Chapter 1695 Chapter 1695. Veremor and Themisphere’s Armada
The Liguritudum ships were too focused on the Palgrost Armada they were surrounding. Hence, they were unaware of another fleet entering the inner sea until this fleet was too close.
"Unknown fleet! Unknown fleet…!!" The ethereal sailors who spotted the fleet behind them shouted to let his comrades know.
A horn was soon sounded. This horn warned the Liguritudum Armada of the newcomer. They had to use this conventional communication method because the Liguritudum armada didn't bring a war table. Their war table was with Linda during the siege at Messephyria. Linda later destroyed the war table because they had to escape with haste. A new war table was currently being remade in Dritzuut, Liguritudum's capital.
While the Liguritudum sailors didn't know whose fleet this newcomer was, they didn't think it was friendly. No allies sneaked to one's back without notice. Furthermore, the only ally their country had was Aurebor and they knew Aurebor didn't have a war fleet.
As if confirming the Liguritudum sailor's suspicion, the ships from the unknown fleet opened fire.
Just as they had the Palgrost armada in a bad position, this mysterious fleet had them in a bad position. They had difficulties adjusting themselves to face this new enemy.
To make matters worse, the mysterious fleet that attacked them had a decent number of ships consisting of mostly large ships like galleons and galleasses. Each of these ships carried a large number of cannons. One volley of firing could cause significant damage when the shots were accurate. Judging from the hits they suffered from the first round of fire, they understood that the enemies aboard this mysterious fleet were not inexperienced in sea battles.
With the new enemies shooting at them, they were unable to apply pressure on Palgrost Armada. This allowed the Palgrost Armada to take an offensive role. Together with the new fleet, Palgrost ships took turns firing at them. They were now sandwiched between the Palgrost armada and the new fleet. They had to endure shots fired from both sides.
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The mysterious fleet that came was the combined armadas from Verremor and Themisphere. After the meeting between the sovereigns in Themisphere, John requested Kabaka to send the Verremor Armada to the port of Thepuergua to join Themisphere Armada.
Calling Themisphere's fleet an armada was a bit excessive since it only consisted of 8 galleons. Considering Themisphere had only one city that bordered the sea, this was not surprising. Originally, Themisphere only had two galleons and a few frigates. The additional galleons were commissioned to be built only after John became the royal advisor. He prepared them because he knew he would send them to Liguritudum at one point.
The majority of the mysterious fleet were Verremor ships, which consisted of 2 men-of-war, 16 galleons, and 32 galleasses.
This combined fleet had started their journey not long after the meeting between the sovereigns. The distance from Verremor to Liguritudum was far, and traveling through the outer sea wasn't a safe endeavor. They managed to make it here due to being led by one ship. This ship was the Grey Jewel. A ship owned by a native named Joe Parrot whom John hired when he first visited the merfolk.
After the business with the merfolk, John recruited a player named Will Corner who helped him capture the dragon turtle. Will Corner was a player who valued his freedom a great deal. Even after becoming a guild member, Will mostly did things as he wished, but he shared the valuables he gained from his adventure on the sea with the guild, as per his agreement with John.
After Jack became the Themisphere's king, John needed a more particular service from Will. So, John helped him complete the lost maiden quest, a quest aboard a ghost ship Will had been longing to complete. John sent Balo and Michelle, two of Domon's old students, to aid Will on that quest. John had heard about the quest. Will failed to complete the quest when the rooms inside the ghost ship turned pitch black.
Normal people might be at a loss when they lost their visions, but not martial artists who had mana sense. In that pitch-black environment, Balo and Michelle sensed the monster in the dark. The two of them fought that monster and defeated it. The darkness was lifted then.
With the rooms returning to normal, Will was able to proceed into the deepest part of the ghost ship where they met the boss of the ship, the ghost of a pirate king. Working together, they defeated the ghost and retrieved the captain's diary which was required to complete the quest.
After Will got what he wanted, John threw his demand. He wanted Will and Joe Parrot, who had become Will's companion at the time, to sail to Blackmaw Strait. The purpose was to chart a safe course for their fleet to travel later. The outer sea was filled with dangerous monsters and the waters were extremely turbulent. Sailing blindly into such a sea would cost them a lot of ships. That's why John needed someone to chart the course.
Both Will and Joe Parrot were lunatics who laughed in the face of danger, so they quickly accepted the request. From their eagerness, John wondered if he had wasted his time helping Will complete the lost maiden quest.
When John was in the first Hydrurond war and then the Palgrost war, Will had been spending his time sailing the outer sea, mapping the course. They had many dangerous encounters, but Grey Jewel was a fast and durable ship, while Joe Parrot was a skilled captain. They managed to sail themselves out of danger multiple times.
After spending an awful long time, they finally recorded the safest path a fleet could take from Thepuergua to the Blackmaw Strait. This was the path the joined fleet of Themisphere and Verremor took to arrive here.
However, even though Will and Joe recorded the safest path, it was not entirely safe. The ships that could make the journey were only large-size ships. Carrack or smaller ships didn't stand much of a chance of surviving the journey. That's why the combined fleet only consisted of men-of-war, galleons, and galleasses.
John was currently aboard the Grey Jewel. He had given Will a recall plate to summon him when the fleet was close to Blackmaw Strait. Now that he was here, he was ready to take down the Liguritudum Armada with this combined fleet.