Chapter 222: Section 10: Demon Energy Ship Battle
The Grey Rat’s cannon ports on both sides of the ship were opened, each followed by a small cannon.
Although the cannons equipped on the Grey Rat were not large, larger cannons natural are also heavier. Pirates had strict requirements for the load capacity of their ships, and if there were too many or too large cannons, the Grey Rat would carry too much weight, making it difficult to exert its specialty in short-distance acceleration and flexible maneuvering.
The pirates began to assemble bombs.
Each cannon was manned by at least four pirates.
Two of them carried the bombs, the third stationed near the cannon port to stuff the bomb into the muzzle. Subsequently, the third pirate would join the fourth to push the cannon out.
Each cannon had a pair of wheels for pushing.
Many cannons were soon sticking out of their ports.
The pirates placed the burning torches on the fuses, which quickly burned out.
With a booming sound, the gunpowder at the rear of the cannon exploded, producing a strong thrust. Driven by this force, the bombs screamed as they flew out.
From Rou Cang’s side, a large number of pirates in small boats quickly approached the Grey Rat.
“Cannon fire!” a pirate saw the white smoke suddenly rising from the Grey Rat and yelled out a warning.
Then, bombs came flying in. Some fell into the water, raising huge columns of water, some hit the rocks, only chipping off some fragments. Others fell on the small boats, smashing the unfortunate directly and splitting the boats in two, dropping the surviving pirates into the water.
“Ah—!”
The pirates who fell into the water all screamed miserably.
Haishi Corner here is inhabited by countless man-eating fish. Because of the unique material of the rocks, which absorbs a large amount of salt, the water here is close to freshwater.
Soon, the surface of the water was stained red with blood.
Countless man-eating fish in the bloody waters, tail flipping, desperately tore at each other for the pirates’ flesh, causing a flurry of splashes.
The pirates were hit hard by the Grey Rat’s bombs, evoking more ferocity, howling constantly, and rowing the small boats with even more force.
Although surrounded by rocks, the pirates’ boat-handling skills were not low, and the small boats, drawing less water, moved agilely among the rocks.
The only exceptions were two boats.
These two boats were a size larger than the usual lifeboats, each manned by four pirates of more robust build. They frantically rowed their oars, but the two boats moved slowly.
The reason for this was Rou Cang.
He stood on one of the small boats, his body over three meters tall. He was extremely obese, almost like a mountain of flesh. Wearing only a pirate coat and a white loincloth, his huge belly and layers of fat were fully exposed, grotesque and nauseating to look at.
Rou Cang’s enormous weight made it difficult for the small boats to bear, the gunwales nearly submerged by seawater.
They were the first to set out, but soon, they fell to the very back. Eight pirates rowed with all their might, but could only watch as other pirates surpassed them.
“Too slow, haven’t you eaten?!” Rou Cang was very dissatisfied.
The eight pirates shivered all over and rowed even more frantically, finally managing to speed up a bit.
Boom! Boom! Boom…
The cannons fired repeatedly, the recoil sending the cannons jerking backward after each shot.
The pirates took the opportunity to clean the cannon ports, then reloaded the bombs.
Initially, they used solid shots. After a while of bombardment, as the enemy pirates got closer, they switched to grapeshot.
These bombs scattered after being fired, creating a shotgun-like effect.
The change in bombs, and the closing distance, rapidly increased the hit rate of the cannons. Rou Cang’s pirates suffered heavier losses, and their morale visibly weakened.
Many small boats sank midway, the air above the rock formations filled with the smoke of gunpowder, and pieces of wood of various sizes floated on the sea. Meanwhile, the pirates’ bodies swiftly became bones drifting with the current amid the man-eating fish’s frenzy.
“Come on, keep pushing!” Rou Cang bellowed, his voice booming, echoing across the entire battlefield.
His pirates instantly shivered, and the initially waning battle cries surged again.
The spirit of an army lies with its leader, and as long as Rou Cang was present, the pirates’ morale was assured, preventing them from directly collapsing after being bombarded.
Grey watched Rou Cang from a distance, his heart growing increasingly heavy.
He was a Silver Level Transcendent, while Rou Cang’s life level reached the Golden Level!
Rou Cang was not under the command of the three legendary pirates, but he had been rampaging across the seas for decades, his brutal fame enough to quiet crying children.
Grey knew very well in his heart that if he fought directly against Rou Cang, he stood no chance of victory due to the huge gap in their strengths.
“But this time, I am not alone,” Grey thought, feeling fortunate.
He saw three pirate ships appearing in the distant waters.
It was the Golden Chin, the Sea Snake Lady, and the Sea Snake Lady’s silver-sea-snake-disguised pirate ship.
“Lady Rou Cang, please show mercy!” the Sea Snake Lady’s voice, carried by magic, reverberated through the entire battlefield, “We mean no harm to you.”
Then, Golden Chin’s voice also transmitted, his tone firm, “We are under Firebeard, members of the brotherhood of pirate groups! Rou Cang, do you want to start a war with the Firebeard Pirates?”
The pirates on the small boats stirred.
“A bunch of kids.” Rou Cang sneered disdainfully, then shouted loudly, “Continue the attack!”
“Ooh!!” the pirates responded.
“Our reinforcements have arrived!” Grey yelled on deck, bolstering his own forces’ morale.
The three pirate ships raced toward Haishi Corner, all very fast.
Rou Cang’s fleet began to split off a group of pirate ships attempting to intercept Golden Chin and the Sea Snake Lady.
The distance between the two sides quickly closed, and they almost simultaneously opened fire.
Bang, bang, bang!
Massive bombs soared through the air, landing around the enemy ships.
“The wind direction is not good! They have the wind in their favor,” the First Officer reported to the Sea Snake Lady.
Sea Snake Lady clenched her teeth and pulled out a Magic Scroll from her bosom. After unfolding it, she channeled her mana and cast a Wind Element Spell.
A violent wind suddenly picked up, inflating the sails of the Sea Snake and Golden Chin significantly. With the wind’s aid, the range of the bombs also increased significantly.
“Let them see what we’re capable of, lads, open the bow cannons!” Golden Chin chuckled and loudly ordered.
“Oy!”
Soon, the unique trapezoid bow of the Golden Chin began to slowly descend.
As part of the trapezoid ramp sank, three large cannons hidden inside were revealed.
These three cannons were swiftly pushed forward by the pirates, their large nozzles extending long out of the bow, against the fierce wind and spray.
“Fire the cannons!!”
At Golden Chin’s command, bright rings of light suddenly flashed along the lengths of the three bow cannons.
These light rings stacked from the rear to the tip of the cannon nozzles.
Then, the hundred rings collapsed together, firing a specially designed bomb from the cannons.
The bomb soared high into the sky before following a parabolic trajectory downwards, leaving behind three long trails of white smoke in the sky.
“It’s Golden Chin’s Cigar Cannon!”
“Quick, dodge!”
“It’s too late…”
A wave of chaos erupted among Rou Cang’s pirates.
The specialized bomb landed on the decks of three pirate ships and exploded violently. The blast created a strong gale that instantly flung several pirates through the air. One pirate ship was directly disabled, while the other two drastically slowed down due to heavy casualties and damage.
“Hahaha!” Golden Chin laughed triumphantly.
His pirate ship was also a Black Iron Level demon energy ship, less agile and fast than the Grey Rat but much stronger in attack and defense.
Especially these three Cigar Cannons, which were Silver Level alchemy cannons.
Initially, when dealing with the Grey Rat, Golden Chin, concerned about the safety of the treasure, had not rashly used the cannons. Fearful that Firebeard would rehide the treasure, he had aimed to capture Firebeard alive.
However, he ended up being foiled by the knight youth and Zong Ge.
Golden Chin began to display his true strength, and as Sea Snake Lady continued casting spells, the duo quickly overpowered the pirate ships that tried to intercept them.
Although Rou Cang was a powerful Gold Level warrior, he did not have any Silver Level commanders under his command. His elite forces, mainly of Bronze and Black Iron Levels, were primarily involved in attacking the Grey Rat. Those left on the pirate ships were generally weaker.
This allowed Golden Chin and Sea Snake Lady to dominate swiftly, and soon, they approached the nearby Sea Rock Point.
“What should we do, Lord Rou Cang?” the newly appointed First Officer asked, visibly worried.
The timing of Golden Chin and Sea Snake Lady’s arrival was too perfect. Most of the Rou Cang Pirate Group’s forces were in the midst of attacking the Grey Rat. Their situation was extremely awkward now. If they insisted on proceeding with their attack, it was highly likely that all their pirate ships would be sunk.
By then, not to mention pirate elites, even Rou Cang himself would hardly be able to fight alone on the sea without his ship.
Golden Fighting Spirit would not allow him to leap across the vast ocean, he too needed rest, food, and healing.
“Damn it!” Rou Cang’s face twisted in rage, furious, “You all go back, guard my Bathtub, I will take care of Firebeard myself.”
“Oy!” The pirates obeyed, turning their small boats around.
Except for the two small boats under Rou Cang’s feet which were laboriously carrying his hefty, enormous body, they continued advancing towards the Grey Rat.
Cannons kept firing at him.
The eight pirates on the small boat were left with their ears ringing, with water splashes rising and falling beside them again and again, soaking them repeatedly.
Bombs continuously hit Rou Cang.
Rou Cang’s body was covered in fat, and the bombs embedded into his fat layers, only to be instantly bounced back.
The rebounded bombs, now faster and more powerful, severely damaged the Grey Rat, leaving it splintered and riddled with holes.
“Cease fire!” Firebeard had no choice but to issue such an order.
The bombing had to stop.
Seeing this, Rou Cang burst into laughter, extremely pleased.
But the next moment, dozens of alchemy crossbow arrows shot towards him.
Rou Cang glared fiercely. He did not intend to directly withstand these crossbow arrows. They could explode, burn, release freezing frost, or carry deadly poison—withstanding them was too disadvantageous, consuming far more Fighting Energy than rebounding the bombs.
The next moment, Golden Fighting Spirit surged from Rou Cang.
The Fighting Energy propelled him to shoot into the sky.
The two small boats he left behind, along with the eight pirates on them, panickedly screamed. Soon, they were overwhelmed by alchemy crossbow arrows, exploding into dust.
“Firebeard, come face your death!” Rou Cang adjusted his position midair, like a colossal Mammoth, diving toward the deck of the Grey Rat.
Firebeard stood fearlessly, thin sword in hand, ready on the deck.
As Rou Cang was about to land on the deck, suddenly two figures shot out from the shadows.
One was a Half-Beast, the other a Human Race youth!
Together with Firebeard, the three attacked Rou Cang who was unstable on his landing.