Black Sail
Chapter 325: CCCXXV. Desperation

Chapter 325: CCCXXV. Desperation

To prevent Liszt and others from escaping, two lightweight fast boats, each about thirty meters long, also surrounded the area, forming an arc to enclose them.

Yet did not approach.

Out of these four ships, only one sail and one hull were intact and able to navigate; the other three, including Fuma Keqing, had lost their ability to move.

Even so, the cannons on board could still fire; 32-pounders were no joke.

Kolon and Hanno each led a boat, circling out of range, giving Liszt and his group no chance whatsoever, just waiting for Sea God to arrive.

This enormous layer ship, besides the standard armament, had a thousand 32-pound cannons for close defense.

The Magic Ship Cannons on Sea God, six on each side totaling twelve, consumed twenty Golden Dragons with each shot, about a quarter of a Purple Crystal. If adjusted to the highest firepower, even damaging the cannons irreversibly, it could expend a whole crystal and eighty Golden Dragons in one shot, destroying everything.

That elegantly beautiful silver-black layer ship loomed larger in view, resembling a high mountain drawing ever nearer.

Liszt and his people had become fish caught in a net, lost their sails at sea, and completely lost initiative; now all four ships were corraled being slaughtered at will.

In an instant.

No matter what command Liszt issued, it was too late; they had entered into Sea God’s precise guidance range, a hundred percent hit rate.

With that onboard Magic Ship Cannon, the effective killing range wasn’t just three miles, but for precision, it required adjustment within three miles, within five thousand meters, manually calibrated by the gunners, capable of annihilating everything.

The silhouette of Sea God grew clearer, her shadow cast by the blocked sunlight darkened a section of the sea as if night had fallen.

When they saw the true form of the Magic Ship Cannons, they could no longer describe them merely as cannons, but rather like coastal defense guns, monstrous silvers placed on the deck.

On a semi-circular base that had a distinct diesel punk feel, a few gunners adjusted the firing direction with auxiliary mechanical air valves.

Life and death hung by a moment.

A threat bigger even than that of sea monsters; being hit by such cannons meant certain death.

Mika took deep breaths, knowing long ago that mixing with cavemen like Liszt, this day would eventually come; the oxygen revived his lungs, filling them with an invisible force, gradually calming his breath.

Shadi closed his eyes, sighed deeply; those not knowledgeable sought cover while those who understood contemplated whether the Heroic Spirit Hall even existed, wondering if pirates could ascend?

"Damn it, you’ll play the role of a desperado on the brink of death, forget what comes after."

Rein had given up resisting, acknowledging certain death, and chose a posture he liked, sitting next to the mast, one leg curled up, elbow resting on his knee.

In a flash.

Liszt made his decision.

"Everyone jump ship, everybody, abandon ship immediately!"

Liszt issued his final order before the massive cannon fired.

Was this the consequence of opposing the East Sea King?

"Jumping is death too, this is way less fun than being an executive."

Shadi knew the end, now there was no escape.

"Jumping gives us a one percent chance, not jumping means zero, hurry up!"

Liszt handed an envelope to Celeste; because the letter was too important, he had specially purchased alchemy technology integrated water-resistant paper.

"What about you?"

Celeste paused, slightly flustered, not having expected this diplomatic mission to risk her life.

Liszt remained silent.

As captain, he would sink with the ship.

The wind howled; he just looked at the Junlin Sword in his hands.

The hardships of establishing Black Sail, as it expanded increasingly, his mere mortal body couldn’t control the many heroes beneath him; without this sword, in the explosive expansion of the last half-year, he would have long been killed by Skull Club’s schemes.

"I’ll test now whether the so-called Junlin Sword really ’cuts through anything’."

Liszt spoke calmly, walked to the bow of Fuma Keqing’s ship and stood atop the head of the large bronze statue.

Celeste’s eyelids twitched as she looked at the panicked crew on the deck, who, upon the captain’s order, had already started jumping into the sea in extreme fear.

The sounds of splashing were continuous, creating dozens of waves.

Now it was completely over. Without crew, even if the sails and rigging were intact, they were useless.

Celeste knew only one thing: the core members of the Black Sail had all gone mad, not moving an inch, all waiting for death.

And there was no time left. The Magic Ship Cannon was already adjusted and would fire in less than five seconds.

Celeste took a deep breath. This dragon-seeking mission had been fully prepared for; in order to have a means to restrain the dragon, the superiors had entrusted her with an incredibly powerful Curse Artifact, capable of withstanding three of an adult dragon’s strongest Breaths.

She had not used it against Garscek because that situation had not been one of certain death, but now it was such a situation, and not using it would mean certain death.

But using it would expose her, for it was a thing made by the Lostra Royal Court specifically to counteract the Emperor.

Four.

Three.

The core members of the Black Sail were seeking death, all insane.

Celeste had no other options left and was prepared.

Two.

One.

Liszt’s eyes were bloodshot.

"Come!"

The Blood-red Ghost Shadow overlapped with his body, crossing swords, attempting to use his flesh... in a self-destructive manner to withstand the cannon shot, sinking into the East Sea along with his unfinished revenge.

However, that terrifying ship cannon powered by Magic Energy fired silently.

Only the silvery-white points of annihilation energy gathered slowly at the center of the coastal defense cannon, before...

Suddenly erupting.

Every beam of Magic Energy blasted open the sea surface, moving mountains and seas, raising giant waves on both sides, and creating an arc-shaped depression below, spanning thousands of meters.

Only then did the sound arrive.

The deafening roar tore through the sea surface, threatening to shatter everyone’s chests.

This was not a battle of equals; under the devastation of the Sea God, the other three escort ships were pierced and shattered instantly, first burning through the center to form a large hole in an extremely short amount of time, then disintegrating under the aftermath, with splinters of wood and iron and the ship cannons all bursting open, as if barrels of gunpowder on the ships had exploded.

It was complete hell.

On board the Heroic Spirit Hall, Liszt’s eyes nearly split open, his crossed swords danced wildly, black and red arcs fiercely sweeping, trying to withstand that beam.

The outcome was clear.

Whether it was the incident with the Skull Club or in Garscek’s underground palace, the Junlin Sword could indeed cut through anything, but there was always an aftermath, and the aftermath of this Magic Ship Cannon could destroy Liszt a thousand times over.

Haywood gave him no chance, nor did he give Celeste any.

Entrusted with the "Demon God Command."

Considering that Haywood was just a Low-level Demon, despite possessing the nearly infinite power of the Annihilation Element, he was still limited by his own nature, under too many restrictions.

His backing was Agares Dagon.

An unmatched strength.

When he had crossed the vast void before, a taboo demon ritual had already been set in his body by Agares, Haywood needed only to release it using the infinite Annihilation Element on his own.

Considering Haywood was a Low-level Demon, these taboo demon rituals were half defensive or regenerative, used for self-preservation.

In the previous battle with the Sky Peak Pirate Group, it was also due to a demon ritual that changed his form, something Haywood himself did not understand.

Haywood used a taboo demon ritual.

His figure instantly rose to five meters, his arms gushing bright-red liquid sand from the seams, forming a series of bright-red arc shields, placed defensively in front of Celeste.