Mystery: I Married the Queen of Mystery.

Chapter 262: The Red Lion Pirates are Destroyed
There are no waves on the sea tonight, and the bright moonlight shines on the sea, making the water look very clear.

wow~
The calm sea surface was suddenly cut apart by the "Argo", and ripples appeared on the clear sea surface.

This small ship is moving at a very fast speed.

However, judging from the appearance, no one knows what powers this ship. Its sails are retracted and there is no steam engine.

Especially at night, it looks like a ghost ship full of unknown things.

At this time, in the cockpit of the "Argo", Odysseus was carefully observing the sea with a telescope.

They had arrived at the waters of Nikate Island more than half an hour in advance, but did not encounter the "Red Lion" pirate group on the way.

At noon, after Odysseus and Rupert brought back the general direction of the "Red Lion" pirate group, Yi Laizhe judged that the "Red Lion" pirate group should be going to plunder the southern section of the central route.

After all, they had just encountered a naval battle with other pirate groups. Repairing ships and purchasing supplies must have cost a lot of money. They must rob some to recover the losses and at the same time let the members of the pirate group indulge themselves.

But along the way, I didn't meet them halfway.

Odysseus put down the telescope and asked Yilaizhe, "Besides the central and southern parts of the sea, are there any other sea areas where it's relatively easy to plunder cargo ships or merchant ships?"

Behind Odysseus were Bazel, Rupert, Ilezhe and others.

Yi Laizhe pointed to the sea chart and said, "The waters of Jirain Island, but it's quite far from here. It would take an ordinary ship several days to reach there."

Jirain Island is located in the southern part of the Rorsted Archipelago, while the waters of Nikart Island where they are now are located in the western part of the Rorsted Archipelago.

In other words, if departing from Nikart Island, ordinary ships only need to sail west for two or three days to reach the Central Route, which is a main waterway. Merchant ships, cargo ships and passenger ships from countries such as Fenypot travel back and forth on that waterway.

If you are traveling from Nikat Island to the waters of Jirain Island, you must first sail south and then east. It will take at least a week for an ordinary ship to reach there.

According to the information Odysseus and Rupert obtained at the shipyard on Nicart Island, the fleet of the "Red Lion" pirate group was indeed sailing westward.

Odysseus picked up the telescope and glanced at the sea again before saying, "Change course and head for the waters of Jirain Island!"

He speculated that the "Red Lion" pirate group did sail westward, but this should be a smokescreen released by the pirate group's captain Taylor to confuse those who wanted to know the whereabouts of the "Red Lion" pirate group.

Odysseus knew very well that the other party was a "conspirator" and that such behavior was a routine operation.

He guessed that the Red Lion pirates' route should be first west, then south, and finally east, making a big circle to Jirain Island.

If the Argonaut was an ordinary pirate ship, it would have been fooled by now. Moreover, the other party had already set off a day in advance, making it difficult to catch up with them.

But the "Argo" is not an ordinary pirate ship. Its speed is about three times the maximum speed of an ordinary pirate ship. If Odysseus's guess is correct, it will also make a big circle and catch up with the "Red Lion" pirate group at dawn tomorrow.

The sea is vast, but the route is fixed.

For example, to travel from Nikat Island to Jirayin Island, a route is formed through reefs exposed on the sea surface, as well as islands, stars, and ocean currents.

So although the ocean is boundless, if you want to catch up with another ship, you can basically catch up with it by following a fixed route.

The navigation errors of the two are basically within the visible range of the telescope.

If you do not take a fixed route, you are likely to run aground, get lost, or accidentally enter dangerous waters, so most ships will take such a fixed route.

This is also the reason why most pirates pursue the speed of the ship. If they encounter a merchant ship on a fixed route, they must have enough speed to approach it.

If you encounter the navy, you must be fast enough to escape.

Of course, some pirate groups also control some secret routes. In some waters where the navy or "Warranted Punishers" often appear, the pirates also have alternative routes to choose from.

But in the first half of the voyage from Nikat Island to Jirain Island, there is no need to worry that the "Red Lion" pirate group will take other routes, because there are very few navies here and there is no need to do so.

As the second half of the night approached, Odysseus ordered Rupert and others to go back and rest, and to summon them again if there was any situation.

Odysseus and Basil took turns watching the sea.

When the two men drank the third pot of coffee, the sky in the east began to turn white, but there was still no sign of the "Red Lion" pirates.

Odysseus, with bloodshot eyes, put down his binoculars and went to pour a cup of coffee.

In order to facilitate the rotation of duty, the originally empty cockpit was equipped with a table with a spread out nautical chart and two chairs fixed to the floor.

Bazel, who was sitting nearby, suddenly said with a coffee cup in his hand, "When I was on the 'Fingerless' ship, the first mate hated coffee and had a bad habit of drinking when the weather was bad, and he liked to curse when he drank.

“But the strange thing is, no matter how much he drinks, he always gives the right orders at the right time, allowing us to fight the storm non-stop.

"Once, after he scolded me, I secretly replaced the wine in his flask with coffee.

"He took a sip and spat it out more than two meters away...hahaha..."

Bazel said with tears in his eyes: "It is normal to die at sea. Every one of us who goes to sea is prepared to die on this crazy yet boring sea.

"But Taylor shouldn't let them suffer and die in agony before they die."

Odysseus patted the first mate on the shoulder and said, "We will avenge them. Even if we don't catch up with Taylor this time, we have the intelligence exchange meeting as a means to obtain intelligence about them again soon."

Since we haven't caught up with Taylor yet, this pursuit may fail.

Bazel nodded slowly: "I know, I know."

His eyes became determined again.

After finishing his coffee, Odysseus was about to continue observing the sea. Before he picked up the telescope, he saw a black spot on the horizon.

He quickly picked up the telescope and confirmed that it was a fleet of three ships.

Odysseus immediately sounded the alarm and used the "loudspeaker array" to order all crew members: "Prepare for battle!"

Basel jumped up suddenly and hurried to the window. Although he couldn't see the opponent's flag clearly, it was very likely the "Red Lion" pirate group.

When Rupert and others arrived at the cockpit, the situation ahead had become clearer.

First, there is a fleet of three ships on the route. The opponent's flag is a red lion with its head held high. It is the "Red Lion" pirate group.

And in front of the "Red Lion" pirate group, there is a fleet consisting of eight ships.

Bazel watched for a while and initially determined that it was a fleet of armed merchant ships, also heading to Jirain Island.

But what was unlucky for them was that they encountered the "Red Lion" pirate group.

At this time, the "Red Lion" pirate group was obviously chasing the merchant fleet. According to the normal "process" of robbery, after catching up, the "Red Lion" pirate group would use its own speed advantage to circle around a few times for demonstration.

During the circling process, they would shoot at each other with cannons. Experienced pirates could basically find the weaker ships in the fleet after two or three circles, and then launch targeted attacks.

In the cockpit of the Argo, Odysseus held a brief combat meeting: "After the battle begins, Bazel will reunite with the attack team and be ready to take the initiative to attack at any time.

"Rupert will lead the five Extraordinary Golems to defend the deck against an enemy counterattack. If I go to support Bazel, Rupert will still be in the cockpit to command and dispatch."

During the pursuit yesterday afternoon and evening, Odysseus and others had assembled the second batch of 20 "Extraordinary Puppets" and used the extraordinary characteristics of the "Combat Scholar" in the "Wisdom Helmet" to instill fighting skills into them.

Moreover, with the cooperation of Bazel, Odysseus "extracted" the skills of using common weapons such as swords.

These 20 "extraordinary puppets" are specific "combat puppets" that will only be awakened during combat.

Moreover, Odysseus planned to set up a "safety program" for them when he had time to prevent them from accidentally injuring their own crew members.

Odysseus glanced at Yilaizhe. Theoretically, the navigator should return to the cabin to hide.

But Yi Laizhe said, "I'll take a look in the cockpit."

He really wanted to see how this new ship fought.

Odysseus said nothing, but simply said to the Extraordinary Puppet on the side of the cockpit: "Open the safety of the spiritual wave cannon and the machine gun."

The Argo's rapid pursuit quickly attracted the attention of the Red Lion pirates. Bazel, who was watching through a telescope, reported: "The enemy's flagship's crew is using flag signals to inquire about our intentions."

Odysseus, who was sitting in the captain's seat, said, "Tell them I'm here to take their heads. Tell them to clean their necks and wait."

Bazel smiled helplessly: "Flag signals can only express some simple meanings, such as fighting, negotiation, etc."

Odysseus, who had no knowledge of this, said, "Oh!" "Are there flags that mean 'hunting'?"

"No."

"What about the flag signal for 'debt collection'?"

"No."

Unable to express his thoughts accurately, Odysseus said helplessly: "Ignore them and keep moving forward."

At this time, the "Extraordinary Puppet" responsible for observing the distance outside reported in a nearly silent tone: "30 kilometers to the target."

In fact, the enemy ships had already entered the range of the "Spirit Wave Cannon", but Odysseus had not yet given the order to fire.

Because if the "Lingbo Cannon" is fired at its maximum range, it is still very far away from the target and it will take some time to determine the situation of the shelling, which is likely to give Taylor enough time to prepare.

Since we have confirmed that the enemy ship is an ordinary pirate ship, we might as well wait until we get close to it before firing.

The sun slowly rose from the east, illuminating the sea.

At this time, the atmosphere on the sea had become tense. Not only had the "Argo" entered combat status, but the "Red Lion" pirate group in front had also entered combat status.

The pirates prepared the cannon, cleaned the barrel, filled it with gunpowder, and put in the cannonballs.

Most pirates at present are still using this old-fashioned cannon. Although it does not have a long range as those cannons that use their own primer shells, it is more stable.

Generally, only ironclad ships would use new-type cannons, because wooden ships could not fix new-type cannons, and the deck would be seriously damaged after just a few shots.

However, ironclad ships could use welding and other means to fix new guns to the hull, and could also use some hydraulic and spring devices to reduce recoil.

The merchant fleet in the front also discovered the "Argo", but they did not take it too seriously because the "Argo" was too small. Even the two medium-sized pirate ships were much larger than the "Argo".

But the spirit of "Red Lion" Taylor sent him a warning, making him a little uneasy, and he kept taking out the telescope to observe the "Argo".

Of course, he noticed that this seemingly small ship was flying the flag of "Dawn of the Elements", and under the flag of "Dawn of the Elements", there was a strange flag composed of a hexagram, a sword and an eye.

In Taylor's opinion, the size of this ship did not pose any threat, but since it had the flag of "Elemental Dawn", it was very likely that there was a very powerful person on board.

Taylor thought that it was the people on the ship who gave his spirit a warning of danger, but he was not panicked because the other party was at most a Sequence 5, and Taylor had a seal that matched Sequence 5 in his hand.

He exchanged that seal for merit from within the organization, intending to use it for promotion in the future.

When he has accumulated enough merits, he will ask the organization to help break the seal and use the extraordinary properties in it to prepare potions.

So Taylor is probably at the level of Sequence 5 now, and he has already recruited a second mate, and he is on his own ship, so dealing with a Sequence 5 should be no problem.

The only thing to worry about is that the Sequence 5 has a higher-level seal, but even if that happens, Taylor is confident that he can escape.

But the probability of this happening is not high, because Taylor has never offended the captains of "Elemental Dawn" and has given them full respect in some public occasions. He believes that "Elemental Dawn" will not target him.

Just as Taylor was analyzing, a small ship with the word "Argo" on the front of the left string approached this side at a speed that even Taylor was a little surprised.

The crew members on the "Red Lion" were still smoking and teasing the small ship, wondering if it wanted to crash into it in a way that would result in mutual destruction.

It’s not that they underestimated the enemy, but generally speaking, wooden ships would only fire at each other to test each other when they were about seven or eight kilometers apart.

The first few shots would basically hit the water because the range of this old-fashioned cannon was only four or five kilometers.

The mutual probing bombardment can also be seen as a way of expressing each other's determination to fight.

At this moment, Taylor noticed that the deck at the front of the "Argo" suddenly opened, and a mechanical structure that looked very complex and had a strange beauty rose out.

Then, two not very thick metal rods extended from the middle of the machine.

Taylor wondered if it was some new type of extraordinary weapon, but he still didn't take it too seriously. In his opinion, no matter what weapon it was, it couldn't be very powerful at such a distance.

The next second, the space between the two metal sticks became illusory.

This change made Taylor's hand holding the telescope tremble, and he felt an unprecedented palpitation. Almost out of "instinct", he hurried to the edge of the deck.

In the "forest" full of dangers, "hunters" also need to be vigilant enough to avoid becoming prey.

When a small ball of light shot out from between the two metal rods, Taylor's eyes focused, and he immediately jumped into the sea and tried to dive.
The "Red Lion" was hit by the "Spirit Wave Cannon" and the ship instantly disappeared in the strong light.

Following the violent explosion, violent waves and shock waves were formed, overturning another medium-sized ship of the "Red Lion" pirate group.

The only remaining ship was also hit because it was far away. Many cannons and crew members fell into the sea and the mast was broken.

……

At this time, in the cockpit of the "Argo", except for Odysseus, everyone opened their mouths wide and looked at the scene in front of them with surprised expressions.

Basel even forgot to join the attack team, and Rupert kept rubbing his eyes, wondering if he was dreaming?
This also includes Yi Laizhe, because when testing the weapon system of the new ship in the waters of Xiala Island, the ship was first driven to the open sea before starting the test firing.

Only the scholars who participated in setting up the magic array, as well as the ship designers and senior executives of "Elemental Dawn", knew the power of this cannon.

In the quiet cockpit, Odysseus, holding a telescope, sighed. Because the "Argo" was small in size and the area for setting up the magic circle was relatively small, the power of the "Spirit Wave Cannon" was not as powerful as the "Spirit Wave Cannon" on the large ship built for Bernadette.

And you can only fire two shots in a row, and then you have to rest for 2 minutes before you can fire again.

But it's still okay, it has no problem attacking an ironclad ship or something.

Odysseus muttered, "Using anti-aircraft guns to kill mosquitoes," then put down his telescope and ordered the Extraordinary Puppet, "Prepare the bow machine guns and fire at the only remaining enemy ship!"

……

The crews of the merchant fleet ahead were all stunned and came to the deck to watch. Many of them were already kneeling on the ground praising the "Lord of Storms" or the "God of the Sea".

They thought that their prayers must have moved the gods, so they brought down divine punishment and blew up the pirates' flagship.

Only a few people holding telescopes saw that it was the "Argo" that launched a small light spot, and then that light spot caused the violent explosion just now.

Before they could explain to the people around them, the bow of the "Argo" fired a series of shells, and the last pirate ship was immediately engulfed in flames. The flames may have ignited the gunpowder magazine, and the entire stern was blown away.

The crew members jumped into the sea in the flames.

Almost in the blink of an eye, the pirate ship began to sink from the stern.

There was no need for them to explain at this time. The crew members praying on the ground also understood that it was the ship that did not look very big that attacked the "Red Lion" pirate group.

In less than ten seconds, one of the pirates' ships was blown up and two were sunk.

Yes, it was "blown away", because there were not even a few pieces of wood left on the flagship.

The crew members stood there in shock. The scene before them was completely beyond their understanding and beyond their wildest imagination.

……

wow~
Taylor finally floated to the surface, breathing heavily.

The violent explosion just now generated a shock wave that pushed him into the deep sea. He swam desperately to avoid drowning.

At this time, Taylor was seriously injured, with a small dent on his head, which was also the damage caused by the shock wave just now.

Taylor also had a broken arm and a wooden plank stuck in his back.

When he saw the situation on the water, he was stunned, as if he was in a nightmare.

The "Red Lion" pirate group is gone. Just a moment ago, his pirate group was gone!

Of the remaining two ships, one capsized and the other had begun to sink.

The one that began to sink was now burning with flames.

The bodies of the crew members were scattered all over the water. Some of them were burned to death, and some were killed by the impact of the shock wave after hitting hard objects.

"Captain... Captain..." A hoarse, weak voice brought Taylor back to his senses.

He saw his first mate, Sandra, floating on the sea not far away, her originally beautiful face half scorched and the other half severely burned.

Her body was incomplete. One of her arms was missing, her abdomen was incomplete, and the remaining parts were mostly burnt, leaving no trace of her former beauty and sexiness.

Taylor could imagine that at the moment of the violent explosion, she must have been constantly using various "stand-in" abilities.

But the power of the explosion was still too great, and even though she kept using her substitute, she still suffered serious injuries.

Because her body was strengthened by the potion, she did not die immediately.

But at this point, the potion's enhancement turned into a curse, and it would be better to just die.

Taylor seemed to fall into reality all of a sudden, his eyes became gloomy again, he glanced at the "Argo", and after it was some distance away from here, it swam to Sandora's side.

Seeing the first mate's eyes, Taylor instantly recalled the passionate nights.

He was very self-aware and knew that he was not a good person. He used all kinds of despicable means to defeat his opponents. He tortured the captives in battle to death and offered them as sacrifices to the great gods.

But at this moment, Taylor felt for the first time that perhaps he had done too many bad things and that was why he suffered such a blow.

At the same time, he felt despair for the first time, because until this moment, he didn't know what weapon had caused such a violent explosion just now?
He didn't even know how he had offended them? Why did they suddenly attack him?
But this was not the time to think about that. Taylor tried to stay calm and put a hand on Sandora's forehead.

As the first mate twitched slightly, two flames emerged from her eyes.

Taylor burned her brain and left her to die.

Then, without looking back, Taylor swam in the opposite direction of the Argo.

……

In the cockpit of the Argo, Odysseus ordered the first and second officers: "Take your binoculars and go to the deck to look for any trace of Taylor."

Everyone in the room seemed to suddenly come to their senses and started to get busy.

However, the shock of the Argo's weapons had not yet completely subsided. Bazel turned around before walking towards the telescope, while Rupert reached out and grabbed the telescope twice before he finally grasped it.

Odysseus smiled. This was the first time that the "Spirit Wave Cannon" and "Extraordinary Machine Cannon" were used in actual combat, and the results were very good.

With the support of this ship, he has the strength of a "pirate general".

But Odysseus was very clear that although the "Spirit Wave Cannon" was very powerful, it was difficult to kill a Sequence 6 with it.

If the opponent is a stubborn person, the "Spirit Wave Cannon" is enough to kill a Sequence 5 level enemy.

But the problem is, Extraordinary people are not targets, and they will not be stupid enough to fight against such a powerful cannon.

Their spirituality will definitely give them some early warning, allowing them to take actions to avoid danger.

Therefore, Odysseus concluded that Taylor was not dead yet, or that Sequence 6 and Sequence 5 had time and space to escape.

Taylor didn't find them immediately, but Bazel observed that most of the members of the "Red Lion" pirate group were dead, with corpses floating everywhere, and the few survivors were struggling in the water in a daze.

At this time, Rupert found Taylor who was swimming desperately.

Odysseus immediately ordered the ship to adjust its course and catch up with Taylor.

When Taylor saw that the Argo had discovered him, fire crows flew out of the sea and hit the Argo like bombs.

Odysseus immediately ordered: "Replace the bow machine guns with ice cannons to stop the fire crows."

bang bang bang~
The machine guns at the bow of the ship began firing again, exploding white "fireworks" in the air and forming a curtain of ice and snow.

Some of the Fire Crows that were hit directly were frozen in the ice and fell into the sea.

Even those that were not hit would quickly shrink and be extinguished after passing through this layer of ice and snow.

"Extend the artillery fire!" Odysseus immediately ordered: "Attack Taylor!"

bang bang bang~
The sound of artillery fire was like a death accusation, and a series of shells were poured towards Taylor.

Taylor's spirit sensed the crisis again and summoned several layers of "fire walls" on the sea to block his vision, allowing him to narrowly escape this round of bombardment.

Odysseus ordered: "Prepare the electromagnetic cannon."

In the middle of the "Argo", the sail of the lowest of the three horizontal masts suddenly fell onto the deck, and an "extraordinary puppet" quickly climbed to the connection between the horizontal mast and the vertical mast.

There is a complex mechanical structure here. After pulling out the corresponding safety ring, the mast can be adjusted up, down, left and right.

Finally, the horizontal end of the mast was probably aimed at Taylor, and the "extraordinary puppet" immediately jumped down from it.

Almost at the same time, the upright mast suddenly emitted sparks with a "sizzling" sound, making Bazel and Rupert's hair on the deck stand up.

However, they are within a safe distance and are not in danger.

A small electric ball quickly formed at the end of the horizontal mast facing Taylor.

In the cockpit, the "Extraordinary Puppet" at the console reported: "Energy charging complete."

Odysseus: "Fire!"

The small electric ball was shot out and exploded almost instantly not far from Taylor, forming a large electric ball with flashing arcs on the sea surface.

For a moment, the white lightning in the sky made the sea surface look snow-white, and the sun's rays seemed to weaken.

When the lightning disappeared, Taylor sank straight into the sea.

But he did not die, because at the critical moment, he covered his body with a layer of flames, so he was not burned by the electric sparks.

At this time, Taylor was just paralyzed by the electric shock and could no longer float on the sea.

Odysseus stood up from the captain's seat, walked to the deck, and said to Bazel, who was about to jump into the sea to look for Taylor, "Wait a moment."

Bazel, whose eyes were already red, looked at the captain.

Odysseus stood at the cockpit door and said, "Although he has done many evil things, you must not become like him."

Bazel nodded somewhat touchedly: "Yes, Captain."

Odysseus then said to the Extraordinary Puppet: "Pave a way for the first mate."

bang bang bang~
The "extraordinary machine guns" at the bow and stern of the ship fired at the same time. This time, they fired "ice cannons". The white shells exploded on the sea surface, freezing a small area of sea water.

As the artillery fire extended, a channel was formed to the place where Taylor had just fallen into the water.

After using a cannon to "blast" out a small ice and snow platform near where Taylor fell into the water, the shelling stopped.

Bazel walked on the ice, and the ice water wet his shoes and trouser legs, which gradually calmed him down.

The steps towards that ice and snow platform are becoming more and more steady.

wow~
Just as Basel arrived on the "ice and snow platform", Taylor finally swam out of the sea. He used all his strength and finally climbed onto the "ice and snow platform", lying there gasping for breath.

Although the "electromagnetic cannon" shell did not burn Taylor, the electric arc pierced holes in his body.

He even lost consciousness for a while just now. Even though he was a Sequence 6, he choked on the water several times after being in the sea for such a long time and almost suffocated to death underwater.

After all, he is not a Beyonder of the "Sailor" Path.

The desire to survive made Taylor swim up, but at this time his eyes were dazed and he was seriously injured, and he had lost half his life.

Bazel pulled out a dagger and cut Taylor's throat, who had no ability to resist at all: "When I escaped from the sea of fire, I told you that I would come for revenge.

“Now, here I am.

"This knife is for the first mate, and also for me."

Then, Bazel calmly watched Taylor's powerless death struggle, watched his blood drain out, his whole body twitching, and watched the extraordinary characteristics in his body begin to precipitate.

Bazel smiled with tears in his eyes: "First Mate, Captain, Old Cohen, 'Big Butt', 'Little Brat'... The feeling of revenge is pretty good."

Suddenly, Basel felt as if a stone fell from his heart. His strength seemed to be suddenly drained away, and he fell onto the "ice and snow platform".

(End of this chapter)