Gunpowder Plate Armor and the Magic Revolution

Noze quickly ran up to the ship's deck.

The superstructure is the highest point on the entire Shining Gold, nearly two meters higher than the main deck. It has firing windows on three sides, facing the bow and both sides of the ship. Four naval-style rotary cannons are mounted on the gun mounts in the firing windows, with their muzzles pointed directly at the approaching pirate ship.

This rotary cannon is a scaled-down version of the breech-loading breech-loading cannon. The barrel is only a little over a meter long, and the gun carriage can rotate 360 ​​degrees. It can be fired quickly by pre-loaded bullets and is a powerful tool for suppressing decks in coastal warfare.

The artillery warrant officer, holding a scouring pad, was frantically rubbing the rust inside the cannon barrel. "...This [something] broken cannon hasn't been fired in at least three years, it's covered in rust! Oh, and go light the match cord on the ignition rod on the ground, both ends. If it doesn't light, find a sheltered spot. Hurry up! You didn't forget your flint, did you?"

"I don't use that thing to start a fire."

Noze picked up the ignition rod from the ground, flicked his fingertips with magic, and the [Burning Spell] was instantly activated, igniting the fire rope with a "whoosh".

"A magician? You... what's your name?"

The artillery warrant officer looked at Nozer in surprise.

"My name is Knoze Stella."

"Very good, Norze Stella. My name is Wenlai Reisol, from the artillery section."

Brunei nodded. "Take good care of it. Don't let it go out. I'll tell you when to light it, so just light it."

After saying that, he directed the remaining two men to work on the remaining rotary cannons.

The pirate ship was incredibly fast; in just fifteen minutes, it had caught up to within a nautical mile of the target.

All the gun ports on the side of the ship were opened, revealing the dark muzzles of the cannons, which were pointed directly at their unsuspecting cargo ship.

Norze could clearly see a burly man nearly two meters tall standing on the deck of the pirate ship. He was blind in one left eye, and a hideous scar ran from his forehead to his chin. He was holding up binoculars and looking in their direction, seemingly shouting something.

The pirates around him roared and brandished their scimitars, acting like madmen.

"boom!"

The enemy gunboat fired its bow cannon first. The shells were too far away and landed in the sea next to the Shining Gold, splashing up huge columns of water, but the momentum was still very strong.

"Raise the white flag!"

Captain Evan shouted to his sailors, "Hard to port! We're going to find that gunboat!"

The white flag slowly rose along the mainmast, spreading out a blinding white in the sea breeze, instantly overshadowing the original Orentia merchant flag of the Shining Gold.

"Evan! Are you fucking insane?!"

Bilkin instantly flew into a rage, grabbing Captain Evan by the collar with his intact right hand and lifting him up. The veins on his forehead throbbed violently. "The Orentia army has never surrendered! If you dare raise a white flag, I'll throw you into the sea to feed the fish right now!"

"Major General! Major General, please calm down! It's Commander Monet's order!"

Evan turned pale with fright, kicking his arms and legs wildly as he desperately tried to explain, "It's all tactics! It's tactics!"

Bilkin abruptly turned to look at Monet, who was still leaning against the railing of the ship's deck, slowly twirling the steel die between his fingers, as if the white flag fluttering in the wind had nothing to do with him.

Only when Bilkin strode over, knife in hand, did he raise his eyes, his icy gray gaze sweeping over the approaching pirate ship. His tone was flat. "The pirates have raised the red flag; they're planning to leave no survivors. Do you think they care whether you surrender or not?"

Monet, with a lit cigarette dangling from his lips, gestured with his chin to indicate that Bilkin was looking at the pirates crowding the deck of the pirate ship.

"But those idiots will believe that if we raise the white flag, they will think that we are just like those terrified merchant ships, with no will to resist, and that we will just crowd on the deck waiting to beg for mercy, or that we are thinking only about jumping overboard to escape."

"Otherwise, do you expect to fight them with two outdated sack guns? Only when they come close, right under our guns, will they realize what kind of trap they've fallen into."

Bilkin's grip on his saber tightened and loosened repeatedly, his chest heaving violently twice. Finally, he spat out a curse, threw Evan onto the deck, and turned to growl at the arquebusiers crouching behind the breastwork on the ship's side.

"Hide yourselves, all of you! No one is allowed to show their faces or fire a shot without my orders! Anyone who messes things up, I'll chop them down with my own hands!"

The officers, who had suffered this undeserved calamity, immediately clutched their matchlock muskets tightly to their chests, the burning matchlocks tucked under the breastwork for shelter from the wind, emitting only a few wisps of almost invisible smoke.

Lucas, gripping his naval scimitar in one hand, crouched at the front, his eyes gleaming with excitement as he stared intently at the approaching pirate ship.

He was already itching to get started.

Andrew squatted beside him, looking nervous, constantly fiddling with the alchemy material pouch at his waist.

Inside the ship's deck, Noze was half-crouched, holding a tinder stick to keep the fire rope burning.

He could feel his heart pounding and his adrenaline surging.

War! War!

This thing that everyone avoids yet can't seem to escape has finally appeared.

Meanwhile, on the pirate ship, a scene of revelry had already broken out.

One-Eyed Red Wolf, holding binoculars, looked at the white flag fluttering on the mast of the Flash Gold, then glanced at the ship's deck where not a single armed figure could be seen. He suddenly let out a deafening, maniacal laugh, slamming his hand hard on the railing of the superstructure. "I thought they were tough guys! Turns out they're just a bunch of cowards who go weak at the sight of a red flag!"

His second-in-command leaned in, a fawning smile on his face. "The boss is brilliant! These merchant ship owners are all cowards. They'll surrender the moment they see our flag. Look at this ship—solid keel, spacious cabins. We can easily modify it and turn it into a capital ship!"

"Nonsense! Don't you even know who's in command?"

Red Wolf was quite pleased with his subordinates' flattery. "If we were still following that boss I'm keeping locked up, we'd be starving to death by now!"

He suddenly waved his hand and roared at the pirates on the ship, "Get moving! Full speed ahead! Those on the foredeck, prepare to throw grappling hooks! Remember, kill all the men and throw them overboard, the women..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was drowned out by the pirates' deafening swearing and maniacal laughter.

The pirates who were originally guarding the gun positions also swarmed to the foredeck.

Some casually tucked their scimitars into their waistbands and carried ropes to bind people, while others held matchlock guns but hadn't even lit the matchlocks, chatting and laughing with those around them.

Some even threw away their weapons, clinging to the ship's railing and pushing forward, hoping to be the first to board and grab the most valuable items.

"A mob."

This was Monet's assessment of them. He yawned, completely losing the passion he had when he first formulated the plan.