Chapter 241: Race Against Time (part 1)
After thinking it over repeatedly, Skipgate still issued the order to turn back.
It wasn’t that he wanted to abandon Cinder or anything; mainly, they couldn’t just sit there waiting for death.
After all, Cinder could fly, so as long as he didn’t actively approach the Navy, he should be fine, whereas they, as the Navy’s main target, couldn’t foolishly wait for others to surround them.
They had to move.
Anyway, they just needed to stall for thirty minutes first, and wait until Boss Kaido woke up… then whatever—whether to launch a counterattack or something else—would be up to him to decide.
“The closest island to here is…”
“Gaelga Island.”
“It’s the territory guarded by the 13th Squad.”
Wrapped head to toe in bandages, the now-awake Taolong reminded them; over the past year, he had investigated every island under the Beasts Pirates.
As the outermost marginal island with hardly any resources, Gaelga’s island garrison troops were naturally the lowest-ranked 13th Combat Squad.
“Mm.”
“Then let’s head for Gaelga Island first. Send a flag signal to have the other ships follow us.”
“Yes!”
……
“I see. So Kaido and Bondi Wald nearly took each other down with them?”
“Can you confirm the two men’s current exact status?”
On the Navy side, holding a Den Den Mushi with a blue seagull emblem on its shell, Sengoku asked with a serious expression.
This was a one-on-one dedicated line Den Den Mushi from the Navy’s direct intelligence agency, which could achieve quite good confidentiality without needing an external white anti-eavesdropping Den Den Mushi.
For such an important operation, Sengoku of course wouldn’t rely solely on the CP organization as his only intelligence source.
Although their intelligence gathering ability was publicly acknowledged as the best, Sengoku’s personality had always been to prepare multiple contingencies.
So besides the CP organizations from different systems, he had also arranged several Navy scouts from his own system to keep surveilling the entire battlefield.
Although intelligence from his own people might not come as quickly, in Sengoku’s mind, he still trusted these people of his own more.
“Wald himself has a high probability of being dead by now, but no body has been found yet.”
“Kaido is currently in a state of heavy injury and unconsciousness. Cinder suddenly left five minutes ago, and judging by the direction, he’s heading toward you, Admiral Sengoku.”
“Additionally, the Beasts Pirates’ main fleet just changed course; based on the sea chart, their most likely destination is Gaelga Island.”
On the other end of the Den Den Mushi, under the sea surface, in a simple submarine, a stern officer with a square face reported clearly and methodically while holding the dedicated line Den Den Mushi.
Now a commodore in military rank, he had originally been in charge of intelligence work in the Four Seas, but recently the New World chief of intelligence seemed to have been held accountable by the Fleet Admiral for dereliction of duty, so he had been brought in to take over.
As an old agent who had risen through the ranks with training from the ground up, his professionalism was naturally beyond reproach.
……
“Cinder is coming my way?”
Hearing the intelligence from the other side, Sengoku was somewhat surprised. Why, with Kaido badly injured, would an executive like Cinder not stay to stabilize morale, but instead head straight to him like walking into a trap…
Coming to surrender?
Impossible!
“We speculate he’s probably planning to link up with the Beasts Pirates scouts around you, to buy time for the main fleet’s retreat.”
The experienced new chief of intelligence immediately gave his analysis, and his words also revealed that the movements of Skipgate and the others had in fact long been exposed within the Navy’s vision.
After all, the Beasts Pirates had only launched a hasty strike this time, while the Navy had been preparing for a long time; their efforts in intelligence were completely unequal.
Hearing the other’s analysis, Sengoku nodded, gaining a bit more grasp in his mind.
“Mm, that makes sense. Keep surveilling, and report any anomalies to me immediately.”
“Also, send some underwater scout ships to harass them. No need to cause any damage—just stall for as much time as possible.”
“Understood!”
After hanging up the Den Den Mushi, this chief of intelligence ordered the surrounding standby submarines to occasionally surface and fire a few cannonballs, then continued personally manning the periscope, staring intently at the Beasts Pirates fleet’s movements.
However, due to the great distance and angle issue, he didn’t notice that small golden figure on the deck.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Sengoku, finally having obtained all the intelligence he wanted, immediately ordered a slight change in course; he intended to arrive near Gaelga Island ahead of the Beasts Pirates fleet and wait by the stump for the rabbit.
『But before that, let’s deal with their scouts first.』
Thinking this, Sengoku looked at the signalman:
“Go notify Major General Alberich. Have him take two warships and deal with the surveillance ships over there at maximum speed.”
“Yes! Admiral Sengoku!”
……
“Eh? Have me go deal with the Beasts Pirates’ eyes?”
Alberich, a well-known headquarters veteran slacker, was somewhat reluctant upon receiving the order.
It wasn’t that he was afraid of not being able to handle them; he was worried he might miss the final great battle.
After all, participating in the main great battle versus pulling out one scout—the difference in military merit was like night and day.
But an admiral’s order couldn’t be disobeyed…
“Whatever, let’s aim for a quick battle… hope I can make it back in time.”
With that, he immediately ordered a turn toward Skipgate’s direction and sped off; judging by the momentum, he seemed to plan on ending it with one salvo of cannon fire.
Meanwhile, Skipgate and the others, who weren’t far away to begin with, reacted immediately.
“Oh no!”
“Two warships are charging straight this way!”
“We’ve probably been spotted, Captain Gate!”
The lookout shouted loudly.
“Pfft—”
Freshly squeezed juice sprayed straight out of his mouth. Skipgate took off his sunglasses, his eyes full of confusion and disbelief.
“Huh? The Navy is coming for me?”
“Yes! And they’re moving at extremely high speed!”
“What do we do, Captain?”
“What do we do… Of course we face them head-on!”
Smack!
He smashed the goblet in his hand onto the ground, and the confused expression on Skipgate’s face instantly turned into an arrogant grin in true Beasts Pirates style.
He had always kept Wright’s advice in mind from back then. Though he still appeared lazy on the surface now, beneath his clothes was no longer that flabby belly that jiggled with every step.
It was time to show the strength of the Beasts Pirates’ number one subordinate pirate crew!
“Bring us alongside them!”
“Yes!”
……
Boom!!!
Five minutes later, both sides entered each other’s cannon range, and battle was imminent!
Boom! Boom!
Alberich relied on numerical superiority plus the Navy warships’ inherently larger size compared to ordinary pirate ships, immediately gaining the upper hand at the start of the engagement.
But the firepower suppression didn’t last long before the new-type cannons on Skipgate’s ship demonstrated their precision—a full order of magnitude higher than the old models…
Quantity of shots VS accuracy of shots!
For a moment, both sides were locked in a fierce stalemate.
And at the same time, Cinder had naturally collided with Sengoku’s joint fleet.
