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"He's the one buying the things, not me. We haven't discussed it yet. Why are you packing so quickly?"

Artemisia glared at the pirate coldly, her face as cold as an iceberg, and scared him so much that he hurriedly put the pulley crossbow back.

"Let's go with the matchlock gun. Believe me, this thing is much better than the pulley crossbow."

Seeing that Artemisia didn't say anything and had a tacit expression, Aenarion turned to ask the pirate.

"How much does this thing cost?"

"The market price of an Ottoman matchlock is 100 grosso. One iron bullet and a corresponding amount of black powder cost 1 grosso. The iron bullet is not expensive, but the black powder is very expensive, almost as expensive as the same weight of silver. I can also give you an instruction manual, ten ignition matches, and a flint for ignition."

The pirate warehouse manager said respectfully.

Now that I have the ranged weapon, I need a close combat weapon. Aenarion looked around and finally chose a dagger that was more than 2 centimeters long and worth grossos.

In one shopping trip, Aenarion spent all his 100 grossos. He spent 2 grossos on a 18% new Ottoman matchlock rifle, grossos on a dagger, grossos on a glass bottle of black powder, enough for eighteen shots, eighteen rounds of ammunition, as well as matchlocks, flints and other miscellaneous items.

Out of consideration for the second captain's kindness and at Aenarion's request, the pirate warehouse keeper gave the captain an extra leather bag, a stack of oil paper, a bundle of thin ropes, a piece of flexible hemp rope for tying the sails, a small piece of thick leather and a few rivets. Anyway, all these odds and ends did not cost a single silver coin.

Chapter 8: Ottoman Matchlock

Aenarion took the things he had bought, walked through the prison corridor, and under the unfriendly eyes of the eight elven slave girls, returned to the room on the upper deck, and began to operate this ancient firearm according to the instructions.

The first step is to clean the ignition hole and gunpowder pool with oil paper to prevent the gunpowder residue left over from the last firing of ammunition from clogging the gap.

Step 2: Unscrew the small bottle of black powder and weigh how much gunpowder you need to pour into the barrel. How much depends on your experience and luck.

Step 3: Load the bullet from the muzzle.

Step 4: Pull out the cleaning rod from under the barrel and tamp the bullet and black powder in the barrel.

Step 5: Take out the gravel and iron sheets and rub them against each other to produce sparks to ignite the fuse.

Step 6: Fix the fuse on the fuse clamp.

Step 7: Pull the trigger to trigger the mechanical device. As the fuse falls, the cover of the gunpowder pool pops open, and the burning fuse goes directly into the interior of the firearm, igniting the gunpowder. Accompanied by a deafening roar, the shock wave formed by the gunpowder explosion pushes the metal projectile and the choking white smoke out from the long barrel. The metal projectile screams and tears through the air, blasting a brilliant wave on the sea, and the splashing water droplets create ripples on the tranquil sea surface.

Step 8: After shooting, due to the power of the explosion in the gunpowder pool, the fuse is bounced off the fuse clamp and now lies on the floor burning quietly. You need to pick it up again, fix the fuse, and then repeat the first step.

The whole process took him a full thirty seconds, and he still had seventeen rounds of ammunition left.

"This thing has no accuracy at all. It's Slaanesh's blessing that it can hit something at ten meters away, and it took you thirty seconds to reload. If we fight, as long as your first bullet misses the target, I can kill you a dozen times while you are reloading."

Artemisia was still upset that Aenarion had bought this junk.

"Don't worry, many steps can be optimized."

Aenarion thought about it. In real history, people spent five or six hundred years exploring and improving various methods of using firearms in battle after battle. He only had a vague understanding of this process.

First of all, gunpowder cannot be stored in a bottle. Pouring gunpowder each time depends on your feeling, which wastes time and may cause danger if you pour too much, or cause insufficient power if you pour too little.

He took out the oil paper, cut it into small pieces, divided the remaining gunpowder into seventeen even portions, and wrapped them together with the iron ammunition in seventeen pieces of oil paper. In this way, a tightly wrapped piece of oil paper contained compacted gunpowder on top and iron cast projectiles on the bottom. It became the paper-wrapped bullet invented in the seventeenth century, the prototype of modern ammunition.

When firing, just stuff the paper bullet into the barrel and press it firmly before use. In an emergency, you don't even need to press it firmly. It simplifies two or three steps into one, and can also ensure a fixed amount of gunpowder and maintain a stable output of the firearm.

Secondly, this damn matchlock is a waste of time. More than half of the thirty seconds is wasted on using the flint to light the fire, fixing the matchlock, picking up the things that were hit by the explosion, and finally picking up the things that were hit by the explosion.

I was on the flying matchstick. I was a liberal arts student and didn't understand the principle of making a flintlock, but I was a sorcerer! I could play with fire.

Inarion made a second test shot. After cleaning the gunpowder chamber, he stuffed a paper bullet into the muzzle, tamped it down, and pulled the trigger. In an instant, the cover of the gunpowder pool popped open and the gunpowder clip fell down, but there was no fuse that penetrated deep into the gun to ignite the gunpowder.

However, it didn't matter. Aenarion concentrated on casting a spell and used a zero-ring trick that did not consume mana: Fire. Three seconds later, a bright spark the size of a fingernail flew out of his mouth and spun into the gunpowder pool, instantly igniting the grease and detonating the black gunpowder in the paper-wrapped bullet. The iron bullet instantly tore through the fragile paper that wrapped itself, whizzed out of the barrel, and completed the second shot amid a deafening bombardment.

After greatly optimizing the charging process and omitting the troublesome matchlock that took up half of the operation steps, the eight steps of firing a matchlock gun were optimized into four steps: cleaning, loading, stabbing, and shooting! The most troublesome steps were also omitted. It only took Aenarion ten seconds to fire this time, which was close to the time it took to load a pulley crossbow.

Sixteen rounds of ammunition left.

"This time it takes ten seconds to complete the reload. Okay, I admit that you used the warlock's trick to solve the problem of long reload time, but what about the accuracy?"

Artemisia was still a little worried.

"Since I can't hit them accurately from a distance, I'll just shoot them from close range. I don't believe that a close-range shot will miss. I have [Inert Armor] and [Vitality] to protect my life. Even if the two female leopards get close to me, they won't be able to kill me in a short time. And their heads may not be able to block my bullets."

Aenarion was confident in his two life-saving spells.

"Then why did you buy a dagger as a melee weapon to save your life? Why not buy a mace or something, which is easy to operate and powerful?"

"because this."

Aenarion responded to the other party's question with action. He first used thick leather to wrap the top of the barrel and the handle of the dagger tightly together, fixed the leather with rivets, and fixed the dagger firmly on the barrel. He then tied it with several circles of hemp rope to reinforce it, making it a fairly sturdy bayonet.

In this way, this 1.5-meter-long matchlock gun can be used as a 1.8-meter-long spear in battle. This trick was invented about one or two hundred years later.

"Look, Artemisia, this thing is not only a long-range musket, but also a spear that can be used in close combat."

Aenarion proudly displayed the knowledge of the 21st century, and the elf exclaimed in disbelief. He looked at the attributes and found that his own damage was improved because of this composite weapon.

Originally, it was fist +2 hits, 3~5 damage. Now, it is matchlock -8 hits, 10~80 damage, and bayonet +2 hits, 3~10 damage.

Aenarion clenched the wooden body of the gun, and the panic in his heart receded a little as his strength increased.

Now, he had the warlock's spells, this firearm with a bayonet, and Artemisia's help, so he finally had the confidence to take action.

Chapter 9: The Venetian Fleet

"I remember I collected a training guide for Greek spearmen. You can practice with this."

Artemisia rummaged through the boxes and found a book. She handed it to Aenarion and left the room again. She locked the door three times and ordered the crew to lower a small canoe from the sailboat and row to the other five ships to borrow money. Aenarion hid in the room and practiced basic movements such as thrusting and stabbing, imitating the use of a spear.

Two hours later, Artemisia returned, and Aenarion didn't need telepathy to know that things were not going well. Her cold face was full of frustration and anger.

"That guy was one step ahead of me. He contacted other captains and sold some of our interests on the ship, asking everyone not to lend me money. Some captains even wanted me to be a slave before they would lend me money."

Well, at first she called the Bulgarian captain a barbarian, then a bitch after he refused to lend her money, and now she has been reduced to an animal. It seems that she is really angry.

"It's okay, don't worry, we will definitely find a way."

Aenarion didn't know whether he was comforting the other or himself.

Just when the two were anxious, several pirates knocked on the door and delivered lunch on time. There was nothing delicious to eat while sailing on the sea. There were only a few pieces of bread, a plate of pickled lamb, a can of salted olives and beans, two bottles of sweet Greek wine, and a fresh fish cooked in fish soup. They were all common crops on the coast of the Aegean Sea.

Inarion was a little hungry at the moment. He had not had a drop of water since he traveled here yesterday, so he started to eat in big mouthfuls. Only salt was added to these things, without any onion, ginger or garlic. To Inarion, who had enjoyed modern MSG, soy sauce and other condiments, the taste was very bland, about the same as wine and modern fermented grape juice. Never mind, recovering strength was more important, so he would just eat it.

"By the way, Artemisia, I just awakened to become a warlock yesterday. I want to know, how can I upgrade to a second-level warlock?"

Night Raid, Group 6; Nine 4 9 Three '6 One 'Three 5 Aenarion was confused.

"I don't know. Soldiers hone their physical fitness through arduous and rigorous combat training.

Fight bravely to gain combat experience to become stronger. Mages learn more spells through hard work and practice, and constantly release magic to accumulate casting experience to become stronger. Paladins like me have a little bit of both. I have to train in combat to improve my combat ability, practice Paladin magic, and constantly offer blood sacrifices to the Lady of Hunger in exchange for more grace and magic from her."

Artemisia ate the olive beans gracefully.

"But warlocks are natural spellcasters. You don't need to learn. As soon as you are born, violent magical energy rushes through your veins. And just like a dragon, it will become stronger and stronger over time. The only thing you can practice is to control and guide the violent power inherited from your blood. I don't know the specific process, so maybe you can ask a warlock. However, all professionals can break through their own limits through constant killing and fighting in desperate situations."

"That's it, okay."

Aenarion took up his knife and cut a slit in the middle of the toasted bread, stuffed the pickled mutton and olive beans into it and ate it like a meat sandwich. When he was thirsty, he drank some fish soup or wine. After a meal, his stomach was finally full.

“Woo-woo-woo!”

“Woo-woo!”

Suddenly, a loud and powerful trumpet sound came from the deck. Artemisia's face changed immediately. The first melody was one long and three short, which meant the discovery of the enemy. The second melody was one long and two short, which meant an emergency assembly.

"Stay here and don't move. Lock the door. This horn sound means that the enemy is approaching. I'm going to go out and see what's going on."

Artemisia turned and left, locking the door. Inarion curiously opened the porthole, stuck his head out, and found five small black spots on the sea ahead, which were getting bigger as time went by.

That was a 42-meter-long galley, a giant on the sea. Forty huge oars that required two people to slide stretched out from both sides of the ship's side and hit the sea in unison, creating thousands of blue waves amid the noisy sound of water splashes.

On the deck, three huge masts hold up three extremely large triangular sails, giving the sails additional kinetic energy. There is a cylindrical three-story tower at the bow and stern of the ship. Five black cannons stretch out from the shooting holes of the towers, aiming directly at here.

In addition to the Galleon, there were four 15-meter-long Arab triangular sailboats similar to the pirates' vessels, all flying Venetian flags, forming a battle formation and sailing towards them.

Before Aenarion could understand what was happening, suddenly, there was a deafening explosion on the sea. Five extremely huge stone shells were blasted out of the barrel accompanied by billowing white smoke. The whistling sound of the shells tearing through the air was like a thousand banshees, making a creepy and shrill scream in the air!

Aenarion suddenly retracted his head and quickly cast an inert armor on himself. The illusory star matter weaved a majestic set of silver scale armor on his tall body. Then he loaded ammunition into the musket, just in case, and listened to the shrill whistling of the shells across the sky with trepidation, praying that these five rapidly flying shells would not hit his head.

"boom!!!"

Fortunately, the galley was far away from Caesar's Pride, and all five shells deflected into the sea. The blue waves were blown into the sky dozens of meters high, and then turned into a rainstorm, dripping down, creating ripples on the calm sea surface. The rippling waves pushed Caesar's Pride to shake and bump.

Aenarion didn't know what instructions the Bulgarian captain had given, but he knew that the 15-meter boat didn't dodge or evade, and rushed head-on to the 42-meter-long sea giant! Through the porthole, he found that the other five Arab sailboats in the Slaanesh fleet also began to encircle and surround the enemy ships. A large number of Slaanesh pirates stood on the deck and waved flags desperately, coordinating with the pirates on other ships through flag signals. Cannons were also pulled onto the deck, fixed and fired at the Venetians.

For a moment, the roar of gunpowder explosions, the whistling of cannonballs, and the crazy war cries of pirates made Aenarion's ears buzz. A cannonball whizzed past the right side of Caesar's Pride's ship. The huge impact force tore the entire wooden wall into pieces! Countless sharp wood chips splashed in all directions like a swarm of locusts. Fortunately, he was protected by silver scale armor, otherwise he would have been stabbed like a hedgehog.

Aenarion swallowed. Inside the room, the wooden wall close to the sea on the starboard side was torn apart by the shell. The remaining broken walls were gradually collapsing and disintegrating in the bumpy waves. If he had just been leaning against the window looking out, the shell might have hit him directly.

In this era, firearms had just come out and the hit rate was quite random. Both sides fired more than a dozen shells in a row, but their accuracy was very erratic. Less than 10% of the shells successfully hit the hull, and none of them hit the vital points, and could not cause decisive damage.

The Pride of Caesar continued to charge forward at full speed. A Venetian sailboat, seeing that the power of its artillery was limited, had to stop between the galley and the pirate ship, then turned its bow and charged at full speed towards the Pride of Caesar to intercept it. Neither of the two 15-meter-long sailboats backed off, and they sped towards each other at full speed. The bronze rams on the two bows were looming on the choppy sea.

One hundred meters, fifty meters

, ten meters!

"boom!!!"

The bows of the two sailing ships collided heavily with the sound of bronze colliding, wood tearing and waves rushing. The huge bumps made the sailors on both sides kneel on the deck, unable to keep their balance. Some unlucky ones were directly blown away and fell into the sea, causing ripples. The protruding bows of both sides were smashed into pieces. A large amount of sharp wood debris, accompanied by the shock wave, splashed in all directions, tearing scarlet blood marks on the exposed skin of the soldiers and pirates.

Under the huge inertia, the two ships that collided heavily were still moving forward. The tattered bows were lifted up by the dynamic force and slowly left the sea, like two tigers standing up, entangled with their front paws, tearing each other. Aenarion felt dizzy, and when he regained his balance, he found himself lying on the wall at the back of the cabin.

After a long while, the tattered bows of the two sailboats barely staggered to the left and right with the creaking sound of wood, and at the same time slammed heavily into the sea, stirring up thousands of blue waves. When the deck was parallel to the sea surface again, the sides of the two ships were almost sticking together, and hooks were thrown over from the Venetian ship, firmly holding the side of Caesar's Pride!

"In the name of Jesus Christ! Kill all these pagans!"

"Doge Dandolo is eternal!"

"Sacrifice the blood of Christ! Sacrifice the head of Jesus!!!"

Countless Venetian mercenaries, wearing breastplate armor, three-quarter plate armor, or even full body plate armor, and wearing yellow cloaks to distinguish between friend and foe, brandished swords, spears, and halberds, boarded the ships of the Slaanesh pirates and started killing.

The purple-robed Slaanesh pirates were not to be outdone, and they drew their scimitars or fought back with mutated flesh weapons. The two gangs fought fearlessly on the deck. The clanging of blades, the explosion of gunpowder, and the war cries of the soldiers resounded through the sky!

Before Aenarion could react to the sudden attack, heavy footsteps were heard through the porthole smashed by the shells, and two humans in yellow cloaks strode into Artemisia's room through the wooden wall torn open by the shells. One was a middle-aged man wearing a breastplate and holding a halberd, and the other was a young man wearing a white robe and holding a chopstick-sized staff with a sapphire on the top. When they saw Aenarion's stunning face, they were stunned at first, and then immediately assumed a fighting stance and shouted loudly.

"Damned Slaanesh cultists! How dare you rob our ship yesterday? Tell me! Where did you hide Indragnir!"

Aenarion thought quickly. These ships were flying the three-eighths Roman, Venetian golden winged lion flag. They were asking where the pirate had hidden the Indragnir he had robbed yesterday.

And yesterday, I was on a Venetian ship, and was kidnapped and made a slave by these Slaanesh pirates. The whole ship was looted by these Slaanesh pirates. That Indrognir should be on one of the six ships.

The time matches, the flag is the same, are they the same group as the ship that was robbed yesterday? Then they are my companions? If I follow them, can I escape the clutches of pirates without spending a penny?

"I am not part of those Slaanesh pirates. I was one of the prisoners taken yesterday!"

Thinking of this, Aenarion hurriedly defended himself.

"Bullshit! You live in a comfortable and spacious ship's tower instead of a prison in the cabin, and you wear such shining armor. You are obviously a high-ranking pirate! I'll give you one more chance! Tell me! Where is Indrognir!"

A mercenary wielding a halberd said irritably.

"Don't get excited. There might be some hidden secrets here. Look, there is no mark of Slaanesh on his body."

Another young man in a white robe and holding a staff subdued his companion and performed a zero-ring trick on Inarion. Inarion was very familiar with the fluctuations of this spell. It was a reconnaissance spell. This person was looking at his information.

"I'm just a fucking warrior and I can't use reconnaissance skills, so how can I tell? Maybe he used magic to hide the mark, or maybe he's just a noob, and that damn big-breasted futanari evil bird ignored him and didn't bless him at all to leave a mark on his body."

The halberd mercenary said angrily to his companion, then turned around and yelled at Aenarion even more angrily.

"You said you were also a sailor on that ship and were captured? Great! Then tell me, what was the name of that ship? What were the names of the captain and the vice captain? And what was in the escorted cargo?"

"I……"

Aenarion was confused for a moment, and suddenly realized that he had inherited some basic knowledge and text memory, and could speak some Greek and Latin. Not to mention the captain's name, he didn't even know his own name! Moreover, he had nothing to prove his identity, and his pirate life under the protection of Artemisia could not win people's trust.

Aenarion was deflated at once, but fortunately, his warlock bloodline had a hidden advantage. Almost all magic required chanting spells and releasing some gestures and seals to be cast.

And his magic is displayed in the form of psychic energy. To cast psychic energy, he does not need to chant spells or make hand seals. He only needs to concentrate and meditate in his mind. After a period of reading, he can release it. The only external manifestation is the halos and fireflies of various colors emanating from his eyes.

Aenarion lowered his head in despair.

He let them see his own eyes, then began to concentrate, casting a spell, and three seconds later, an illusory pale spine floated behind him, and twenty-four ribs stretched out to both sides, like twelve pairs of arms, embracing his tall body.

Aenarion raised his charming and handsome face, with a hint of purple light still in his pupils. Surrounded by the psychic skeletons, he smiled bitterly: "I said I forgot, do you believe me?"

The two Venetians looked at each other, then sneered, waving their spears and staffs and charging straight over!

Chapter 10: Gunfire

Aenarion suddenly raised his musket, concentrated his mind, and began the three-second casting of flame magic.

However, the man with the halberd did not give him time to cast a spell. He raised the halberd high with both hands and smashed it towards his head!

Aenarion was a little panicked. These two people came too suddenly. He didn't even have time to cast reconnaissance skills and didn't know anything about them. If his two magics combined couldn't block this attack, he would lose his head.

He had no choice but to stop reading the message, holding the musket horizontally with both hands, and using the gun barrel to barely block the opponent's fierce attack, while testing the opponent's strength.