Fang Senyan paid no further mind to the commotion on the deck. After all, the day's events were more than enough for the pirates to digest. He turned to leave; the two newly captured ships still awaited his inspection, and who knew what valuable things he might uncover in them. His reputation among the pirates had now soared to an unbelievable height, virtually guaranteeing peace. The other pirates watched Kambi’s luck with intense envy, solidifying their resolve to remain with this crew.

Fang Senyan’s inspection yielded an unexpected treasure trove: two more special plot-related equipment pieces—though these were for the ships. Found on the captured Royal Navy vessel was: Lisbon ‘McKinney’ Lateen Sail. Category: Sail. Origin: Lisbon. Equipment Nature: Special Plot Equipment (Can only be installed on a plot warship; cannot be carried out of this world.) Equipment Rarity: Deep Blue. Material: Coarse Canvas. Attachable Devices: None. Effect: When installed on a ship, it provides an additional 5% movement speed beyond that of a standard lateen sail. Installation Location: Mast. Description: The climate of 1689 was exceptionally conducive to flax growth, resulting in a bumper harvest that year. The thick canvas produced by the McKinney Workshop that year earned an outstanding reputation for quality, making the lateen sails crafted from their material superior in performance. ** And aboard the pirate ship, he found something he had long desired: Symbol of Tegui. Category: Ram. Origin: Caribbean, Savage Islands. Equipment Nature: Special Plot Equipment (Can only be installed on a plot warship; cannot be carried out of this world.) Equipment Rarity: Black. Material: Chitin, Bone Density Material. Attachable Devices: Iron Hoop. Effect: When installed on a ship, it inflicts two-and-a-half times the normal damage upon ramming an enemy vessel, and increases the chance of hull rupture by 33%. Installation Location: Prow. Description: Three years prior, during an adventure, Blood Anchor led a party to Savage Island and sacked a native tribe named Tegui, where they acquired a tremendously powerful tusk. Upon examination, it was determined to be the tusk of a narwhal. As Blood Anchor left no survivors during the sacking, no one knew why the tusk of a creature native to the Arctic would be found in the Caribbean. What was certain, however, was its immense power; thus, after Blood Anchor was punished and transferred to Kit’s ship, he fashioned the tusk into a ram and mounted it on the prow. With this ram, the typical boarding action was simplified: no need for grappling hooks or leaping across; one simply drove directly into the enemy hull. Once the violent impact tore open the enemy’s side, the ram could cleanly bite deep into the hull, causing the two ships to momentarily become a single entity. Boarding the enemy vessel then became a matter of a single step.

As Fang Senyan began directing hands to install the ram, a pirate suddenly pointed behind him toward the sky. “Lord Sival has given the signal for return; today’s fighting must be over.”

Fang Senyan instantly turned and saw a winding beam of light ascending from the core battlefield dozens of nautical miles away—clearly some kind of signal flare. Judging by the column’s ascent, it seemed destined to pierce the heavens, reaching into the deep, mysterious expanse above. As the flare rose, all the pirate ships began to converge. But just then, a massive seven-masted ship broke away from the British Royal Fleet. It was clearly a state-of-the-art heavy caravel designed for assault, one of the three main flagships of the Royal Navy: Norrington’s flagship, the Invincible! This formidable vessel approached the clustered pirates fearlessly, giving the impression of a solitary general confronting a vast army, challenging them head-on. After sailing several nautical miles, the Invincible executed a sharp turn, swinging broadside across the water, tracing a magnificent arc of white spray, and aligning its entire starboard battery toward the massed pirates before it! In the next second, cannon fire roared—an indescribable explosion that momentarily drowned out even the sound of the ocean tide! Even more astonishing, all 106 of the Invincible’s thirty-two-pounder guns fired simultaneously, ending in unison. This created an auditory void; after what seemed like several seconds of absolute stillness across the world, dull, continuous groaning sounds emerged from the pirate fleet, followed by violent explosions reminiscent of powder magazine detonations, and then a deluge of surging wind and waves!

Fang Senyan and his two companions looked somewhat pale. As Contractors, their vision surpassed normal human capabilities, allowing them to clearly witness a dense carpet of thirty-five-pound shot sweeping over their position as the Invincible fired. The terrifying power contained within effortlessly annihilated all obstacles. The gathered pirates lost at least three ships in that single instant. Even after inflicting such damage, the momentum of the shot remained undiminished, tearing through the ships behind them. Masts snapped cleanly off two or three of the larger vessels, crashing down with indescribable shrieks and cracks, sending plumes of water high into the air. Then came the spectacular, immense explosions as enemy powder magazines were struck!

“Like a volley of rockets, capable of unleashing several times the normal firepower onto the enemy in a single instant—is this the special skill of the legendary warship Invincible?” Fang Senyan muttered to himself. “But its weakness is also apparent: if they survive this initial salvo, the Invincible will be out of ammunition. And if we can close to grappling range, we’ll face a multitude of gunners…” The moment the Invincible fired, his highly developed senses registered an overwhelming threat of death. Clearly, even at his current strength, Fang Senyan could not stand against these top-tier entities in the Caribbean world. However, for Fang Senyan, there seemed little need to attempt such a confrontation anytime soon.

“Set sail. It’s time to leave,” Fang Senyan commanded calmly. “Hoist the sails! Destination: Tortuga, maximum speed.” A pirate hurried off to comply, after which Fang Senyan added, “Make sure to scuttle Blood Anchor’s pirate vessel. We only take the captured British ships.”

Fang Senyan had chosen the opportune moment to withdraw from the battle—the peak of the ensuing chaos. The scale of the naval engagement that day was immense, and Norrington’s final curtain call was so overwhelming that it drew the attention of the vast majority. Thus, their departure was silent, unnoticed by others. Although Old Bass’s Rich was a fine vessel, it was optimized for broadside placement, requiring extensive refitting. Therefore, Fang Senyan’s flagship remained the Sam, the vessel that Philip had first commanded. To avoid prematurely revealing his intentions to break with Sival’s pirate group, Fang Senyan had scuttled all the pirate ships. Yet, he was still able to salvage three relatively lightly damaged Royal Navy three-masted galleons, which were capable of both sail and oar—the ships themselves, even without accounting for weaponry, represented a considerable fortune. His previous experience in the Caribbean world had taught Fang Senyan a crucial lesson: to thrive and rise in this setting, vast amounts of money were essential. This was especially true now that he was a pirate captain, responsible for the sustenance of nearly two hundred greedy souls. Feeding them was the first priority. More importantly, Fang Senyan considered that while the main themes of the Pirates of the Caribbean revolved around adventure and freedom, almost every story and plot thread in this world was inextricably linked to ships and naval warfare! The plot characters encountered so far posed no immediate threat to them, but the world’s difficulty rating remained B-minus. This lower rating still implied that the missions would feature scenarios or individuals capable of threatening their very lives. After careful analysis, Fang Senyan concluded that the greatest threat would manifest on the open sea. For instance, while they could easily dispatch a hundred ‘Old Salts’ like character, if the three of them were on a small vessel at sea and encountered even fifty fast-sailing gunboats crewed by pirates of similar strength, they would undoubtedly perish miserably. Cannon range surpassed that of Morganna’s magical attacks, and once a small boat sinks, even powerful Contractors cannot survive long in the ocean; prolonged swimming leads to a steady drain on vitality. The deadline for the main mission, ‘Setting Sail,’ was forty-eight hours away, with over thirty hours remaining. However, to reach the neutral pirate port of Tortuga ahead of schedule, Fang Senyan directed the fastest flagship, the Sam, to proceed, assigning half the crew to the other salvaged vessels, instructing them to follow slowly with the wounded aboard.