Carefree Path of Dreams

Panda Novel

Rumble!

As the ironclads fired one round after another, Blackbeard’s forces suddenly greeted cannon fire.

One wooden ship after another exploded under the bombardment. Before the pirates even had a chance to show off their bravery with their boarding battle skills, the cannon fire tore them to pieces and sank them to the bottom of the ocean.

“Scatter!” Blackbeard closed his eyes and issued an order from atop Monster. “Scatter and break out!”

In a split second, the pirate force suddenly scattered and tried to break out in all directions, much like a pack of wolves that had just lost its leader.

Despite knowing that taking this course of action was equivalent to admitting defeat, Blackbeard had no other choice.

After all, if he were to try to stand his ground, all the forces under him could be eradicated.

Furthermore, after dispersing and breaking out, the pirate ships would be able to demonstrate their strengths to the fullest extent.

Pirates were, at the core, a free and undisciplined lot. They were the polar opposite of the disciplined military.

The great battle transformed into many small-scale pursuits. The pirates would frequently counterattack with vigor, causing heavy losses among the first, second, and third-level sailing ships that were yet to retire.

Naturally, in stark contrast were those thirty ironclads. They rampaged through the sea while pirates scurried to evade their wrath. Nothing but doom awaited those that were targeted by them.

As the leader of the Blackbeard Pirates, Blackbeard was obviously prioritized.

A total of seven ironclads were aggressively trying to surround him.

“Faster!”

Of course, as a pirate governor, Blackbeard would not simply surrender.

As he tapped the deck of Monster, the entire ship suddenly roared, and it sped up multiple times. After evading a round of cannon fire, it smashed savagely into the blockade formed by sailing warships.

“Crunch! Crunch!”

Monster opened its large mouth and bit one of the sailing ships as though it were a snake trying to swallow a rat. With a toe-curling sound, it quickly devoured the entire battleship.

Bang! Bang!

Several cannons shelled Monster in that short period.

However, as its body was far sturdier than ordinary wood and able to regenerate, it managed to endure the bombardment and carve a bloody path out through the sailing ships.

“Are these the final glorious moments of Monster?”

Despite the tremendous courage displayed, it was nothing good in the eyes of Edward, who was overlooking the battle.

“Blackbeard… What exactly are you thinking?”

Monster was like a peerless general caught between two forces. Despite finding a way into the opposition forces, displaying tremendous courage, and felling countless enemies, it was eventually surrounded by the armored guards.

Despite their clumsy appearance, the ironclads were actually extremely nimble in water, and they completely surrounded Monster.

“The royal navy’s fleet commander must be Philip. He wanted to use these wooden ships that should have been retired to lure my attention and then surround me with the ironclads…”

Blackbeard stood at the bow of Monster, looking at the scene. A cold smile broke out. “However, I’ve held back one of the legendary powers of Monster! He really dug his own grave this time!”

After all, Monster was ranked second among the extraordinary ships and almost as good as legendary ships.

Blackbeard was cunning. After getting his hands on Monster, he had used his magic to grant the ship an additional power.

Monster came with the ability of Devour, able to destroy enemy ships and enhance itself using the pillaged parts.

The legendary power that Blackbeard had granted to Monster was to accumulate the energy obtained by Devour and unleash it all at once. It was a terrifying ability!

“Legend⁠—Annihilation!”

After it devoured the final first-level battleship, the ironclads had completely surrounded Monster. Blackbeard raised his right hand and bellowed, “Experience agony!”

Rumble!

A layer of black light suddenly appeared on top of Monster and converged on Blackbeard’s hand. Its color grew richer and richer until it suddenly expanded.

Buzz buzz!

A formless wave swept over everything.

All of a sudden, the decks of the ironclads that came into contact with the wave cracked, folded… and eventually turned to ash, annihilated without a trace.

“Abandon ship!”

Bursts of flustered screams and scrambling erupted all over the ironclads.

However, the sailors were too slow.

Their expressions froze as soon as the black wave caught up to them.

A gentle breeze blew past, and the heads of the statues fell to the ground and turned into sand.

After the black wave left, three of the ironclads were severely damaged and began to sink slowly.

“Long live Blackbeard!”

“Long live pirates!”

…

The pirates exploded into cheers. They were as excited as a dying man suddenly seeing a glimmer of hope.

The God of War-like presence of the ironclads suffered a loss of three ships after just one attack from Blackbeard.

It was, without a doubt, the greatest victory against the Ettoman forces thus far.

However, Blackbeard was actually disheartened.

This attack required a long recharge period. After the attack just now, it could not fire another for the next three days.

According to his thoughts, he could have destroyed over ten ships if they were wooden ships. Even if they were ironclads, he had hoped to completely destroy the seven that were after him. It would have been an unforgettable lesson to the Ettoman Royal Navy. After he had rid himself of the pursuers, he would have been able to leave the battlefield at his leisure.

However, reality gave him a cruel slap across the face.

The defensive power of the ironclads was well over Blackbeard’s estimates. Sinking merely three ships had spent all of Monster’s energy in the Annihilation attack.

As a result, not only could he forget about teaching Ettoman a lesson, he now had trouble escaping.

“Fire!”

After seeing three comrades fall, the remaining commanders on the other ironclads were seeing red and immediately ordered the counterattack.

Bang! Bang!

With loud blasts, terrifying attacks landed on Monster.

Regardless of the toughness of the material, several holes opened up on the ship. Monster was like an injured animal caught in a trap and surrounded by hounds.

“Faster! Breakthrough!” Blackbeard roared.

Unfortunately, the equipment and energy that Monster had pillaged were all spent in the Annihilation attack. Even the ship’s recovery ability was hindered.

After the successful attack, one ironclad rushed head-on toward Monster.

Monster was a giant among the sailing battleships. Its size and displacement level were even greater than that of first-level warships. The same was true for the ironclads.

Bang!

With a loud blast, both behemoths vibrated violently.

Then a huge gap appeared on the hull of Monster.

“Aw! Aw!”

Monster cried out like an injured animal. The bow suddenly raised, and its horrifying large mouth expanded several times like the mouth of a giant python.

With a crack, it swallowed the bow of the ironclad that had charged at it.

Creak! Creak!

The toe-curling sound rang out once again.

After a short while, Monster retreated on its own accord. A battered ironclad appeared, but cheers sounded from on top of the ironclad.

In contrast, the pirates on Monster remained silent. Those with sharp eyes could even see several scars covering Monster’s bow.

Obviously, Monster had tried to Devour the ironclad like it had the other sailing ships, as well as recover some energy in the process.

However, not only was the ship huge, its sturdiness was well past Monster’s expectations, and it had lost numerous teeth.

Monster’s plan to escape had failed completely.

Unless Pirate Prince Edward intervened personally, there was no hope of survival. Such was the cruel reality of the battle.

But would Edward try to save Blackbeard?

Even disregarding the danger that Edward would have to put himself in, he would not save Blackbeard. They were not on good enough terms to warrant it either. After all, they had fought fiercely with each other many times before.

“Attention, prepare for battle!”

Blackbeard opened a bottle of rum with his teeth and took a huge gulp.

As a pirate, he had long come to terms with the possibility of dying at sea at any time!

As a pirate captain, he should sink with his ship even more!

…

“A respectable opponent!”

After sensing the signals and movements from Monster, the commanders of the remaining ironclads were impressed. That did not, however, stop them from issuing the order to attack.

They knew that Monster would fight even with its back against the wall. As such, despite it being an extraordinary warship, they would not risk sustaining heavy losses to obtain it. Letting it sink was the best choice.

The four remaining ironclads pointed their main cannons at Monster and fired.

Rumble!

Four giant explosions landed on Monster, sending countless pirates flying and meeting their end without a burial.

Amid the gore and the flames, Blackbeard’s pirate flag slowly fell, declaring the end of an era.

The navy’s wretched ‘no contact battle plan’ allowed Blackbeard no room to use his magic. He could only watch as his ship was torn to pieces, and then he was thrown into the sea as well.

Whoo! Whoo!

While in great pain, he seemed to hear a horn.

With his extraordinary eyesight, he saw shipwrecked souls converge one after another to a single point, as though there were a vortex there.

A giant but blurry and translucent ship appeared, sailing toward him slowly. It was emanating an aura of specters that made one’s heart palpitate.

Pirate Prince Edward saw the familiar mist that had appeared out of the blue and cried out in shock, “It’s Specter Ship!”

“Specter Ship!”

The royal navy had also noticed the uninvited guest. The sailors cried out in terror, as though it were doomsday.

Splash!

The mist dispersed and revealed a half-rotten sailing ship. It tossed out a rope that seemed to have a life of its own. The rope agilely caught Blackbeard and placed him on the deck.