Carefree Path of Dreams Chapter 866 - Great Naval Battle

Chapter 866: Great Naval Battle

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Blackbeard’s territory.

A massive fleet was slowly gathering.

With over a hundred ships and more than ten thousand sailors, the scale of this fleet could definitely be considered enormous.

The flagship at the core was Blackbeard’s ship—Monster!

The Blackbeard flag that represented the Nightmare Ocean’s pirate governor hung on the mast, waving in the wind. In addition, there were nurous other pirate flags along the periphery of the fleet.

The pirates who really wanted to take the risk and fight had all already gathered here.

This fleet was the last of the pirate forces in the Nightmare Ocean.

With such a force, it might not be unrivaled across the world, but at least any country in the Opher Continent would not be able to beat it easily.

Even the past Ettoman would not dare to brazenly fight Blackbeard in fear of obtaining victory at the cost of sustaining heavy losses.

However, the gathering of this fleet now had a hint of solemness.

“Captain... the negotiator is back!” Blackbeard’s most trusted chief officer stepped forward. “He returned with Ettoman’s latest terms. They demand that we abandon sovereignty of Blackbeard Island and the Nightmare Ocean and retain only one colony. Furthermore, we are to turn over seventy percent of all our wealth! If we do this, Ettoman’s newly established Far Ocean Developnt Corporation will accept us as privateer captains...”

Far Ocean Developnt Corporation—another new thing that Ettoman had invented.

Colonial thods were too underhanded. Using official ans to carry them out would inevitably leave blemishes behind, while private ans would not have too many scruples. Furthermore, a company’s paramount objective was to pursue its own interests. Thus, its operations were simple and highly efficient. It could also accept a certain amount of private capital to participate in its business.

“This isn’t a peace agreent, but a humiliating unconditional surrender!” Blackbeard suddenly stood up, and his iron leg produced a string of sounds on the deck. “Even if we fight till the last man, I won’t surrender! Pass the order down—prepare for battle!”

“Your will shall be carried out!”

The chief officer hesitated to say sothing, but he eventually obediently retreated.

Soon, Ettoman’s enormous fleet appeared in the Blackbeard Pirates’ line of sight.

Taking the lead were dozens of black smoke pillars soaring toward the sky, like a grim reaper’s cage that was continuously approaching at lightning speed.

An ordinary sailing ship could at most sail at twenty knots, but these experienced pirates only needed a glance to realize that all these warships sailed above twenty knots.

Soon, a group of densely packed black dots erged from the horizon and was growing larger, eventually turning into nurous steel mountains giving off incomparable pressure.

“Their entire hull is made of steel. Even using our largest cannon, it probably won’t be able to cause any damage...”

“The smallest ship is over a hundred ters long, not to ntion its displacent tonnage. It’s practically a steel mountain...”

“Even without doing anything, our ships would definitely sink if they collide into us...”

The old pirates instantly gained a huge amount of paraters from observation, and their faces lost color.

One would not be able to understand the terror of Ettoman’s Invincible Steel Fleet before seeing it with their own eyes.

“What are you scum afraid of?” On Monster, Blackbeard’s voice could be heard from afar. “We are pirates! Free pirates! The rulers of the sea!!! Now, soone wants to banish us, the sons of the ocean, away from our ho. Can we agree to this?”

“Can’t!”

No matter what, the pirates currently gathered here were still relatively determined to fight. Upon hearing this, they imdiately drew their weapons and shouted. The extrely low morale due to seeing the ironclads slightly rose.

“Besides, we aren’t fighting by ourselves!”

Blackbeard continued his speech vehently, “Golden Ocean’s Pirate Prince, Coral Ocean’s rfolk King, as well as Devil Ocean’s and Star Clusters Archipelago’s pirate governors are all supporting us! As long as we obtain even the slightest victory and advantage, our allied forces will not hesitate to dispatch troops and tear Ettoman into pieces... When that mont cos, all of its colonies and ports across the world and even its mainland will face the fury of pirates!”

“Long live the son of the Nightmare Ocean!”

“For freedom!”

One could not help but admit that Blackbeard’s speech was quite provocative.

The lowest rung of pirates was obviously unaware of the fact that the allied forces were nowhere to be seen at all and cheered wildly.

Soon, the full view of Ettoman’s Invincible Steel Fleet entered their vision.

Behind the thirty ironclads, it was thickly dotted with large sailing ships that were at least third-level warships.

They were surrounding Blackbeard’s forces like an open pocket.

The cheers suddenly stopped.

Facing an absolute disadvantage in numbers and ships, only fools would believe that they could still obtain victory today.

“Battle!”

Blackbeard took a deep breath and drew his cutlass.

“Roar! Roar!”

Monster imdiately roared and slowly sailed forward.

A naval battle of the largest scale was about to break out!

Swoosh!

Right at this mont, a high-speed water arrow ca flying over from outside the battlefield. However, it did not dash into the battlefield and took the stance of an onlooker instead.

Only after the waves fell did it reveal the ship’s smooth hull and the flag that was famous across the Golden Ocean.

“It’s Wanderer! The Golden Ocean’s Pirate Prince Edward is here!”

This caused an uproar among the royal navy, but it soon quieted down.

This was because Wanderer was only one ship, and it would not be able to change anything. Furthermore, it was only waiting from afar at the periphery and did not attempt to enter the battlefield.

The pirate governors wanted to make use of Blackbeard’s fall to obtain more data on the ironclads. Of course, there was also the tacit understanding that it would be most ideal if they could deplete the navy’s forces to the greatest extent.

Wanderer was quietly towering in the ocean with an aloof attitude.

There was no one from the navy attacking it.

After all, Wanderer was absolutely deserving of its reputation as the fastest in the oceans.

Even the fastest ironclad now was still unable to catch up to Wanderer’s speed. If they dared to besiege it, it would only be embarrassing themselves.

Even so, cheers could be heard coming from Wanderer.

After all, from the pirates’ perspective, the Pirate Prince’s reputation had intimidated the navy, and thus they did not dare to provoke him.

It was not only the Pirate Prince either.

At the edge of the battlefield, nurous strange pirate teams were also quietly appearing and watching this battle from afar.

These were all great pirates who were once famous on the Golden Sea Route, and perhaps there were even so low-profile pirate governors hiding among them.

They all had extrely grave looks while gazing at Monster’s enemy.

Bang!

At the center of attention, the royal navy’s flagship, Fearless, suddenly fired its main cannon.

Rumble!

The entire ocean shook.

The third-level pirate warship opposite had half of its deck explode into flas.

“How’s this possible? It destroyed a ship with rely one shot?”

Edward instantly beca despondent after seeing this.

He could not sense the slightest hint of extraordinary powers from Fearless. If it were an extraordinary ship that had fired a cannon with extraordinary powers, he would have nothing to say about accomplishing this feat.

However, everything at this mont had proven that the ironclad had achieved this purely with the powers of technology.

This was undoubtedly very terrifying.

This was because the ordinary represented mass production.

What if the number of ironclads increased to a hundred in the future, and every warship fired a similar main cannon at the sa ti?

Cold sweat imdiately fell from Edward’s forehead.

Even with Wanderer, he was still uncertain if he would be able to escape the cannon fire’s attack range in a split second.

“What if such an attack landed on Pirate King City?”

Edward had viewed Pirate King City as an unsinkable stronghold.

However, his originally impregnable confidence had wavered slightly after this.

“We must join forces!”

“Elect a Pirate King!”

“Share data and information on ironclads!”

“Everything must be fast. Otherwise, we’ll only be eliminated by this era!”

...

For a mont, almost all of the pirates spectating the battle had such a thought cross their minds.

“Captain!” At this mont, a sailor ca over hurriedly with a strange expression. “There’s a lifeboat approaching. The man on board claims to be Vice Admiral Norton, and he wishes to et you!”

“Invite him on!”

Edward rubbed his chin with a contemplative expression. Shortly after, he saw a middle-aged, Ettoman gentleman wearing the royal navy’s military uniform coming onto the deck.

“Good day, Invincible Fleet’s chief advisor!” Edward laughed exaggeratedly. “What do you think would happen... if I throw the man who planned this battle into the ocean to feed the sharks or kidnap him for ransom?”

“Nothing much!”

Vice Admiral Norton had distinct facial features and fox-like eyes. He laughed exaggeratedly after hearing what Edward said. “Such actions would only be deed as challenging the royal navy and thus face an all-out attack from Admiral Philip! Besides... you can’t be thinking that Blackbeard’s defeat is due to my plan? In reality, with Ettoman’s current strength, regardless of which pirate governor it attacked, the chances of victory are very high!”

“Although it’s the truth, hearing it really causes one to be dispirited...” Edward’s eyes glistened. “However... it isn’t like we don’t have the ability to strike back, such as Sea God, King’s Throne, and Specter Ship...”

“Specter Ship? It still needs a captain!” Vice Admiral Norton smiled. “I’m here with Ettoman’s goodwill. As long as you pledge allegiance, the Queen is willing to pardon all of your cris and issue you a privateer permit, and even let you beco one of Far Ocean Developnt Corporation’s shareholders!”

“You’re asking few pirate governors to surrender?” Pirate Prince Edward tugged at his collar. “Then I can tell you right now that Wanderer was free in the past, is free now, and will continue to be free in the future!”