Chapter 17

The howling moon wolf summoned by the two-star magic card consumed far more mental energy than Luo Zhengdao had blindly estimated. Now, it was already a great feat for him to barely hold his ground against dizziness and fatigue, intimidating the enemy. Asking for too much more would invite a lightning strike.

Missing the opportunity to annihilate the enemy was indeed regrettable, but it also had to be acknowledged that this was a concrete manifestation of Luo Zhengdao's insufficient strength. Similarly, the chance to eliminate the warlock Najef was not absent. If, at the moment when the opponent was momentarily stunned due to mana depletion, an experienced warrior had taken the initiative to rush forward and finish him off, Luo Zhengdao, as a novice, would not have had such a quick reaction, even without considering the burden on his body from using the magic card. Killing was still an unconventional activity for Luo Zhengdao, and he needed time to adapt. Under the influence of various complex factors, he could only sigh.

The feeling of disappointment was temporary; the only theme surrounding the battlefield was the rain of bullets and the splattering of blood. How much American time could participants afford to spend pondering the meaning of their lives? In the blink of an eye, the sailors on the opposite galley ship had already prepared for boarding.

Battles on the Aether Sea were more perilous than those in coastal waters, especially in special areas where Aether particles were relatively sparse. Jumping off a ship in such conditions was akin to suicide. Experienced sailors, no matter where they were, would always secure a piece of sea floatwood to their waist or back before boarding, to prevent accidentally falling and becoming a mummy floating in the void for eternity.

"Ammunition loaded!"

The configuration of a warship's firepower was not a simple puzzle. To maintain the ship's center of gravity and ensure safe navigation in complex sea conditions, heavier cannons could only be placed on the lower decks. Even for cannons of the same caliber, longer-barreled ones had to be placed below shorter-barreled ones to avoid the fatal risk of the ship being top-heavy, like the ill-fated Vasa. Positions like the upper deck and the masthouse generally only mounted lighter, smaller cannons, but even these had more power than unreliable matchlock muskets.

When the crew of the Yangwei called out in succession, Luo Zhengdao pointed his sword at the mixed-race group on the opposite galley ship and shouted loudly:

"Aim at the enemy ship, prepare to fire!"

"Boom—"

At the captain's command, the sailors had no reason to ignore it. On the upper deck of the Yangwei, a 2.5-pound eagle cannon, the first to adjust its aim, fired first. Amid the thunderous roar of the gunpowder explosion, hundreds of pea-sized stone pellets shot out of the barrel, accompanied by brilliant golden flames and white smoke. Immediately, the enemies in the direction of the cannon's aim burst into colorful blood flowers. The shrapnel, with a destructive force akin to a steel broom, swept across the upper deck of the galley ship, clearing large areas like a scythe cutting wheat, leaving the deck extremely slippery with blood.

The new world was still in the pre-industrial revolution era of the Age of Exploration. Metal of any kind was a scarce resource. If used to make weapons like swords, it was at least a durable good. If a user maintained the weapon carefully, a finely crafted metal sword could be passed down through generations, spreading the manufacturing cost over a long period. However, using metal as ammunition was purely wasteful.

Only military leaders in the industrial age would develop such extravagant habits, treating metal as a disposable commodity. In any previous era, such a wasteful general, even if they won a battle, would surely be strangled to death by a nearly bankrupt king and finance minister at the victory banquet. Therefore, any component that could be replaced with non-metallic materials was prioritized. The light cannons on the warship used stone projectiles, and even the 12-pound cannons mostly fired solid stone balls.

Although stone projectiles seemed to lack the material strength of metal, they were not handcrafted one by one. The intelligent races of the new world were not fools and would not engage in such brainless activities. Unlike the old world, which was composed of a few celestial bodies and vast, weightless space, the new world, with its nearly flat structure, had many special geological environments containing natural lava lakes. The dark elves' underground space in the Dark Sea was one such example.

Underground tribes lacking hard currency would regularly send people to pour the molten lava from the lava lakes into heat-resistant molds treated with alchemy, or use a method where the lava dripped from a height into water to cool and form spherical shapes. These roughly processed lava balls, with a bit of polishing, could quickly become military-standard stone projectiles. The cost of these stone projectiles was significantly lower than that of metal projectiles of the same size.

Considering that solid stone projectiles, when hitting hard targets like a warship's hull, could shatter into countless small pieces, creating a fragmentation effect similar to a shrapnel shell, causing additional damage to soft targets like crew members, the overall effectiveness of stone projectiles was not inferior to metal ones. Balancing performance and cost, stone projectiles were the ideal choice.

"Swivel guns in position!"

In a critical moment, Luo Zhengdao had no time to command the artillery. Seeing the sailors on the opposite ship swinging over on ropes, the boatswain Zola Hegel quickly took command of the deck. He shouted at his men:

"Fire! Don't just stand there, waiting for someone to kick your ass?"

"Bang! Bang! Bang..."

Whether it was an army or a group of pirates, people who made a living by violence followed a simple rule: the simpler and more brutal the method, the more effective it was. Zola's curses and physical threats significantly accelerated the sailors' response. Under normal circumstances, the multi-barreled swivel guns mounted on the ship's sides, resembling Gatling guns from the old world, had a decent rate of fire, much faster than the 1.5 to 2 minutes it took to clear the barrel and reload a cannon.

Seeing that his side's advantage was not translating into victory, the warlock Najef felt a surge of anxiety. With a large group of guards in front of him, he could only shout:

"Whoever cuts off Will Needham's head will be rewarded with a thousand gold coins!"

Luo Zhengdao had spent less than 6,000 gold coins to purchase the second-hand Yaling warship Yangwei, including repair costs and the expense of reconfiguring the cannons, demonstrating the strong purchasing power of new world gold. For these pirates, who invariably spent their salaries and bonuses before the end of the month, a thousand gold coins was an astronomical sum that could ensure a carefree life for years. The way they looked at Luo Zhengdao changed, and even some of the Yangwei's sailors had impure thoughts, secretly eyeing their captain's valuable head, wondering what they were planning.

Seeing this, Luo Zhengdao immediately sensed the danger and, without hesitation, countered:

"I've bought Najef's life for two thousand gold coins. Payment upon seeing the head, no delay."

The two bosses vied to offer substantial bounties for the other's life, and the underlings, driven by the lure of the reward, fought with unprecedented enthusiasm. However, their goals were opposite, and their efforts canceled each other out. The three entangled warships saw intense fighting, and the chaotic scene seemed to confirm that this bloody tug-of-war had no halftime.

Suddenly, a chorus of sailors' cries came from behind Luo Zhengdao:

"Ah! It's the Chaoyong coming through!"

"Thud—"

Almost at the same moment Luo Zhengdao turned around, the Chaoyong, a sloop that had been sent away from the battlefield, rammed its bronze ram into the side of the enemy ship tightly pressed against the Yangwei. As a large hole appeared, an unknown liquid flowed from two metal pipes above the ram into the damaged hull of the enemy ship. Following this, the sailors of the Chaoyong shouted in unison, and the ship's body shook as it pulled back. A torch thrown by the one-eyed captain, Ful Choban, landed in the hole in the enemy ship's hull.

"Boom—"

With the help of the strong winds on the Aether Sea and the oil poured into the hull, the small flame from the torch quickly grew. In a few breaths, the orange flames leapt up, igniting the rigging on the deck.

Seeing their ship turn into a blazing inferno, the sailors on the galley ship lost all fighting spirit. They screamed and climbed into small boats to escape, like rats jumping off a sinking ship, fearing they would be consumed by the flames and become part of the wreckage.

"Quick, cut the ropes, don't let the fire spread."

As an experienced pirate, Zola Hegel knew all the details of naval combat, like the flowers in his own garden. Surviving dangerous situations was a pirate's essential skill. He kicked a burning enemy sailor who was crawling onto the Yangwei, then ordered the sailors to use poles to push the enemy ship away, preventing the fire from spreading to the Yangwei.

Seeing their side's defeat, the two galley ships that had been hovering nearby, ready to join the battle, turned and fled without a word, accelerating away from the battlefield.

On the flagship of the black-robed warlock Najef, the lookout scanned the surroundings and signaled to his companions below.

"Hmm, what did you say? He's here too, damn it."

Learning of the change from the boatswain, Najef glared at the Yangwei, ultimately making a cutting gesture and said hoarsely:

"Enough, we retreat!"

The ropes, anchors, and gangplanks connecting the two ships were cut with axes and swords, and the two galley ships under Najef's command sped away. Luo Zhengdao was completely baffled and muttered:

"He came and went, what's he up to?"

Vena Dubov, who had been commanding the battle on the gun deck, now appeared before Luo Zhengdao and warned him seriously:

"Will, don't waste time. The goblin fleet could be on our heels, and they're not as easy to deal with as Najef's group."

Hearing this, Luo Zhengdao nodded in agreement. At this moment, there was no time to consider more. He instructed his men:

"Everyone, clean up the battlefield. We need to prepare to leave."

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**Note:** The author is desperately calling for support and collection. The crab is shouting at the top of its lungs...