Extraordinary Sailing

The sea was covered with lead clouds, and the dark clouds were extremely low.

The air was dreary and the wind was extremely low. Apparently, a very common storm on the Black Sea was quietly brewing again.

Even if it has not yet reached the summer with the most frequent storms and the largest scale, the Black Sea is always reminding humans of its cruelty and ruthlessness!

In this coming and foreseeable severe celestial phenomenon, a huge fleet of sails had to drift slowly on the sea surface purely driven by ocean currents.

It is extremely difficult to determine the sailing period of a sailing wooden boat that depends on the weather. In the event of continuous windless weather or bad weather, it is not surprising that it will be postponed for ten days and a half months or even longer.

But misfortunes never come singly, and their troubles don't stop there.

"Be careful! That monster is coming again!"

bang——

A huge shadow at the edge of the fleet rushed up to the water surface, flicked its giant tail, leaped high from the sea, directly passed the 40-meter mast of a warship, and dived into the water from the other side.

During this period, its appearance was also exposed to the sailors.

hiss--

Everyone on the nearby boat gasped.

It was a giant sea fish with a mouth full of sharp teeth and a body length of nearly 100 meters. Its ferocious face was covered with iron-colored scales, like a mechanical monster made of steel.

Snapped--

Just a slight flick of the tail caused the 39-meter-long Tier 5 cruiser to shake violently, and many crew members on the deck were shaken off one after another.

"Ah! Help!"

"No--!"

Afterwards, before struggling to escape back to the boat in the water, it was directly swallowed by a huge mouth that almost reached half the length of the strange fish's body.

As if playing with these terrestrial creatures, the wild sea monster giant water wolf toothfish is constantly swimming under the fleet, picking and choosing, as if these are not sea ships, but delicious food boxes full of little meat men .

Just wait for it to feast on it.

boom! boom! boom! boom!

The escort fleet with the flame long flag hanging on the periphery gathered, lowered the muzzle and fired continuously at it. Solid bullets and grape bullets were fired one after another, and the blue gunpowder smoke had already formed a cloud.

A powerful extraordinary captain tried his best to throw the special harpoon in his hand, but it had little effect in the face of the hard scales and super high swimming speed of this large sea monster.

"Damn it! Keep firing!"

There is no targeted attack method against the underwater, so when these cruisers face large species, they can at best scare them away with intensive artillery fire.

Even the fourth-tier ships of the escort fleet are extremely difficult to focus their fire on, causing heavy damage to them.

until

boom!

Like a blazing sun descending suddenly, it dispelled all the slight chill remaining in winter on the sea.

From a warship with a strange appearance at the forefront of the fleet, a yellow and white pillar of flame shot out, vaporizing a large area of ​​sea water across a distance of nearly 200 meters, and easily piercing the head of this huge sea monster!

Aww——

The Giant Water Spike Fish, which was flamboyant and invincible just now, was killed on the spot without any resistance, and slowly floated to the surface of the water.

Even though the steel-like body keeps twitching and flicking its tail, it seems that it is no longer alive

A burnt smell mixed with the smell of grilled fish permeated the entire fleet.

"Resume the escort formation! Keep going!"

A cold voice resounded like thunder throughout the sea area, and quickly restored the spirits and morale of all the panic-stricken crew members. As long as this lord is there, even in the dangerous deep sea, there is no problem at all.

While the signal flag was being waved, the formation of the fleet was slowly adjusted, returning to a marching formation with merchant ships inside and frigates outside.

The identity of this fleet is already apparent.

It is the Cyrus Treasure Fleet that returns every spring!

After the dispute over the Potosi silver mine in the New World was settled, it officially set sail. At this time, it was returning to the mainland along the shortest route between the "Golden Sea" and the mainland of Sirius.

This is the largest return of a large fleet in a year, full of gold, silver, gems, tobacco, and ink trees looted from the New World. The total amount is a huge wealth that ordinary people can't even imagine!

The total number of fleets reached 120, of which 102 merchant ships included both the official fleet and Cyrus' private merchant ships, and the frigates consisted of 18 warships of at least the fifth rank.

The leading flagship and the battleship that just killed the sea monster was named "Red Maple".

The bowsprit is full of flags of generals, nobles, fleets, and commanders, serving as the flagship and leading ship to lead the entire fleet forward.

There is no doubt that this is a powerful "quasi-legendary warship"!

In terms of size alone, it is only slightly larger than a normal fourth-tier ship, and the largest caliber shipboard artillery is only 24 pounds, which belongs to the same level as the "Storm Horn".

But since it is called "quasi-legendary", then this "Red Maple" certainly has the strength to match its legendary name.

Even from its appearance, it can be seen that it is different. The biggest feature is the red sails on the ship, which are very bright in color like burning maple leaves.

Because this battleship was fortunate to have received the blessing of the angel under the "Eternal Flame" (praying with rituals, not the arrival of angels), and obtained a super speed comparable to legendary battleships.

The regular speed is 18 knots, and the limit speed is 22 knots. Even in a completely calm environment, it can run out of an unconditional base speed of 6 knots.

Of course, this kind of speed is not completely unconditional. The premise of everything is that the outside temperature is higher than zero. After it is lower than zero, it will be beaten back to its original shape immediately.

In addition, this battleship is also equipped with a powerful ocean secret treasure, which makes up for the lack of firepower caused by its pursuit of extreme speed.

[Ocean Secret Treasure Dragon's Breath Torch]

Effect: Except in winter, it can be used three times a day, and it can release a scorching flame with a range of 200 meters, which can even burn through sea water within this range. Apart from the slightly shorter attack range, there are no other disadvantages.

As long as it is matched with the speed of "Red Maple", it will definitely be a nightmare for any enemy!

However, the shortcomings of this warship called [Red Judgment] within Sirius are as obvious as its advantages, that is, it will be completely sealed in winter, and it is not much stronger than an ordinary fourth-tier ship.

This is also the reason why it was not sent to the front line when it supported the Battle of Potosí despite its speed.

The decoration is as simple as the captain's cabin in the ascetic residence.

"Your Excellency, Commander! The aftermath has been dealt with. Although there was damage to the hull, no ship capsized. A total of 52 people were lost.

In addition, we are about to enter the "Eye of the Black Sea" sea area. We don't have any islands or naval bases to dock in this sea area.

How to deal with the storm that may come at any time, please advise! "

"I see, let's move on, just strengthen our guard.

The kingdom's main route is in the middle of the Black Sea, and there has never been a record of a fleet being capsized by a storm.

As long as it takes a week to cross here, even if there is some damage, we can get repairs at the Suwei Islands Naval Base on the other side. "

The fleet commander, who looked very young with red hair but was over sixty years old in actual age, rubbed the hilt of the long sword at his waist and issued his own order.

According to past experience, this kind of decision-making is of course no problem at all.

The adjutant thought the same way, turned and left without raising any objections and saluted.

"The voyage is nearly halfway through, and it has been a year since I left the kingdom. This time I will go back to the holy city 'Novigrad' to listen to His Holiness the Pope's hadith and cleanse my soul."

Looking at the back of the adjutant leaving, the commander muttered to himself.

The captain of the "Red Maple" is also Lieutenant General Doyle Griffiths, the commander of the Treasure Fleet, although he is a peak knight who belongs to the Kingdom's military.

But at first, he came from the Volcano Knights of the Church of "Eternal Flame". He was a devout follower of "Eternal Flame", and even retained a teaching position in the church.

He had broken through as a great knight before he was thirty years old, and was entrusted with important tasks when he was young. In addition, he was influenced by the radical style of the Church of the "Eternal Flame". He is notoriously hardliner.

To be more precise, it is the main combat faction, one of the propositions is: use strong military force to strictly block the air route and monopolize the interests of the colony!

at this time.

A well-carved wooden box was placed at his feet. It was the silver ingots that the craftsmen worked overtime from the No. 1 and No. 2 islands of Potosi. The total amount was 100 kilograms, although it was not compared with the total reserves. It’s a lot, but it has extraordinary symbolic meaning.

It was also a gift from the high-ranking colonies to King Philip II.

Glancing at this precious gift that was only obtained by launching a war and even paying great benefits, Lieutenant General Griffiths snorted softly:

"Hmph! If you had listened to me earlier, how could those hyenas have gradually grown in the colony? Even the kingdom had to make compromises?

In recent years, His Majesty the King has become farther and farther away from the will of God, and even delusional to marry the Habsburg family who inherited the crown of the Holy Lothar Empire, and it is logical to obtain the supreme emperor.

After I go back, maybe in the kingdom, I need more like-minded companions."

Then, the storm came as expected.

huh huh

woo woo woo

squeak

The entire fleet has been sailing for three days in the storm, and it is already close to the center of the "Eye of the Black Sea".

Although the intensity of the storm is not enough to capsize the ship, it also makes the crew very uncomfortable. Fortunately, most sailing ships are full of cargo, and there is enough weight to keep the center of gravity of the sailing ship low enough. So far, no sea ship has been capsized situation occurs.

Of course, if the time is extended to summer, it will be uncertain.

But even so, the return journey was not as smooth as they expected.

Crackling——

Flashes of lightning cut across the sea.

On the "Red Maple" as the leading ship, which shouldered the most important mission of reconnaissance, the lookout who braved the wind and rain and tied himself to the mast saw something, and suddenly yelled in horror:

"It's not good! That's a maelstrom!"

clang! clang! clang!

The alarm bell was sounded like a reminder, echoing far away in the wind and rain.

A huge vortex with a diameter of one kilometer suddenly appeared on the sea directly in front of the fleet.

Without hesitation, the fleet commander has issued his own order.

"Left full rudder!"

"Obey! Full rudder left!"

Behind the "Red Maple", the fleet in three rows turned collectively, and the time of discovery was early enough, and they had enough time to evade.

However, the next moment.

One, two, three, four, nine huge vortices no smaller than the first one have been formed around them.

clatter——

It's as if a huge monster suddenly opened the mouth of the abyss on the bottom of the sea.

No! That's a really big mouth!

With the lightning flashing on the sea, the crew members on the deck stared dumbfounded at the bottom of the vortex around them, the passage of flesh and blood covered with ring-shaped sharp teeth, which is the passage to hell

"The Eternal Fire is above!"

During the last prayer, the sailboat tens of meters long was sucked into the vortex, chewed and swallowed like a biscuit.

Click! Click! Click! Click! Click!

Holding the "Sea Monster Pointer" that was spinning rapidly as if it was about to explode, Doyle Griffith's face was ashen: "The son of the wild sea god, Charybdis, the 'Great Vortex'!"

According to legend, Charybdis, the "Great Whirlpool", once competed with the "Mother of Sea Monsters" before she became a god, and is one of the most powerful sea monsters in the Black Sea.

No one has ever seen its real body. It is only known that the powerful sea monster of unknown size in the legend has ten mouths, which can create a huge vortex to swallow any ship.

Under the legendary battleship, you will die if you see it!

At this moment, Griffiths watched helplessly the sailboats around him that were swallowed by the vortex without any resistance.

He didn't even dare to attack, his eyes were red and he almost shouted an order: "'Red Maple' is moving forward at full speed, let's rush out!!!"

Click! Click!

In the continuous crisp sound of chewing biscuits.

In the end, only the "Red Maple" was covered with a strong extraordinary aura, and with the blessing of the angel, it managed to escape from the scope of the maelstrom alone.

All the rest were buried at the bottom of the sea.

After a long time, there was no trace of the ship on the sea anymore.

"Starting today, the 'Eye of the Storm', like the 'Summers Trench', is also a restricted area for human ships!"

There was a huge roar in the turbulent water vortex, like a human voice.

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