Captain – Chapter 157 – The Orca

“Captain, we’ve spotted something!”

In a strait not far from the Mermaid’s port of departure, the Constantine, black as a curtain, was hidden in the shadow cast by a stone wall.

At this moment, the lookout slid down the mast and quickly arrived at the helm, urgently reporting his discovery to Solomon, who was casually sipping his wine.

“Speak,” the Black Emperor swirled his wine glass, staring at the blood-colored liquid without looking up.

“We’ve spotted the Mermaid to the north. It’s sailing in the direction agreed upon by Captain Richi and us, and there’s a twin-masted sailing ship following closely behind it.”

Hearing the lookout’s report, Solomon asked indifferently: “Is it the warship mentioned in the intelligence?”

“Uh, no, it’s just a poorly armed merchant vessel with only eight small-caliber cannons on deck,” the lookout hesitated before answering truthfully.

The Black Emperor sighed softly, giving him a cold sidelong glance: “If it’s not our target, why make such a fuss? Return to your post.”

Startled back half a step by Solomon’s terrifying gaze, the lookout swallowed and gathered his courage: “But… but Captain, that merchant vessel is clearly pursuing the Mermaid, and the distance between them is narrowing.”

“What?”

Now Solomon’s eyebrows shot up high. He had never heard of a ship that could catch up to the Mermaid in a storm—there must be something strange about this.

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The Black Emperor strode to the bow, casually tossing his expensive wine glass with its contents into the sea, then took the telescope handed to him by Arnold. Placing the crystal lens to his eye, he looked in the general direction indicated by the lookout.

Visibility was very poor in the stormy ocean, but despite this, the Black Emperor immediately spotted the two vessels chasing each other.

Between them stretched a path of light as brilliant as the Milky Way, and on this path of light, all obstacles silently shattered.

Although Solomon had sailed the oceans for decades, when he witnessed such an extraordinary sight, his hand holding the telescope trembled involuntarily, and he cursed under his breath: “What the devil is that thing?”

Moving his gaze from the light path to the merchant vessel and zooming in, he focused on the silver-haired young man wearing a deep blue coat. By the frequent flashes of lightning, the Black Emperor clearly saw the exact appearance of the raven perched on the young man’s shoulder.

“Alfie…”

Slowly lowering the telescope, Solomon’s lips curled into a cold smile, his pupils flickering with violent colors—the typical reaction of this tyrant when he felt his dignity damaged and suspected he had been deceived.

Stuffing the telescope back into his First Mate’s hand, the Black Emperor turned around with a gloomy face and angrily called out to his men watching him: “Gentlemen, we have been deceived by contemptible villains. That merchant vessel chasing the Mermaid carries Roy’s followers. Now, let’s raise anchor and set sail to bury them at the bottom of the sea.”

After the angry roar, the sailors efficiently raised the anchor and hoisted the sinister black sails.

With a slight tremor and a low rumble, the Constantine, like an enormous beast, slowly sailed out of the strait, exposed under the brilliant flashes of lightning, and headed slowly toward that extended path of light.

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“That merchant vessel’s speed is truly terrifying, even faster than the Mermaid. But we have the advantage of position. If nothing unexpected happens, we should be able to intercept them smoothly.”

After observing the situation, Arnold collapsed the three-section telescope and smiled at Solomon with a composed expression.

However, his confidence did not last long.

Soul-shaking cannon fire erupted from behind the Constantine. The right side of the warship, which had not yet fully turned, immediately burst into intense flames. Although the hull was not shattered, the massive impact caused everyone on deck to lose their footing, with several men falling directly into the sea that resembled an abyss.

“Enemy attack!”

“Man overboard!”

Hearing the sailors’ successive shouts, Solomon looked up at the crow’s nest and roared at the lookout: “Lookout, report the situation!”

“Reporting, Captain, vessel sighted, just to our right rear!”

Upon hearing this, Solomon went to the stern and squinted in the direction reported by the lookout. After a violent wave, through the splashing water, he finally saw the attacker clearly.

It was a three-masted warship, clearly inferior to the Constantine in size and armaments, but far surpassing the “Emperor of the Sea” in speed and agility.

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Moreover, at the bow of the warship, besides four large-caliber cannons, there was also a sharp ram covered with barbs that occasionally broke the surface, like a sea predator baring its teeth.

The warship was heading straight toward them without any sign of slowing down, clearly intending to pierce the Constantine’s hold directly with that ram!

As the Black Emperor squinted, observing the somewhat familiar warship, the lookout’s shout rang out again from the crow’s nest, though this time his voice carried a hint of trembling and alarm.

“Black flag with white skull pattern—it’s the Orca, Captain, it’s the Orca!”

Slamming his fist heavily on the railing, Solomon turned to Arnold and shouted: “Pass the order: open all gun ports on the starboard side, hard to port, prepare for battle!”

The polite smile on the First Mate’s face had frozen when he heard the words “the Orca.” His facial muscles twitched uncontrollably: “Captain, what about the Mermaid?”

“It’s just a merchant vessel, how could it be a match for the Mermaid? Besides, them being mutually wounded, even mutually destroyed, isn’t that the outcome we want to see?” Solomon said coldly. “Moreover, we can’t worry about them now. If you don’t want to engage in close combat with those madmen from the Orca, then hurry up and pass the orders!”

“What about the men overboard…”

“I don’t care whether they live or die.” The Black Emperor’s eyes flashed with a terrifying light, cutting off his First Mate’s unfinished words.

“I understand.”

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Taking a deep breath, Arnold ran to the helm to relay the orders to the helmsman and sailors before heading to the lower deck to notify the gunners and Fighting Squad members.

With efficient execution, the Constantine forcibly changed direction, turning its starboard side toward the rapidly approaching Orca. The gun ports on the hull opened simultaneously, with the black muzzles of cannons protruding from the ship’s hold, instantly filling the sea surface with gunpowder smoke.

The Black Emperor slowly walked to the starboard railing and gazed ahead as the Orca rapidly grew larger in his pupils.

At this rate, the Constantine would at most get off one broadside before being pierced by that tooth-like ram.

“Solomon!”

A shout mixed with laughter reached his ears. Solomon immediately looked up, and in a timely flash of lightning, he saw the figure standing on the yardarm of the Orca’s mast.

Facing the fierce wind and rain, the one-eyed captain threw back his head and gulped down a mouthful of dark rum, laughing boldly and wildly, his blood-red cloak dancing in the gale.

Staring intently at this old acquaintance, the Black Emperor almost squeezed the name through his teeth.

“Rex Varen.”