The Ultimate Evolution

Captain Ammand had harbored suspicions towards Sheyan claiming to be a sailor from the east. For example, exaggerating one’s ability to an employer was widely commonplace even in the real world. Therefore, upon seeing his performance, his suspicions mostly vanished. No matter how good a facade someone puts, only an experienced sailor could remain calm and composed out in the threatening sea. This was something that couldn’t be achieved through acting!

On the contrary, the unlucky Chris, whose leg injuries had not completely heal, was in complete shambles. Riding on this bumpy ship, he vomited excessively and even blacked out. Fortunately, his widely announced close ties with Sheyan had raked in benefits. Under the oppression of Sheyan, the compliant Ben Mugen fully supported him, and looked as though he was on the line of duty to save his country. He hoped that this cousin/benefactor of Sheyan would put in a few good words and prevent himself from the miserable fate of getting chased out of the cabin.

The wind gradually grew fiercer as the seawaves freely crashed in layer by layer, containing a certain loftiness and an imposing strength. If one were to have a bird’s eye view, the Bell and Mug, with a total crew strength of about 200 and a displacement* of 6 tonnes, appeared like a fallen leaf gliding gently along the boundless stretch of water. It looked like so vulnerable, like it would capsize anytime.

(TN: A ship’s displacement is the total weight of the ship including its contents)

At this precise moment, a blinding light flashed out in the distant sky! It was like a ferocious thunderbolt suddenly piercing through the empty sky. A layer of goosebumps formed on anyone who witnessed this, where their spirit drifted away from their skin, and their nostrils flared up.

Watt, standing atop within the crow’s nest, shouted out loudly.

“Message from the Flying Dutchman!”

“Enemies to the west, 11 miles from here!”

Sheyan, observed the brilliance in the sky. He was pretty familiar with the overall present history. Back in a tavern, he overhead that the captain of the legendary ‘Queen Anne’s Revenge’, Blackbeard, was proficient in dark magic. The lights in the sky was probably to illustrate certain warnings, this magic had no combat capabilities and was only like a large scale fireworks show to the Caribbean pirates. In Pirates of the Caribbean 4, Blackbeard was even able to stick the legendary Black Pearl pirate ship into a rum bottle and store it as a collection; such were his immense dark magic powers.

Upon witnessing the fireworks, Ammand’s body bolted upright. He was currently wearing a dark black commander hat. “Shinng!” He drew out his sword from his waist and loudly exclaimed.

“Full rudder to port! Raise the sails, full speed west!”

Presently, Ammand’s entire body was emitting a dazzling white brilliance, under the command and direction of his sword, the entire ship was also encapsulated with a faint white glow.

Obviously the ship’s special ability, ‘Smooth sailing’, had been activated. With sails against the raging winds, the ship’s velocity greatly rose! The pirate ship sailed rapidly towards the west. According to Sheyan’s estimation, there was at least a 30% increase in the velocity!

Although this ship rapidly sailed forward, when it approached the battlefield, the atmosphere had already lighted up in full swing! Without a doubt, the ocean’s king of speed, the Black Pearl, was the first to engage in battle, who was followed closely by the speedy HMS Victory.

In retaliation, two ships from the ‘Paragon fleet’ had turned to welcome them in battle. Next in line, was the Flying Dutchman who had signaled out the message.

The Bell and Mug barrelled straight into the battlefield. In their presence currently, were 3 merchant sheep that looked like naked sheep without any form of protection.

“Ready ~ Release!” Ammand once again raised his silver sword! Under his forceful command, the Bell and Mug inclined fully towards the right, simultaneously 10 tongues of flame spat out from the left! As white fumes dispersed, 10 cannons on the port (left) side of the ship started blasting off again.

Nevertheless, would the spanish merchant, Fernandez, who had become notorious for peddling black slaves very early in his life, be so easily dealt with? His 3 merchant ships were not inferior in any aspect to a military warship in terms of tonnage, in fact they were armed merchant ships! Amongst the 10 cannons fired from the Bell and Mug, only 2-3 cannons connected with the target. They utterly failed to threaten the thickly fortified armed merchant ships!

Ammand on the other hand was not expecting much from his ship’s firing capabilities. After this symbolic explosion signalling the commencement of battle, he immediately commanded to rapidly close up the gap, and prepare for a naval boarding battle! To this pirate captain, this was his favourite course of action, because upon connecting with the enemy, they could plunder the wealth and even capture the entire merchant ship. Of course, a naval boarding battle was much riskier and its casualty rate would be more appalling.

Huge torrents reached out for the heavens, as tidal waves rolled vigorously. Still, the Bell and Mug relied on its agile speed to rapidly close in on those heavy merchant ships, Within a flash, the gap between them was greatly shortened!

Visibly it looked as if the connection was about to succeed. Yet at this moment, Sheyan sensed an immense pressure forcing its way in from the left. This pressure had no form but yet it surged up violently, not only was it difficult to evade, it gave a bone shattering feeling from its imminent collision.

Sheyan instantly threw himself horizontally onto the ship’s deck, laying down perfectly flat. Concurrently, he conveniently grabbed and pulled the confused Chris down as well. Chris had just recovered and wanted to get some fresh air away from the cabin, but in the end, was abruptly and forcefully dragged to the floor by Sheyan. He face planted into the ground, as fresh blood oozed from his nose, and even chipped two of his front tooth.

Chris stubbornly raised his head to curse out, but was shocked by what he saw – square boards on the side of the left merchant ship had started crackling and finally opened up; revealing a organized row of densely packed black cannons aiming at this direction.

While some were still scrambling to understand what was going on, an entire 37 Ceska Zbrojovka ammunitions factory manufactured brand new cannons spat out their terrifying flames!

Within seconds, the high speed Bell and Mug tremored excessively, before being forcibly shifted horizontally by 7-8 metres; as though an invisible hand had heavily smacked against its left. At least 20 heavy cannonballs had landed successfully onto the ship’s body. Clear and distinct explosions could be seen from the right side of the Bell and Mug leaving a trail of dust in its wake. Planks of wood shattered from the huge explosions, causing a tragic sight of devastation!

Under the string of bombardment, the Bell and Mug had suffered heavy losses. This was due to almost 70% of the pirate crew excitedly congregating on the deck in wait for the incoming contact of both ships.

From a quick estimation, roughly 1 in 3 pirates were injured from the attack, and some were even blasted overboard by the impact. One of the collapsed individual was the chief mate, Scarface Harry. That huge, sturdy and outspoken man, in order to shield his comrade, had taken a fast moving sharp broken wooden fragment into his head. His head was covered in flowing blood, and he completely faded into unconsciousness; no one knew if he had survived.

Fortunately, in this era, fired cannons would be pushed backwards by the recoil, and after firing once, the innards of the cannon had to be scrubbed clean before loading back a new round. Such was the complicated process of reloading. To Fernandez, his profession was a businessman and not a militant, his employed mercenaries may not be experts or experienced gunners. As a result, the reloading time took relatively longer. This no doubt gave Ammand, who had hundreds of battles worth experience, adequate time to retaliate!

“Steer 70 degrees!”

Ammands body remained upright. While using his venomous and eagle eyes to observe, his voice was like a huge whip that lashed against the buttocks of nearby pirates! Enabling them to immediately recover and execute his command.

“Straighten the third sail! Let the wind blow starboard!

“Lower the fourth sail!”

After a series of commands, Ammand took big steps towards the main mast, raising his sword and slicing down, the largest main sail gently and grandly floated down. The silver sword atop Ammand’s hand suddenly emitted a blinding brilliance; enveloping the entire ship as it connected at the sharp end of the ship’s bow.

Previously, the ship was parallel to the merchant ship, however in a short span, the entire Bell and Mug begun rotating straightly, thereby forming at ‘T’ shape structure with the merchant ship!

In a flash, a huge wave crashed in, however, the Bell and Mug tenaciously weathered the massive splashes of the waves. Undaunted, the Bell and Mug wildly smashed head on into the enemy ship with astonishing fury!

Previously the Bell and Mug was described as a piece of fallen leaf aimlessly adrift on the ocean, yet right now, its captain was completely dictating its every move! Under his leadership, this pirate ship had change from a mere leaf into a penetrating blade; similar to the silver sword in his grip! Slender, graceful, cruel, and conquering anything in its path! Its honour did not allow one to glance back, as it stabbed frenetically into the enemy’s abdomen!