Chapter 424 -424-Both Sides Place Their Bets
If someone was lucky enough to bet on the right side, a mere 10 gold coins could instantly turn into 1,000 gold coins.
The tavern owners looked at the gamblers as if they were complete idiots, secretly sneering to themselves.
What a bunch of fools. They were practically giving their money away for free.
That mysterious fleet was already at such an overwhelming disadvantage, yet people still dared to bet on them winning. They probably thought they could get lucky and pull off some miraculous upset.
The people who placed bets on John’s fleet simply left the moment they were done. They said nothing and paid no attention whatsoever to the shocked and confused gazes around them.
They left the taverns at roughly the same time, then returned to John’s base by various routes.
Izer reported to John,
"Boss, everything’s done. We placed bets of 10 gold coins at several thousand taverns, along with all those small underground gambling dens. If we win, we’re probably going to make a fortune overnight."
As he spoke, excitement burned in his eyes.
There were more than a thousand taverns involved. If an investment of 1,000 gold coins could ultimately produce a total payout of ten million gold coins, it would be enough to turn a penniless nobody into a multimillionaire overnight and catapult them straight into the ranks of the wealthiest people in the kingdom.
John, however, did not care in the slightest.
"It’s only ten million gold coins."
"To us, that’s nothing more than a little bonus for winning."
His gaze became razor-sharp as he stared toward the waters in the distance.
"The greatest prize is becoming the Pirate King of this kingdom."
"Once that happens, if we want gold coins, we can simply go out and take them ourselves."
"The entire sea will become our treasury."
A faint smile appeared on his face as he looked toward the distant blue sky.
One warship after another appeared along the horizon.
More than a thousand warships sailed together, forming a vast and majestic sight that was terrifying to behold.
Every single one of those ships flew the same black flags.
They were all pirates.
And they represented the full military strength assembled beneath the banner of the Lather Kingdom Pirate Alliance.
Among them were four hundred large warships carrying a total of three hundred thousand men, six hundred medium-sized warships carrying three hundred and ten thousand, and one thousand small warships carrying another one hundred and ten thousand.
Altogether, the Pirate Alliance had assembled more than two thousand warships of various types, along with over ten thousand cannons.
The sheer pressure generated by seven hundred thousand sailors seemed to crash forward like a physical force.
The Pirate Alliance had gathered more than seventy percent of all pirate crews throughout the Lather Kingdom.
Thousands of warships surged toward John’s base like a vast tide.
The former main island of the Inferno Pirates had already appeared in the vision of the Pirate Alliance’s various leaders.
Just as they had expected, Pirate Island was now covered in layers of defenses.
The few dozen coastal defense cannons that had once guarded the island had increased to well over a hundred.
It seemed their opponent had indeed invested considerable effort into reinforcing Pirate Island.
But even more than a hundred defensive cannons could never withstand the combined firepower of over ten thousand guns.
They were the grand Pirate Alliance.
None of the chiefs took those defenses seriously.
This time, they intended to smash through the island’s entire defensive line right in front of their enemy.
As long as they captured Pirate Island, this battle would effectively be won.
Although Chief Gortar did not take the island’s defenses seriously, there was still something bothering him.
Their opponent was supposed to possess around one hundred warships.
Yet none of those ships could currently be seen.
As the Pirate Alliance continued accelerating, they drew closer and closer to the main island.
That meant victory was also getting closer.
But the closer they came, the more uneasy Logar became.
His heart pounded wildly in his chest, and he finally could not hold himself back.
"Alliance Leader, something’s wrong..."
"The enemy warships have disappeared. They’ve left behind nothing but an empty island."
"I suspect there’s a trap."
"And I have a very bad feeling about this."
Chief Logar spoke seriously.
"The reason I was able to rise from an unknown little pirate to become the chief of the Logar Pirates is precisely because my instincts have always been accurate!"
"I suspect something strange as well," Chief Gortar said with a frown. "But at this point, we’re already riding the tiger and can’t easily get off."
"Look at the other chiefs. They’re all overjoyed."
"If we suddenly order everyone to stop, we need a reasonable excuse and actual evidence."
"Your instincts are too vague. No one will believe them."
The moment Chief Gortar finished speaking—
A fleet suddenly charged out from an angle in the distance!
There were more than a hundred ships, all flying black flags marked with simple white skull designs.
It was John’s fleet!
The Pirate Alliance’s scout ships spotted the approaching fleet and immediately began waving signal flags.
"Chief! Enemy forces spotted!"
An adjutant hurriedly reported the discovery to Chief Gortar.
"It’s our opponent—the mysterious fleet! Awaiting your orders!"
When Chief Gortar and Chief Logar heard that John’s fleet had appeared, the tension in their hearts actually eased.
The two battle-hardened old pirates exchanged a knowing glance.
They had reached exactly the same conclusion.
Neither of them feared an enemy who showed himself.
What they feared was an enemy who remained hidden, plotting something unseen while they stood exposed in the open.
Now that John’s fleet had finally appeared, most of their suspicions vanished.
Chief Gortar immediately ordered,
"Raise the alert! Prepare for battle!"
"The moment the enemy enters our firing range, destroy them without mercy!"
"And continue advancing toward the main island at full speed. No delays!"
"Yes, Chief!"
The adjutant immediately left to relay the orders.
Chief Logar gave Chief Gortar a thumbs-up and laughed.
"Brilliant, Alliance Leader!"
"Now that the enemy has appeared, the decisive point remains the main island."
"As long as we seize the island, our opponent will become nothing more than a homeless dog!"
"Hahaha! Excellent!"
Chief Gortar smiled faintly.
"I fought my way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood."
"A mere hundred or so warships can’t stir up much of a storm."
Chief Logar laughed as well.
Then he raised his monocular telescope and looked toward John’s fleet.
Suddenly, he saw John’s ships begin to split apart, rapidly spreading outward into a semicircular formation.
"A semicircle?"
"He’s already weaker than us, and he’s still dividing his forces?"
Chief Logar could not understand what John was doing.
...
And Chief Logar was not the only one who failed to understand.
Even Captain Leonard, infamous for his ferocity, had initially been unable to comprehend John’s arrangements.
But after hearing the entire plan from beginning to end, the way Leonard looked at John completely changed.
In his eyes, John was no longer merely the master who held his life in his hands.
He was a devil.
A terrifyingly ruthless devil.
"Only a devil could come up with a plan so insane that even a madman like me would never dare imagine it..."
"Compared with the Boss, I’m as innocent as a poor three-year-old child."
At this moment, John’s personal vessel, the Golden Merry, served as the flagship of the fleet and was already preparing to carry out the first order.
Yet John’s monocular telescope was not aimed at the Pirate Alliance.
Instead, he was looking toward several small tugboats not far away on the opposite side.
The flags flying from those tugboats belonged to the major merchant guilds.