"Have we confirmed their identity, Chief Navigator?" Putting down the brass telescope, Aiven looked towards Milan, who was holding the 'Mist Silver Lamp', with a probing gaze.

"Yes, it's the 'Eagle Spirit'. It was one of the two hundred and thirteen pirate ships that participated in the 'White Whale Port Massacre', very powerful, considered part of the first tier below the Pirate King.

The captain Akrawa, the first mate Kara Wusu, and most of the crew come from a native tribe in the New Continent that believes in the Eagle Natural Spirit.

The bounty for the whole pirate ship previously was already over two thousand Golden Lions, and after the 'Massacre' incident, it has risen to three thousand Golden Lions. A big catch!"

Clearly, Aiven's small test didn't trouble Milan, who recited the intelligence of the 'Eagle Spirit' ship effortlessly.

"In terms of strength, Captain Akrawa is a Wild Mage among the natives, presumed to have the level of an Official Wizard, but may be somewhat specialized.

First mate Kara Wusu is a unique extraordinary profession 'Eagle Warrior' among the natives of the New Continent. Intelligence is relatively sparse, suspected to be related to the Natural Spirit they believe in, at least combat ability not below that of an Official Knight.

To maintain the ruling order on the ship, apart from the two of them, there aren't any overly outstanding individuals among the other crew members, but this setup is already luxurious enough."

Before setting off, Milan had done enough homework, at least not completely ignorant of the two hundred and thirteen pirate ships and the pirates on board for this action, even establishing detailed files on some particularly famous pirates.

During this process, the Kingdom's intelligence system played a significant role. In just over ten days after the massacre ended, the Kingdom's intelligence department completed the intelligence collection and sorting and distributed it to the Navy performing the mission.

This is one of the benefits of backing a powerful force.

With this intelligence, it's pretty clear who can be provoked and who should not be. As for the 'Eagle Spirit', these two have clearly already deemed it as prey!

Aiven naturally had the pirate intelligence too, and with the aid of 'Data Visualization', Aiven's record analysis of pirate intelligence and achievements would only be more comprehensive.

Aiven also knew they once belonged to the Azik Empire, a terrifying civilization that preserved living human sacrifices for a long time. When the New Continent was discovered a hundred years ago, it was annihilated by the Overlord Hilus Kingdom, now only a scattered remnant race struggling to survive.

Analyzing comprehensive past intelligence, in terms of direct combat power, this pirate ship combined might not be able to match the former 'White Shark Skuk' alone, just particularly cautious about the evil witchcraft that the native mage may possess.

And who would foolishly engage in close combat when they can ambush stealthily? Indeed, to be cautious, Aiven's strategy today is to use the fog as cover and sink it directly from a distance!

"Huh, Internal Organ Divination Skill?"

Suddenly, as Aiven kept a close watch on the movements of the opposing ship during constant approach, he noticed an anomaly. After soaking in the 'Shadow Library' for nearly half a year, although advanced knowledge and the path forward for mages were not yet particularly clear, at least his knowledge scope was quite broad.

At a glance, he identified the 'Internal Organ Divination Skill', which was very popular among native mages.

Through communicating with the animal spirit hovering at the life and death boundary, this witchcraft can directly bypass the material world's barriers and probe surrounding information from the Spirit Realm.

Although the 'Mist Silver Lamp', this Ocean Treasure, naturally possesses the ability to shield against directional witchcraft, detection from the Spirit Realm cannot be blocked. However, fortunately, we have a professional on board!

"Milan, we're not yet at the optimal attack distance. Is there a way to interfere a bit?"

"Leave it to me!"

As an official 'Prophet' specializing in the Prophetic School, Milan's abilities are unmatched by those wild mages who dabble in divination arts.

He took out a transparent crystal ball he carried with him, his fingertips traced virtual patterns across the surface, muttering, soon in Aiven's Spiritual Vision, a pure white weak flowing light diffused throughout the entire warship.

[Witchcraft: Divination Countermeasures]

To outsiders, no changes appeared, but this witchcraft actually smoothed out all traces of the warship in the Spiritual World within one hour before and after. At least, using that crude 'Internal Organ Divination Skill', any anomaly would be undetectable.

...

The wizard opened his eyes in confusion: "Could it really just be my imagination?"

No matter how doubtful he was, the result of the divination unequivocally told him everything was normal, no unusual presence existed externally.

He thought for a moment and still instructed: "Lookout, pay attention to the sea situation, everyone else be careful, this sudden fog may not last long. Once visibility is adequate, we immediately leave this sea area."

"As you command, Captain!"

In the midst of the endless white fog they couldn't see, a warship revealed its gun ports, its crew lined up with firearms, was rapidly approaching, already within less than five hundred meters away.

"Gunpowder Chief, make preparations, personally calibrate the artillery!"

Besides Milan, the holder of the Treasure, Aiven, the Helmsman, and the Gunpowder Chief all obtained secondary permissions to view in the fog.

Furthermore, in Milan's use of Witchcraft: Mind Connection, connecting the vision of the cannoneers and the Gunpowder Chief together, sharing the ability to view within the fog.

Cheating! Outright cheating!

Clearly, Aiven's plan was to kite directly, to bring the 'Eagle Spirit' to its demise!

Regardless of how low the artillery hit rate was? As long as the base number of shells was sufficient, there would be enough hits below the waterline, moreover, Aiven intended to personally take action, using the ability of the 'Sniper Musketeer' to temporarily act as a cannoneer!

In this upcoming hunt, the opponent's greatest disadvantage is being unable to see the enemy, only able to defensively, unable to attack, unless Aiven foolishly abandoned his advantage to engage in a boarding battle.

"Keep approaching, get within a hundred meters, go to the downwind direction! Approach from the ship's rear, we'll skewer its behind!"

Even being in the proactive position, Aiven was cautious enough, unwilling to prematurely alert the pirate ship due to other accidental factors like scent. Before firing, no one could predict what abilities the Official Wizard might possess.

At the same time.

Five White Seagulls each grabbed a bottle containing dark green liquid, flapped their wings and took off, Aiven himself then raised the barrel of 'Thorned Gold Rose'.

"Listen to my command! Ready... Load and fire!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!...

At the moment of crossing from the pirate ship's stern, ten 12-pound shipborne artillery pieces on the left side of the 'Conch' simultaneously fired.

Unlike ordinary iron cannonballs, this time there was ample time to prepare leisurely, Aiven used a powerful special shell: 'Scorching Bullet'.

This shell is incredibly powerful but needs cautious handling. The method involves heating the solid shell red-hot with furnace fire and using a lump of wet mud between gunpowder and projectile during loading to prevent the intensely hot shell from igniting the gunpowder.

Imagining in the crowded, noisy cabin full of bustling sailors, piled with gunpowder barrels and shell supplies, using such Scorching Bullets must be done very carefully, a slight lapse could result in an accident, thus Scorching Bullets require dedicated personnel to bake and transport them.

Yet its power is proportionately great to its trouble, Scorching Bullets can pierce through the enemy's sturdy hull like tissue paper. If lucky enough, a Scorching Bullet hits the enemy's ammo compartment gunpowder barrel, causing a massive explosion, quickly ending a battle!

Thus were it not for the complex operation and high danger, Scorching Bullets would certainly be the gunner's favorite!

In this heavy fog, Aiven wasn't worried about the pirate ship fleeing, so in today's battle, Aiven boldly deployed this mighty weapon.

Due to prior calibration, the first round's hit rate was extremely high, with ease, opening a total of five holes at the 'Eagle Spirit' ship's rear, one near the waterline, and four relatively high, though slightly regrettable, this round of Scorching Bullets didn't detonate the pirate ship's ammo compartment...

Yet due to the era's longitudinal artillery deck design, before the projectile's kinetic energy costs along the way, it can destroy everything in its path.

The thrill made the witnessing navy troops shiver involuntarily...

"Enemy attack——!!!"

The booming cannon fire instantly alerted the pirates, loudly warning.

But the long-planned assault wasn't just this wave.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Five dark green potion bottles descended from the sky.

These were the 'Strong Voodoo Potion (Combat Version)' completed by Delis long ago! Aiven, due to making critical contributions, also shared in this research achievement.

In such a narrow space on the ship's deck, this thing akin to a large-scale destructive weapon is far more effective than on land.

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