Chapter 60: The Spectacle of the River

We sailed through the waters of Delanmaya. All around me were twenty pirate ships of every kind. The commander of this mixed fleet stood at the bow of the flagship, the Golden Rose, feeling the familiar currents of her homeland as the hull swayed beneath her.

To make sure the fleet stayed combat-ready, Kelsey had removed the ships that were too large to fight well in a river, and had also taken off equipment that would be useless in inland battles. She was the only person in the fleet who knew this river. It was her home, and it felt close and dear to her. If the Kelsey of the sea was a young dolphin, beautiful and brave, then the Kelsey of the Morning Light River was like a full-grown water snake, seasoned and cunning.

As soon as we entered Delanmaya’s territory, Poirot and Eliot went ashore to contact Fred by land, while I traveled with the fleet together with Red Flame. To leave as much time alone as possible for the couple who had not seen each other for many days, I knew better than to get in the way, so I left the flagship and took lodging on Storm Dirk’s ship, the Storm.

“So this is Kelsey’s homeland…” The stout captain was standing right beside me, studying the scenery on both banks with such focus that two eyes hardly seemed enough.

“It can’t compare to the vastness of the sea,” I said. “It’s pretty, but it isn’t spectacular.”

“You’re wrong, Jeff. Rivers have their own spectacle.” The man of the sea, sailing an inland river for the first time, said to me. He seemed to understand rivers better than those of us who were used to seeing them.

“The sea is free. You can ride the sea wind and drift wherever you want, any direction at all. The grandeur of the sea is magnificent, but it’s also childish — no one knows what it wants to do. But rivers are different…” Dirk spoke such unexpectedly deep words that I came to feel this pirate was not just a man who only knew how to swing an iron staff and fight wildly, but also a thinker with a mind.

“Rivers have a goal. They can tear apart the land and smash through mountain valleys, but they will never change their goal. A river’s spectacle commands even more respect. They are tough and unyielding — they would rather run dry than stop throwing themselves toward the sea. That is their wish, and they can hold fast to it.”

“When I was still a sailor, my boatswain — an old man who had set foot on almost every stretch of water — told me that every person can be described with water. Some people are calm lakes, some are delicate streams, some are persistent rivers, some are free oceans…”

“What about you, Captain? What kind of person are you?” I found his talk interesting, so I cut in and asked.

“Me?” He gave a simple, honest laugh and lowered his head with embarrassment. “I used to think I was a person like the sea, drifting freely and doing whatever I pleased — laughing when it was time to laugh, sleeping when it was time to sleep, swinging my staff and killing without mercy when it was time to kill, and never fearing when it was time to meet my death. That’s what I used to be, until I met Kelsey…”

“Kelsey?” The matter itself did not surprise me all that much, but what did surprise me was that this man could tell me all this without the slightest hesitation.

“There may have been female pirate captains before, but never many. The old pirates on the island looked after her quite well, which made me a little resentful. You should know, before Kelsey, I was the most outstanding of the young pirates — and also the most competitive.”

“I often stirred up trouble with her, and even I didn’t know why back then. At the time, I thought it was because she had taken my glory away and my self-respect couldn’t stand it. Now that I think back, I was probably already attracted to her since that time.”

“I started a duel, and she accepted. She was very brave and very skilled — almost better than me, which was hard for me to admit. In our final round, she fought me head-on with a life-risking stance. Her sword pointed straight at my chest. Clearly, I couldn’t dodge anymore, and she should have won, but she suddenly stopped.”

“My staff swept across her shoulder. In that instant, I knew I had done something stupid. She had spared my life, yet I had wounded her. Seeing her in pain, I almost wanted to kill myself. She forgave me, but I could not forgive myself. She was such a kind girl — beautiful, brave, strong, and cheerful, with laughter following her wherever she went. I was deeply drawn to her. From then on, she became the meaning of my existence. She is my sea, and I am only a river. I know that no matter where I am, my heart will always flow toward her.”

“Kelsey doesn’t know how I feel about her. She treats me like a brother, and I know that is the closest I can ever get to her. But I would rather have it this way.” Having said that, Dirk looked at me, felt a little shy, then shook his head and said.

“You must be wondering why I’m telling you all this. I’m wondering, too. I’ve never told this to anyone. Maybe it’s because you knew Kelsey before I did. Talking with someone who knows Kelsey better than I do makes me happy…”

The young pirate captain’s voice was soft at that moment, and his shyness made him a little endearing. He seemed to realize he had gotten carried away, and he apologized to me: “I’m sorry. All this boring talk must be dulling your ears.”

I quickly denied it. This young pirate captain was one of the most candid people I had ever met. His feelings were selfless and delicate, making one both pity him and respect him.

“Your friend will take good care of her, right?” Storm Dirk said. It was less like he was asking me than like he was convincing himself.

“I promise.” I answered seriously in place of my elf friend. “Unless Red Flame dies, Kelsey will not suffer any harm. And…” I sincerely gripped his hand. “I hope you can also find a happiness that truly belongs to you.”

“A happiness that belongs to me… huh?” Dirk said with a touch of bitterness and self-mockery. “Maybe…”

Just as we were talking about this touching but not exactly pleasant topic, a shout came from the lookout at the top of the mast:

“Captain, a signal from ahead! We’ve spotted a large number of transport ships. Prepare for battle!”

“Understood. Combat crew, grab your weapons and get on deck. Prepare for battle. All oarsmen, take your positions.” The pirate captain immediately threw off the tiredness and sadness from moments ago, issuing orders decisively and swiftly, as if they had never existed. The whole ship immediately began operating in an orderly fashion under his command.

What we ran into was a Winston transport convoy, made up of twenty transport ships and about the same number of escort warships. Since occupying Delanmaya’s military port, they had probably never met any real resistance on the water, so they looked rather careless. Their formation was very loose, and they did not take much precaution when they saw us approaching. They probably took us for the transport fleet of some large merchant guild. The frontmost Winston warship signaled us to stop and submit to inspection.

At that moment, the pirates raised their own flags. Skull flags of all shapes and designs flew over the Morning Light River in such neat unison for the first time. The pirates laughed wildly as they spread into formation, like sharks pouncing on the great herd of prey before them.

Even though they had never encountered pirates before, the meaning of the skull flag was not unfamiliar to our enemies. They had probably all heard about the symbolism of such flags in the legendary tales of their childhood. They just had never imagined they would “accidentally” meet these terrible enemies when they were a full ten days’ sail downwind from the sea. Panicked horn blasts sounded from the Winston warships. Line after line of flustered soldiers crowded onto the decks while adjusting their armor and weapons, warily watching us — a pack of waterborne hunters far beyond our usual hunting grounds.

When the lookout on the Golden Rose answered the other side’s inquiry with the flag signal “We wish you a good appetite,” the first wave of ballista bolts and stones came down on the Winston sailors’ heads. By the time these deadly ranged weapons landed on their decks, they had not even fully prepared to meet the attack. And by the time the clumsy Winston navy finally steadied itself and began firing back at us with its own ranged weapons, they had already lost the initiative. Several warships lost their combat ability one after another. Their broken hulls drifted slowly in the water, blocking the routes of the ships behind them to advance or dodge.

This was the first time I had seen so many warships fighting on the water. Boulders and bolts flying everywhere added many accidental factors to the battle. In the confusion, a stone shot was hurled toward the deck of the Storm. I watched it fly toward me bit by bit, from far to near, growing from small to large, until I could even see its ugly edges that carried such deadly power. In my eyes, it seemed almost aimed right at me. But strangely, at this moment, I could not move my body. A terrible premonition seized my legs, so that I could not move, could not speak, and could not even cry out. It had been a long time since I had felt such an unstoppable fear on the battlefield. This was different from facing thousands of troops or facing gleaming blades. You could not predict from which direction your enemy would attack. Even a coward’s panicked, aimless shot could take the life of the strongest warrior. No matter how great your skill, it was useless in this kind of battle where the two sides never touched each other.

In the end, I still did not die. A lucky huge wave rocked the hull and shifted the landing point of the stone shot to my left. It grazed past the hem of my pants and hit the deck, cracking a large part of the thick beechwood planks. Only when the stone rolled against the ship’s rail with a loud clang did I realize I was still alive. At that moment, I felt a chill on my back. A cold sweat the size of a bean slowly slid down along my spine, like an icy blade cutting open my skin. My knees went weak and limp, barely able to support the weight of my legs, trembling slightly beyond my control.

“Jeff, get to the cabin!” Storm Dirk had seen my danger and shouted at me in alarm. “I have no way to look after you.”

The captain’s good intention stirred the pride of a soldier in me. I calmed my mind and forced my legs to stop trembling from the danger just now. I drew my sword and answered: “I’m a warrior, Captain. I can fight. I don’t need looking after.”

Seeing how I acted, Dirk said, “Watch yourself!” and turned back to commanding the battle without saying anything more. I supposed he could understand my words, just as I could understand his good intentions.

The fear from just now was driven back by my pride and sense of duty. I carefully dodged those deadly things flying all over the sky and worked with the pirates to set the ballistas in the right positions, adjusting their angles. This was our war. These rough and open-hearted men of the sea before me had been dragged into this war by us. I could not just watch them sacrifice their lives for a war that had nothing to do with them and do nothing. At the very least, while they fought bravely for us, I could stand by their side.

Thanks to the nimbleness of their ships and their skilled sailing, the pirates quickly gained the upper hand. Ship after ship flying the skull flag weaved back and forth across the battlefield with an agility the enemy could not come close to. The pirates might not have had any unified strategic plan for the overall situation, but they had many cunning tactical combinations among themselves. For example: a pirate ship’s mast seemed damaged, and its sails could not spread fully, so it could only flee the battlefield slowly. A Winston warship chased close behind it. Just as it was about to catch up to this opponent that seemed destined for the doom of sinking, another pirate ship suddenly cut in from the side, driving its iron-wrapped ram and bow deep into the warship’s right side, nearly capsizing the entire ship. While the Winston sailors were preparing to meet a brutal boarding battle, the weak-looking opponent they had been chasing with all their might swung around in a wide arc, revealing its fierce true face, and rammed into the other side at a speed they could not have imagined. That enormous warship was like a giant struck by two blades, struggling and staggering, until at last it sank to the bottom of the water. Most of the soldiers on board sank together with the ship, and the small number who had jumped onto the pirate ship earlier to fight were either killed by the fierce pirates or taken prisoner.

Small cooperative tactics like this, involving two or three ships, kept appearing one after another, exhausting the Winston men who were not good at water combat. Although their ships were huge and they had a relatively larger number of soldiers, these land warriors who had grown up on the grasslands simply could not cope with the flexible attacks of the sons of the skull flag. Most of them lost their lives without even using their weapons. For them, perhaps, that meant a kind of disgrace.

No matter what, the Storm always followed closely behind Kelsey’s Golden Rose. Storm Dirk used his actual deeds to show his loyalty and deep attachment to the Red Scarf Pirate Queen. Whenever the Golden Rose faced a large number of enemy ships, the Storm would always appear on the outer side, blocking most of the ranged attacks for Kelsey. And whenever the Golden Rose charged at an enemy ship, the Storm would always cut into the enemy formation first, clearing the way for the skull flag woven with roses and gold coins.

“Sorry, Kelsey, I went ahead of you again! See, I really am the best captain in the Comet Sea!” As it passed shoulder to shoulder with the Golden Rose, Dirk used such provocative shouts to cover his true intentions. “Put in more effort, brothers! Don’t let that little girl without a shred of womanliness outdo us!”

Clearly, his cover-up worked. Soon, Kelsey’s crisp, annoyed voice came from the Golden Rose: “Dirk, what did you say! You shameless scoundrel, you stole my prey again, and you even say I have no… no… Just wait until we get to shore, then I’ll deal with you. Attention,” she commanded, “hard to port, course northwest, target those warships, full speed — ram!”

“Sorry, that one’s mine too!” Relying on its agile turning and speed, the Storm overtook the Golden Rose and rammed the largest of the warships lined up ahead. At the same time, it also drew the ranged attacks of three warships arranged in a row for the Golden Rose following close behind.

“Little girl, after we land, remember to present flowers to the most outstanding pirate captain…”

The Winston navy was thrown into total disarray by the pirates’ seasoned and polished attacks. Their resistance was clumsy and immature, a far cry from the reputation for military might they had won on land. Before long, nearly ten warships and several heavy transport ships had sunk one after another. A few more ships completely lost the ability to fight or move, becoming the first batch of spoils the pirates had seized on the inland river. The remaining ships saw that things were going badly, turned around, and began to flee. The pirates, with their fighting spirit running high, chased for a long time before they finally stopped. Before that, they had won for themselves a proud record and plenty of rich plunder.

And so, the pirates won their first large-scale victory after entering the inland water route. At a cost that could almost be ignored, they sank seventeen Winston ships and captured seven. It should be said that it was this very victory that raised the curtain on the battle for Davo City. Even though the battlefield at this moment was a thousand miles away from Davo City, to those who did not understand the true meaning of this battle, the two seemed to have no connection at all.