Chapter 38: Post-War Disposition
The Stepstones, near the entrance of Cutthroat Isle
In the waters around Cutthroat Isle, scattered fires still burned, and pungent smoke and dust, amplified by the sea breeze, was carried far away.
This apocalyptic scene made many pirates who survived the ordeal feel a deep sense of dread, especially those on the crown. Many of them were thankful they hadn't attacked Jon.
After the naval battle, the sea was littered with broken ship wreckage, sails, cargo, and scattered limbs.
The waves gently lapped at these remnants, silently carrying them to the beaches of the small outer islands of Cutthroat Isle. The waves were very gentle, as if mourning the lost lives.
Under the pirates' operation, the crown was slowly approaching the entrance of Throat-Cutting Isle Main Island. The rainbow flag hanging from the mainmast flapped in the sea breeze.
On the deck of the crown, pirates had packed the area tightly. Some of them had faces blackened by smoke and their clothes looked somewhat tattered.
Those more severely injured pirates were crammed into the cabins below deck, though none of them were very clear about what they would face in the future.
Yet, the pirates all felt as if they had escaped death, because those who had already perished had proven to them what a great gift it was to be alive.
According to the survivors, the process of Dragonfire incinerating a person to charcoal was terrifying. One pirate, whose nerves were somewhat frayed, even told everyone,
When the Dragonfire burned that person to death, he saw the burning and disappearance of a soul. Such remarks made the pirates realize Jon's terror even more.
Many of them were afraid, afraid that Jon might transform into a giant dragon the next second and devour them all.
At this moment, the crown was slowly passing through the entrance of Cutthroat Isle. The ships that had been deliberately placed there had already been burned by the Dragonfire spewed by Jon, who had transformed into a dragon.
"Ooh ooh..."
At the top of the entrance, a flock of seagulls circled at a low altitude. They seemed to have sensed the battle that had occurred in these waters.
Although seagulls often fought over food and nesting sites, they had never encountered such an instance of their own kind killing each other not for food.
Although these birds didn't understand why humans fought, they could obtain food scraps from these battles. Many bold seagulls had even landed on the corpses.
And with the appearance of the crown, Garo and his men, who were rounding up pirate captives, also noticed something unusual.
Although the rainbow flag was flying on the crown, no one was sure if this was a surprise attack plan by the pirates.
So, for safety's sake, Garo still ordered Frodo and Sam of The Ring Guard Squad to command two oar-powered warships to approach from both flanks.
"Huh, look, is that bare-chested man Lord Jon?"
As the oar-powered warships drew closer, Frodo, who had been observing the crown with a myrish tube, also let out a cry of surprise.
"It seems so!"
A lookout next to him, after taking the myrish tube, also let out the same exclamation.
"Rumble..."
Under the control of the helmsmen from both sides, the three ships slowly docked together. Although both sides tried to control their vessels, a collision was unavoidable.
"Who are you people?"
Frodo, carrying a longsword, was very nimble. After pulling himself down a sail rope onto the deck of the crown, he immediately asked this question.
At this point, Frodo also realized that there were hundreds of pirates here, more than the combined crew of their two ships.
If it weren't for the large number of wounded here, Frodo probably wouldn't have dared to do this, but soon, The Chainbreakers also landed on the deck one after another.
And the pirates on the crown, upon hearing Frodo's question, also looked towards a certain presence in the crowd.
"Jon... Lord Jon! You... you're actually here, I... we..."
Looking at the familiar face in the crowd, Frodo stammered as he spoke.
"Hmm, very good, very good. All of you performed well. However, next time you encounter such a situation, don't rush in alone. If the enemy truly has no intention of negotiating, then you will only put yourself in danger."
"Yes... yes, Lord Jon!"
Jon, who had emerged from the crowd, after saying this to Frodo, looked at The Chainbreakers in the distance who were processing the pirate captives.
Due to Jon's intervention, most of the pirates' longships and flatboats were burned. As the tide of battle continuously turned in favor of The Chainbreakers,
Those pirates who realized the situation immediately fled in their ships. Unfortunately, due to Jon's pursuit, these pirates' large ships had already escaped far away, leaving these pirates with no choice but to flee to other small islands to avoid the Dragonfire.
Under Jon's arrangement, the wounded were also separated. Thus, after sailing for a few minutes, the three ships anchored together at the dock.
"Lord Jon!..."
Garo and his men, seeing Jon's sudden appearance, quickly came forward. After saluting Jon, the leaders all seemed a bit shy.
Because when Jon left, he had already warned them that they must strengthen their training and defense, but today's scene made it seem as if they hadn't taken Jon's arrangements seriously.
"You all continue to round up the captives, send all these wounded to the medical team, and assign a few people to guard them to prevent any trouble. If anyone disobeys, throw them to Ghost or the sharks."
"Woof woof..."
As Jon's words fell, a series of wolf howls came from the streets of Dock Market.
Immediately after, Ghost, like a white lightning bolt, darted to Jon's side. Seeing Ghost fawning over Jon like a hunting dog, many pirates subconsciously swallowed.
Because Ghost's appearance was truly terrifying, not at all like a wolf or a hound, but more like a monster.
Many strange legends exist in this world. Although the pirates here didn't know about the existence of Direwolf, this didn't mean they wouldn't connect these strange occurrences to Jon.
At this moment, Jon was like a god in their eyes. The mere fact that he could transform into a dragon and control a Direwolf was enough for him to rule over a small nation.
Accompanied by Ghost, Jon walked towards the entrance of the Pirate Fortress. The spiked logs at the entrance had already been moved away by Narsas and his men.
Some corpses and fragments still remained on the stone wall at the staircase corner; these were the bodies left by the pirate Kamos and his group.
It's worth mentioning that Kamos, the pirate with a wrist blade on his right hand, actually survived Jon's Dragonfire. This fellow was very lucky; he ran into a pile of dung before the Dragonfire descended.
And while Ghost was patrolling, this guy also escaped due to his stench. However, when Garo and his men returned to port, his luck ran out, and he was immediately captured by the patrolling Chainbreakers.
As he walked up the stairs, Jon specifically listened to Narsas and his team's report on the use of the spiked logs.
Overall, the design of the spiked logs was excellent, but the jamming when the logs fell, and the subsequent cleaning of the grease, were very troublesome. Perhaps only designing it with an internal retractable winch could produce better results.
Of course, these were all matters for later. In this battle, although The Chainbreakers all performed bravely, some problems that Jon had not considered before gradually came to light.
Take weapons and equipment, for example. Jon's current weapons were simply not enough; many foot soldiers had been fighting with sharpened wooden sticks.
Armor was even worse; many used leather and chainmail, and these were all defective items left by the pirates. Pirates standing further back didn't even have protective gear.
Secondly, there were loopholes in daily patrols. The patrol mode currently used by The Chainbreakers was still the one left by those pirates.
This mode offered no advantage to The Chainbreakers; it would only cause patrol routes to overlap and reduce the patrol area.
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Half an hour later... "Alright, everyone, tell me about your experiences this time! I want to emphasize that I want your experiences, not apologies or admissions of fault."
Jon, now dressed in new clothes, was seated at the head of the round table in the great hall, with Narsas and the others seated to his left and right.
Upon hearing Jon's words, their somewhat pale faces improved significantly, because initially, they all thought Jon was preparing to hold a meeting to punish them.
But when they actually arrived, they realized that Jon truly only wanted them to come and summarize the day's events.
"Ahem... Lord Jon, let me go first!"
Seeing Narsas and the others looking at a loss, Kapo, the last to be taken into confidence, was the first to speak.
In Kapo's view, since he was not one of the battle commanders, he didn't need to answer certain questions, only state the problems he had discovered.
Doing so not only allowed him to avoid the risk of being scolded but also bought time for everyone else.
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