Captain – Chapter 130 – Secret Message

Captain Joseph recognized that warship.

On the entire ocean, only one pirate ship possessed such an exquisitely beautiful mermaid figurehead with seemingly deadly magical power—the Mermaid.

The Blood-Eyed Butcher’s Mermaid!

“Erwin, hard starboard!”

By the time Joseph reacted, that light gray warship, resembling a dusty pearl, had already slowly sailed past, and the gun ports engraved with wave patterns had been opened.

He shouted hysterically, like an old lion driven to a dead end.

Unless it was another legendary pirate ship, or a fully armed military fleet, no one on the vast sea could stop the Mermaid’s assault.

This was a theorem written in gunfire and smoke by the Golden-Eyed Devil, and now, this terrifying warship had fallen into the Blood-Eyed Butcher’s hands, shrouding it in an even heavier crimson curtain.

From the moment he saw that mermaid figurehead, this tough smuggler had been filled with fear, his mind consumed by a single thought: escape.

Hearing the captain’s urgent command, the First Mate immediately understood the situation was dire. He tried his utmost to turn the wheel hard to starboard.

But just as the wheel had turned more than a full circle, a muffled boom came from the white fog, along with a piercing whistling sound that filled Erwin’s ears.

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It wasn’t thunder descending from the heavens, but gunfire from reality.

“Thud!”

The First Mate fell to the ground convulsing, and soon went still. The right side of his face had a bloody hole, his ear completely blown away.

Joseph also heard that gunshot, like a verdict. He shouted in anger: “Helmsman, helmsman, take over!”

A sailor ran across the deck, climbed the spiral staircase, and quickly replaced the dead First Mate’s position. But before he could grab the spinning wheel, that deadly gunshot sounded again.

Watching the sailor collapse, his form hidden by the helm’s railing, Joseph’s mouth opened slightly, his throat bobbing a few times, with no chance to issue another command.

He only had time to marvel in his heart—what marksmanship.

Indeed, it was excellent marksmanship. Through the vision-obscuring white fog, at a distance of at least sixty meters, the sniper fired as if the gun barrel was pressed directly against the helmsman’s face, not missing a single shot.

At the moment the captain’s amazement fell, deafening cannon fire resounded in the ears of everyone on the Black Prince. People tightly covered their ears with their hands, twisting their faces as they endured the violent explosions at close range.

In just a brief moment, the deck of the Black Prince turned into a hell on earth. Crimson blood flowed like streams, and everywhere were severed limbs or sailors who had lost half their bodies but couldn’t die immediately.

Screams and wails filled every corner of the Black Prince. Only a few crew members hiding in the lower deck and storerooms were fortunately unharmed. Now they were nervously holding short guns and swords, staring intently at the doors above or in front of them.

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In the previous barrage, all twelve cannons arranged on the starboard side of the Black Prince were accurately destroyed, and the gunners who were loading ammunition died in the violent explosions caused by the black powder.

After one round of cannonfire, there were no more cannon roars from the Mermaid, and the gunshots that had successively killed two helmsmen also subsided as the wailing on the deck weakened.

In the end, all the surviving crew members could hear was the dripping sound of blood splattering on the deck and stairs, and the sea breeze blowing through the holes blasted in the starboard side.

Everything seemed to return to its usual tranquility.

“Alright, gentlemen, it’s your turn now.”

Leaning against the railing of the Mermaid, a young man dressed in deep blue pleated long sleeves, with meticulously groomed brown curly hair, gazed at the smoke-filled Black Prince, gently applauding. His face bore an elegant and restrained smile, as if appreciating an excellent opera.

He was Cassius Peters, the former helmsman of the Mermaid, now the First Mate.

The burly Fighting Squad members obeyed the command, using swing ropes to leap onto the deck of the Black Prince.

“Fern.”

Glimpsing a towering figure stepping onto the ship’s railing, Cassius turned his head and called out to him.

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He was an extremely robust man, nearly two meters tall, with massive muscles all over his body. The exposed skin on that intimidating physique was covered with scars of various sizes—symbols of his countless struggles back from the edge of death.

The giant named Fern paused, then nimbly jumped down from the railing, strode to the First Mate, and lowered his head with an ingratiating smile. “What is it, First Mate?”

Although he was the newly appointed leader of the Fighting Squad, with considerable fame in the Southern Islands for his powerful strength and fierce fighting style, this small reputation was worthless in front of the captain.

And the First Mate before him, who looked frail and even somewhat effeminate, was universally recognized by the Mermaid’s crew as the person the captain trusted most.

So no matter how fierce or ruthless he had been in the past, he had to lower his stance before this man. Otherwise, the miserable fate of the former squad leader would be his end.

Seeing the tiger-like ferocious giant adopt a submissive posture like a cat, Cassius narrowed his eyes and smiled with satisfaction. “Nothing much, just reminding you to be gentle, more gentle, our great squad leader. Of course, I mean with… the valuable cargo.”

“Understood.” Fern grinned, then stepped onto the railing, grabbed a swing rope that had been thrown back, and swiftly flew across with a “whoosh.”

Watching the Fighting Squad members gradually occupying the Black Prince’s deck, Cassius lightly tapped the railing, without the slightest worry in his heart.

The previous barrage had already cleared most of the viable forces on the enemy ship. Of the Black Prince’s crew still clinging to life, barely one in ten remained. They couldn’t possibly make any waves against the Fighting Squad led by Fern.

This would be a one-sided slaughter.

In just a while, just a few short minutes, this raid would come to an end.

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The First Mate thought with a smile, but suddenly heard a faint sound of wing flapping. The sound remained above the Mermaid, like an inescapable ghost.

Cassius’s pupils contracted, his entire body instantly tensed. He jerked his head up to look, a roar mixed with surprise and fear already at his lips, until his excellent vision made out that tiny black silhouette. Then his rushing blood and rapid heartbeat gradually calmed.

It was a peregrine falcon, not the black raven that often appeared in the First Mate’s nightmares.

After circling in the sky for a long time and confirming this was the warship it was looking for, the falcon quickly locked onto its target, then flew down and landed on Cassius’s arm.

“Oh, so it’s you, good child. You really gave me quite a fright.”

The First Mate gently stroked the falcon’s feathers, his gaze moving from its wings downward, finally fixing on the scroll of message tied to its ankle.

Both ends of the message were sealed with gold foil, and on the ribbon that bound it was pinned an ivory button inlaid with a red ruby the size of a mung bean.

Cassius examined the decorations on the scroll, and the smile that seemed permanently fixed at the corners of his mouth disappeared. His silver-gray pupils were filled with gravity and surprise.

Because the decorations on that scroll indicated it was from Yadris, written by hand, personally sealed and sent by the intelligence officer as the highest level of classified intelligence.

This level of secret message could only be opened by the captain.