Chapter 39

"Enemy attack! Pirate ships spotted, prepare for battle!"

"Clang, clang, clang, clang..."

Although the Yangwei sailed at a terrifying speed that left people gasping, the speed of a warship could never exceed the speed of light. The pirate warships approaching from afar were immediately spotted by the lookout of the Boyle family fleet. This unfamiliar warship, which clearly did not come for a friendly visit, prompted the flagship of the Boyle family fleet to sound the alarm. The flagship's signal flags issued a warning order, and the sailors were driven to their posts by whips and curses. At that moment, under the golden glow of the setting sun, the pirate warships were charging forward with great momentum, and the urgent alarm could not change the real threat faced by the Boyle family fleet.

The Yangwei, with its sails fully spread, brazenly charged into the formation of the Boyle family fleet, relying on its ultra-high speed. In the blink of an eye, this rude intruder had approached the flagship. At this moment, the vulnerable stern of the Boyle flagship, the Xin Feng, was exposed to the Yangwei's starboard side.

Holding a quadrant and several artillery measurement instruments similar to plumb bobs or pendulums, Vena Dubov continuously adjusted the relative angle and speed between the cannons and the target, shouting:

"Set the sight to four, distance one hundred and twenty yards!"

Hearing the voice of the half-elf beauty, Luo Zhengdao, whose expression was slightly tense, rubbed the weighted end of his sword hilt and shouted:

"Fire!"

"Boom—"

At the command, on the forward deck of the Yangwei, the short heavy cannons, temporarily reinforced with sandbags, fired first. The golden flames and white smoke released by the instant combustion of the stone powder were so intense that no one dared to look directly at them. The ornately carved and gilded stern of the Xin Feng, located directly in front of the cannon's muzzle, was instantly turned into a disaster scene of debris and splinters. Wood chips whizzed by, and the sea was enveloped in a dazzling golden fire.

Only those who truly understood the matter knew how dangerous it was for a warship's stern to be hit by the enemy's heavy firepower. Professional warship designers went to great lengths to store spare stone balls in the compartments on both sides of the deck, which provided some additional protection. The use of cowhide-reinforced bulkheads also reduced the damage from broadside attacks. Even the sailors' hammocks, which were carefully arranged and folded according to a uniform format when not in use, were hung on the side of the ship. After several folds, the thick canvas hammocks could, like the composite fiber lining in the turrets of main battle tanks in the old world, block the secondary damage from splintering wood caused by broadside attacks.

The sixty-pound stone ball that penetrated the Xin Feng's stern with a sudden impact easily pierced through two layers of unarmored wooden bulkheads and then bounced onto the gun deck. The enormous kinetic energy drove the stone ball to ricochet continuously within the ship, like a pinball.

The destructive power of a close-range stern attack was no less than pressing a shotgun to the back of someone's head and pulling the trigger. The accuracy of the shot was not the issue; the direct hit to the weak point was devastating, and the damage was extreme and brutal!

"Bang! Bang! Bang..."

The opening move was a devastating blow, but the situation did not end there. As the Yangwei's hull slowly moved forward, the long-barreled cannons, which had entered the optimal firing angle one after another, began to fire in sequence. In just a short half-minute, this former Yaling sixth-rate ship of the line poured over twenty stone balls into the stern of the Xin Feng. The heavily damaged Xin Feng could no longer hold its position and veered off the formation, clearly paralyzed by the fierce and brutal bombardment.

Seeing this, Luo Zhengdao, on the command deck of the Yangwei, clenched his fists in excitement and shouted:

"Great job, prepare to deal with the next one."

Without the flagship to command and coordinate, the Boyle family fleet scattered like birds. None of them had the courage to challenge the Yangwei, and they chose to flee in all directions, not even attempting to rescue their flagship.

With the enemy scattered, the pirates' remaining task was simple: to pursue and capture these enemy ships. The battle, which ended with the complete collapse of the Boyle fleet, was swift and decisive. Three two-masted armed sailing ships were captured, and a desperate crew set their ship on fire and destroyed it. The remaining four two-masted sailing ships fled in different directions. The two pirate ships, busy with the captured ships, reluctantly abandoned the idea of pursuing the remaining enemies, preferring to focus on the captured prizes.

A sailing warship that lost its masts meant losing its mobility. The three captured two-masted sailing ships, except for the flagship Xin Feng, which was hit by a close-range attack, were captured in this manner. However, losing the ability to flee did not mean losing all combat capability. The pirates had to clear the sailors from the ships before they could enjoy their rich prey.

"Everyone, raise your hands. If any of you want to be a hero, now is the time to step forward and die."

The fierce-looking boatswain, Zola Hegel, held a patterned steel military knife in one hand and patted the short heavy cannon loaded with grapeshot with the other, coldly warning the sailors on the opposite two-masted sailing ship not to make any rash moves.

Undoubtedly, the power of a sailing warship came from the sails, and the direction was controlled by the rudder. Now, after a round of cannon fire, the sailors on these two-masted sailing ships were dead or injured, and they could not run even if they wanted to. They had already lost their spirit and did not even have the courage to look at the victors. They obediently raised their hands in surrender.

The pirates' minimal losses and the great victory made them overjoyed. Zola Hegel, who usually had a stern and suspicious look, was now smiling broadly. He ran over with a piece of parchment and said to Luo Zhengdao:

"Captain, this is the list of captured items. Can we start dividing the spoils?"

Luo Zhengdao frowned at the sound and then looked at the sky, shaking his head and saying:

"This place is not safe. Let's move to another location."

The natural environment of the new world, which was almost a flat space, was vastly different from the old world. Sailing warships that navigated the ether sea, unlike the wooden ships that spent the whole year in seawater in the old world, were a different matter. Of course, a similar appearance did not prove anything.

Maintaining and repairing ships in the new world was very convenient. Except for the frequent alternation between the ether sea and coastal waters, which could cause the wood to warp and deform due to changes in moisture, these ships were much easier to maintain than the wooden sailing ships of the old world. The essential sea floatwood in the ship's structure provided buoyancy, so as long as the overall structure was not damaged, the ship would not easily sink into the depths of the ether sea and become a drifting object. Unless it encountered a rare "ether trap" of sparse particles, it would have to jettison ballast and hope for good luck.

The ship materials other than sea floatwood mainly served to fill the ship's hull, divide the internal compartments, and support the structural strength. Therefore, as long as the ship did not completely fall apart, a few carpenters could repair it and make it seaworthy again.

The common disadvantage of these wooden warships was their flammability. Although sea floatwood was not sensitive to fire and would only slowly turn to ashes when thrown into a fire, the other materials on the ship, such as wood, sails, and ropes, were excellent fuel. Once they caught fire, the entire ship was doomed. During this raid, the armed sailing ship that was destroyed but not captured by the pirate fleet was burned by a group of die-hard Boyle family members hiding in the lower hold.

The ship designers and users of the new world were not fools. They knew that fire prevention was the top priority and could not ignore this weakness.

To prevent the flames from consuming the expensive wooden warships, during the initial design and construction, the exterior of the ship would be wrapped in a layer of copper or iron plates, depending on the budget. This was mainly to prevent small marine creatures from attaching to and eating the wooden hull, and it also provided some fire resistance. On other exposed parts, such as the deck and rigging, fire-resistant alchemical agents would be applied before the battle. If the budget was tight, mud could be used, which was still better than nothing.

Although the fire-resistant agents in the new world had a rather short effective period, when to start using them and how much to use were quite challenging problems. However, the agents were quite effective. If all fire-resistant measures were fully implemented, it would be impossible to set the ship on fire with a torch, and it would take a while to ignite the rigging with a bonfire. The more affluent ship designers, such as the Yaling Empire Navy and the Elven Federation Navy, even installed fire-resistant magic arrays on their ships. It would be difficult for anyone to set the ship on fire intentionally, and even a hellfire summoned to fall on the ship might not be effective. The main drawback was the high cost.

Considering technical secrecy, these official warships would remove the fire-resistant magic arrays when decommissioned to recover usable materials and prevent the leakage of technical secrets.

After a fierce battle near the Tartus port, the pirate fleet, loaded with spoils, left the battlefield and temporarily anchored near a barren, brown rock reef. The jubilant sailors disassembled the three captured two-masted sailing ships into pieces.

The cargo was counted, and even the hidden private money stashed by the Boyle family sailors in the gaps of the deck was taken by the pirates. The unfortunate captives were stripped of their clothes, a common practice among pirates to prevent them from hiding valuables and weapons.

After a thorough and detailed inventory, the boatswain Zola and the quartermaster Hail Pop reported to Luo Zhengdao:

"Our spoils have been calculated. The captured ships, along with the sailors, cargo, and miscellaneous items, are worth a total of 6,859 gold coins."

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