Struggle in the Steam Age

2:30 am. A river empties into the sea in the east of Nova Sauer Island. There are three boats moored quietly on the calm sea. All these boats dropped anchor and lowered their sails, looking very relaxed.

On the shore not far away, two old-fashioned boats were taken off their masts and pushed to the beach for maintenance work on the bottom of the boats. And on the beach next to the boat. Many pirates sang and danced around several bonfires, while drinking all kinds of spirits they got before or using dice to gamble. There were also a few places where pirates could be seen boxing, surrounded by a group of them bettor.

"Boss, I'm a little worried." Standing on the prow of the steam sailboat with the well-known metal squid figure head painted in black and gold, there were two figures, one tall and one short, looking at the bustling scene on the shore, The tall pirate lowered his head and said to the short leader.

The leader of this short man is the leader of this group of pirates known as the Slaughter Fog, the black priest Sam who apostate from the Sea God Church before. Unlike other pirate leaders at sea, this black priest was very neatly dressed. If it weren't for the string of human parietal bone necklaces hanging around his neck, he would look more like a scholar than a murderous pirate.

After listening to his subordinates' advice, he didn't take them to heart, but said in a disapproving way: "The previous business was indeed a good deal, but it also made the navy feel like mad dogs after smelling it." Chasing them hard enough to get them off the ground. So there's nothing wrong with letting the cubs relax now."

The tall subordinates naturally knew that what the boss said was right. They not only gave up the good boat they grabbed at the time in order to escape, but also sunk an old-fashioned sailing boat during the pursuit, losing 1/6 of their people. So now these pirates have been in a very tense state before.

After all, the pirates are not the navy, and they are much more vulnerable than the soldiers in the face of such great pressure. Therefore, there have been two mutinies in the pirate group along the way. Fortunately, the black priest Sam, as a mid-level transcendent, was able to successfully suppress these people on the ship, so after killing a group of people, he was able to control the situation.

But the leaders on the ship also know that everyone has reached their limit, and it is impossible to persist in this state for too long. Therefore, after entering this sea area, the pirates on the ship will be allowed to go ashore to repair and repair the ship by the way.

The reason why he didn't go to those places where there were people was purely because he was worried that going to those small human settlements would result in too little gain, which would cause dissatisfaction among his subordinates, and finally caused his pirates to go ashore and escape. On land, however, he was not sure that he could recover and kill all the fleeing pirates. And large settlements generally have strong defenses. With their current situation, even if they are captured, they will suffer heavy losses.

So he chose the beach at the estuary of the river where there are not many people in the impression, but the surrounding natural conditions are good, as a temporary resting point. As for the bullying goblins around them, if they want to attack them, they must gather the power of many tribes. But by that time they would have gone far away.

The black priest Sam dared to dock here and there is still a certainty, that is, there is no power on the surrounding islands that can defeat them on the sea. So he wasn't worried about being attacked.

As for Lawrence, the new lord of the island, he also knows, but he doesn't think this young man in his early 20s has any ability to control the island in just a few months. More importantly, he had also sent people to investigate the largest settlement in the north of the island before, and found that the lord had never even been to that small town other than sending people to purchase there.

From the pirate's point of view, Lawrence's behavior is obviously a unique manifestation of losing control of his own territory. That's why I chose to re-open up new territories elsewhere. Therefore, he was not worried about the threat that Lawrence, as the local lord, would pose to him and his men.

"It must be another young boy from a noble family who relied on his parents to get this territory. This kind of guy who doesn't know anything must be just plating himself with gold in this place. Maybe he is hugging him under the quilt now. The maid is crying," the black priest Sam muttered dissatisfiedly. "But that's good too. When the time comes, I just need to fire a shot or two at the place where he is now, and that brat will send me everything I want."

After finishing speaking, the black priest Sam turned around and walked into the cabin with that subordinate. He believed that no one would be able to touch the series of magic traps and early warning facilities he had set up before, so he planned to take this opportunity for everyone to relax and go back to his room to sleep for a while.

After all, he had been busy for a long time in order to escape from Shengtian, and now he felt extremely tired. As for a spellcaster, being exhausted would affect his display of strength, especially the use of that important magic item. So in order to prepare for the next action, he must rest well even if he is worried about the mob under his hand.

When the black priest Sam returned to the cabin to sleep, a steam sailboat was sailing quietly with only its sails seven or eight nautical miles away from the mouth of the river, and the one standing at the bow was what Sam thought was a The cowardly Lawrence who dared to hide under the covers and be comforted by the maid.

"How far are we from our destination?" Lawrence asked Fatina beside him as the black shadow representing the island on the distant water sky grew larger. The clouds in the sky are very low today, and there is a little mist on the sea. If it wasn't for the Ratman sailors brought by Fatina to steer and observe the ship, Lawrence would not have dared to travel along the coastline with many reefs in this weather.

Due to the obvious gap in the strength of the two sides at sea, Lawrence proposed in the previous meeting that this attack needs to launch a sneak attack on the enemy in the dark night or early morning. But this plan has an extremely important key point, that is, if the Enterprise approaches from the far sea, the opponent will definitely find out and make preparations in advance, which will lead to the immediate failure of the attack.

Fortunately, Fatina said that the rat people under her had professional night guides and helmsmen, and several rat people who had served in the surrounding navy could be put into action. And with the help of these ratmen, the Enterprise can use the terrain around the pirate ship's mooring point as a cover to launch an assault at a distance where the opponent has not reacted.

"Less than ten nautical miles." Fatina and the Ratman lookout on the mast squeaked a few times and then raised their heads and said to Lawrence. "If all goes well, we will arrive at our destination within two hours."

"I'm back." As soon as Fatina's voice fell, Nora also completed the aerial reconnaissance and fell from the sky to report to Lawrence, "I have found the anchorage of the pirates seventeen or eight kilometers away. There are a dozen fires on the beach that illuminate the anchorage silver mine very clearly..."

"It can't be a trap, right?" Lawrence asked subconsciously. After all, there were many battles in his previous life where he used the empty battalion to lure the enemy to attack at night and then ambushed those night raiders. So much so that when he heard that the pirates seemed to be in a loose state, his first reaction was that the pirates were luring the enemy.

"Of course not." Nora shook her head. She could understand Lawrence's nervousness, because that was what she thought at the beginning. . So during the investigation, he also carried out further investigation, "Those pirates around the fire just lay down on the beach to rest directly. I probably counted the number of the other party and found that they should be in addition to the people on duty on the three ships. The rest of the people were pretty much on the beach."

The ships used by these pirates are all standard cargo, so the number of people that can be carried on them can basically be regarded as a fixed number. So Nora's current judgment can be regarded as a relatively accurate conclusion.