Exploring Technology in a Wizard World

Chapter 156: Chapter 155 One-eyed and Potion

A minute, a second…

Time slipped away, and the pirate’s ship reached the vicinity of the giant ship.

The pirates didn’t know why the giant ship had stopped, so they sailed around it with some caution while observing the situation on board.

Seeing that most people on the giant ship were in a state of panic, the pirates cracked a smile, but their faces darkened upon noting defenders positioned in every direction.

Eventually, after circling the giant ship a few times, the pirate ship stopped at a certain distance. Many small boats were lowered, and numerous pirates leaped aboard, paddling strenuously, beginning to look for opportunities to attack.

“Be careful, they’re going to board!” Nancy shouted, causing everyone on board to tense up and become extremely vigilant.

...

“Roar!” The pirates hurled Flying Claws in all directions, hooking onto objects on the deck and beginning their climb.

“Don’t let them get up here, cut the ropes of the Flying Claws!” Nancy yelled.

The crew hurriedly complied, using any weapon they could hastily find to chop at the ropes.

“Slash, slash!”

The ropes were severed, and the climbing pirates cursed as they fell into the sea, unharmed. They quickly swam back to the boats and hurled the Flying Claws again.

“Crack, crack” as the Flying Claws secured their hold, the pirates launched another round of attacks. The crew repeated their previous tactic, cutting the ropes, while those remaining on the small boats coldly laughed and took out bows, Mechanical Crossbows, and various throwing weapons to cover their comrades’ assault.

An unfortunate student on the giant ship leaned over the railing, struggling to cut a Flying Claw’s rope with a short blade. The next moment, with a “thunk,” he was impaled by a harpoon thrown by a pirate, his body shuddered, and he fell toward the sea, his screams piercing the sky.

“Ah!”

The color drained from the crew’s faces, now fully aware that death was real, and many began to retreat.

Nancy swung her Longsword and shouted, “Don’t panic, dodge the pirates’ attacks carefully, and don’t get hit. But we must cut the ropes, otherwise if they climb onboard, we’ll all die! Understand?”

After hearing Nancy’s words, the crew mustered some courage and continued the struggle. Although there were casualties, they managed to reach a stalemate with the ferocious pirates.

However… a stalemate is meant to be broken…

…

On the deck of the pirate ship, the Pirate Captain stood.

The Pirate Captain was dressed in deep blue garments and wore a black hat adorned with a swan feather, which gave him a touch of nobility, further accentuated by the silver Longsword slung across his waist, making him appear almost Noble.

But upon closer examination, the differences between him and a Noble were stark.

The outfit may be similar, but the grim, bloodthirsty expression on his face was distinctly unlike any Noble. His eyes were greedy yet cautious as he watched the giant ship; he licked his lips and turned to address a person nearby, “One-eyed, have you figured out anything about this giant ship?”

“It looks like just a regular giant ship.” Beside the Pirate Captain stood an old man with only one eye, wearing ordinary rough clothing, his hands stained black with an unknown substance. The murky eye fitted in the remaining eye socket occasionally flashed a disturbing gaze, “There shouldn’t be any issues, Captain.”

One-eyed continued as he watched the giant ship, “Captain, this giant ship is similar to the ones we’ve robbed a few times before, all made by the continent across the sea. They’re big and fast, but they don’t have any powerful weapons.

The only odd thing is, I don’t know why this giant ship suddenly stopped. Are they preparing to offer some terms of surrender to us? Heh, we never accept conditional surrenders.”

“Yes, we never accept a surrender with conditions,” the Pirate Captain sneered, “Kill all the men who dare to resist and sell the rest as slaves; play with the women before selling them off.”

One-eyed continued, “Captain, have you noticed? Everyone on this ship is young. Whether as slaves or toys, they’re worth much more than those on the ships we’ve captured before.”

“That makes sense,” the Pirate Captain nodded in agreement, stroking his stubble and licking his lips again.

But then he frowned, warily adding, “The problem is, something doesn’t feel quite right. It can’t be a trap, can it? After all, this has been too easy. A couple of years ago, I heard Blackbeard had captured a similar large ship. It all went smooth at first, but as soon as his men boarded, they were ground into mincemeat. I’ve heard there was some damned Wizard on that ship, just waiting to make a fool of Blackbeard and his crew.”

“Captain, don’t worry. Whether there’s a trick or not, we can simply test it out. The current situation is a deadlock, it’s time to use ‘that’,” One-eyed said, his murky eyeball gleaming with a ghastly pale light.

“We have to resort to ‘that,’ huh,” the Pirate Captain frowned, hesitating slightly. “Are you sure it can be controlled this time? We can’t have a repeat of what happened before.”

“Last time was just an accident, truly just an accident,” One-eyed insisted, biting his teeth. “You know, Captain, aside from that one time, it’s always been successful.”

“About that one time…”

“That was because some bastard, drunk off his ass, pissed on my ingredients without me realizing it. The potion that was made caused those who took it to lose complete control.”

“And no one has pissed on it this time?”

“If anyone dares to piss on it again, I’ll kill his ‘bird’—I’ll castrate him!” One-eyed said angrily.

“Alright then,” the Captain took a deep breath, silent for a long moment before uttering, “Go ahead—use it.”

“Good.”

One-eyed perked up, turning on his heel and striding into the cabin.

Inside the cabin, numerous pirates clad in leather armor, wielding a variety of weapons, were lined up. Each was scarred across the face and body, commonly missing an ear or half a nose. They were the elite among the pirates, battle-worn veterans who had killed ten, dozens of men, and lived to tell the tale.

But now, standing in the cabin, they all appeared quite tense, especially as they saw One-eyed entering; their bodies stiffened involuntarily, clearly wary of him.

One-eyed paid them no mind and walked over to a corner of the cabin. He took out some strange powders and liquids from a cupboard and began to mix a certain potion.

With his back to the other pirates, One-eyed began to speak as he mixed, “The Captain has given his approval, so you will soon be called into action.”

“Right, don’t be scared. There’s been no sabotage this time, so after taking the medicine, you’ll remain lucid. You know the rules: after taking the medicine and rushing onto the deck, everyone’s share of the loot is doubled, and whoever gets on deck first will have it tripled. If you don’t do it, others will, those new recruits are even more eager for this chance, so…”

“Enough talk—we’ll take the medicine,” someone shouted.

“That’s the spirit,” One-eyed sneered, having finished preparing the potion. He turned around, carrying a bowl of murky yellow fluid toward the men and handed it to the first one, saying, “Each of you, drink a full mouthful, then wait patiently for ten minutes. That’s when it’ll be time for you to shine. Heheh.”

“Gulp!”

“Gulp!”

“Gulp!”

“Gulp…”

…