Chapter 154
Chapter 154
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 154
Chapter Title: Warrior, Engages in Naval Battle
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Before the ships built by Blunt encountered the ghost fleet.
On a certain island in the sea, the pirate captains had gathered to debate what to do about the Starting Island, which had turned into a tourist spot.
But had they dragged it out too long?
"Admiral! The owner of this place has arrived!"
"Oh no..."
The owner had come to file a complaint.
The undead were currently in the worst possible situation.
But one couldn't keep the other party waiting.
Soon after, the undead's top commander at sea, Death Knight Devi, greeted Balak.
"Balak, sir. I'm Devi. Welcome!"
"You're the master of this fleet?"
"Yes, sir!"
Thanks to Devi and the captains treating him with utmost respect?
The undead pirates left quite a favorable first impression on Balak.
And they were currently decked out in various seafaring getups.
Octopuses, barnacles, coral, starfish, and the like.
Balak was impressed by the undead's briny, oceanic appearances.
"Hahaha! You lot look the part perfectly!"
"When you're going to do something, you might as well do it right, no? Anyway, the reason for your visit, Balak, sir, is undoubtedly..."
"Yes. Why are you leaving the Starting Island like that?"
"Well, you see..."
Devi explained everything that had happened before.
The undead wanted nothing more than to sweep them all away, but because of the previous incident, they couldn't resort to forceful measures.
Seeing this pitiful state, Balak realized Devi's position.
'Oh boy... This guy's a middle manager like Karian.'
Middle managers in projects usually get sandwiched between superiors and subordinates, suffering endlessly.
And with heavy responsibility, unless specific orders come down, they end up unable to act.
Balak figured this was exactly that case and felt fortunate to be the owner here.
"Don't worry, Admiral. Don't I exist?"
"S-Surely you're not saying..."
"Yes! I'll take full responsibility!"
""""Ooooooh!!!""""
When a middle manager can't move, the superior just needs to issue orders.
As soon as Balak commanded the attack, plans started flowing smoothly.
"What should we do? Bombard them right away?"
"Hmm... With ships around, wouldn't it be better to plunder them?"
"There's an even better way..."
Just as numerous suggestions were heating up the meeting room.
Balak made an even bolder proposal.
"How about sealing off the outgoing portals and plundering everything?"
"Oh."
"Oh."
"Oh."
"Oh."
A method only the owner of this place could use had emerged.
The problem with the Starting Island right now was that no matter if they bombed it or fought, the people on the island could escape via portals.
But if the portals were blocked?
After plundering all the goods, kill them all while they had no ownership?
That would give those fools a proper lesson.
"What about the people arriving at the Starting Island during the plunder?"
"Hold on a second."
Bzzzt!
Beep!
[ Big bro, what's up! ]
"Nothing much, but halt the operation of hang gliders heading to the sea."
[ Got it! Anything else you need? ]
"I'll contact you later if there is."
[ See you at the report time then. ]
"Alright."
Click!
"Now there won't be anyone heading to the sea, so we can go ahead worry-free."
"Perfect!"
The undead, excited at the prospect of finally becoming true pirates, quickly formulated plans.
And preparations for departure were done in no time.
Thus, Balak boarded Devi's ghost ship and issued various detailed orders.
"Don't lay the fog on too thick—it'll dilute the fear factor!"
""""Understood!!""""
"If there are any ships nearby, sink them all!"
""""Yes, sir!!!""""
"Once you're ready, raise anchor!!!"
""""Yes, sir!""""
At Balak's order to set sail, the undead raised anchor with a mighty shout that echoed across the sea.
Soon, the pirate fleet cleaved through the ocean at tremendous speed, charging toward the Starting Island.
***************
Amid weather that was cloudy but not quite, with sunlight occasionally beaming down on the sea, the ghost ships raced forward.
The pirates prepared for battle, banging empty barrels like scabbards, and began singing sea shanties.
Thung! Thung! Thung!
The sound of cutting through waves naturally became instruments,
And all the crew followed the tune with vigorous shouts.
As everyone surrendered to the excitement.
While Balak enjoyed the refreshing sea breeze from the bow of Devi's ghost ship at the fleet's vanguard, the ship's master made a suggestion from the side.
"Balak, sir, please take the helm for this battle."
"Isn't Devi the admiral of this fleet?"
"This battle can proceed smoothly precisely because of you, sir. So I must ask."
"No helping it, then. Vice Admiral? Looking forward to working with you."
"Heh heh heh... Leave it to me."
Now taking command of the pirate fleet, Balak soon spotted an ordinary ship.
And tested the undead's current capabilities.
After Balak issued the attack order, ghost ships launched one by one from the fleet's flanks.
The crew on the ship that spotted the pirate fleet panicked and tried to flee hastily,
But two ghost ships slid in like ice skates, positioning themselves on either side in an instant, and their gunports opened.
"Fire!!!"
Boom! Boom! Boom boom!
Gunpowder smoke instantly filled one side of the sea.
When the smoke cleared, the ship trapped between the ghost ships was badly damaged and immobilized.
This time, hooks latched onto the ship's outer hull to plunder the cargo inside.
And with the undead boarding, the naval skirmish ended in a flash.
"Vice Admiral, those gunports now... they're different from the ones I saw before."
"The ghost ships are equipped with triple-barreled cannons as standard, and reloading is done via magic, so they're ready fast."
"Perfect!"
Having confirmed the ghost ships' performance, Balak was highly satisfied.
Thereafter, every ship en route to the Starting Island was plundered and smashed.
The pirate fleet pressed forward at full speed.
Just as they were nearly arriving at the Starting Island.
Vice Admiral Devi spotted a peculiar ship.
"That's a ship we've never seen before. Do you know what it is, Admiral Balak?"
"...I have a rough idea."
From his past life's history, Balak was astonished to see a vessel resembling a modern-era warship.
'That's practically an ironclad, isn't it? No, it looks two or three times bigger?'
Thanks to his overwhelming eyesight, he soon spotted dwarves and humans moving urgently on the ship.
"Huh, dwarves as expected? To create such monsters with the devices on that island..."
"If dwarves made it, that outcome makes sense. And it might be the strongest ship among those built by the challengers."
"Probably. But didn't they say they do regular rotations at the Starting Island? How'd they build that?"
"...They might've evacuated to the sea every time they did rotations."
"Truly cunning. And among the humans, those outfits..."
Confirming academy students on the ship, Balak had an idea pop up above his head.
But recalling the news that students had gone seaward before.
Observing their peculiar auras, he noted two stronger than the rest.
"Admiral, what about that ship?"
"Don't you want to tangle with a monster like that?"
"Of course!"
"Then charge!! Half to the Starting Island! The rest, prepare to attack!!!"
"Did everyone hear that!!! Target locked!!! Target is that single ship ahead!"
""""Yes, sir!""""
Half the pirate fleet advanced on the Starting Island.
The remaining half, including Balak, charged the ironclad.
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The ironclad crew panicked upon spotting the massive pirate fleet.
"Damn it all!! I knew it!!"
"Why was the sea so quiet? Because of those bastards?!"
"B-But we have the ship's size advantage, right?"
"We can withstand bombardment to some extent, but if the undead board, we're done! Everyone, move!!"
"What should we do?!"
"If hooks latch on the hull sides, cut them off!"
As the ship interior rushed into battle and evacuation prep, the exhausted students who'd sneaked in earlier also moved quickly.
Blunt, meanwhile, prepared for the worst.
"You lot!!"
"""Y-Yes, sir?!"""
"Take these crates and head aft to the lowest deck!"
"""Why here...?"""
"Because the escape boats are here!"
"But we don't know how to sail!"
"That's for these guys to handle!"
"B-Blunt, you mean us too?!"
"You have to go anyway to launch the escape boats!"
Blunt planned to evacuate some of his kin and the students with the newly acquired crates.
He couldn't trust the other human crew, ordinary sailors.
But trusting these students and his kin, he handed over a compass and map fragment.
Finally, he told them the position of the last island, and to send a dwarves-only signal to activate the escape boat.
"Right now, half are chasing us, and the other half are charging that tourist-trap island. Escape from there is impossible."
The island Blunt indicated was where an outward portal opened—an ultra-early one where undead were very weak.
Judging they could safely escape with the crates there, just as Blunt was about to explain more—
Boom!
KABOOM!
Crash!!
"""Kyaaaaak!!"""
"""Uwaaaak!!"""
"Damn it all!!"
The ghost ships caught up and began bombarding the ironclad's flanks.
Fortunately, being an ironclad on all sides.
It withstood dozens of blasts with only moderate damage and kept sailing.
Judging this no time to dawdle, Blunt yelled to leave the rest to improvisation and rushed up to command.
Now on the gun deck, he hounded the crew.
"Move faster!! We just need to shake those ghost ships—quick reloads are all that matters!"
""""Yes, sir!!!""""
Under Blunt's cannon command, the ironclad's flanks were perpetually shrouded in gunpowder smoke.
From the bridge, the captain directed maneuvers to shake the ghost ships.
But the ghost ships exceeded imagination.
"Captain, look there!!!"
"R-Ram?!"
"Get away from the wall fast!!"
KABOOM!!
One ghost ship slid in and slammed straight into the ironclad's side!
The impact caved in the ramming ghost ship's prow and shook the ironclad violently.
And for some reason, the ironclad's speed dropped slightly.
"Did the hull twist?!"
"Wha?! It's coming again!!!"
KABOOOOOM!!
The second ram further slowed the ironclad.
Amid the ensuing chaos of cannon fire in raging waves.
On deck, students and crew removed incoming hooks.
But some weren't so lucky.
KABOOM!
"""Uwaaaak!"""
"Nooo!!!"
Students, prepared for sustained rams with some power, held out.
But some crew were flung straight overboard.
And their fate once off the ship was sealed.
"Living one!!"
"Kill it!!"
"Son of a..."
Still, better than drowning?
The crew just wanted a painless death.
The undead granted it instantly.
Thereafter, no matter how sturdy the ironclad, sustained bombardment and rams gradually rendered it immobile.
Balak and Devi marveled at how long it held out, beyond expectations.
"Even with ships ramming at that speed, only slight hull twisting—no real damage."
"Incredibly tough."
"But that's what makes destroying it all the more satisfying!"
"Agreed. Shall you step in now?"
"Yes, I'm off!"
As Balak stomped on the ghost ship deck, it rocked, sending massive waves around.
Soon, soaring high into the sky, Balak flew straight for the ironclad.
