Gunpowder Plate Armor and the Magic Revolution

The first mate looked at the group of shackled pirates in front of him with a cold expression, and simply assigned them tasks one by one.

The work was simple: the strong carried timber and ropes for the carpenters, the quick and nimble cleaned the deck and cabin, and the rest followed the sail tailor to repair and replace sails torn by shrapnel.

After assigning tasks, the first mate took a half step forward, his eyes sweeping fiercely over the pirates, and he lowered his voice to utter harsh words.

"All of you, behave yourselves and get to work! You're not pirates anymore, you're crew members. You get paid every month, and you don't have to live in fear anymore. If anyone dares to have any more crooked thoughts, I'll be the first to sink them to the bottom of the sea and feed them to the fish!"

After saying that, he pointed to the sun gradually sinking into the sea in the west, "Time is tight and the task is heavy. If the ship isn't repaired before sunset, no one will have a peaceful night! Get moving!"

Upon hearing this, the pirates dared not delay in the slightest and immediately began working, dragging their heavy shackles along.

The already scarce manpower was further reduced by Evan taking some of it away, forcing the entire crew of the Shining Gold to work non-stop. Even the young officers who were not injured were temporarily assigned to the transport team, carrying heavy timber and barrels back and forth on the deck.

Lucas mingled in the crowd, carrying heavy canvas and hemp rope, constantly complaining that he had just finished fighting a war and hadn't had a chance to rest before becoming a laborer again, but he still obediently delivered the hemp rope and canvas to the carpenter.

Andrew stayed by the ship's side, helping the sailors tidy up the ropes that had been torn apart by cannon fire.

Nozer, on the other hand, did not have to participate in these physical tasks. At this moment, he was squatting in the temporary wounded area on the side of the deck, which was sheltered from the wind, and was concentrating on bandaging the wounds of the injured sailors and warrant officers.

That's the advantage of having skills; at least you don't have to do manual labor, right?

The bag contained the ship's doctor's gift to him, and it was filled with clean bandages, disinfectant liquor, and neatly categorized sewing needles and cotton thread.

He carefully cleaned the wood chips from the sailor's knife wound, disinfected it with the ship's liquor, and then picked up a needle to stitch up the wound.

After the stitches were finished, Norze placed a clean gauze pad on the wound and then tightly wrapped the bandage around it, his movements skillful and steady, minimizing the patient's pain as much as possible.

"Okay, it's nothing serious. Don't remove the gauze for a day. Come see me when it's time to change the dressing. Don't move your arm too much, don't get it wet, and you also need to quit smoking and drinking."

"If you don't get infected, you should recover in about seven or eight days."

Just as Norze finished bandaging the sailor and giving him instructions, and was about to go check on the next wounded soldier, he caught a glimpse of someone squatting not far away.

The man looked to be about the same age as Norze, and his attire suggested he was a surrendered pirate from the Fang, but he wasn't wearing shackles.

Why isn't this pirate staying in the cabin of the Fang? Why is he in the wounded area?

Noze became suspicious and began to observe the other party carefully.

The man watched the wounded sailors groaning and skillfully helped by handing them cloths, pouring strong liquor, and cleaning the blood and grime around their wounds.

Several sailors were wary of the pirate, and when he approached, they shouted at him to get lost.

The boy wasn't annoyed. He simply stepped back two paces silently, and once the other person had calmed down, he stepped forward again and quietly did what he could.

Disinfecting, cleaning wounds, bandaging, and so on.

Looking at him, Noze felt a slight stirring in his heart, and got up to walk over.

When the boy saw an officer named Nozer walking towards him, he tensed up instantly and instinctively shrank back.

"take it easy."

Noze crouched down and spoke in a gentle tone, "Disinfection doesn't require rinsing the deep part of the wound, just cleaning the area around it is enough. And bandaging isn't as tight as you've done; padding it with a few layers of gauze as a buffer will be more effective. Come here and take a closer look."

The boy was stunned for a moment, then quickly nodded and leaned closer to watch Noze's movements carefully.

He studied very diligently, staring intently at the screen, occasionally asking a question about a detail in a low voice. After watching, he tried it out twice and grasped the concepts quickly and well.

"What's your name?"

Seeing how quickly he was learning, Norze became interested and casually asked, "You studied medicine before? Why did you volunteer to help?"

"My name is George Wagner. My father used to be a barber who could treat knife wounds and bruises. I also learned some of those skills and am now the ship's doctor on the Fang."

"Being a doctor, I'm used to helping treat people who are injured."

"Then why did you become a pirate?"

Looking at the kind-hearted George, Norzer couldn't help but feel suspicious.

George simply shook his head, refusing to mention his background or origins.

Seeing that he was unwilling to say more, Norze didn't press him further. Instead, he continued the conversation while treating the lightly wounded sailors who were arriving one after another. "Pirate ships are probably full of people who fight and kill, bullying men and women. Life at sea must be very difficult, right?"

This opened up a floodgate of conversation for George. Without stopping what he was doing, he said softly, "Not entirely. Legitimate pirate gangs all have pirate codes with clearly defined rules, and they're actually quite fair inside."

"fair?"

Noze raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.

In his mind, pirates were lawless outlaws who lived by violence and plunder, and he never thought they would be associated with the word "fairness".

"Um."

George nodded, his tone becoming more serious. "According to the rules of the code, whether you're a veteran sailor or a newcomer, every decision on board must be made in a collective meeting. Everyone has one vote, and no one can act unilaterally."

"The captain and the quartermaster in charge of supplies are both elected by the majority. If the majority thinks he is not good enough, they can vote to replace him at any time."

He paused, a hint of disgust flashing in his eyes, "Of course, there are exceptions like Red Wolf and Black Fang, who used their knives and guns to establish a reign of terror, killing anyone who disobeyed them without any regard for the law. So most of the people on the ship didn't respect them, and when a real fight broke out, few were willing to fight for them, so their deaths were inevitable."

Noze nodded thoughtfully, then asked, "What if someone is seriously injured or crippled at sea? Are they just thrown back into the ocean?"

"No, that won't happen."

George shook his head, speaking with great familiarity about the pirates' internal rules.

"The code stipulates disability compensation, all with clearly marked prices. If you lose your right arm in battle, you get 8 silver shields; if you lose your left arm, you get 6 silver shields; if you lose your left or right leg, you get 5 silver shields; if you go blind or lose a finger, you get 1 silver shield. Even if you are completely unable to work, you will receive a sum of money as compensation and be sent to the 'Pirate Republic' to be settled. They won't just throw you into the sea to feed the fish."

These details about the lives of pirates were things Norze had never heard before. He paused, gesturing for George to continue.