Chapter 225: Search on the Ship

After completely controlling the first deck, the hatch to the stern castle was opened. A fight had just taken place in the area near the door; the hatch and the nearby bulkheads were covered in marks from swords and axes.

Six or seven people were lying in disorder on the deck. Except for two who were nailed to the deck by crossbow bolts, all the others had been killed by sharp blades hitting their vital spots. Some of the dead here seemed to have quite high status. Their clothes were obviously very different from those bare-chested fellows.

“Tsk! Tsk! Tsk! There is actually someone wearing silk clothes here! I say, does he think he is a Noble?” The curious Marine did not just talk. He also poked the corpse with his hand.

“Maybe he really is a robe-wearing Noble! Didn’t you notice that guy’s skin is different from the others?” His companion beside him did not consider the occasion at all and teased recklessly. But he was right; this corpse’s skin was relatively fair, which was very different from the bronzed skin of the sailors.

More importantly, having experienced wind, sun, and years of erosion by seawater, the sailors’ skin appeared very dry and rough. If fair skin was just a personal factor, then the delicate texture that could be seen at a glance, different from the sailors, made him stand out among this group of corpses.

Of course, no one would mistake this guy for a “pig” just plundered by pirates. Because that kind of guy should have been stripped naked and thrown at the bottom of the cabin, not wearing expensive silk clothes staying on the deck.

“It looks like the intelligence was correct; these guys are not ordinary pirates. Of course, they are not merchant ships of the Decabuga Merchant Guild either. Although the sailors on merchant ships are of mixed quality, they would never look like this. It seems we have caught a big fish this time!” Marine Commander Ib Randles looked at the prisoners huddled on the first deck and spoke with considerable certainty.

“Move faster for us! Search cabin by cabin and see if anyone is hiding!” Ib Randles began issuing orders to the sailors who were successively boarding the enemy ship.

Although the Marine Commander was only the direct superior of his less than 100 professional soldiers, in a battle like a boarding action, he was also the commander of close-quarters combat.

Doors were opened one by one, but there was often no need to display the results of their long training inside—the cabins were in a mess, furniture and various utensils were scattered all over the floor, and many sabers, cutlasses, and hand axes were lying around messily.

It seemed that the people inside had previously prepared to make a last stand here. But at this moment, there was no one inside. A Marine who entered the cabin first looked at the situation in the cabin and immediately said to the several sailors following closely behind: “Someone was just here. Follow me.”

Saying this, he led the sailors following him and rushed toward the next cabin. The disorderly hammocks and the mess on the floor in the cabin, combined with the narrow environment, were enemies of moving fast. This small team seemed to be about to catch the enemy’s tail every time, but they were always left behind at the critical moment.

The fleeing enemies ahead were much more familiar with the layout of the cabins on this ship than the pursuers from Bolerum Territory behind them. Although the ship type of this pirate ship was a standard Southern Carrack, every ship would often modify and change cabins according to the user’s needs during construction.

The Carrack was a ship type developed from the Cog, a three-masted or four-masted sailing ship prevalent in the inland seas of the Western Continent. Its characteristics were its huge curved stern and the huge bowsprit at the bow. It was equipped with several square sails on the foremast and mainmast, and a triangular sail on the mizzenmast.

This ship type was designed to compensate for the weakness of the Cog becoming clumsy after being modified with a stern castle, and the mainmast was heightened to increase the number of yards for sails. A new mast was added to the stern castle to set up an auxiliary sail, and the bowsprit was extended to make room for more sail area. In this way, the ship’s firepower, load, and speed could be better balanced.

Therefore, the advantage of the Carrack was that it had sufficient cabins to store goods, supplies, and accommodate sailors; it could also withstand attacks from smaller ships and was capable of long-distance ocean voyages.

The triangular sails and square sails hung on the ship’s four masts provided enough power to increase the ship’s sailing speed, even when sailing against the wind. Moreover, its multi-layer decks raised the gunwales. In boarding battles, it could often enable one’s own side to gain more advantages. The newly added stern castle could hold heavy Ballistas, which worked with the small Ballistas on the deck to facilitate launching broadside fire and increase the ship’s combat power.

Although the data on paper looked quite good, in reality, almost all captains in this era hated Carracks.

On the ship’s hull, which looked like a huge illegal structure, a large number of disorderly sails and ropes were erected. Due to the high center of gravity and the overextended masts, when facing strong winds, the Carrack was very likely to break its masts or capsize and sink.

In addition, the increased load meant a deeper draft, which made the Carrack easily damaged by running aground. The wide and clumsy hull also made her difficult to maneuver and extremely slow, not only requiring twice the manpower of Cogs and Caravels but also being slower.

After it was invented, it could be considered an extremely excellent ship in the calm inland seas. But on the rough North Sea, it often seemed somewhat miserable. From time to time, it behaved like a drunkard who had drunk too much wine.

So except for the very beginning, no Merchant Guild would use this kind of ship for transportation operations on the ocean. Its cost-performance ratio was really too low, or perhaps its specificity and regionality were too strong! At least until now, the reputation of the Carrack as the overlord of the inland seas has always been praised.

But for pirates, it was not like this. Because they often had no right to choose ships. They could only pick the tallest among the short ones from the ships they grabbed, choosing the better ships as their means of livelihood as much as possible.

This was one of the reasons why the warships of Bolerum Territory launched the attack without any scruples after seeing the flag and ship type. They did not worry at all about whether the intelligence was wrong or whether the other party was an unlucky guy who accidentally broke into the ambush site by chance. The ship itself was full of contradictions with its indicated identity.

Amidst the shouts of “Quick! Quick! Quick!”, several men agilely bypassed the obstacles in the cabin. They held their weapons tightly as if they were chasing something.

While a game of cat and mouse was being staged under the cabin, the Marines quickly cleared the cabins of senior sailors on the first layer and entered the second layer. The second layer was divided into three rooms. The outside was a large room used by the captain to handle various ship businesses, and the middle was the dining room for senior crew members. The innermost part was divided into two cabins on the left and right. They belonged to the ship owner and the captain respectively. When the ship owner was not present, this room was also used for VIPs on the ship.

“Pay attention to occupying the deck entrance between the first and second layers!” Marine Commander Ib Randles shouted, “Pay attention to searching!”

This entrance was the connecting passage between the bottom cabin and the stern cabin. If the pirates in the bottom of the cabin wanted to counterattack, this was a shortcut. There were two entrances to the stern castle; one was the hatch leading to the upper deck, which was where they broke in. From here, one could go to the upper deck or climb up the stairs on both sides to the stern castle deck—the place where the helmsman steered and the ship was commanded.

The other entrance was on the upper level of the stern castle and could lead to the inner deck. This entrance was usually locked to prevent conspiring sailors from unexpectedly attacking the stern castle from the lower deck.

Of course, during an enemy’s boarding action, this stern castle was also a point of resistance. But now it was under the control of the brave Marines. The only thing left to do was to prevent the pirates from counterattacking while waiting for news from those warriors who had entered below the deck.

Suddenly, a closed door appeared in front. Ivo, the Marine with a heavy expression, immediately waved his hand to the back, without any joy of catching the prey soon. At times like this, what one feared most was failing at the last moment; an experienced hunter often appeared more cautious the closer he was to success.

Upon seeing the gesture, the two sailors immediately retreated to the sides of the cabin. Ivo stepped forward, and while pulling open the door, he also hid himself behind the door panel.

After the sounds of “Thud! Thud! Thud!”, three more arrows appeared in the cabin where the three people were. The sharp arrowheads had sunk into the deck, leaving only the buzzing arrow shafts and the swaying tail feathers.

Ivo, seeing this sharp counterattack, let out a light breath. This situation proved that his previous caution was not wrong. However, not knowing how many enemies were inside, or rather how many pursuers with Crossbows already strung, they did not dare to launch a charge in this narrow defense.

In this place where there was nowhere to dodge, without a shield, facing those Crossbows behind the door, forcing a breakthrough was a way to seek death. The guys inside seemed to want to use this to form a stalemate.

Through the open cabin door, Ivo agilely threw in a round Stone Shot, which exploded with a “Bang”.

This kind of thrown Explosive Thunder Stone belonged to special alchemical items for long-range attacks. Although the range was not too far, and hitting the enemy would not cause serious damage.

However, when the Explosive Thunder Stone hit a hard surface or was struck hard, it would produce a deafening sound. Suffering this special attack of sound waves, creatures within a 10-foot radius would become deaf for 1 hour if they did not pass a toughness check.

In addition to the general obvious effects, deafened creatures also suffered trauma to the human balance sensory organs in the vestibular apparatus of the inner ear, including the three pairs of semicircular canals and the utricle and saccule of the vestibule. The balance of the affected guys often dropped sharply, and even if a Mage cast spells in this situation, there was a relatively high probability of failure.

Accompanying the vibration caused by this violent sound wave, even the topmost deck trembled. It seemed as if the whole ship would be shaken apart if it were a little stronger. Following that were the sounds of several heavy objects falling to the ground.

After knowing that the big trouble was resolved, Ivo and others filed into this cabin where the enemy was hiding.

“Captain, there are actually women on the pirate ship!” Accompanied by the voice of Marine Commander Ib Randles, these several young women who were tied up were carried in front of the captain through the ship’s ladder.

The three women in front were all about twenty years old. They were petite but had a sturdiness different from ordinary women. Their long brown or dark brown hair was tied into small curls and coiled behind their heads.

However, judging from their clothes, they did not look like women of status. Instead, they should be Maids or something like that. What was inconsistent was that a relatively strong smell of incense came from them.

Captain Alexa Copsey personally checked the other party’s hands. The calluses on the backs of the hands and knuckles indicated that the other party had undergone combat training for a long time. This kind of woman, while acting as a Maid, often also played the role of a bodyguard.

“How were they caught?” Alexa Copsey frowned and asked the Marine Commander beside him.

After listening to the other party’s statement, Alexa Copsey touched his chin, thought for a moment, and asked: “Did you search every cabin? There should be another big fish alive on this ship. Their actions just now were obviously to attract your attention.”

“It is impossible for anyone to be hiding in the cabins. We searched there one by one carefully!” Marine Commander Ib Randles gave a very definite reply to the highest commander on the ship.

“Then have you checked the Carpenter’s Walk and the ‘Lady’s Hole’?” Ship Officer George O’Brien immediately asked about the loopholes he suspected.

“Right! There is also the Carpenter’s Walk!” Ib Randles shouted with sudden realization, but then he asked, “What is the Lady’s Hole?”

“Forget it, we will tell you about this thing later. The sailors will take your Marines there.” Alexa Copsey’s words clearly hoped that the other party would act quickly and not waste time here.

The so-called “Lady’s Hole” referred to a hiding place on a sea ship. Behind the cargo hold could be said to be the safest place on the whole ship. The space between it and the keel could allow women or children to hide, so it was called the “Lady’s Hole”.

However, the “True Silver Sword”, as a warship, did not have this facility. It should be said that kind of facility was often only found on merchant ships. And Marine Commander Ib Randles, who had only served on warships and never been on other ships, simply did not have this knowledge. However, many sailors on the ship had worked on merchant ships before, so they naturally knew about this situation.

The Carpenter’s Walk, as the name implied, was a special passage used by carpenters to repair the ship. When a breach appeared in the part of the hull at the waterline due to battle or running aground, the carpenters had to set out.

They took tools and rushed to the scene of the accident along this passage specially designed for them, using wooden boards or lead plates to patch up the holes. However, this passage was often low and narrow, and the passage in some parts was even only 4 feet high.

At this time, it was also a good place to hide. In fact, because the Carpenter’s Walk was often very secluded and hidden, in the past, it was often a good place for sailors to plot mutinies.

As the search continued, accompanied by a loud “Boom—”, that Carrack seemed to be stirred by a giant hand and shook violently.

Its starboard hull at the waterline was suddenly ablaze with fire, and icy seawater poured into the hull through the large hole that had been burned through. They spread rapidly toward the middle of the ship along the Carpenter’s Walk. This pirate ship actually began to tilt slightly.

“Damn it, it’s actually Fireball!” Alexa Copsey was stunned for a moment, then immediately roared, “Marines, arrest immediately, and send carpenters to fix the leak immediately, and get that ship’s water pumps running immediately. Let those pirate captives help too. Tell them if this ship sinks, they will sink into the sea with it.”

After this chaotic arrest and emergency repair, this former pirate ship was finally saved after being in a state of near capsizing. However, the pumping work was still continuing, after all, the seawater that had poured in was really too much. The pump workers could only work with half of their bodies immersed in the seawater. Fortunately, there were ready-made coolies to do the work.

After this cooperation, the relationship between the pirates and the Marines eased a lot. Someone then summoned the courage to ask a Marine nearby: “You guys don’t look like pirates! Are you recruiting us or preparing to make us walk the plank!”

“If we really wanted you to go play with the pets of the Spicy Lady, we would have let you go into the sea long ago! Rest assured, you won’t die this time.” That Marine gave the other party this answer.

After knowing that they could keep their small lives, those former pirates all worked much more actively than before.

“You say you didn’t catch the person! Causing such heavy casualties, and then you tell me that such an important person wasn’t caught.” Captain Alexa Copsey roared, tapping his table.

“It’s not that we didn’t catch him! According to the statements of the survivors in that explosion. We can determine that the other party also died in that Fireball attack. If their description is correct, the other party should have used a Fireball Chain and did not have the ability to cast spells themselves.” Marine Commander Ib Randles defended himself.

Alexa Copsey did not want to dwell on this matter any longer and immediately made a decision: “Fine, then you go out! But the compensation for those few brave warriors who just died and were injured will be deducted from your reward this time.”

Ib Randles, who breathed a sigh of relief, immediately withdrew from the captain’s cabin.

“It should be this one!” Captain Alexa Copsey looked at the box of letters on the table in front of him.

Ship Officer George O’Brien said with a bitter smile: “But they are all some passwords and codes. The captain of this pirate ship actually died under the crossbow arrows in the second wave of attack. In this way, there is no one who can decode them now. But fortunately, he died early, otherwise this battle would really have been a tough one.”

“I think the other guy who could understand this secret letter was the one who made me busy just now, but he has also returned to heaven. I hope those intelligence personnel in the Territory can get a little more information from it!” Alexa Copsey sighed and said.