Captain – Chapter 331 – Like My Kind of Pirate

“Cannon fire, it’s cannon fire!”

“The hold is on fire!”

“What are you all standing around for? Go put out the fire!”

“We can’t put it out, Bosun, we just can’t put it out!”

After a thunderous explosion, the Mermaid echoed with somewhat chaotic footsteps, along with alternating warnings and commands, which quickly turned into panicked reports.

Just now, the Death Silence had opened fire on them.

Although they were in the midst of a vast whirlpool, surrounded by violent water sounds and successive thunderclaps, those two cannon blasts merging into one couldn’t escape the notice of the pirates, who were extremely sensitive to such things, bringing tremendous shock.

From across the storm and huge waves, with blinding lightning obscuring the view, in these extremely adverse firing conditions, that ghostly warship still emitted a screech, spewing deadly gunpowder smoke, followed by two cannonballs of indiscernible color.

Of course, this decision actually seemed more like a gamble or an act of defiance, with virtually no chance of hitting the target.

And this was precisely what truly shocked everyone.

Those two cannonballs, with their piercing whistles through the air and unstoppable momentum, shattered the waves and struck the Mermaid’s stern hull with incredible precision, penetrating into the hold and igniting the damp wooden planks inside and outside the dungeon.

Such precision was extraordinary, even inspiring a sense of tragic magnificence.

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After firing these shots, the Death Silence didn’t hesitate. Under the fearful gaze of the Mermaid’s crew, it sank beneath the sea, silent and resilient like the world’s most patient assassin.

“What happened?”

Hearing hurried footsteps behind her, Roy turned to look at Lance who was rushing over, and asked with a calm expression.

The Gunner Chief’s face looked terrible, because of the predicament the Mermaid now faced and the wrong judgment he had made.

Earlier, when Caine left the bridge to coordinate overall operations, he had summoned Lance to ask whether the Death Silence could possibly hit the Mermaid with cannon fire at this distance and in these conditions.

His answer was no, or more precisely, impossible.

In such an environment, there simply weren’t enough conditions to adjust the trajectory with any precision, let alone measure distances in this environment of lightning, thunder, rain, and mist. Even visual estimation would be beyond ordinary human capability.

Even the most elite gunners of the Auran military couldn’t do it.

So ultimately, if they were to fire, it would rely on experience, or more bluntly, on which side Lady Luck favored.

But the current situation clearly couldn’t be explained by luck alone.

The Death Silence had fired two shots before submerging, both hitting their mark, and even the impact points were nearly identical.

This might sound ordinary—gunners from the Mermaid could also achieve this amid stormy seas.

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But the problem was that the current environment wasn’t merely unsettled ocean, but an unpredictable, unimaginably huge whirlpool.

Between the Mermaid and the Death Silence, though seemingly just a few hundred meters apart, it wasn’t a flat relationship but similar to positions on a cliff face, and this cliff… was “alive.”

It could change at any moment.

The relative position, height difference between the two warships, the current wind direction, water flow—everything was like a deity’s emotions, capable of changing completely in an instant.

To decide to fire in such circumstances, then actually hit the target, and afterward unhesitatingly retreat—this might have had an element of luck, but what must have dominated was terrifyingly strong experience… as well as intuition and confidence.

Lance knew he couldn’t do it.

Caine had previously served on military vessels but rarely chose to fight in such adverse weather, and was more often in overall command rather than directing artillery, so he probably couldn’t do it either.

Roy perhaps could.

But it was precisely because of this that she understood how difficult it was, what kind of patience and judgment were required, and that only a fearsome pirate who had spent countless years at sea and won numerous bloody battles could possibly achieve this.

So while questioning Lance, she also cast a peculiar glance behind, looking at the Death Silence that now had only half a mainmast left.

Who had given the order?

It couldn’t have been Vivian.

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Though that girl had terrifying combat prowess, could overpower her in a fight, was an undying, indestructible monster, and perhaps had perception abilities far beyond normal people, she still couldn’t have done this.

Because she wasn’t a pirate.

Not that she wasn’t like one—she simply wasn’t one at all.

This might not be understood by those who had only heard legends, or those who had the misfortune of seeing her but the good fortune of surviving, but for someone with a deep understanding of pirates, like Roy, it could be detected with just a little probing.

She didn’t understand those so-called conspiracies or methods of dealing with people’s hearts at all. She was like a blank sheet of paper, pure and… naive.

This naivety didn’t mean she was ignorant, but that she wasn’t good at hiding her true self, making her too easily deceived.

Yes, in Roy’s eyes, that girl was very easy to deceive. Even though she deeply despised the pirate profession and was extremely vigilant… she was still easy to trick.

But even so, she was difficult to deal with and frightening.

With the Lady’s divine blessing, the physical advantages of a Blood Craver, and the terror of the Death Silence, countless calculating pirate masters had fallen into her hands over the centuries.

She wasn’t the Lady’s strategist, but an obedient, extremely sharp knife.

Such a “person” could never become a pirate. In Roy’s view, her understanding of warships was also quite superficial; otherwise, she wouldn’t have let the Death Silence appear so late in pursuit, nor should she have brought it headlong into the whirlpool.

Because anyone could see this was a trap.

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No longer looking at the Death Silence about to be completely submerged, Roy shifted her gaze slightly forward, watching the disintegrating path of light, thinking to herself that she was truly a naive one who didn’t know how to play chess—this move was completely reckless.

But within that chaos, there existed a shadow with madness and coldness, giving this pursuit a faint bloody tinge.

A pirate, and somehow… feels a bit like me?

This contemplation seemed lengthy but was actually just a momentary thing. As the captain made her judgment, Lance’s report also sounded.

“It was my mistake, which led to us having absolutely no defense when facing cannon fire, and no preparation for remedial measures.”

Lance lowered his head, admitting fault without any intention of shirking responsibility, just as he had years ago when he was still the deputy leader of the Fighting Squad.

“It’s not your fault. I didn’t expect it either.”

Roy looked at him and offered words of comfort.

After Lance had made his assessment earlier, Caine had this information conveyed to her, and her response was no different from his.

And she truly hadn’t expected that on the Death Silence, there would be hidden such an… impressive pirate.

One who was somewhat like her.