Black Sail
Chapter 322: CCCXXII. Catastrophe

Chapter 322: CCCXXII. Catastrophe

Through Ben’s information, Liszt learned that Doringger had a Giant Tower Ship, which was one of his dominations in the East Sea.

The sailing log was absolutely impossible to be wrong, and together with Fuma Keqing, there were a total of sixteen ships here, with no deviation from the course.

That simply couldn’t be an island.

In an era without radio communication, the exchange of messages between the ships in the fleet was mainly carried out through signal flags.

That is, with one striking flag in each hand, though the principle was not clear, red and yellow were the most eye-catching colors. The signal flag signals were all composed of hand flags stitched together from these two colors, expressing different meanings under different gestures.

Liszt had never expected that before he returned to Heaven Port, Doringger would come to block him. He hastily passed down the order, instructing the ship’s signalman to wave the flags to the sail battleship, that it wasn’t an island but a moving fortress; all ships were to turn left and avoid it by a wide margin, under no circumstances to make contact.

He himself was not idle either, climbing up the sail ropes with hands and feet, and through the telescope, he checked the response signals from the other ships.

Fortunately.

Taylor’s subordinates were all professionals, and the sailors were all seasoned, not prone to make basic mistakes. Their lookouts had spotted the signal, the signalman there was also sending back flag signals, and they were already taking evasive action.

Even so, the tension in Liszt’s heart didn’t ease. The distance was too far to tell the size, but it was certainly of a monstrous caliber, several times larger than Earth’s aircraft carriers at least.

Such a large size would undoubtedly mean slow sailing speeds; sails alone certainly couldn’t propel that thing. Even if it had hundreds of square sails, they could only serve as an auxiliary power source; the fuel they would be burning had to be Demon Crystals.

If that thing could catch up with them, there would be hell to pay, wondering how much energy it would consume, its engines would be run to ruin, an impossibility.

It was only suitable for coastal landing battles, a short-legged target that no one could catch up with at sea.

The atmosphere didn’t look right.

Rein took over the duties of the sailor, and just to be on the safe side, Shadi temporarily assumed the responsibilities of the ship gunner.

"Do you know what that is?"

Celeste also climbed the rope net, positioning herself beside Liszt, where the fierce winds howled, and no ordinary person could stand firm. She even managed to use one hand to peer through the telescope at the "Black Island" at the end of the sea horizon.

Seeing Liszt’s odd behavior made her wonder that.

"That’s a ship."

"A ship?"

"Yes, one of Doringger’s dominations; if we encounter it head-on, there won’t be a good outcome."

"I will protect you back to Heaven Port."

"Now is not the time to talk about this."

Everyone on deck was on high alert, yet something seemed amiss below the sea’s surface. According to the sailor’s observations, given the current wind speed, such waves were impossible.

Suddenly, whether it was Fuma Keqing or the grand fleet led by the sail battleship, all the ships experienced a bout of tossing. It wasn’t a normal rocking; it was close to the level of a force six wind disturbance, with some new sailors being thrown to the deck, unable to stand firm without holding on to something.

Liszt knew that kind of thing sailed slowly.

And the "Sea God’s" person in charge didn’t need to say it; they surely understood it clearer than Liszt.

Could a sail battleship form a fleet? What about the "Sea God"?

However, Doringger’s fleet consisted of more than just ships.

Over ten years ago.

Doringger killed a sea monster several hundred meters in length with his fists, a gigantic creature that lived deep in the East Sea, with few records, known as the "Devouring Whale Giant Demon."

Very few had seen such a monster; even the young were said to be more than a dozen meters long, and the one Doringger killed was the king among them.

It was as if the sea’s surface was boiling hot, the vast domain seething as if boiling, an extraordinary spectacle never seen before, and the people on the sixteen ships were on high alert. But most seemed petrified by fear.

The tumultuous waves, rising with the swell, caused the sixteen ships to start pitching violently, swaying back and forth, one moment the bow plunging below the waterline, the next moment thrown up, even seasoned seamen were toppled over.

Liszt nearly toppled over the ropes, but he clenched tightly.

The ensuing scene was too astonishing, as the monster from the deep sea made its official appearance.

The Sea God moved very slowly, so it needed to entangle Liszt and the others.

A multitude of ink-colored tentacles thicker than three men bound together twisted upwards from the sea, each spanning tens of meters in length, towering and imposing. As one tentacle emerged, dozens and then hundreds swished about, striking and entwining the patrol boats. They carved gorges into the hulls, burst layers of planks into splinters, and the sailors on board were whipped into a mist of blood by those tentacles.

It was unclear how Doringger possessed such an ability, but even the sea monster had to obey his command or rather, the command of his subordinates.

All three patrol boats of the fleet were attacked, completely powerless against that kind of monster.

The patrol boats also had cannons, which they fired at the tentacle suckers clinging to the ship’s sides.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The power of the Twelve-pound Cannon was terrifying; gun smoke billowed, flesh ripped apart, and large holes were torn open.

But this sea monster, a mindless brute, did not scream in pain. Instead, it rampaged silently, its tentacles continuing to coil around the ships, churning until the decks and hulls were utterly shattered.

Having destroyed three patrol boats, some of the sailors jumped overboard, while others were consumed by the sea monster’s tentacles, which housed not just suckers but also spiral, wriggling teeth. The sailors preferred to jump into the sea rather than being devoured.

The tentacles churned upon the sea surface. The monster, whose full figure was still unknown, loomed immense with its tentacles alone, heading straight for the central sail battleship and Fuma Keqing, not swimming but rolling over tumultuously.

"Fuck your mother! Fuck your mother!"

Rein panicked, and as the Fuma Keqing still rocked from the giant wave’s aftermath, he had only one thought—flee! No matter what, he couldn’t let that sea monster get close to the ship.

Even Liszt was momentarily stunned by this display. The scene was too shocking, facing something that moved much faster than the sailboat under the scorching sun, with a huge shadow gliding across the sea seemingly rendering any command useless.

He was suddenly somewhat trance-like, feeling as though he was already a dead man.

Seven years ago.

The day of departure bore the honor of death, the disgrace of no chance at life.

Liszt leapt off the rope net, landing firmly on the ground, having made a decision.

"The cannons, I’ll go below deck and man the cannons..."

A new sailor had been thoroughly frightened out of his wits.

"Holy Spirit above... save me, save me..."

A new crew member clasped his hands over his forehead in prayer, more devout than he had ever been in his life.

Liszt’s expression was icy cold. As the captain, he could not show fear; if he was afraid, it was all over.

"What do we do? Do we fight?"

Shadi realized that even firing cannons was futile; she hurried up from below deck and asked Liszt in a terrified voice.

"No..."

Liszt remained extremely calm, pulling out his telescope to check the position of the flagbearer on the sail battleship. Even he hadn’t expected that Taylor’s men would have such faith in him.

In this situation, they should have been utterly panicked, but there was the flagbearer still at his post, his face a mask of horror, yet waiting for Liszt’s orders.

Liszt commanded the flagbearer, "Tell them we scatter and retreat. Huddling together will only lead to our annihilation. This way there’s a chance, at least some ships can get away."

After issuing this command,

Liszt knew the main target was himself. He couldn’t escape without killing that sea monster first; it moved far faster than any sailboat could.

"This is the captain’s order! Head towards that sea monster, sail straight for it!"

Liszt called forth the Junlin Sword.