pappabearbooks Chapter 79 Suicidal Act
Chapter 79 Suicidal Act
Seven days later, in the waters near the Bahamas.
The Viper was sailing steadily northward with the trade winds.
Isabella stood in the captain's cabin, polishing her ornate dagger.
Suddenly, a commotion and the sound of weapons clashing came from outside.
She flung the door open and was met with a scene that made her furious.
"Bloody Hand" Juan, her most trusted first mate, is leading more than twenty sailors, using scimitars to force back the crew loyal to her, and taking control of the entire deck from the bow to the mainmast.
"Juan! Are you insane?!" Isabella roared.
"I'm not crazy, Captain. You're the one who's crazy!" Juan's face was full of a ferocious smile.
"You actually want to be that Easterner's dog! You've completely disgraced the honor of the free pirates!"
"Take her down!"
The mutineers swarmed forward.
Isabella was agile and wielded a short scimitar, cutting down two traitors who were charging at the front. However, she was outnumbered and was forced back step by step to the door of the captain's cabin.
"Surrender, Isabella!" Juan laughed triumphantly. "Captain 'Broken Bones' ship is waiting for us nearby! From today onwards, I am the new captain of the 'Viper'!"
Just as he was preparing to give the order for the final attack, a young sailor's scream pierced the sky from the watchtower.
"Boats...Captain! There are ships! Two ships!"
Juan looked up impatiently and roared, "Is that Captain 'Broken Bones' ship?!"
"One...one is! Flying the black skull and crossbones flag!" The lookout's voice was filled with astonishment. "But...but the other one...the other one is flying...flying the Union Jack of the British Empire! It's the Royal Navy's HMS Vigil!"
Juan's smile froze instantly.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and rushed to the ship's side to look into the distance.
On the eastern horizon, a two-masted pirate ship was hurtling toward them at full speed, its black flag fluttering in the wind.
Meanwhile, on the western horizon, an even larger, sleek, fast sailing ship had its sails fully raised. The gun ports on both sides of the ship were open, and the dark muzzles, like the eyes of death, coldly watched over this small battlefield.
What should have been an easy internal rebellion quickly turned into a deadly three-way impasse with no escape.
……
Fifteen minutes ago.
Dawn breaks over the Bahamas.
Captain William Davis of HMS Vigilance held up a monocular telescope and had an unlit cigar in his mouth.
The scene before him brightened his mood for the entire day.
Two pirate ships flying the skull and crossbones flag are fighting amongst themselves.
On one of the larger two-masted ships, figures moved about on the deck, swords clashed, and chaos reigned.
The smaller, single-masted speedboat kept its distance, as if waiting for the outcome of the battle before sharing the spoils.
"It's a gift from God." Davis put down his binoculars, his face showing the pleasure of a hunter watching his prey kill each other.
"Notify the gunners to prepare. Today we're going to wipe out these two dens of rats in one fell swoop and add a glorious chapter to the Governor's report."
The first mate hesitated. "Captain, shouldn't we fire a warning shot first to identify ourselves?"
"Is your brain still under a prostitute's skirt? What identity are you trying to establish with this bunch of scum?" Davis sneered.
"Just greet them with cannon fire. Give the order: port gun crew, target that big ship, fire!"
The "Vigilant" turned its hull to the side, and a row of dark cannon muzzles slowly rose, aiming at the distant battlefield.
On the deck of the Viper, Juan the Bloodhand looked extremely pale.
The ship that came to pick him up, "Broken Bones" Barlow, turned around without hesitation the moment it saw the Union Jack appear, raised its sails, and fled into the distance without looking back.
Their posture was as if they were afraid that if they ran too slowly, a piece of the ship's paint would be scratched off by a Royal Navy shell.
"Bastard! Coward!" Juan cursed, his face contorting violently with rage and fear.
He was abandoned.
In front, there were loyal Isabella's crew members fighting desperately at the captain's cabin door, and behind, there were British warships eyeing them covetously.
He became a caged beast.
In desperation, Juan's ferocity was fully unleashed.
"Fire! Fire!" he roared like a madman, pointing his scimitar at the cannons on both sides of the ship.
"Forget those bastards! Fire on that British ship! Fire on the captain's cabin too! Make chaos here! That'll give us a chance to escape!"
The mutinous sailors were stunned by this insane order.
Attacking two enemies at the same time? Isn't that suicide?
"Are you deaf?!" Juan drew his scimitar and slashed down a hesitant gunner. "Anyone who dares disobey orders will suffer this fate! Fire!"
Left with no other choice, the gunner had to light the fuse with trembling hands.
A few scattered cannon shots rang out, and shells flew out haphazardly.
One of the shots landed on the sea a hundred meters in front of the "Warning", creating a weak column of water.
The other shot went completely astray, its destination unknown.
This is less of an attack and more of a farcical provocation.
In the midst of this brief chaos, a medium-sized two-masted merchant ship silently emerged from a thin mist on the sea surface in the early morning.
It was not flying any flags, nor did it have any markings on its hull; it looked just like an ordinary cargo ship passing through the area.
The people on the ship, dressed in coarse cloth, were busy on the deck, seemingly frightened by the chaotic battle before them.
It neither approached nor fled, but sailed slowly along the flank of the battlefield, like a hesitant bystander.
Isabella leaned against the sturdy wooden door of the captain's cabin, outside which stood the last line of defense formed by her trusted men with their own flesh and blood.
Through the gunpowder-smelling air and through the porthole, she immediately spotted the "passing" merchant ship.
She also saw the man standing at the bow of the ship.
The man was burly and stood firmly, like an unshakable mountain even on the noisy sea.
It's Seamus.
The silent man standing to Li Wei's left in the study of Oak Bay Manor.
In an instant, everything connected in Isabella's mind.
That incredibly accurate nautical chart, that perfectly timed draft, and this ship that "just happened" to appear at this moment.
This could be a coincidence, or it could be a scheme orchestrated by that Easterner at some unknown time.
A stage meticulously prepared for her, and for the traitors on her ship.
She did not call for help, nor did she make any other response.
She simply turned her head and gave an order to the only remaining loyal gunner beside her, an order that no one could understand.
"Matteo!"
"Here, Captain!" the gunner, his face covered in blood, replied.
"Is that six-pounder cannon at the stern still usable?"
"It works, Captain!"
"Alright. Forget about those idiots Juan. Set your sights on that British warship."