Pirate Kingship
Chapter 84 - 83: How Could a Bayonet Be Such an Inconvenient Object?

Chapter 84: Chapter 83: How Could a Bayonet Be Such an Inconvenient Object?

On the leeward side, the Bayfolk pirate ships broke their battle line formation. They spun their helms hard, beating against the wind as they rammed viciously towards the *Goddess of Vengeance*, which was now too slow to escape.

They did not fire their cannons again.

Now that the Bayfolk held an overwhelming advantage in combat power, their priority was no longer to defeat the enemy, but to ensure that Red Beard, who possessed an Undying Body, did not escape in the chaos. If they couldn’t personally send this monster to his grave, they wouldn’t sleep soundly.

However, Red Beard, seemingly abandoned by all, did not simply sit and await his doom. He knew he had one last chance to turn the tables.

Taking the helm himself, the heavily crew-depleted *Goddess of Vengeance* veered sharply. Dragging along many Bay People’s Heroes who had already boarded from the windward side, it deliberately collided with the slightly smaller *Flame Rose*.

"Damn woman, I’ll twist off your neck!"

The clashes between contestants were merely an interlude; the "Treasure Hunt Contest" was still very much underway. As long as one of the two candidates died or was defeated, the other could smoothly exit the Valhalla Hall of Valor, even without finding the "Great Secret Treasure." At the very least, it would allow him to escape this deathtrap and save his life.

In the era of Clark-type sailing ships, naval battles were also known as "siege warfare at sea." The taller bulwark of a Third-Rate Ship compared to a Fourth-Rate Ship was like a towering city wall, indeed offering certain advantages during boarding due to its commanding height.

"Musketeers, fire!"

Dense gunsmoke suddenly billowed.

BANG! BANG! BANG!...

After the crews from both sides exchanged a volley of musket fire, a torrent of gleaming blades clashed fiercely.

After a fierce naval battle, Red Beard had lost about a third of his 680 crew members. They could no longer overwhelmingly crush Violet’s 350 remaining men.

Red Beard leaped onto the *Flame Rose*. Relying on his Undying Body, he ignored the attacks of ordinary crew members. Leading his most elite captain’s guard, he charged straight towards Violet on the aft deck.

With a roar, he bellowed the pirate’s sequence dictum: "To take is better than to toil!"

A spiritual radiance visible to the naked eye erupted, unfurling a semi-transparent, blood-red pirate flag above his head. The emblem upon it was clearly discernible—it was the flag of the *Goddess of Vengeance*!

The battle flag billowed in the wind, showering down a blood-red Divine Light that enveloped every elite pirate near Red Beard, linking them tightly together. In an instant, this unit, arrayed in a triangular formation, became an unbreakable whole. Especially for Red Beard at the formation’s tip, the blood-red Divine Light around him was extraordinarily dense. Wielding a crescent-shaped heavy scimitar, he charged like a maddened rhinoceros, unstoppable.

Pirates of the Lighthouse Sequence gained three abilities at the Squire Level: [Weapon Mastery], [Mountain Goat Steps], and [Blind Fighting Expert]. Upon reaching the Second Order Professional Rank, they would at least be pirate officers; many already possessed their own pirate ships and had become captains. And among all current sequences, the pirate ship representing the Lighthouse Sequence undoubtedly placed the greatest emphasis on teamwork.

Thus, their core ability was named [Pirate’s Battle Flag]:

"It can concentrate the Spirituality of the pirates under one’s command who adhere to the same Pirate’s Ten Commandments. The more strictly the crewmembers adhere to the Ten Commandments, the better their coordination, and the stronger their individual prowess, the greater the enhancement the captain ultimately receives. At the Second Order, the limit is ten individuals; at the Third Order, it increases to one hundred, allowing the captain to harness the collective power of many. In group battles, only the abilities of Knight Commanders can overpower them."

Violet had no time to feel distressed about the *Flame Rose* suddenly becoming the main battlefield. She immediately ordered her surrounding crew to scatter and avoid dying in vain. She slapped the traveler’s knapsack at her waist and drew out a pair of peculiar, black and white, triple-barreled firearms.

The [Pirate’s Battle Flag] relied on stacking manpower; indeed, it was hard to find an equal on the same path. But the greatest difference between humans and animals is their ability to... use tools.

BOOM! BOOM!

She aimed at Red Beard and fired twice.

The weapons looked like firearms, but their roar sounded more like cannon fire. Just two shots, one after the other, pierced through the blood-red Divine Light surrounding Red Beard. Even though he managed to swing his scimitar in time to deflect most of the steel shot, he was knocked back two steps, his body riddled with five or six new bullet holes.

Miracle Firearm: [Organ Gun: Black and White Keys]:

"Handcrafted by Violet using the core ability [Alchemy] of a Third Order Artisan, inspired by the ’king of instruments’—the organ. Though not as exaggerated as having hundreds of pipes, both firearms possessed three barrels each—one black, one white—resembling the black and white keys of an organ. It has a barrel length of 470 millimeters, weighs 3.72 kilograms (8.2 pounds), and fires scatter bombs composed of small steel balls. With an effective range of 60 meters, a single shot can kill a raging brown bear. It can be fired single-shot or with all three barrels simultaneously, boasting astonishing power."

The Tower Sequence’s Artisan branch has many specializations. Little Hans on the *Golden Deer* aimed to specialize as a [Shipwright], while Violet specialized in various gunpowder and firearms, earning her the title of [Gunsmith]. She practically carried a mobile arsenal with her.

"Damn it, die!"

Red Beard saw the Bayfolk Great Pirates rapidly approaching to reinforce her; his time was running out. He immediately broke away from his captain’s guard. A massive burst of power erupted from him, nearly collapsing the deck beneath his feet, propelling him like a meteor towards Violet.

"Light as a Sea Swallow!"

Violet’s close-combat abilities were negligible, but her equipment was luxurious. She uttered a severing inscription. The [Boots of Wonder: Sea Swallow’s Wings] on her feet sprouted two pairs of small wings, allowing her to flit backward with the agility of a sea swallow. The crisscrossing rigging, the cannons on the open deck, the numerous powder kegs... none of them hindered her in the slightest.

Simultaneously, she didn’t forget to keep firing at Red Beard. Lines of fire interwove as she danced. Violet, truly a top student from the Vinaia Art Academy who also studied classical dance, transformed this incredibly perilous battle into a lavish ball.

A purple Divine Light erupted from her body. Her Third Order core ability, [Alchemy], allowed her to easily manipulate the material state of the warship beneath her feet, hindering Red Beard’s advance. Ropes tied to the yardarms drooped like snakes, rivets on the deck popped up on their own, and even a barrel of rum wobbled over to land a heavy blow on him...

Red Beard’s Divine Light and flesh were relentlessly battered, yet he pressed on without retreating. Facing such an unkillable enemy was enough to drive one to despair. But if the Bayfolk, despite having such a significant early advantage, still allowed this monster to turn things around, they might as well all jump into the sea and commit suicide.

It all happened in a mere dozen seconds.

The captain of the *Seagull* arrived first. He, like Red Beard, was a Third Order Great Pirate of the Lighthouse Sequence and had also activated his [Pirate’s Battle Flag].

CLANG!

Wielding his cutlass like a whirlwind, he pounced towards Red Beard, a single slash forcing him back half a step.

Violet seized the opportunity to reload and recited the severing inscription for her [Organ Guns], which was also the name of a piano piece: "Mourning Sonata!"

Unleashing a three-barrel volley from her [Organ Guns], she blasted a gruesome, gaping hole through Red Beard’s chest.

Red Beard saw the battle was becoming unsustainable. Despite the difficulty of their warships getting closer, four additional Great Pirates disregarded the danger, grabbing ropes and leaping between several vessels to rapidly converge on him. He finally realized that his situation was truly hopeless.

Looking back at the *Goddess of Vengeance*, it was already overrun by a numerically superior force of Bay People’s Heroes; only faint sounds of resistance remained.

No, I must escape! I still have my Undying Body. As long as they can’t capture me, they’ll eventually find a way to end the ’Treasure Hunt Contest.’ Then I can definitely escape with them. As long as I’m alive, ships can be rebuilt, crews can be recruited. One day, I will rise again! My immortality is my greatest asset; they simply can’t stop me!

Red Beard feared death more than an ordinary person. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have chosen to learn the [Soul-Hiding Casket], a Black Sorcery that came at a great cost.

With this thought, Red Beard unleashed a body-damaging burst ability, [Blood Boil], forcing back the two besieging Great Pirates. Abandoning his trapped First Mate, [Badger] Harvey, and the captain’s guard, a blood-red Divine Light erupted from under his feet as he used the bulwark and masts for leverage. With a final [Mountain Goat Steps], he leaped back onto the tall sterncastle of the *Goddess of Vengeance*.

He was about to continue, without pause, by jumping into the surging waves to the north.

Beyond the Third-Rate Ship serving as a boundary, the leeward side swarmed with Bayfolk pirate ships, while the windward side was crowded with those antiques—the Heroic Spirits. If he jumped from here, once he hit the water, no one would ever find him.

But just then, an anxious voice sounded in his ear: "Captain, over here! The *Goddess of Vengeance* is finished! Come to my ship, let’s retreat quickly!"

Red Beard whipped his head around. He saw his most loyal Executioner Bill, who had somehow brought back the swift, arrow-like *Golden Deer*. It had charged in from the windward side, an area already overrun by Bayfolk "ship coffins." Bill stood on the quarterdeck, beckoning to him from afar.

Red Beard, who had been resolved to escape by diving into the sea, was instantly overjoyed. He had personally witnessed how swift this ship was. Once he boarded it, wouldn’t escaping the Bayfolk encirclement be child’s play? Although he had an Undying Body, if he fell into this deep sea with a storm fast approaching, he would soon experience a hellish cycle of drowning, reviving, drowning, reviving... Why choose death when he could live?

Red Beard pushed off with his feet, leaping high from the sterncastle towards the *Golden Deer*.

In mid-air, he finally let out a deep sigh of relief. At such a critical moment of life and death, everyone else has long since vanished. Yet Bill actually thought to bring me, his captain, along! Such loyalty is truly unparalleled. Good, First Mate Harvey is gone. Once I commandeer this fast ship Bill brought, I’ll make him my new first mate. Huh? What is he doing...

However, as he looked, on the quarterdeck of the *Golden Deer*, the 32-pound Carronade was being tilted upwards by two gunners using crowbars, under "Bill’s" command.

Just as Red Beard’s leap reached its apex, "Bill," maintaining his usual respectful smile, firmly touched the flintlock to the Carronade’s priming pan.

Red Beard’s eyes bulged almost out of their sockets in disbelief.

"No, no, no..."

BOOM—!

To make matters even worse, the moment Byron fired the Carronade, Phantom Blade Gus, now blindfolded, spun around twice and shot a throwing knife at his revered captain!