Chapter 58: Chapter 58: One Shot, One Kill
"Captain, what do you say? Should we return to Sea Ore Island first and leave after a couple of days?"
A crew member turned and said to Fang Yu.
"Return to Sea Ore Island? No way!"
"This is all experience, what’s there to retreat from?!"
Fang Yu looked ahead and immediately ordered, "Continue sailing!"
"Captain?!"
Several crew members looked at Fang Yu, puzzled. There were three groups of pirates ahead.
Each group had 2-3 ships, totaling 6-9 ships.
With such a size, how could we possibly match them?
But Fang Yu ignored their gazes and continued piloting the ship forward.
Of course, Fang Yu wasn’t rashly going to rush a single ship against the three groups of pirates.
The combined strength of the three pirate groups, even with Fang Yu’s extraordinary ability, was unbeatable.
Fang Yu’s strategy was...
Pick the softest target!
According to Wang Qing’s observation, the group on the far right only had two ships, while the other two groups each had three ships.
Numbers aren’t a complete indicator of the pirates’ strength, but Fang Yu had no other information given the distance.
Take out one group first, then decide whether to escape or... fight!
There’s no turning back now. If they return to Sea Ore Island, as long as Wang Chen is causing trouble in the background, they will encounter pirates whenever they leave the island.
Staying on Sea Ore Island for too long would delay the delivery schedule, and there would be fines for missing the contract date.
The only option now is to fight!
Then...
Fang Yu actually already had a plan in mind; he saw this as an opportunity to seize the Sea Ore Island project.
He was determined, piloting the ship, speeding ahead.
His course was intentionally, yet subtly, steering toward the pirate group on the right.
...
"That kid really hasn’t noticed anything, he’s just stupidly heading forward!"
While Fang Yu and his crew were advancing, four veteran captains from Wang Chen’s side who had just departed from Sea Ore Island exchanged glances and chuckled softly, speaking in low tones.
Everything was under control, except...
"He’s heading right forward, which is a bit troublesome."
At this point, one of them frowned and said.
"Right forward... those are Donglin Sea Region’s pirates, right? Among the three pirate groups notified by Brother Wang Chen, they are the strongest."
Someone whispered.
"It’s a bit tricky. If those Donglin Sea pirates snatch the cargo, can we handle it?"
Then, the leader shook his head and said, "Guys, let’s play it by ear. We’ll approach and observe first. If the Donglin pirates are stronger than us, we’ll retreat."
"If they are weaker than us, we’ll go in!"
"Life is more important. The main goal this time is to ruin Lu Kun’s side, not to kill pirates."
After hearing the leader’s words, the other three slightly nodded.
Their ship then quietly sailed, following behind Fang Yu’s cargo ship, heading ahead.
...
"Captain, the pirates are heading towards us!"
"They’re moving fast; they’ll probably reach us in ten minutes!"
Wang Qing, standing by the telescope on the lookout, shouted to Fang Yu.
"What about the other two groups of pirates?"
Fang Yu couldn’t help but ask in a solemn voice.
"The other two groups... seem to be slightly leaning this way, but there’s no obvious acceleration."
After hearing Wang Qing’s words, Fang Yu’s heart sank.
Damn, he probably chose the strongest group of pirates.
If the one he chose was the weakest, the other two groups of pirates wouldn’t just look on; they would have already made a move to rob the cargo.
But the strongest is also good; rich experience and rich rewards, and perhaps some information can be extracted from among the pirates.
Thinking of this, Fang Yu stood up, holding a long-range rifle, and felt the cold grip on it, calming his mind a bit.
Then he shouted to the other crew members, "Guys, get ready, pirates are coming!"
"Pirates?!"
The crew exchanged glances with each other.
At this moment, Luu Yuan, Du Ran, and the old crew were instead calm.
The group, full of fighting spirit, stood up without showing any signs of panic.
Having followed Fang Yu for so long, if they showed panic whenever something happened, it would not do justice to Fang Yu’s investment of Lord Points.
The core crew members rubbed their hands together eagerly, each picking up their weapons.
It’s almost time... to stand on their own!
Du Ran and the others thought to themselves.
"They’re coming!"
At this moment, Wang Qing shouted loudly from the lookout, then quickly slid down from the tower.
In a confrontation between ships, the lookout could very well become a target, so staying up there was dangerous.
Without Wang Qing’s reminder, the crew had already spotted the pirate ships.
These were two dark brown sea ships, each with a heavy cannon standing at the bow, and another ship cannon on the deck, standing in the sunlight, exuding a cold gleam.
They approached from left and right, encircling Fang Yu and his crew.
The distance between the two sides at this point was less than 5 nautical miles!
Fang Yu could almost see the arrogant figures standing on the pirate ship, laughing maliciously, looking at them.
"Do they really think we’re sheep?"
Fang Yu grinned, shouting, "Luo Kuan, give them a little surprise!"
"Yes, sir!"
Luo Kuan, sitting behind the cannon seat, had long been impatient. As the two ships drew closer within shooting range, Luo Kuan let out a strange laugh and then fired a cannon shot.
"Boom!"
A large amount of gunpowder smoke spread out, and a shell filled with destructive aura blasted toward one of the pirate ships.
The two sides clashed, and it was Fang Yu’s ship that initiated the attack.
The pirates on the other side seemed not to have expected Fang Yu to dare to directly fire at their ship.
After a brief pause, they smirked mockingly.
There was a flash of coldness and cruelty in their eyes, showing no fear of the cannon fire.
The leading pirate on the pirate ship stepped forward.
He stretched out his hand unhurriedly, pointing at the shell blasting towards their ship.
With his gesture, the shell suddenly changed direction, plunging straight into the sea beneath them.
"Boom!"
The ocean splashed wildly, yet it did not cause any damage to the pirate ship.
A shell with an energy level of over 50+ was easily redirected by a pirate on the pirate ship with just a gesture?
Seeing this, the crew on the Salted Fish turned pale.
"It’s an Extraordinary Ability!"
"It should be [Kinetic Redirection], which can change the direction of ranged attacks through one’s own extraordinary ability."
"This ability is weak in close combat but happens to counter ship cannons!"
"This must be the lord of the pirate ship, and his energy level is enough to change the attack direction of the ship’s cannon."
"It’s over. With him here, our cannons are useless."
The crew felt a sense of helplessness; the Salted Fish’s trump card was its modified ship cannon.
If it hit the target, it could cause more than 50 points of energy level damage, making it a weapon of war.
But if the shells couldn’t hit the enemy, what use was the cannon’s power?
The group felt powerless, realizing the enemy could be pirates, plundering and dominating the sea must have some tricks; they should have...
"Bang!"
At this moment, an unassuming gunshot was heard.
The next second, before anyone could react, the pirate lord with the [Kinetic Redirection] ability instantly turned into a mist of blood.
Not even his bones were left intact, dying on the spot!
An extraordinary pirate with a formidable energy level was shot dead in an instant...
The bullet was incredibly powerful, and the impact it carried erupted upon hitting, leaving nothing but a mass of flesh and a mist of blood.
Staring at the scene, everyone’s hearts froze, and they swiftly turned their gaze toward the shooter.
They saw a young man casually adjusting the long-range rifle in his hand, nonchalantly saying:
"What are you waiting for? Keep attacking!"
This person...
It was Fang Yu!
(Cough cough, just a quick note to the early readers, the ship’s name has been changed to Salted Fish, the previous name... cough cough, was a bit dangerous.)