Pirate Kingship
Chapter 82 - 81: Stirring up the Situation and the Greatest Art

Chapter 82: Chapter 81: Stirring up the Situation and the Greatest Art

The scorching cannonballs emitted piercing screeches as they carried immense kinetic energy, slamming into the disarrayed formation of Red Beard’s fleet. Their decks, gun ports, and hulls instantaneously burst apart, leaving countless large and small holes. The hefty cast-iron cannonballs bounced violently on the ships, ruthlessly grinding anyone who dared block their path—be they mortals or Transcendents—into **Blood Mist**.

The 24-pound cannons equipped on those Fourth-rate Ships had a range of 1,350 meters at a firing angle of 4 degrees; when elevated to 8 degrees, they reached 2,250 meters. Within a short distance of 100 meters, 24-pound cannonballs could easily pierce through one-meter-thick oak hulls. The defenses of neither Third-rate Ships nor Second-rate Ships were of any use.

Especially the Goddess of Vengeance, which had entrapped itself, initially intending to firmly latch onto the Flame Rose. Yet, due to the latter’s sudden change in formation, it was forced to surge forward out of position and bore the brunt of the fiercest volley of concentrated fire.

"Return fire, return fire!"

But the counterattack from the Privateer Fleet’s side was clearly much more scattered. Even low-level accidents occurred, such as firing arcs being blocked by friendly ships.

This was the excellence of the "line-of-battle tactic." Due to the layout of **Sail Battleships**, the vast majority of their cannons were placed on both broadsides. When the fleet organized into groups of several warships, formed a column, and engaged in broadside combat by firing their cannons in rotation, they could harness their firepower to its full extent. Upon entering cannon range, the ships would move parallel to enemy vessels. Each ship would then fire upon a designated enemy, continuing until victory was decided or one side retreated. The line-of-battle was essentially an upscaled maritime version of execution by firing squad—the ultimate contest of command, tactics, equipment, courage, and endurance!

After a coordinated volley, it was particularly Violet’s Flame Rose that reaped the most bountiful harvest. The figurehead, the Rose Girl, played a vital role.

"Unique Effect: Double Shot.

To ensure piercing through an enemy ship’s hull, the crew often loaded two cannonballs at a time, packing in plenty of gunpowder; this was called a double shot. But cannons blessed by the Rose Girl did not need to. They only needed to load one cannonball, yet what they fired was a double shot. One was a normal cast-iron cannonball, and the other was akin to a **Blazing Bomb**."

Just like Violet’s personality, this was a warship with its attacking power amplified to the extreme. Two consecutive cannonballs turned the thick hull and even thicker ribs of the Third-rate Ship into mere decorations, no stronger than paper. Her eighteen 24-pound cannons, effectively performing as thirty-six, even held a firepower advantage over the thirty 24-pound secondary cannons on the leeward side of the Goddess of Vengeance.

"Load! Fire on my mark! Aim for the head!"

Unlike the vigorous Flame Rose, the Goddess of Vengeance was beset with tragedy.

"Save me! Someone save me!"

On the upper gun deck, a cannoneer clutched his legs, cleanly severed by a cannonball, pleading with his comrades for help. The other pirates, having barely managed to control their runaway bronze cannons, shook their heads grimly at his condition. They mercifully shot him, granting a swift end. To keep corpses from obstructing the battle positions, the pirates did not even have time to perform a decent pirate burial, simply tossing him and his two severed lower legs out of a gun port.

Then they immediately re-engaged in battle, firing their cannons to retaliate against the Bayfolk line-of-battle. Having received the figurehead’s blessing, which increased their accuracy by 20%, the more frequently they fired, the more cannonballs hit the enemy ships.

"Load! Fire!"

The pirates on the open main deck were also having a tough time. A fireball landed right next to a 9-pound cannon, igniting the gunpowder barrel stored there. In an instant, an entire five-man gun crew and the sailors supplying them with gunpowder were blown sky-high. The surrounding cast-iron cannonballs, crowbars, rammers, tompions, swords, and other objects were blasted outward, riddling everything nearby.

One of the sailors crammed with Byron on the mizzenmast’s fighting top was particularly unfortunate; he was impaled by a rammer used for loading cannonballs. He plunged onto the deck below, splattering into a pulp. In contrast, Byron was unharmed, not even blinking.

A true warrior! A devoted **Loyalist**!

Even the most demanding pirate officers couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat, praising him with such acclaim.

But nobody noticed that Captain Red Beard, standing dozens of meters away from the explosion, was unwittingly struck by misfortune. He was stabbed in the eye by a dagger that had presumably fallen from a gunner. Perhaps they had grown so accustomed to their captain’s ill luck that his plight, no matter how dreadful, was no longer surprising.

This was the confidence that drove Byron to dare board the enemy vessel Goddess of Vengeance and even to call out to Violet, "Fire at me!"

If they really could aim every shot at me, maybe this whole affair would have been settled by now, Byron lamented regretfully, while helping the signal officer on the sterncastle raise a new signal flag.

But before the flag was raised, he had already received commands from Red Beard, ahead of the other combat units. For his own ship: "Cancel Hostility Marker to prevent being involuntarily detached from the formation again." For the fleet: "Rally to me, line-abreast formation!"

Byron immediately informed Violet, incidentally advising the Bay Citizen Princess, who would soon need to stand her ground:

"Remember, don’t act out of desperation like Red Beard. Fleet command isn’t a game; smooth transmission of orders doesn’t guarantee the execution of predetermined tactics. The most difficult part of anything is implementation. If the captains’ skills aren’t sufficient to rapidly change formation, attempting it is both useless and dangerous. When captains can’t fully understand the commander’s chosen form of attack, an impromptu change in formation can turn into a complete disaster."

"Order the line-of-battle to hold steady, maintain synchronization, and continue salvo fire. Our adversaries are mostly large warships; it’s unrealistic to expect to sink them in a short amount of time. The powder magazines below the waterline also have sufficient safety measures and are difficult to detonate. Our primary goal now is to break their morale with grisly, heavy losses, to penetrate the psychological defenses of the other **Great Pirates**. Let this gang, united by interest, also disintegrate because of interest! The restlessness within the fleet tells me that we won’t have to wait too long for this moment."

At this time, Byron was like a giant spider perched high above the battlefield, having woven a large web and waiting eagerly. The naval battle tactics he had learned were his hunting skills. Though it was difficult to operate on this battlefield woven from wind, sails, and artillery fire, he was making rapid progress as time passed. A **Storm Knight**, positioned at the center of a "storm," had oddly found refuge in the safest part—the eye—commanding the storm before him to devour everything. His Spirituality grew increasingly active, subtly blending with every turbulent current of the "storm," manipulating events with a flick of his hand, stirring the winds and clouds.

Apart from Violet, no one knew that both fleets had fallen under the control of the same hands.

"All ships, fire at will! Don’t just target Red Beard; engage the other **Great Pirates** too. Hit them hard!"

Thick gunsmoke rose like clouds, and lines of fire crisscrossed and erupted. Violet strictly carried out Byron’s steady tactic, responding to the ever-changing situation with steadfastness. A line of six warships formed a battle line, advancing at an angle, heading into the brisk sea breeze towards the disorganized Red Beard’s fleet, which barely maintained any semblance of a line. The two fleets moved in the same direction with the wind.

The deafening explosions had not stopped since the engagement began, and with every moment, sailors on the warships died tragically. But the longer the bombardment continued, the more disheartened Red Beard’s pirates became. The shrill cries of their comrades rapidly eroded what little fighting will they had left.

"Return fire! Return fire!"

"Aren’t we seven against six? Plus, we have a Third-rate Ship! Why can’t we beat them?!"

The only response they received was even fiercer artillery fire.

The Bay Citizens Pirates and the free pirates supporting them had made thorough preparations. Even if some of their pirate ships had a lower displacement than a Fourth-rate Ship, they had emptied the stores at Iron Anchor Bay, upgrading the caliber of their mounted cannons to the absolute limit. Their combined instantaneous projectile mass reached an astonishing 2,322 pounds. It is worth noting that even a First-Class Battleship with 110 guns has a single broadside projectile mass of only 1,236 pounds.

The willpower of the two sides was incomparable. A **Mob** gathered for profit might collapse with just 10% or even as few as 5% casualties. But some strong armies could fight to the last man, achieving battle records more incredible than those in novels. Among the Bay Citizens Pirates and the free pirates who supported them, many members or their relatives were from the **Traditional Faction** of Iron Anchor Bay, nearly fearless of death when fighting for their parents, spouses, and children.

When the battle reached the end of the first hour—the fourth hour since the combat phase began—the restlessness within Red Beard’s fleet finally reached a tipping point. It only needed a spark to potentially set off an explosive reaction.

Byron, ever vigilant, immediately captured this change. His eyes sharpened, and he decisively ordered, "Another salvo! Everyone, use everything you’ve got! Let’s aim to break them with this round!"

Violet, who had been acting as a mouthpiece and receiving countless admiring gazes, perked up at his words, her face beaming with excitement. "I’ve been itching for this, Mr. Good Citizen! Please enjoy my grand finale. And you better not die on me!"

She turned to the ship’s **Gunner Chief** and barked, "Load double shot!"

"Fire!"

The ship’s cannons fired in unison.

With the Rose Girl’s ’Double Shot’ effect empowering a manual double-shot loading, the Flame Rose alone unleashed a barrage with such fierce momentum it resembled a screen-filling attack. However, due to the limitations of its bronze cannons, this type of attack could only be performed once per day.

The other five warships coordinated, their barrage of shells falling like scorching iron rain upon the enemy ships.

But that was only the beginning.

Violet then took out a white whalebone whistle from the traveler’s pouch at her waist and blew it fiercely, though no sound discernible to the human ear was produced. Underneath the sea’s surface, however, a crimson surge suddenly erupted. A dense swarm of red-scaled fish, like arrows loosed from bowstrings, trailed white lines as they fiercely charged towards the enemy.

This was the massive school of fish she had been feeding with the "Gunpowder Formula: Flame’s Kiss," a trump card she had saved until this very moment.

In fact, this was Violet’s graduation project from the Vinaia Art Academy. Although she called it "the greatest art," its true essence could be summed up in one word:

EXPLODE!!!