Free Web NovelChapter 1293: Chapter 4: Why Are We So Unlucky?
Under Pika’s command, four large ships quickly lined up in a row, sailing side by side. Within half a minute, four large ships approached from the right — these were the ships of the Beast Pirates.
Eight pirate ships gathered, and after connecting with each other via Telephone Worm, they began to advance forward.
Half a nautical mile away, seven pirate groups also completed their integration; all of these were ships from the BIG MOM Pirate group. These ships were vividly colored, with most of their cabins shaped like cakes. What’s even more peculiar is that the bow of each ship was a ’living thing’ — and there’s a distinction between a living thing and a creature. These bows had self-awareness and could speak, which was the Devil Fruit Ability of Charlotte Lingling.
Both sides completed their integration and rapidly approached each other. Judging by their appearance, it wouldn’t be more than five minutes before they began a boarding battle.
Although it was Su Xiao’s first experience with maritime warfare, he wondered why the pirate ships didn’t start shelling each other once they got close.
This thought had just crossed his mind when a few muffled sounds came from the distance, and three cannonballs with whistling sounds cut through the wind and came flying in.
Su Xiao looked up at the three pitch-black cannonballs; their speed wasn’t very fast, as they arced overhead and flew past the Black Spade.
Su Xiao watched as the three cannonballs fell into the sea. He finally understood why the cannonry on both sides wasn’t intense — with such lousy accuracy, it was simply a waste of ammunition.
Both sides likely knew this, so they were quickly closing the distance. Within less than two minutes, they had closed to about 100 meters apart.
On Su Xiao’s ship, aside from the gunners, all the pirates were gathered together, with the pirate leader standing in front of them.
"The Young Master has high expectations for us..."
Upon hearing the first line, Su Xiao realized it was a pre-battle rally; a boarding battle was so brutal that a motivational talk was necessary.
This minor leader had pretty good speaking skills, at least enough to stir the emotions of those pirates. As for how many pirates would fight desperately, the answer was that everyone would. Pre-battle motivation was merely to enhance their fighting spirit.
This was naval warfare, and there was no escaping before the battle choice. Wherever one looked was nothing but ocean — where would one flee to? Either be captured after being overwhelmed by the enemy or defeat the enemy; there was no other option.
"Roar!!"
The pirates roared as a cannonball descended from the sky.
Boom!
The entire Black Spade slightly tilted, and the light from the explosion engulfed half of the deck, with flames blazing.
After the flames subsided a bit, a large crater appeared on the deck, surrounded by blood-covered splinters of wood, limbs, and chunks of flesh scattered everywhere, with a choking smell of blood.
Previously, the spirited pirates were now lying on the deck. They stood up in a daze, looking at the distant enemy ships, with pieces of flesh still stuck to some of their faces.
Cheering erupted from the enemy ship; they hadn’t expected to hit so accurately — that one shot at least killed more than a dozen pirates from the Donquixote faction.
While they were still cheering, a cannonball also landed on their ship — an illustration of how happiness turns to sorrow.
The cheers turned to screams. When the two sides were about 80 meters apart, all the ships’ speeds slowed down. At this distance, cannon fire was more reliable, and both sides began random shelling.
The cannon booms were constant, and Su Xiao hid behind the ship’s railing. Although the bombardment couldn’t harm him, being bombarded was obviously not a pleasant thing.
Explosions sounded from behind, and wood chips flew everywhere. Su Xiao looked toward the source and immediately realized things were not looking good.
About ten meters away from him, a mast nearly a meter thick was slowly falling, with the sails burning fiercely — this was the main mast of the Black Spade.
The breaking of the main mast essentially represented that this large sailing ship had lost its power. As for rowing, that was laughable — there was no time for rowing in naval warfare.
The fracture of the Black Spade’s mast immediately drew double attention — from allies and enemies alike. The seven surrounding allied ships quickly moved aside because they knew that the Black Spade, with its broken mast, was about to be besieged by enemy artillery.
Regarding the enemy ships, they were like sharks smelling blood, rapidly closing in on the Black Spade.
With a loud crash, the thick mast plunged down, diving into the sea with one end. The other end lay horizontally at the ship’s center, immobilizing it completely.
The complete breaking of a mast wasn’t the most despairing situation imaginable; the current half-broken state was the most despairing indeed. This meant the Black Spade had entirely lost its mobility.
The pirates on board were dumbfounded, unable to figure out why they had such bad luck today. First, the ship hull was hit, which got the gunpowder wet by rain; then the deck endured a cannon blast, and now, outrageously, the main mast had snapped as well.
Some veteran pirates had pale faces as they had witnessed the consequences of a mast breaking in naval battles — the enemy cannonballs would rain down like a deluge.
Four ships from the BIG MOM Pirate group were approaching the Black Spade, while in the meantime, two ships had already begun adjacency; one was the ship Pika was on, and the other was Speiro’s ship.
Roaring sounds echoed, likely the two engaged in combat.
In the past, Su Xiao would certainly join in on the action, but now he couldn’t. His ship was already surrounded, with a barrage of cannonballs incoming. Explosions constantly erupted on the Black Spade, several of which had nearly affected Su Xiao.
Boom!
A cannonball exploded only three meters away from Su Xiao, with dense black smoke rising, and in the smoke, faint blue light could be seen.
An energy shield was positioned in front of Su Xiao; he hadn’t chosen his faction yet, but the current situation was forcing him to do so. Fortunately, this was his well-considered choice in the first place.
Su Xiao removed the magazine of D·Assassin; 12 bullets were loaded normally. He inserted the magazine and chambered the bullet.
With both hands gripping the gun handle firmly in a standard shooting stance, finger poised over the trigger, he chose his target — a gunner hidden inside the ship hull. To shoot the opponent, he could only aim through a twenty-centimeter-wide observation port.
Inside a completely white pirate ship, over a dozen pirates were busily loading cannonballs. They were stationed within the hull, which would basically prevent any harm unless a bombardment occurred.
"Hurry up."
One gunner, with the lingering scent of gunpowder on him, shouted a command, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, showing a slight expression of pride. It was precisely his shot that had severed the enemy ship’s main mast — not a minor feat.
The busy pirates cast envious looks upon him. Everyone knew his cannon fire skills were average at best.
Suddenly, red and white liquid splattered, and a blood-coated skull burst open, with a small piece of cigarette flying high, landing finally on the wet wooden planks and extinguishing.
A pirate just about to load a cannonball found his face splashed with blood. Glancing at the slowly toppling headless corpse, he inwardly thought — the guy was truly unlucky.
But in the next moment, he felt his head subjected to a heavy strike, and his vision plunged into darkness.
A cannonball hit the wooden planks but remained eerily silent, not making a single collision sound. The cannonball rolled along a slope to the other side with an uncanny quietness.
"There’s..."
A pirate was about to shout when his head exploded instantly, the body dropping to the ground silently.
Those gunners seated behind the cannons displayed tremors of fear in their eyes, having discovered one thing — all those who suffered headshots were near the observation port.
Realizing this, they immediately lunged backward, but it was too late.
Heads kept exploding silently, and bodies fell noiselessly. From start to finish, not a sound was made — this was one of the D·Assassin’s abilities: creating a Silent Field with a three-meter diameter upon hitting the enemy’s head.
Those pirates who escaped unharmed lay prone on the ground, eyeing those observation ports with utter terror.
(PS: Promoting a friend’s book, titled: Legend of the Dragon Herder, written by the author of Dragon Ball’s Strongest Myth.)
