Chapter 184: 182. I haven't come up with a story yet, so I'll just make do with the old routine for now.
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Anatasiya was a legitimate Transcendent Knight, the natural-born fearless daughter of Baron Feller, who with a pair of swords was an invincible force in battle.
Although Taoles was a Third Order Transcendent, she was not good at combat, so she stayed on the merchant ship, using card magic to provide support to her allies.
Belisa was somewhat better, she too followed Charles and climbed the mast, holding a rifle, and shooting at the pirates. This girl, after obtaining the Cat's Mask, had indeed put a lot of efforts into the Flying Dagger Technique and shooting skills. Her gunmanship had become impressive—seven or eight shots out of ten would hit a pirate.
This was still limited by the fact that she was using an ordinary rifle, not even a standard alchemical firearm, so the range and accuracy were not enough, otherwise, her performance could be even better.
In just a few minutes, eighteen Hunchback Red Bear Warriors had also climbed aboard five pirate ships, bringing along the Westwind Knights and slaughtered their way through.
Although Charles was accustomed to "recruiting the defeated," he did not dare try it this time. After all, Chatham's fleet was divided into two parts: one blocking the front and the other intercepting from behind. This was the half that guarded the rear; there was still another half in front.
If they could not resolve the battle quickly and the other half of Chatham's fleet, which he commanded, caught up, the situation would immediately become dire.
Charles did not skimp on the Magic-Breaking Bombshell Bullets, killing several pirate leaders in succession. He occasionally checked on Belisa, the former Duchess's lady-in-waiting, who seemed to be shooting more and more steadily, and then he released a Flame Hand, sending over the Silver Knight.
Even though the Silver Knight was a handgun, it was, after all, an Extraordinary Object with three attributes: Trajectory Correction, Ejecting Draw Gun, and Double Shot Burst, which made it slightly more accurate than ordinary rifles.
After switching to the Silver Knight, Belisa's killing efficiency increased dramatically, and the sight of this lady-in-waiting concentrating on shooting had a certain distinct elegance to it.
Among these five pirate ships, there was only one Transcendent leader at the start, whom Charles had taken out with a single shot. The subsequent resistance was nothing but a dying struggle. About an hour into the battle, Charles had gained five "new ships."
He immediately ordered a return to Cappadocia. Although he had won this battle, Charles had no hope for his chaotic "command art" and did not wish to engage the other half of Chatham's fleet.
Capturing five pirate ships, it seemed most prudent to quickly return to Cappadocia City.
Chatham was commanding six pirate ships, preparing to meet Charles's fleet head-on. He had even decided to launch an all-out cannon attack as soon as they encountered each other, indifferent to the lives of Crazy Horse Davis and his men under his command.
But he waited a long time and never saw Charles's fleet. He sent people to find the other half of the fleet but came up empty-handed. In the vast ocean, all traces of naval battles would vanish without a trace.
Even though Chatham had considered the possibility that Charles might have discovered the true identity of Crazy Horse Davis, he did not believe it. How could a young man from Byron, who had obviously never fought a sea battle, recognize such a masterful strategy? Crazy Horse Davis was renowned for his acting skills among pirates, having deceived countless fleets with it. He had even lured a fleet of the Inglima Empire's Royal Navy into an ambush, allowing the Golden Goat fleet to sink a battleship and escape in disarray.
As time passed, Chatham waited for several days and did not encounter Charles's fleet nor find the other half that set sail at the same time. He knew anything could happen at sea and was not anxious, but he could not let his fleet wait indefinitely. Therefore, Chatham directed his fleet straight for Cappadocia City.
Charles returned to Cappadocia City with five ships and transmitted a thought through his diary: the maze-ification progress of this small seaside city had reached (11/18).
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Charles was overjoyed, although he didn't know where the remaining seven ships would come from, this progress was already quite good.
In this naval battle, he had also captured five to six hundred pirates, whom he still disbanded and integrated into the Westwind Knights. Originally, he had planned to hold a trial, but he quickly realized it was impractical. The pirates mainly came from criminals, each concealing their identity, and unless they confessed themselves, it was extremely difficult to verify the crimes they had committed. Even for those notorious pirates, if they chose to hide their identities, it wasn't easy for others to investigate their backgrounds, let alone those ordinary pirates?
Five days after returning to Cappadocia City, a small fleet appeared on the sea surface outside the city, consisting of only two ships, both flying the flag of the Inglima Empire's Royal Navy and both large warships.
Charles was shocked and personally went to the dock to observe. If he had eleven ships at this moment, besides one old warship, the rest were merchant vessels. Although they had been modified into armed ships, their firepower was insufficient, and their performance was lacking, thus they really couldn't defeat the two large warships of the Inglima Empire's Royal Navy.
Cappadocia City lacked defensive artillery; it was an ordinary seaside town. The cannons installed by the pirates had been destroyed by the Inglima Navy.
A few hours later, the two large warships docked, and no attack ensued.
Charles let out a slight sigh of relief. He took a few subordinates and went to meet them, as he had taken control of the city and couldn't avoid them now. Charles didn't forget, however, to remind all his subordinates how to respond, hoping to avoid giving themselves away as much as possible.
Two handsome naval officers, followed by a large number of subordinates, descended from the warships to meet Charles. The slightly older Inglima Navy officer showed an angry expression and asked, "Isn't this supposed to be the territory of the Inglima Empire? Why are there people from Fars?"
Charles took a deep breath and said, "It would take a long time to explain, but I must make a long story short because we might be attacked at any moment. For the many details, please allow me to elaborate slowly."
The truth was, Charles hadn't invented a good story yet, so he could only respond with an old routine for now. Experience new tales on My Virtual Library Empire
The expressions of the two Inglima Navy captains lightened slightly, and the younger one said, "Please speak!"
Charles quickly said, "I am Charles Mecklen, from the Fars Empire, head of the Lucavaro District Patrolling Army in the capital Strasbourg, Commander of the Westwind Knights, Director of the Lucavaro District Administration Bureau, and the Fars Empire's special plenipotentiary war commissioner to the Inglima Empire, holding the rank of a twenty-eighth class, second-grade domestic affairs officer!"
"I was ordered to accompany the Augusladin High Priest on a mission to the Inglima Empire, but due to weather issues, we were separated at sea, and my ship encountered the pirate Byron."
"This pirate fleet of Byron attacked the Cappadocia City, killed Mr. Domingo, a loyal domestic officer of the Inglima Empire, and caused some destruction to the city."
"I was forced to counterattack, driving away Byron's pirates and capturing five of their ships. I killed several pirate leaders whose names I do not know. However, they said they would continue to attack Cappadocia, so please be prepared to meet the enemy, gentlemen."
"If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I will surely hide nothing and tell everything."
The two captains of the Inglima Empire's Navy fell silent for a moment. They indeed had many questions, but just as they were about to interrogate thoroughly, someone from their ships shouted, "Pirate ships sighted, pirate ships sighted, six ships in total, two warships, and four armed merchant ships modified..."