His crew sprang into action. The deck of the ironclad bustled with activity.
The ironclad began to slice through the waves and creep slowly toward the rchant ships.
Jon oversaw the whole operation with minimal interference. He wants to let his crew handle things independently since the target is just easy prey.
Although they wanted to make a surprise attack, he knew well that stealth was not an option.
The billowing black smoke from the ironclad's coal-fired engines was impossible to conceal on the open sea.
It hung like a dark cloud against the vast blue horizon.
It was too conspicuous.
The Blande rchant ship spotted them soon enough.
They must have seen the towering column of smoke or the glint of its steel hull catching the sunlight.
Regardless, it was too late for them to escape.
Jon's lips curled upwards. "Let's greet them."
"Aye, captain!"
The cannons were positioned and pointed at one of their targets. Then, a roar erupted.
Boom!
The projectile flew in the sky and went straight towards the rchant ship.
A few seconds passed in silence as every eye on deck followed its trajectory.
The cannonball smashed into the side of the Blande ship.
The sound of wood splintering travelled over the sea and reached the ears of the pirates. And so do the shouts of alarm and panic from the rchant ship's crew.
"Good job!" Jon praised his crew, "You all improved so much."
His n grinned back at him.
But Jon sohow felt annoyed. As to not wanting his crew to bask in praise for too long, he orders them to focus on the current situation.
The ironclad continued approaching the rchant ships.
The gap between them and the rchants shrinking by the second. The rchant ship was no match for Jon's ironclad.
They would never outrun him, not with the ironclad's engines powering through the waves.
Now, they are in panic, they had little hope of mounting any defence.
"Prepare for another volley!"
His crew scrambled to their positions, preparing for another shot.
As his crew aid, their ship had drawn so close now that Jon could see the faces of the people on board.
Their faces pale. So were praying, others frantically waving a white flag as a sign of surrender.
"Look at them... Already waving the white flag."
"What should we do, captain? Should we proceed?"
Jon shook his head, "No need to waste the ammunition. Prepare to board the ship. Let's pay them a little visit."
His order was t with eagerness.
Grappling hooks were thrown across the gap between the ironclad and the rchant vessel, securing the ships together.
Within seconds, the pirates began streaming onto the ship's deck.
"Do you know whose ship you've attacked?" One of the rchants yelled.
Jon grinned, "You must be the captain. To answer your question, I know exactly whose ship I've attacked. That's why I attacked it."
"There's no more safe place for you on these seas. Our employer will hunt you down, Jon Blue. You've crossed the wrong people."
"They can try," Jon calmly replies. He pointed back toward the ironclad behind him. "Do you know where I got that iron ship?"
The rchant captain followed Jon's direction.
"That ship," Jon continued, "is a gift from the most powerful military in these waters. I was entrusted to collect goods of an equivalent debt your country owes—plus the overdue fees."
Realising who the only giver it can be, his face pales further. After all, Blande was defeated in the previous war.
It was a nationwide embarrassnt.
"This… this is unreasonable! Are you not afraid of a coalition forming against you?"
Jon frowned.
"The unreasonable ones are you! You joined hands with Barlia to attack us when there was no problem between Blande and Ryntum. You saw an opportunity, thought you could grab a slice of it, and then after you lost, you pretended like nothing happened."
The rchant had nothing to say.
He was a rchant, and although he wasn't a big shot, he heard one or two things from his friends.
Driven by greed, those big shots were quick to jump in.
"Consider yourself lucky," Jon said. "I could have sunk you into the ocean. But I'll let you live, so our intentions are known."
Jon turned to his crew, "Search the ship! Take everything valuable!"
The pirates who were waiting shouted enthusiastically.
They went through the sa old procedure- took everything they could, and destroy everything they couldn't.
When the last of his n had returned to the ironclad, Jon cast one final look at the rchant captain.
"Tell your superiors what happened today. Tell them Ryntum hasn't forgotten. And tell them, if they don't pay up soon, the overdue fee will increase."
After saying everything he had to say, Jon returned to his ship.
He left the rchant and his crew helplessly on their ransacked ship.
Monts later, the ironclad was pulling away and sailing off toward their hideout.
One of his crewn approached cautiously. "Captain, is it okay to tell him all of that?"
Jon answered without looking at him. His eyes remain on the ocean. "It's fine. They were bound to find out eventually. We just shortened the process."
....
The rchant captain heaved a long sigh of relief once he confird Jon Blue's departure.
He looked around the deck with heart heavy. He suffered a massive loss this ti.
Many of the ships in the convoy were completely unusable. So were half-sunken and others had their hulls torn apart.
They were listing dangerously and ready to sink.
The pirates had taken what they could and destroyed the rest.
His subordinate ca to report, "What should we do now, Captain? Most of the ships are beyond repair."
There was no ti to mourn.
"Gather everyone who's still alive. We'll be returning with the two ships that are still seaworthy."
"What about the goods?"
"Take as much as we can salvage. The rest... we'll have to discard them."
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