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Chapter 268 Song of the Misty Sea

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Next, there's one last thing to solve: the gunner.

Clearly, it was impossible for just four or five elite gunners to operate all seventy or eighty cannons on the "Princess".

Therefore, we need to find a way to recruit a group of experienced gunners, preferably retired naval personnel from various countries in the commercial alliance. For ordinary sailors, just getting them familiar with how to operate the cannons would require a lot of time and effort.

The Marquis of Norris had already come up with a solution to this problem.

He had his butler bring Captain Barolorick a list of people who had come to work for the Norris Merchant Guild after retiring from the Principality of Loras's navy in the past five years.

There are earlier lists, but those people are older and prefer a stable and comfortable life, and are less willing to continue to take risks and struggle at sea.

This is something that even if Richard doubles his commission, it will be difficult to change.

The best approach is to recruit young people who still have ideas, a spirit of adventure, and are willing to take a chance.

After receiving the list, Captain Barrolick immediately patted his chest and assured him, "My lord, Lord Richard, leave this matter to me! I will definitely complete this task within three days."

Richard smiled slightly and nodded.

It's great to have a captain like that!

I can save myself so much trouble.

Three days later, Richard and Stephena boarded the "Princess". Captain Barrolick had lost a lot of weight in those three days, as he had to be in charge of and finalize almost all the trivial matters before the official departure.

The last question regarding the gunner was also resolved.

Captain Barrolick selected over 120 men from the list provided by the Marquis of Norris, and recruited another 50 men from their comrades, finally assembling a large force of gunners.

This is precisely the biggest difference between warships and ordinary merchant ships.

On ordinary merchant ships, sailors make up more than 80% of the crew, with the remainder being combat personnel. However, on Richard's "Princess," combat personnel (including gunners) made up 70%, while sailors only accounted for 30%.

Fortunately, Richard offered a high reward; otherwise, even with Captain Barrolick's excellent communication and coordination skills, it would have been impossible to complete this task within three days.

"Raise the sails! Set sail!!" Captain Barolorick's words fell to the ground.

With the five massive sails unfurled, the powerful winds propelled the equally enormous "Princess" slowly away from the dock, heading towards the azure ocean.

Richard did not allow Mero to accompany him; it would be far too dangerous for a third-level wizard apprentice to go with him to Baselles Island in the Summer Sea.

It is possible that in a sudden danger, if Richard fails to consider Meiluo's safety, she may perish.

It would be much safer to have Melodo accompany Marquis Norris.

Although the Cult of Poseidon might continue to cause trouble for Marquis Norris, he now has the support of a Grand Duke, and Richard believes that his safety should be assured in the short term.

Five days later.

Stephena was with Richard at the bow of the ship, admiring the boundless blue sea in the distance.

"Lord Richard, we are about to enter the deep sea and will soon pass through the area of ​​the Sirens. But don't worry, we have traveled this route many times and are very familiar with it. We will avoid all the dangerous areas."

"Moreover, the weather has been quite good these past few days, with high visibility."

Captain Barrolick then walked over from the side and introduced the ship to Richard with a smile.

Richard nodded and said, "I have faith in Captain Barrorick's professional abilities."

The two chatted for a few minutes, when suddenly, the lookout on the mast waved the pennant in his hand!

"Huh! That's strange. The lookout just said there's a thick fog ahead!" Captain Barrolick muttered to himself.

"This shouldn't be happening."

Captain Barrolick took out a monocular telescope and began to carefully observe the thick fog.

"Captain Barolorick, if this fog is strange, should we take a detour?" Stephanie asked curiously from the side.

Since Baroric had already noticed that the formation of this thick fog was a bit strange, she didn't know why she didn't take a detour.

After all, the ocean is vast and boundless, and you can go anywhere you want.

"Miss Stephana, for a sailboat, wind direction is the most important factor. If we turn around now, it will affect our sailing for some time today, but that is not the most important thing."

Captain Barolorick paused, seemingly organizing his thoughts, and said, "This fog is spreading rapidly in our direction. I just calculated that even if we turn around now, due to the reduced wind speed, we will likely still be enveloped by the fog!"

"Huh! Indeed!" Stephania said, glancing at the thick fog again.

Richard, who was standing nearby, nodded in agreement. He had also noticed the thick fog spreading rapidly in all directions.

"All personnel, level two combat readiness!!" Captain Barrolick pondered for a moment before immediately issuing a combat readiness order.

This impressed Richard greatly, because a sense of vigilance had just risen in his mind. Wizards, due to their spiritual power far exceeding that of ordinary people, are sometimes very sensitive to danger.

Richard had just had a bad feeling, but it wasn't strong enough to make him turn around and leave immediately.

However, just as he was about to remind Captain Barolorick, the latter unexpectedly issued the order to prepare for battle ahead of time.

After giving the order, Captain Barrolick looked around and realized that the highest commander on the ship was no longer him, but Lord Richard.

He immediately explained, "Lord Richard, I'm so sorry, just now..."

Richard waved his hand and said, "Captain Barrolick, you did very well just now, there's no need to apologize to me."

"In addition, if this situation occurs again in the future, you can do what you did this time: issue the order immediately, and then when you have time, tell me why you made this decision."

"I firmly believe that professional tasks should be left to professionals!"

Captain Barrolick was deeply moved upon hearing Richard's words, feeling as if he had found a kindred spirit!

"Yes, sir! Your heart is as vast as the boundless sea!" Captain Barrolick removed his hat and bowed deeply to Richard!

"Captain Barolorick, you're too kind!"

In the thick fog, a huge, dilapidated ship appeared faintly on the sea.

The X-shaped crossed double-blade flags on the flagpole are faintly visible!

The ship was covered with various marine creatures such as barnacles, mussels, seaweed, kelp and conch. Even the surface of the ship had many cracks, the deck was pitted and uneven, and there were many broken planks.

It's hard to imagine that this thing, which looks more like a sunken ship at the bottom of the sea, can actually sail smoothly on the surface of the sea.

The cold, deep seabed is perhaps where it should stay!

Even more unbelievable was that there were quite a few people walking back and forth on the deck.

Inside the captain's cabin, three figures sat in a triangular formation. One of them, a beautiful human woman who looked slightly tired, was speaking to a man in black robes:

"Salidin, we Sirens have already followed your Sea God Society's instructions and activated the Mist Song, shrouding this ship in mist. Now, it's up to you."

Her voice was pleasant to the ear and had a special charm.

Looking down from her beautiful face, her upper body was only covered by a seashell, while her lower body was a huge fish tail that shimmered with silver scales.

Just as she had said, she belonged to the Sirens.

Adult sirens possess the innate sorcery of Mist Song. When a group of sirens activates this skill, the mist can cover hundreds of nautical miles in radius, possessing immense power.

"Of course, the Sirens have done more than enough!" The man in black robes seemed to have great respect for the representative of the Sirens clan before him, and bowed slightly.

"In that case, I'll be going now! Goodbye, Saridin!" The beautiful siren wriggled her waist like a snake and quickly came to the side of the ship. With a light leap, she jumped into the sea.

Soon, it disappeared into the vast sea.

"Lord Saliddin, why should we rely on the power of the Sirens? With the power of our Westminster ghost ship, can't we handle them?" the hooked man beside him said in a deep voice.

The man with a sharp hook embedded in his severed right hand is named Asakim, and he is the captain of the ghost ship HMS Westminster.

Many years ago, the HMS Westminster was an important part of the commercial alliance—the flagship of the First Fleet of the Kingdom of Akara.

It sank tragically in a major naval battle more than a hundred years ago, but a few years ago, the "Sea God" worshipped by the Sea God Cult used his immense power to retrieve it from the seabed and transform it into a marine wonder—a ghost ship.

The crossed swords pattern painted on the flag atop the mast is the symbol of the maritime power, the Kingdom of Akara!

Asakim's appointment as captain of this ghost ship was undoubtedly due to his exceptional abilities.

"Asakim, according to the accurate information we have gathered, the guy who sabotaged our Sea God Cult's plan to control the Norris family and destroyed our Antwerp port stronghold is on that ship."

"However, their ship is quite unusual; it's a decommissioned warship. If we rashly attack directly, we're likely to get bogged down in a fierce battle," Saridin slowly explained, revealing why he had invited the Sirens to help.

"Huh! They actually managed to get their hands on a warship?" Asakim's eyes revealed a hint of surprise.

It's important to understand that while his ghost ships are powerful, that's only relative. If they encounter ordinary ships, they can destroy as many as come. But if the enemy is a warship, especially a large warship with formidable cannon fire, the outcome is uncertain.

A powerful salvo from dozens of cannons would severely damage the ghost ship!

Saridin nodded and said, "This must be assistance from the Norris family!"

"Could it be that Okot's failure was also due to the other party?" Asakim couldn't help but ask, and the slight carelessness in his heart quickly disappeared.

He had met that guy Ocot who cultivated clones a few times; he was a deep and scheming schemer.

Although Asakim believed that the two were evenly matched in terms of individual strength, or even that he was slightly stronger, his opponent was full of schemes and tricks. He never expected that such a treacherous fellow would also fall at his hands.

"That's right! Prepare for battle, Asakim!" Saridin said in a deep voice.

"Yes, Your Excellency Saridin!"

As the "Princess" gradually entered the fog, Captain Barrolick had already raised the combat readiness level to Level 1.

Immediately, everyone on the ship sprang into action.

The numerous gunners and melee fighters who had been resting in the cabins were now all on duty and ready for battle.

In particular, the dark cannon muzzles on the three decks were all fully adjusted and ready to be fired at any time.

"Baroric, is it really necessary to be so tense?" The tall, goofy-looking orc walked over, wielding a giant double-edged battle axe, and said dismissively.

"Ottombo, I've always felt that the appearance of this fog is a bit strange and sudden," Captain Barolok explained.

"The fog doesn't seem to be naturally formed, but I can't think of any creature that could generate such a vast area of ​​fog. Perhaps it's some kind of anomaly."

At this moment, Richard frowned and said, "Did you hear a faint singing voice? It sounded like a woman singing."

Upon hearing Richard's words, everyone immediately listened attentively.

"Hey! Master, I heard it too! It sounds like a group of women's voices, it's very pleasant!" Stephania nodded from the side.

"Oh no! Sirens?!" Richard, Stephena, and Captain Barolorick exclaimed simultaneously.

Richard and Stephena are wizards who have studied related mystical knowledge, while Captain Barolorick relies on his many years of rich sailing experience to know the abilities of various strange creatures.

So, almost simultaneously, the three of them voiced their guesses!

"This should be the Song of the Mist! I read about it in a book. The Song of the Mist is a natural ability of the Sirens. It usually has a range of more than ten nautical miles. The song has a unique charm that doubles the effect on men and halves or even has no effect on women."

"However, if the opponent is a large group, the combined release of the talent ability—Misty Sea Song—will increase the fog range, and the destructive power of the song will also increase exponentially!"

Just as Richard was explaining, the female singing voice coming from the mist became increasingly clear.

Many sailors had already shown curious expressions, seemingly stopping to listen.

Soon, many people listening to the sea song showed a mesmerized expression and unconsciously began to walk stiffly toward the side of the ship.

"Oh no! Ring the bell!!" Captain Barrolick shouted.

As a high knight, he was relatively resistant to the siren's song and was able to continue giving orders without being greatly affected.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

All the alarm bells on the ship rang!

This somewhat interfered with the siren's song, but it still couldn't be eliminated.

"Thump!"

The first victim to jump into the sea has emerged!

When he sank several meters into the water and was close to suffocating, his body instincts broke free from the control of the siren's song, and he realized how he had ended up in the water.

But by then it was too late to save themselves.

Although the sailors were all good swimmers, they did not take a breath beforehand and suddenly sank into the cold seawater, and soon began to struggle and drown!

(End of this chapter)