Captain – Chapter 542 – Brief Victory

When something is a game, it has a beginning, and it has winners and losers.

When that terrifying giant shadow merged into the night and entered the optimal hit and kill range of the cannons, the game began, and victory or defeat would soon be decided.

“Fire.”

Watching those dozen or so approaching “suns,” gazing at that specter that seemed to sense danger and was slowly coming to a halt, Enzo smiled faintly and gave the order.

War had begun, victory and defeat unclear.

But at least, the man knew that this small round, this gamble that might decide the direction of the entire war, was his to win, because that beast had stepped into the net.

Stepped into the trap woven of black gunpowder and smoke.

“Fire!”

The instant the Night Curtain captain’s words fell, his first mate behind him turned around and roared at the signal man.

From this moment, the tranquility here was completely shattered.

The signal man’s roar, the raven’s cries, and the fierce cannon fire that immediately followed, broke the calm before the storm and threw the sea into chaos.

Blazing flames bloomed like red lotuses from the dark night, followed by sharp sounds of cutting wind and cannonballs like raindrops.

Perhaps sensing something amiss, when Enzo’s words fell—no, even before that—the giant serpent had already stopped, its nine heads instinctively turning back and gathering, presenting only its body covered in pitch-black scales to the warships.

Having been “trapped” in the great waterfall for hundreds of years, this specter had also slumbered for hundreds of years. It did not know of the changes in this world during that time.

It knew nothing of human civilization, nothing of the more advanced and terrifying warships and cannons compared to the past, but with its terrible instincts, it still caught the scent of danger from the man’s expression and the eerie calm under the night.

Therefore, without knowing the situation, it still reacted in advance, but…

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It was still a bit too late.

Just a few breaths of time was not enough for it to make a perfect response.

“Boom! Boom…”

In an instant, countless explosion sounds rang out. Cannonballs heated red-hot smashed heavily onto the giant serpent’s body, onto heads that hadn’t had time to turn back, then either split apart or fell powerlessly, and some even…

Directly ignited ghostly green fire.

Although the giant serpent was immensely large, even more majestic than massive ships like the Pilgrimage, it still could not withstand the impact and destructive power brought by hundreds of cannonballs.

Even those armored scales gradually twisted and cracked under the high temperature and impact, but what was revealed was not thick blood and crimson flesh.

But brilliant golden blood, blazing like magma.

They splattered, spilling or flowing onto the sea surface, then like extremely thick paint, slowly spreading. Wherever they passed, even the night dissolved.

No one noticed this.

Even Enzo, the master of night, was now focusing entirely on the giant serpent.

His purpose seemed to have been achieved.

Under the all-out firepower of the three warships, that god-like specter could only retreat for now.

Its massive body was pushed backward by the fierce cannon fire. No matter how angrily and painfully it hissed, it could not stop this retreat.

Finally, that specter fell toward the sea surface. After splashing up tremendous waves, it sank into the dark sea, leaving only brilliant golden blood on the surface.

That blood was burning, burning with ghostly fire.

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The pressure and fear brought by the specter completely receded at this moment, and the pirates felt their bodies suddenly lighten.

They looked at each other in bewilderment, feeling as if the previous scene had been like a dream.

A mountain-like giant python plunged into the night, only to be beaten into retreat by cannon fire hidden behind it that could challenge divine authority, its entire body flowing with golden blood.

This was undoubtedly a great victory, even worthy of being called a legend.

If that thing truly died tonight—no, even if it only retreated temporarily—the glory it brought would be enough to make every pirate who participated in the battle famous throughout the islands.

Enough to make them legends of the present world.

If… it was really like that.

Although after escaping the pressure brought by the specter, everyone on the Ghost Scythe’s deck couldn’t help but relax completely, and even wanted to cheer and vent because of the previous scene.

But when their eyes fell on that figure still standing silently without turning back to praise them as in the past, the pirates instinctively closed their mouths.

The Night Curtain captain still gazed at the sea, which also meant that the war was not yet over.

Or rather, it had just begun.

“Captain, how is the situation?”

Knowing that the man who possessed the Dream-Calling Ring and more secrets could see far more than they could, Wyatt, after signaling the signal man to immediately tell the gunners to reload, returned behind the Night Curtain captain and calmly inquired.

“Neither good nor bad.”

As if he had more important things to do, Enzo only replied perfunctorily without any explanation.

Since the giant serpent sank into the sea, his gaze had not left the ocean for a moment, as if wanting to follow the spreading golden blood and the night’s response to find that specter’s trail.

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Except for the deep sea, night was everywhere, and this constituted his exclusive domain.

Here, any movement could not escape his notice.

Such as subtle changes in water flow, that heart beat which had disappeared but actually still existed—wherever living beings passed, they would leave traces before his eyes.

“Thump thump, thump thump…”

Listening to that still powerful heartbeat, even becoming stronger due to anger, the man furrowed his brow slightly, discovering that he seemed to have still underestimated it.

Underestimated the power of this Old Calendar creature.

What terrible vitality. Could it be that the previous barrage only broke its skin? No, there should still have been an effect, just far less than…

The faint heartbeat in his ears suddenly became violent and clear, directly interrupting the man’s thoughts and causing his pupils to involuntarily dilate.

The next moment, the Night Curtain captain turned around and loudly ordered the pirates.

“Gentlemen, full sail, quickly!”

Hearing this, the pirates couldn’t care about their shock and immediately raised the sails with nimble hands and feet. At the same time, they heard the man instructing the raven perched high above.

“Alfie, tell them to get their ships moving, find any direction and scatter!”

The raven cried out and flew high to notify the accompanying warships. The Ghost Scythe’s sails were raised again, gradually recovering speed under the influence of the strengthening sea wind.

Everything seemed to proceed in an orderly manner.

Even after doing these things, the crew still had the leisure to look at their captain.

After notifying the raven, Enzo gave no more orders, only gripping the ship’s rail tightly with one hand, his brow unusually furrowed, as if emptying his mind to sense something.

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He was listening to where that heartbeat came from, judging the distance between that thing and them.

After a brief but extremely oppressive silence.

Everyone’s ears suddenly heard muffled sounds of water currents clearly coming from beneath the sea surface, and the sound of bubbles breaking, growing from nothing to increasingly dense.

This scene was extremely similar to when the giant serpent emerged.

Except this time… it was so close.

“Captain?”

The sea surface began to undulate violently, and the deck trembled accordingly, making it almost difficult for people to stand steady.

Wyatt, instantly understanding the current situation, gripped tightly onto a thick rope hanging from the mast with one hand while looking at the captain who still stood straight without saying a word, and inquired.

The Night Curtain captain did not respond.

The first mate knew that he was indicating that now was not yet the time to respond.

“Captain!”

But when the warship’s trembling became increasingly violent, with the possibility of capsizing at any moment, Wyatt finally could no longer restrain himself and called out to Enzo loudly once again.

And this time, the man moved.

He suddenly turned around, looking toward the helm, and ordered almost like a roar.

“Helmsman, hard to port!”