The Ultimate Evolution

This was a really vicious move by Sheyan. Taking advantage of the fact that he could use magic to transmit his voice to all ten thousand Corsairs, he quickly seized the high ground, forcing Arathorn into a corner.

If Arathorn chose to come on board the Dingyuan, the ball would be out of his court. Even if Sheyan could not persuade Arathorn, he could just kidnap the corsair captain and sail away. With the Dingyuan’s ability, it would be way too easy to delay the leaderless Corsairs of Umbar for a few hours.

Of course, Sheyan did not really expect Arathorn to have the guts to board the Dingyuan, so he already had two plans prepared in case Arathorn refused. When Sheyan saw that Arathorn indeed did not dare to come to him, he shouted, “His Majesty Sauron, the Dark Lord, has sent me to convey his order: every member of the Corsairs of Umbar shall continue to pillage Pelargir until the city is completely destroyed, so as to prevent Minas Tirith from getting any supplies from this place! You will only sail for the Pelennor Fields three hours later!”

Sheyan had only given this order after careful thought.

Who would benefit the most from staying in Pelargir to continue to loot the city? Most of the Corsairs of Umbar, no doubt. To burn, kill, loot, and plunder such a rich, prosperous city was a dream for all pirates.

But Arathorn had ordered them to sail to the Pelennor Fields to join the war!

War meant death and injury. Moreover, the enemies were the powerful Rohirrim cavalry and the Elves! Rumour had it that they even had to storm Minas Tirith afterwards, the city that was said to be an impregnable fortress…. Even the stupidest pirate knew which choice was more advantageous for himself!

What was that? Loyalty? You wish to speak of loyalty with these Corsairs? Perhaps something like that existed within a small minority of these pirates, but for most of the Corsairs of Umbar, loyalty was a kind of rubbish that they could throw into the sea anytime they wanted, like an old dice or a dirty bandana.

In truth, if it weren’t for the power of Sauron making them feel fear from the bottom of their hearts, these selfish bastards would never have unified at all.

Sheyan had good judgement. He had immediately deduced that Arathorn had limited personal strength, so it would be difficult for him to have a high level of prestige among the Corsairs, because prestige among pirates could only be built up with martial force. Therefore, Sheyan’s words very blatantly challenged Arathorn’s authority and attempted to create a rift between Arathorn and the common pirates.

If Arathorn dared to refuse his order, the rift would become a wound.

A fatal wound!

However, Arathorn was the one who was really bearing Sauron’s order! Did he dare disobey Gothmog’s command?

Of course not! If Arathorn had such a strong character, would the Corsairs of Umbar have become the most miserable and marginalised force under Sauron?

“And that’s why…” At the moment, Sheyan was leaning very casually against the wall in the captain’s cabin. He grabbed a handful of gold coins and let them fall from his grasp, enjoying the crisp sounds these glittering objects made as he said in a lazy tone, “The only thing Arathorn can do now is to send some of his trusted lackeys over to attack me to make me shut up. He’ll also hang us from the mast to boost his prestige.”

At that point, Sheyan shrugged and yawned. He told the excited subordinates around him, “See? He’s starting to mobilise his ships. He’s sending five large galleys to surround us. Are you scared?”

A series of wild laughter broke out. It shook the Anduin River, making ripples in the water.

“We’re the lords of the seven seas. Even the Black Pearl and the Endeavour can only run away when they see us. Why would we be scared of these weaklings?”

Sheyan casually observed the gold coin in his palm, as if studying the patterns on it. “It seems that you’ve grown stronger in my absence. But I still have a use for these weaklings. I’ll give you 15 minutes to get rid of those five ships. Can you do it?” he asked lightly.

Redbeard and the pirates around him exchanged glances and smiled sinisterly, like they were hiding a knife behind their smile!

“No problem, cap’n. Since it’s your order, we’ll give these Corsairs a show to remember!”

Sheyan nodded and added, “These guys have weak ships, but they have strong bodies, so don’t fight any boarding battles. There’s no need to capture their ships either. Just sink them right away. Got that?”

Ol’ Seadog and Redbeard both noticed the cautious reminder in Sheyan’s words. Ol’ Seadog was Sheyan’s most trusted pirate, while Redbeard had shown outstanding leadership abilities in Sheyan’s absence. The two of them had almost full control of the crew. Sheyan was confident they would carry out his order excellently.

***

As Arathorn’s flagship passed down the instructions with flag signals, the five large galleys controlled by Arathorn’s loyal henchmen rapidly gathered. The galleys had triangular lateen sails and triangular bodies. Two rows of large oars lined their sides, enabling the galleys to sail at high speed even in the absence of wind, or even against the wind. Their mobility was their greatest feature.

They were already in a standard attacking formation, yet the opponent’s ship still showed no response. This almost made Arathorn feel the urge to laugh amid his irrepressible fury. Could the opponent be all ink and no squid, all talk and no walk?

But to be a pirate, one could have no shame, no fear, and no pride, but they must have one very crucial thing, and that was good eyesight! Without good eyesight, they would not be able to catch any prey. How would they live on the sea then? Therefore, the moment Arathorn started relaxing, he immediately heard exclamations of surprise coming from all around him!!

Under the dim sunlight, the Corsairs finally saw that the “ropes” on the surface of the opponent’s ship were actually large, rigid veins! The tendons of the Deep Sea Giant started wriggling wildly. Quite a number of wooden barrels were pushed out of the ship’s cabin. Several fierce-looking men raised their axes and hacked at the barrels. Thick blue blood gushed out of them!

Human blood was usually used when the Dingyuan required a sacrifice, but the blood used this time was a blood of even better quality – the blood of a Demonic Horseshoe Crab.

After Sheyan had seduced Paul the Kraken away, the furious Davy Jones had engaged in several fights with the Dingyuan. Unfortunately for him, Sheyan’s crew had matured into a decent pirate crew. Davy Jones could defeat them without much difficulties, but he could not destroy them. The lonely Davy Jones then adopted another demonic pet, a horrifying giant horseshoe crab!

It was in the nature of Demonic Horseshoe Crabs to be fond of feeding on the eggs of Deep Sea Giants, so the relationship between the two species was as tight as that between cats and mice – tight in a mortal enemy kind of way. Therefore, Redbeard had seized the chance to scheme against Davy Jones’ new pet. He had lured the creature onto dry ground and collected a few barrels of its blood for future use. It was now time to use the blood. Redbeard was going full power.

The whole Dingyuan began to creak. The Deep Sea Giant’s veins greedily sucked in the blood of the Demonic Horseshoe Crab and started to inflate wildly, so much so that even the ship looked like it had enlarged by half. A layer of tough, dense muscle tissues encased the ship like a shield. Grey fog covered the river. It caused the loud, muffled sound of everyone’s heartbeat to thump in their own chest like thunder.

“Bababo.”

“Bababo!!!”

“Who’s calling for the great Bababo?!”

“Who dares to stop the great Bababo?!”

The colossal figure of a Deep Sea Giant made of fog appeared in the air above the Dingyuan holding a huge anchor in his hand. The soul of the Deep Sea Giant named Bababo roared soundlessly with his head raised to the sky, then smashed its anchor down on the great Anduin River!!

A whole section of the river suddenly turned turbulent. At this time, Arathorn’s five pirate ships were already within 100 metres of the Dingyuan thanks to their excellent speed. As a result, they were now being sucked in by the huge whirlpools that had appeared one after another in the turbulent river. Even holding the rudder steady had become a luxury under such extreme conditions, say nothing of sailing or even fighting.

‘Ocean’s Merriment’, the powerful ability that only a legendary warship could possess, was now being unleashed on the great Anduin River, the longest river on Middle Earth!

(‘Ocean’s Merriment’ is an ability on the ‘Deep Sea Giant Tendons’. From chapter 567: [ ‘Ocean’s Merriment’ – Summon the soul of Deep Sea Giant, Bababo, to incite an ocean merriment. A tempestuous tsunami would be incited within a designated region. Within this tsunami region, the Dingyuan’s sailing speed would be raised by 100% while other creatures/ships would have their speed reduced by 50%. ])

The Baladine Bloodsail was hoisted high. A long trail of smoke followed in its wake like smoke blowing out of a chimney. But upon closer inspection, one would realise that it was not smoke at all. It was a long trail of vengeful spirits which numbered in the thousands, pushing the ship forward while wailing in agony! In this region, the Dingyuan, which was originally not that outstanding in terms of speed, had its speed increased by 100%, while other ships and creatures would have their speed forcefully reduced by 50%!

Sheyan raised his eyebrows. He could feel the outburst of a fierce aura. He instantly recalled the figurehead at the bow of the ship – the figurehead which looked eerily like the head of a ferocious sea beast!

At the moment, two eerie red lights glowed on the ferocious beast’s head. Its mouth slowly opened, and a long trail of flame shot out of it, looking like a naval ram made of fire! The warship aimed at the five large galleys and charged straight towards them with astonishing speed!