Pirate Kingship
Chapter 79 - 78: Sinking with the Ship, Avenging Every Grievance

Chapter 79: Chapter 78: Sinking with the Ship, Avenging Every Grievance

Valhalla’s Second Layer, the Courtyard.

WHOOSH...

The piercing cold wind howled as it came and went, the wind speed gradually increasing to a force six, 25 knots, creating streaks of foam-topped waves that looked like snow spirals.

The sea here actually shared the same November winter conditions as the North Sea outside.

Many Bayfolk pirate ships, clearly from various historical periods, looked completely battered and as if they should have sunk long ago, roaming through different historical periods like sharks.

Rowing boats, Dragonhead Ships (paddle-sail ships), schooners, Carrack Ships, Garen ships... everything that had ever existed in history was here.

Clearly, they were all Collective Ship Coffins!

A single ship buried an entire Pirate Group of dozens, even hundreds, of people.

Piracy had always been a high-risk occupation.

If defeated at sea, they often faced the grim fate of the entire crew being killed, which was why they tended to fight to the death with extraordinary bravery.

After fierce battles, it was not uncommon for real ships to become ship coffins.

A very small number of them became the Ghost Ships that terrified everyone at sea; the rest of the Spiritual Bodies came here, to endlessly fight on the seas of the Courtyard.

"The second trial of the Great Secret Treasure hunt: defeat a Collective Ship Coffin and seize the Navigator’s Whale Oil Lantern. This lantern will guide you to the third layer, the Land of Night."

This treasure hunt was clearly a comprehensive trial integrating various pirate skills.

But who didn’t know that the only one in history to ever complete the trial was the high-sequence, Fifth Order Legendary Pirate King, the Whale Hunter?

Pirate ships with non-Bayfolk captains immediately faced a tough battle upon entry. None held the ambition of capturing the Great Secret Treasure; they only hoped to save their skins.

The most intense naval battle in the Courtyard was between two large pirate ships, each flying a skull flag, chasing and fighting one another.

The one in front had a Figurehead of a young girl holding a bright red rose.

It was a standard fifty-gun Fourth-rate Ship, also referred to as a "nominal battleship," a class between a cruiser and a battleship.

Its displacement was 1,000 tons, with a crew of 350.

On its two continuous gun decks and the open main deck, it had a total of eighteen 24-pound cannons, twenty 12-pound cannons, and ten 9-pound cannons. Two small 6-pound cannons were also installed on the poop deck.

Following behind it was a Third-Rate Battleship, significantly larger in size.

At its bow, likewise, stood a female Figurehead with blood-red eyes, one hand holding a torch, the other a dagger, emitting an aura of mad brutality.

That was a large warship equipped with seventy-four guns: twenty-eight 32-pound cannons, thirty 24-pound cannons, and sixteen 9-pound cannons.

With a crew of 680 and a displacement of 1,500 tons, it was the main battleship in the Navy of the Kingdom of Hightins at the time.

It was considered the era’s perfect combination of firepower, speed, and construction cost.

Unlike the Fourth-rate Ship, which was a hybrid "nominal battleship," the Third-Rate Battleship was a true behemoth, built to dominate the seas.

Even though First-Rate Ships and Second Grade ships existed, the Third-Rate was undoubtedly the most numerous type of battleship, so much so that one could be spared for Red Beard to use as his flagship.

These were none other than the *Goddess of Vengeance* and the *Flame Rose*, which had passed the first trial faster than Byron and reached the Courtyard of Valhalla’s Second Layer.

Obviously, there were no perfect plans in the world, nor enemies who only took blows without fighting back.

A slight, unplanned complication had arisen.

Red Beard had used the special effect of his Figurehead to make a stealthy move, causing their arrival points in the vast Second Layer to coincide.

A Fourth-rate Ship was nearly outmaneuvered and caught at point-blank range by a Third-Rate Battleship.

"Fire! Lucky me, I, Red Beard, can’t unravel the secret that only the North Sea Pirate King, the Whale Hunter, ever did in such a short time. But I can eliminate the competitors. Main cannons, secondary cannons, fire at will! Take them down!" Red Beard commanded, then laid down his brass telescope and issued orders to his First Mate.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!...

During the chase, cannons within range on the pursuing Third-Rate Battleship continuously fired at the *Flame Rose*.

The *Flame Rose*, however, was intimidated by the intelligence provided by Byron. It did not dare to rashly return fire without the assurance that they could cripple the enemy in one go.

**Figurehead: Goddess of Vengeance**

Effect: Retributive Justice.

1. Mark of Hatred: Actively release the mark. An invisible anchor will connect the two ships, allowing persistent pursuit, never falling behind.

Whenever the target is about to be shaken off, the *Goddess of Vengeance* will passively receive a speed boost, pulling the marked target back into main cannon range.

Red Beard had relied precisely on this ability to secretly lock onto the *Flame Rose* even before the melee started.

2. If this ship is hit by enemy cannon fire, a passive effect triggers: the torch in the Goddess of Vengeance’s hand will shine a beam of light, locking onto her enemy.

The dagger in her hand will burst forth with a cold light, enveloping all cannons on her warship and temporarily granting them a vengeance boost.

When firing under this effect, the cannons gain a 20% ballistic correction, effectively improving accuracy by 20%.

And do not forget, the main armament of the Third-Rate Battleship consisted of 32-pound cannons, while the Fourth-rate Ship’s main armament was only 24-pounders.

One was a heavyweight contender, the other a lightweight. If they engaged in a slugfest, trading broadside for broadside, the latter would unquestionably be the one to fall.

On the poop deck of the *Flame Rose*, Violet hung up the Whale Song communication.

Although still full of doubts, she chose to trust Byron’s professional judgment.

Moreover, his recent words had implicitly acknowledged his identity, giving Violet no reason to suspect he would harm her.

Once she made her decision, she resolutely ordered the crew beside her,

"We’ll take the leeward position! Buy time! Wait for all the council members to arrive, then we’ll take him out in one fell swoop!"

The helmsman, the Sailmaster, and a group of pirate officers were momentarily taken aback, just as she had been. They instinctively reminded her,

"Captain, it’s common knowledge that seizing the windward position is critical in a naval duel. If we go to leeward, we risk falling into the enemy’s wake and losing all maneuverability."

Violet also didn’t understand why this had to be done, but as the Captain, she couldn’t show weakness and instead countered,

"Have you ever fought against a battleship? Just do it! Execute the order!"

"Aye aye, Captain!"

Objections were only instinctive reactions; everyone knew that in a wartime situation, the Pirate’s Ten Commandments and the Captain’s orders had to be followed without compromise.

Watching her companions bustling about, Violet couldn’t help but feel a pang of emotion.

Including myself, this current generation of Bay Citizens Pirates indeed seems to be experiencing a gap in talent.

Her father, the Pirate King of the North Sea, the Whale Hunter, had gone missing at sea, taking with him the most elite group of Bayfolk crewmembers.

The Child Guardian, Dennis, a Third Order Berserker, was already old, and his crew had naturally retired even earlier.

Furthermore, over the years, many Bay Citizens Pirates from the East Coast and Barbary Pirates from the West Coast had migrated far away.

The capable and ambitious elite pirates who were still of fighting age had mostly turned to the new trade routes to the south.

Those who remained on the Old Continent’s coasts, apart from the youngsters still growing, were mostly mediocre.

Not one of them had survived a head-on clash with a naval battleship.

Of course, that in itself was a hell of a joke no matter where you told it.

It wasn’t just pirate ships; even surviving an engagement with a battleship while commanding a top-class cruiser was impressive.

In a major naval power, such a feat could make one a hero overnight, lead to being officially recorded in grand naval histories, or even result in being granted a Title.

"Helmsman, hard to starboard! Steer to leeward! Sailmaster, adjust the angle to the wind! Port aft quarter to the wind..."

In the chase from the northwest to the southeast between the two warships, the *Flame Rose*, equivalent to a Fourth-rate Ship, gradually and deliberately positioned itself downwind of the *Goddess of Vengeance*.

However, thanks to its superior maneuverability, it consistently stayed near the edge of the enemy’s main gun range and avoided falling into the 300-meter wake the enemy created.

Moreover, after they shifted from the enemy’s port side to their starboard, the thunderous 32-pounder main guns suddenly fell silent.

The 24-pounders, with their slightly shorter range, only managed to douse them with splashes and had no other effect.

They had clearly reached the limit of their range.

Did this mean the imposing Third-Rate Battleship couldn’t hit them anymore?!

"What’s going on? Why aren’t they firing?"

The pirate officers, who had initially been pessimistic about Violet’s orders, suddenly widened their eyes, each peering over the bulwark towards the other ship.

The sailing master, holding a spyglass, was the first to unravel the mystery,

"That is... the *Goddess of Vengeance* has closed the gunports for her main guns? I see now! It’s because battleships of Third Grade and above draw too much water, and their main gunports are too close to the water’s surface. In rough seas, to prevent flooding when waves strike the leeward side as the ship heels, they must close these gunports, allowing only the secondary armament to be used. That’s it, that’s exactly it!"

They were not fools, just inexperienced.

They quickly realized how brilliant the "take the leeward position" command was, given the current sea conditions and their enemy!

The 32-pound heavy cannons on the Third-Rate Battleship’s lower gun deck were located amidships. The sills of these gunports were only about 1.2 meters above the waterline, meaning high waves could easily swamp them.

It wasn’t that the *Goddess of Vengeance* didn’t want to attack, but rather that it couldn’t.

And so, both sides entered an embarrassingly awkward stalemate.

The other Collective Ship Coffins nearby, like sharks smelling blood, began to trail behind the *Goddess of Vengeance*.

The longer this dragged on, the more ship coffins gathered, and the less pressure there was on the *Flame Rose*.

"Captain, you are brilliant!"

"I used to think no one in this world was born with such innate knowledge. I never expected that our Captain, who has barely fought any naval battles, could see through the enemy’s weakness at a glance. God, it’s miraculous!"

"Perhaps the prophecy of the Gods’ revival will be fulfilled through our Captain."

"Captain, please be sure to teach us."

"..."

The crew’s increasingly hyperbolic words of admiration caused Violet’s cheeks to blush faintly.

Yet, there was also a sense of elation from finally being acknowledged, and she smiled, her eyes curving with contentment.

Although the main credit goes to that good citizen, this Captain also deserves some credit. Yes, the greatest credit is... taking advice! Hmm, after this is over, how about I recruit him to be the first mate on the *Flame Rose*?