his own ship’s firing capabilities, after the symbolic explosion to commence the battle, he immediately commanded to rapidly close up the gap, and prepare for a connected side to side battle! To the pirate captain, this was his favourite course of actions, because upon connecting with the enemy, they could loot their wealth and even capture the entire merchant ship. Of course, a close combat battle was much riskier and its casualty rate would be more shocking.
Huge torrents reached out for the heavens as the tidal waves rolled vigorously. However the Bell and Mug relied on its agile speed to rapidly close in on the heavy merchant ships, in a flash, the gap was greatly shortened! Visibly it looked like the connection was about to succeed but at this moment, Sheyan sensed an immense pressure forcing its way from the left. This pressure had no form but yet it surged up violently, not only was it difficult to evade, it gave a bone shattering feeling from its imminent collision.
Sheyan instantly threw himself horizontally onto the ship’s deck, laying down perfectly flat, he conveniently grabbed and pulled the confused Chris down as well. Chris had just recovered and wanted to get some fresh air away from the cabin but in the end was forcefully dragged to the floor by Sheyan. Face planting into the ground, fresh blood oozed from his nose, and he even chipped two of his front tooth. This brat stubbornly raised his head to curse out but was shocked by what he saw: The square board on the side of the left merchant ship started crackling and finally opened up, revealing a organized row of densely packed black cannons aiming at this direction. As some were still scrambling to understand what was going on, an entire 37 Ceska Zbrojovka ammunitions factory manufactured brand new cannons spat out their terrifying flames!
Within seconds, the high speed Bell and Mug suddenly shuddered, and forcibly shifted horizontally by 7-8 metres as though an invisible hand had heavily smacked it on its left. At least 20 heavy cannonballs successfully crashed into the ship’s body. Clear and distinct explosions could be seen from the right side of the Bell and Mug leaving a trail of dust in its wake. Planks of wood shattered from the huge explosions, causing such a tragic sight!
Under this string of attacks, the Bell and Mug had suffered heavy losses. This was due to almost 70% of the pirate crew excitedly congregating on the deck in wait for the incoming contact of both ships. In a quick and estimation, roughly 1 in 3 pirates were injured from the attack, and some were even blast overboard by the impact. One of the collapsed individual was the chief officer Scarface Harry, this huge, sturdy and outspoken man in order to shield his comrade, had taken a fast moving sharp broken wooden fragment into his head. His head was covered in flowing blood, and he completely faded into unconsciousness, no one knew if he had survived.
Fortunately in this era, the cannons after firing would be pushed backwards by the recoil, after firing once the innards of the cannon had to be scrubbed clean before loading back a new round. Such was the complicated process of reloading. To Fernandez, his profession was a businessman not a militant, his employed mercenaries may not be experts or experienced gunners, therefore, the reloading time took relatively longer. This no doubt gave Ammand, who had hundreds of battles worth experience, adequate time to retaliate!
“Steer 70 degrees!”
Ammands body remained upright, using his venomous and eagle eyes to observe, his voice was like a huge whip that lashed onto the nearby pirate’s butts! Enabling them to immediately recover and execute his command.
“Straighten the third sail! Let the wind blow starboard!
“Lower the fourth sail!”
After a series of commands, Ammand took big steps to the main mast, raising his sword and slicing down, the largest main sail gently and grandly floated down. The silver sword atop Ammand’s hand suddenly emitted a blinding brilliance, enveloping the entire ship and connecting at the sharp end of the bow of the ship. Previously the ship was parrellel to the merchant ship, however in a short span, the entire Bell and Mug begun rotating straightly, forming at ‘T’ shape structure with the merchant ship!
In a flash, a huge wave crashed in, however, the Bell and Mug tenaciously weathered the waves causing a massive splash. Undauntingly with its constant high speed it wildly crashed head on into the enemy ship!
Previously the Bell and Mug was described as a piece of fallen leaf aimlessly adrift on the ocean, however right now, its captain was completely dictating its every move! Under his leadership, this pirate ship had change from a mere leaf into a penetrating blade similar to the silver sword in his grip! Slender, graceful, cruel, conquering anything in its path! Its honour did not allow one to glance back (chinese idiom it means duty-bound no turning back), as it frantically stabbed into the enemy’s abdomen!