Chapter 1954 The Narwhal

Although Joan lacked sailing experience, it was not difficult to guess that the smoking sailboat was probably hit by pirates and was injured by naval guns—the roar from a distance was the pirate ship firing at its prey.

The ocean is a hunting ground for the weak and the strong, and plundering and being plundered are staged in this vast hunting ground every day.

The looters are not necessarily professional pirates, they may also be "armed merchant ships" or so-called "private ships".

In this era, there is no clear boundary between merchants engaged in maritime trade and pirates. It is more profitable to do legal business or plunder their peers. When necessary, lower the flag of the Chamber of Commerce and hang the pirate flag. You can complete the role change without any psychological burden.

As for "private ships", to put it bluntly, they are legal pirates with a business license issued by the government. They specialize in attacking ships of hostile countries.

The sailors on the "Coral" have long been accustomed to this kind of thing. In their view, it is morally noble not to take the initiative to plunder other merchant ships. It is not clear which is right and which is wrong between the two parties. It is not guaranteed that the victim was robbing other merchant ships not long ago.

Captain Odysseus received the news and made a decision without hesitation: "Don't mind your own business, and proceed according to the established route."

Hailar had no objection to the captain's decision. Audrey and Holden, out of excess sense of justice and curiosity, tried to find out the details of this conflict, but in the end they both gave up the idea of ​​meddling with Hailaer's persuasion.

Joan wasn't the kind of nosy person, but after staying on the ship for a long time, it was inevitable to be bored, and he learned all the newly transcribed spells, so it was a pain in the ass.

Anyway, there was nothing to do, so he simply cast a spell to summon a group of seagulls, and ordered the flock of birds to fly to the sea area where the gunfire came from, to see what was going on.

Seagulls flew in groups and gradually disappeared at the end of the northern sky.

Joan sat under the mast, closed his eyes, and integrated a trace of consciousness into the "brood will" of the flock of birds. When he opened his eyes again, the perspective had switched to the flock of birds.

After another half an hour, groups of seagulls flew over the conflicted sea area.

Joan looked down at the sea, and sure enough, he saw two ships side by side.

One of them was a battleship with a hybrid engine and sail, and its tonnage was much larger than that of the "Coral". It was about a hundred yards long from head to tail, covered with heavy armor, like a giant at sea!

Joan also noticed that there were 15 gun ports on both sides of the ironclad warship, and two flags were hung on the top of the bridge, one of which was the flag of Freeport, indicating that the warship was registered in Freeport, and the other flag was What is depicted is a black giant whale with a unicorn, which is the banner of the chamber of commerce that Messinger Francis belongs to.

According to this unique flag, it is not difficult for Joan to guess that this armored warship is the armed merchant ship "Narwhal" that Messinger is proud of. In fact, it is also the flagship of many pirate gangs under Messinger.

The ship captured by the "Narwhal" looked like an ordinary ocean-going sailing ship. Intimidated by two rounds of bombardment from the "Narwhal" earlier, the crew tried to escape by boat, but in this sunny weather, the sail-powered ship was doomed to be unable to escape the pursuit of the steam warship, and it was not far away. After being hit by shells, a large hole was opened on the right side of the ship, and the seawater continued to pour in, causing the hull to tilt to the right. It was only a matter of time before it completely capsized.

Of course, the "Narwhal" attacking the sailing ship was not purely for fun. After getting close to the prey, the pirates under Messinger immediately started to plunder, connecting the two ships with a hook line and a springboard, and then sliding along the hook line On the deck of the sailing ship, with a gun in his left hand and a knife in his right, he ruthlessly killed sailors who tried to resist.

When the swarm of seagulls controlled by Joan arrived at the scene, the looting was drawing to a close.

There were more than a dozen corpses laying down on the deck of the sailboat, with bloody and messy footprints all over the place.

Messinger's men had already taken control of the sailboat, expelled the passengers on board to the deck, and ordered them to squat on the ground with their heads in their hands.

Anyone who dares to move will be shot in the head!

Cruel, ruthless and efficient, just as far as the pirate business is concerned, the quality is much better than the sahuagins Joan has come into contact with before, just like a group of devils in human skin!

There was no valuable cargo on this sailboat. There were about 300 passengers on board. Judging from the shabby clothes, they looked like a group of poor refugees.

It stands to reason that there is nothing to gain from robbing these poor people, but the pirates are all smiling, as if they just got a big harvest.

Joan observed for a while before realizing that the purpose of the "Narwhal" attacking the immigrant ship was not to rob property, but to kidnap the passengers on board.

In the eyes of pirates, these passengers are a kind of commodity called "slaves", which are sold to mines or plantations all over the New World. Every living slave can be exchanged for a lot of real money.

They skillfully sorted and screened the captives, picking out strong men and young women. There were more than 200 people in total, and they were all driven to the deck of the "Narwhal" and detained in batches into the bilge.

As for the remaining old people and children, they cannot be sold at a good price, and they are prone to illness and death during the voyage. In the eyes of the pirates, they are just money-losing goods that are wasting food, so they are abandoned on the sailing ship that is about to sink, and they are left to fend for themselves. off.

A middle-aged man wearing a black cloak and a three-cornered hat appeared on the balcony on the third floor of the "Narwhal" bridge. To the kidnapped captives, it was as if the master of the slaughterhouse was counting a herd of pigs.

Beside the man dressed as the captain, Joan also saw a familiar figure, which was Mustafa the Black Spirit Assassin in a black cloak.

Judging from Mustafa's respectful attitude towards the middle-aged man, the other party's status must be higher than his. Joan guessed that this man was probably Francis Messinger, the enemy Hailar was tracking.

At this moment, the palm of Joan's left hand felt slightly hot, and the spiritual response from "Tears of God" appeared in his mind.

...

Mythological Induction: Discover Tier 6 Mythical Creatures!

...

Joan remembered that Hailar mentioned that Francis Messinger was a secret believer of a certain evil god, and his extraordinary profession was the "Dark Guard" called "Anti-Paladin". But it has never been mentioned that Messinger actually possesses the power of mythology, and the myth level is as high as level 6!