Pirate Kingship
Chapter 64 - 63: Human-Faced Whale Lice, Physical Exorcism (Seeking First Subscription)

Chapter 64: Chapter 63: Human-Faced Whale Lice, Physical Exorcism (Seeking First Subscription)

BOOM!

The thunderous explosion of a 32-pound Carronade, equivalent to the main cannon of a Second-class Battleship, also spewed angry flames at the same time.

A Scatter Bomb canister, packed with a full 500 small iron balls, burst in mid-air, the powerful kinetic energy transforming them into a deadly metal storm.

Within a hundred meters, at such close-range bombardment, accuracy was a non-issue; they could sweep away everything even with their eyes closed.

And the first to suffer were the six whale lice in the air, much slower than typical cannonballs.

Most were torn to pieces in mid-air, their blue luminescent body fluids flickering, raining down into the sea like trash.

Only one fortuitously avoided the fierce metal storm, making a PLOP as it landed on the deck of the *Golden Deer*.

It happened to land right at Byron’s feet.

SQUEAK—!

Accompanied by a piercing screech, it sprang into the air, its twelve hook-like limbs flaring out, about to engulf Byron’s face.

Without needing Byron to act, Bruh, the ever-protective Guardian Knight at his side, stepped forward and swung his sword in a forceful, heavy Old Man’s Slash, cleaving it in two.

With its own corpse, it also demonstrated to all the pirates who were beginners in Fisher Swordsmanship why, in close combat, leaping into the air and forfeiting the chance to dodge was the most foolish move of all.

Of course, if you possessed the miraculous skill to spiral into the air by stepping on your own foot, that might be a different story.

Bruh nudged the insect carcass on the ground with the tip of his sword, frowning involuntarily. "Captain, this thing really is a whale louse. But isn’t it a bit too large? It even grew a greenish-black human face on its flat shell? And there are traces of a soul on it."

Especially within his Spirit Vision, he could see a vicious human soul slowly dissipating inside the parasitic creature.

Gus, crouched in the crow’s nest, then pointed at the *Rainbow*, which was reloading, and exclaimed, "Captain, look at those pirates opposite us; each has one of those human-faced whale lice on the back of their heads. The guy with blood-colored silver coins for eyes, he has an especially large whale louse on the back of his head!"

Normally, whale lice are non-swimming marine parasites, measuring only 0.8 to 2 centimeters in length and technically a type of shrimp.

But their bodies are flat, with a degenerate tail, and the ends of their limbs are hook-shaped—they often attach themselves to the epidermis of whale hosts.

Sometimes, up to 100,000 whale lice can be found on a single baleen whale!

However, these whale lice were different.

Not only were they as large as human faces, but they also took residence on the heads of a group of pirates, seemingly controlling their thoughts completely.

Once it was within three meters, Byron’s Sailing Logbook also read the history of this whale louse.

"Bizarre Human-faced Whale Louse: A hybrid born from the mutual warmth between drowned souls and whale lice in the sea. Can only survive long-term when parasitic on the surface of other organisms, with a preference for various large whales, followed by humans with abundant brain matter. They originate from an accidental mishap during a Profane Black Mass ritual. The good news is that this type of Bizarre cannot swim and can only spread amongst hosts through close contact—be wary of boarding combat. Taboo: Do not let it see your face!"

The essence of Bizarres and Evil Spirits is much the same, one leaning more towards the non-human, the other appearing more human in shape.

Both kill according to certain rules, much like the ’Spirit Behind.’

At the pinnacle of this category of beings are the Cursed Spirits, which are undying and impossible to defend against.

Undoubtedly, these Human-faced Whale Lice were a type of gregarious Bizarre.

The Black Mass was originally intended for each participant to attract a Bizarre, and the privateer captain’s contingency plan was prepared for attracting at most two or three.

The *Rainbow* had the misfortune of encountering a large group of Human-faced Whale Lice parasitic on a dying whale, not only failing to seal the group’s leader within a sacrifice’s body but also resulting in all of the ship’s crew being parasitized by the Human-faced Whale Lice.

Subsequently, the non-swimming lice commandeered their ship, using it to lie in wait and hunt other ships and humans, seeking new hosts for their un-bodied kin.

The Sailing Logbook offered limited information, so Byron naturally didn’t know the specifics of what had occurred last night.

But he could infer from the information at hand that those privateer ships that left port yesterday were up to no good.

Especially the two silver coins in the eye sockets of that ringleader, making him look all too familiar.

At that moment, seeing its ’artillery’ attack prove ineffective, the host leader emitted a shrill, insect-like chirp from the back of its head.

Immediately, a dense swarm of Human-faced Whale Lice emerged from the cabin, though that single, soul-piercing shot had clearly inflicted heavy losses.

Most were missing limbs, presenting a somewhat pitiful sight.

But their total number remained considerable, enough to scare someone with trypophobia to death at a single glance.

The two ships were now sailing side by side from west to east. The *Golden Deer* firmly held the windward position to the north, while the *Rainbow* was caught leeward to the south.

The helmsman on the *Rainbow* suddenly put the rudder hard to port, veering sharply to ram the *Golden Deer*.

The efficiency of firing cannons was too low; they preferred boarding battles where they could simply overwhelm their opponents with numbers, just as they had initially swarmed the *Rainbow*.

"Qiangfeng! Sail upwind and break away!"

While issuing the command, Byron spun the helm, angling the ship according to the wind’s direction.

He already knew that the whale lice couldn’t swim and could only move by clinging to a host; he certainly wasn’t about to let such abominable creatures collide with his ship.

As long as the two pirate ships didn’t come into direct contact, relying solely on cannon fire to ’pick them off,’ any number of lice they launched would be destroyed.

The *Golden Deer* then maneuvered back into a ’port-side Qiangfeng - close-hauled sailing’ state.

The fully-rigged *Rainbow* was caught in the *Golden Deer’s* wake, its maneuverability drastically reduced, and it was once again left far behind.

The parasites let out furious screeches, but try as they might, they couldn’t catch up.

They could only endure the fierce cannonade, venting their frustration by relentlessly launching their whale lice kin onto the deck of the *Golden Deer*.

"Eight Fingers, lead your Marines!"

Upon hearing Byron’s command, Eight Fingers immediately understood.

He pulled a small silver flask from his waist pouch and took a large swig of the Blood Brew it contained.

The twenty handpicked pirates behind him did likewise.

ROAR—!

Their skin turned blood-red, and immense heat radiated from them, so intense it formed a thick white mist above their heads.

Following Byron’s orders, they also untied their pirate bandannas and used them to cover their entire heads, leaving only their eyes exposed.

This prevented the Human-faced Whale Lice from seeing their faces, thereby breaking this Bizarre’s killing condition.

Then, in groups of three to five, wielding boarding axes, they charged forward, frantically chopping the leaping whale lice into mincemeat.

Byron nodded in satisfaction. Not bad. They’re starting to look the part.

It was convenient having trained a batch of capable subordinates; at the very least, it saved him the effort of dealing with lesser foes himself.

Although these Marines would endure a full day of weakness after their 15 minutes of ’True Valor,’ it was entirely worth it.

According to his plan, this duration should be sufficient to keep the two ships within an effective range of 100 meters, allowing them to find a way to eliminate these tenacious parasites.

The method was simple and direct.

Ammunition detonation, physical exorcism!

Although Byron lacked the extraordinary abilities of a Gunpowder Artist, achieving this through purely scientific means wasn’t entirely impossible.

He immediately gathered all the gunners on the ship, pointed at the opposing ship’s heeling hull, and explained his plan to them, "An armed merchant ship’s powder magazine is typically located in the lowest hold, beneath the forecastle. If one of the most dangerous and powerful incendiary shells were to accurately penetrate the powder magazine, it could trigger the most spectacular explosion at sea!"

His encouraging gaze swept over each gunner before him.

"Although the enemy ship is heeling in a close-hauled state, exposing part of its hull below the waterline, and we happen to possess a 32-pounder capable of piercing its hull, igniting the powder magazine still heavily relies on gunnery skill and luck. Given your level of Artillery Skills, you can fire about ten times within 15 minutes, giving you ten attempts. Whichever gun crew accomplishes this task, I will directly reward that gun crew with a bottle of Angel’s Kiss, a potion comparable to the Elixir of Awakening!"

Discipline Nine: Accumulating merit grants resources, extraordinary knowledge, and Promotion Ceremonies.

Among these, resources represent the potential for Spirit Awakening, which is what they currently need most.

Realizing their captain was not joking, all the gunners widened their eyes, their motivation fully mobilized.

Eager and rubbing their palms together, they all vowed to win that flask of Blood Brew.

But Byron then added a new condition, "Our chances are slim. If we fail within 15 minutes, we’ll have to break away from cannon range and give up this chance for exorcism. The failing gun crew will be stripped of their rightful share of spoils for the next year and will be assigned all cleaning duties on the open deck. Their privilege to exchange merit for rewards will also be suspended for three months. Think it over carefully before making your decision. Now tell me, who is willing to take on this task?"

The more astute sailors realized the Captain was not only aiming to eliminate the enemy ship but also to train the crew under relatively safe conditions.

However, the stark contrast between reward and punishment immediately made some gunners hesitate and consider backing out.

Just when most of them were wavering, a voice called out.

"Captain, let me do it!"

The one who decisively spoke up was not one of the old sea dogs among the free pirates, but the young native slave, Wayne Dote (mentioned in Chapter 47).