Chapter 431 -431-Clash of the Two Pirate Kings
At exactly six o’clock in the morning, fleets vast enough to blot out the horizon began entering the battlefield from two opposite directions.
The number of warships on both sides was roughly comparable. Each side had well over a thousand vessels, and together, the two fleets numbered more than three thousand ships.
Not even the Naval Corps of a single Maritime Kingdom possessed such a terrifying number of warships.
That alone showed just how enormous this decisive battle was.
The manpower and resources committed to the battle were equally staggering, making it perhaps the largest naval confrontation in history.
On the King’s Edge Pirates’ side, there were estimated to be more than five hundred thousand men.
The Erlong Pirates and their allied forces had around four hundred and ninety thousand.
Together, nearly one million pirates were participating in this battle!
To ordinary pirates, this was a sight they had never even dared imagine before.
None of them had ever dreamed that one day, they would personally take part in a battlefield of such magnificent scale.
...
Inside the command room.
John sat there leisurely, without the slightest trace of pressure on his face.
It did not look as though he was commanding a decisive battle that would determine the fate of nearly a million people.
Instead, he looked more like someone enjoying a pleasant cruise across the sea.
He calmly gave a single order.
"Full speed ahead."
The subordinate beside him stared at John’s carefree expression and immediately felt an enormous amount of pressure.
He hurriedly asked,
"Boss, are you sure you don’t want to give us any other orders?"
"Is ’full speed ahead’ really all there is?"
"What if the enemy opens fire?"
"You haven’t even told us what formation we’re supposed to use or how we’re supposed to fight!"
"Are we really supposed to just charge straight at them and somehow win?"
"Isn’t that... way too reckless?"
John glanced at him and smiled faintly.
"Oh."
"I forgot one thing."
"Do not open fire."
"Just keep moving forward."
The subordinate nearly felt his soul leave his body.
What?!
They weren’t even allowed to fire?!
John’s orders had completely bewildered him.
For a moment, he even wondered whether the commander standing before him had secretly been replaced by an enemy spy.
This was a naval battle!
If they weren’t allowed to fire their cannons, then how were they supposed to fight?
They might as well surrender immediately!
The subordinate simply could not understand.
John, however, had no intention of explaining.
As far as he was concerned, all that mattered was that his orders were carried out.
When John’s command spread throughout the fleet...
Every captain was stunned.
Full speed ahead.
No firing allowed.
What kind of absurd tactic was this?!
Still, they had already become somewhat familiar with John’s style of command.
Their chief never fought an unprepared battle.
Whenever he issued an order that seemed incomprehensible on the surface, it usually meant that an enormous amount of preparation had already been completed behind the scenes.
And the final arrangement was often something no one else could have imagined.
That was exactly what had happened when John defeated the Grand Pirate Alliance of the Lather Kingdom.
Back then, the captains had been baffled when John abandoned the main island.
Only after the battle began did they realize that their chief had already prepared everything in advance.
With a single trap, he annihilated the entire Grand Pirate Alliance.
So this time, they chose to obey once again.
They simply could not understand what John was trying to accomplish.
More importantly...
How exactly were they supposed to win this battle?
No matter how hard they thought about it, they could not come up with an answer.
...
Inside the command room.
Holly ate fruit as she asked,
"Guild Leader Brother, is Sister Hilt on the other side?"
"That’s right," John said with a smile.
"Then why are we fighting?" Holly asked curiously.
"We aren’t really going to fight."
John replied,
"This battle is just for everyone else to see."
"Once this battle is over, my battleships should be finished as well."
"When that happens, we’ll start conquering the various Lan Sea Duchies, obtain their Overlord’s Tokens, and advance into the Top Eight!"
Holly nodded thoughtfully.
"The Top Eight..."
"Our Valhalla will occupy four of the spots!"
"We really are amazing."
John smiled.
"The Apocalypse Tribulation is about to begin."
"We have to seize every opportunity we can to become stronger."
"The opportunities hidden within the Myriad Worlds Tournament are things we absolutely must obtain."
"That will save us a tremendous amount of time."
As he spoke, John looked beyond the cabin toward the endless sea outside.
The Top Fifteen round was taking far too long.
It would be better to finish it as quickly as possible.
He wondered how far the other powerful contestants had progressed.
Especially Lina.
She had chosen to follow the Naval Corps route rather than becoming a pirate.
John was rather curious just how far she could go.
Still...
It did not matter much anymore.
The combined strength of John and Hilt was already comparable to the total military power of any single Lan Sea Duchy.
No matter how far Lina had progressed, once John and Hilt possessed enough strength to conquer entire Lan Sea Duchies, getting every Valhalla contestant into the next round would no longer be difficult.
...
Hilt watched the enormous fleet rapidly sailing toward her position.
A faint smile appeared on her lips.
"As expected of Guild Leader..."
"He understood exactly what I was thinking."
The two of them had never met since arriving here.
They had not exchanged a single word.
And yet, they already understood each other perfectly.
Hilt looked across the seemingly endless fleet before her and gave the order.
"Prepare for battle!"
"Once the enemy enters firing range, unleash everything we have!"
There was absolutely nothing wrong with Hilt’s command.
The pirate chiefs gathered around her nodded repeatedly when they heard it.
"The King’s Edge Pirates are far too arrogant!"
One pirate chief said angrily,
"Don’t they know that when a warship is moving at full speed, it can’t properly conduct a broadside bombardment?"
"They really look down on us that much?"
Another pirate chief sneered.
"To think they would use such an amateurish tactic against us!"
"But they’ll pay the price for underestimating us!"
"They can’t bombard us while charging at full speed, so they must be planning to ram our ships and force a boarding battle."
"But we won’t give them that chance."
"The moment they enter our firing range, we’ll bury them beneath cannon fire and make them pay dearly!"
"Their commander is an incompetent fool."
"We’re guaranteed to win this battle!"
Hilt listened to their confident words without changing her expression.
Yet a trace of excitement flashed through her eyes.
After receiving Hilt’s order, the Erlong Pirates immediately reduced their speed.
One warship after another turned sideways, bringing their cannons to bear on the enemy fleet rushing toward them.
No matter how powerful the King’s Edge Pirates were, a single concentrated broadside would be enough to make them pay a devastating price.
The captains of the Erlong Pirates were like experienced hunters hiding behind traps they had already prepared.
They waited patiently for their prey to step into them.
They could almost imagine what would happen next—
the prey falling into the trap,
struggling desperately,
and finally sinking into despair.
...
Captain Madman stared wide-eyed at the enemy fleet ahead.
It was not one ship.
Nor ten ships.
It was an endless sea of warships stretching beyond the horizon.
And under John’s orders, Captain Madman was supposed to charge straight into that massive fleet...
without firing a single shot.
No matter how he looked at it, this seemed exactly like prey willingly walking into a hunter’s trap.
The consequences could be catastrophic.
Yet because of his trust and almost fanatical faith in John, Captain Madman still chose to obey.
For the second time, he began to feel that he really did not deserve his nickname.
The title of "Madman" should have belonged to Chief John instead.
When it came to sheer madness...
Captain Madman felt that even ten of him combined could not compare to John.
Take this battle, for example.
This was practically suicide!
Before long, the Erlong Pirates spotted the first enemy warship entering their field of vision.
It was Captain Madman’s ship.
Several captains carefully estimated the distance.
Then they decisively gave the order.
"Load the cannons!"
"Fire!"
At once, the sailors hurriedly loaded the shells and lit the fuses.
And yet...
The expected roar of cannon fire never came.
Misfires!
Not one or two.
Not even dozens.
Hundreds.
Thousands!
Several warships tried to open fire on Captain Madman’s vessel at the same time.
Yet not a single cannonball...
managed to leave its barrel.