Lynd stood on the captain's command bridge of his flagship, Glory, looking at the sea ahead, shrouded in thick fog.
The Glory under his feet was no longer the original Glory; this Glory was the newest warship, and it was also the only battleship in this world with five decks and four long sails.
The warships serving as main battleships in the Miracle Fleet were much smaller than Glory.
Although Glory was the most advanced warship in this world, it would not participate in this naval battle; instead, it would serve as the command center, connecting the other fleets.
Lynd knew very well that he did not understand naval warfare, so apart from arranging the decisive battle plan at the very beginning, he did not interfere with any naval affairs.
All ship deployments, personnel arrangements, and everything else were handed over to Horth, Asha, Beller, and Dagon.
He himself stayed behind on Glory, which was filled with well-trained carrier pigeons, used for contacting different fleet ships and exchanging battle reports.
The Maester in charge of the Raven's Nest on the ship approached Lynd with a letter and said, "Earl, Horth and Asha have all reached their designated positions, but the fog on the sea is too thick, and they cannot clearly see the enemy ships' situation."
Although the fog was an obstacle, Lynd easily grasped the precise location and every movement of the enemy fleet through the Glutton lurking underwater, waiting for an opportunity.
So he said, "Tell them that the enemy fleet has all reached Point Three. Proceed according to the plan. Also, the fog on the sea will disappear very soon, so don't worry."
"Understood." The Maester could tell that the sea fog would not clear until at least noon, so he was a bit puzzled by Lynd's words, but he thought that since Lynd spoke with such confidence, he must have a way to dispel the fog that he didn't know about.
After the Maester released all the carrier pigeons, about an hour later, Lynd felt that the pigeons should have reached the various fleets.
He then walked down from the command bridge and simultaneously ordered the sailors to secure all movable objects on the ship to prevent them from moving around due to strong winds later, causing unnecessary damage.
Although the sailors on the ship did not understand why Lynd gave such an order, some of them who had heard legends about Lynd looked at him with admiration, and some even took out a storm god pendant from their necks, holding it in their hands and muttering prayers.
Lynd ignored the movements of the sailors.
He came to the back of the sea dragon figurehead at the bow, reached out and gripped the Lost Knight's Greatsword at his waist, then guided the Storm Dragon Rune, combined with the Nameless King Rune power from his heart, instantly creating a huge storm on the surrounding sea.
The fog on the sea was instantly blown away by the storm, and the clouds in the sky rapidly gathered to form dark clouds.
Immediately after, Lynd was lifted into the air by a huge whirlwind, soaring into the clouds.
Dark clouds, lightning, and a hurricane appeared simultaneously, and a storm covering the entire Dark Forest Bay quickly formed.
Everyone who witnessed this, whether sailors, Maesters, or warriors, regardless of which deity they initially believed in, at this moment, without exception, all believed in Lynd, the God of Storms.
The moment the storm appeared, all the thick fog was blown away by the hurricane.
Tyrosh and the Pirate Alliance had no idea what was happening, because their years of sailing experience told them that a storm was impossible at this time, and the thick fog at sea would not completely dissipate until noon.
Therefore, none of them were in a state of readiness.
When the thick fog disappeared, they still looked blankly at the turbulent sea around them, whipped by the strong winds.
Some ships that had raised their sails also had to lower them to prevent the ship from being overturned by the strong winds.
However, while the Tyroshi and Pirate Alliance fleets were scrambling to deal with the surrounding storm, the already prepared Miracle Fleet and Three Sea Monster Alliance had already furled their sails and were rowing their oars, charging towards the enemy fleet's anchored position.
This storm that swept through Dark Forest Bay came and went quickly.
Just as the sailors of Tyrosh and the Pirate Alliance had prepared to deal with a large storm, with all sailors hiding in the cabins below deck to avoid being blown off, the storm suddenly stopped, as if it had never existed.
At the same time, Lynd, supported by the whirlwind, descended back onto the deck of Glory, a rare trace of fatigue appearing on his face.
This wave of ultimate ability, covering the entire sea, consumed sixty to seventy percent of the magic power he had accumulated over so many years.
Actually, he originally didn't want to use such a powerful ability; he only wanted to create a gust of wind to blow away the fog on the water.
However, when he channeled the power of the Nameless King Rune, which was fused with the Dragon Rune in his heart, into the Storm Dragon Rune that was in actual combat, trying to imitate the Nameless King's power to create storms, things got a little out of control.
What was originally just a gust of wind turned into a storm covering the entire sea.
Even more exaggerated was that his consciousness was influenced by the Nameless King, wanting to travel through the storm, and he did indeed fly into the sky.
When he regained consciousness, he realized his actions were utterly excessive and quickly cut off most of the Storm Dragon Rune power, flying back to the deck.
Although the action was a bit grand, the effect was very good.
The thick fog on the sea had disappeared, and even if there were still some waves, it no longer mattered.
"Set sail! Head to Region Three!" Lynd turned and loudly ordered the sailors and warriors who were kneeling before him like gods.
Hearing Lynd's command, the sailors and warriors instinctively stood up and, following their training, untied the ropes and raised the sails.
The sailors inside the cabin also extended the oars and rowed vigorously, and under the control of the helmsman, the ship sailed towards the Sea Area Three designated by Lynd.
At this moment, in Area Three of Dark Forest Bay, the longships of the Three Sea Monsters Alliance had already engaged with the Pirate Alliance's ships.
They utilized the flexibility of their ships, quickly weaving between each vessel, their orderly shields blocking incoming arrows.
The throwers seized opportunities to hurl their Wildfire jars, setting enemy ships and the people on them ablaze.
The attacks from Asha, Beller, and Dagon came too suddenly.
The Pirate Alliance members were still preparing for the storm's arrival just moments before, with most of them hiding in the cabins below deck.
But the storm that had just been raging on the sea suddenly disappeared.
They hadn't even understood what was happening when Asha and their longships were already attacking nearby.
After more than a dozen ships were sunk, the Pirate Alliance immediately organized a counterattack, but their counterattack had no effect whatsoever.
All the arrows they shot were blocked by the enemy ships' shields, which were covered with a layer of steel plates.
And they had no defense against the steel-tipped arrows shot from the enemy ships.
What was worse, when the Three Sea Monsters' longships approached, throwers hurled Wildfire jars, easily setting the ships ablaze; once it touched something, it could not be extinguished.
And after the Three Sea Monsters' ships broke through the Pirate Alliance's fleet formation, they spread out along the edges, encircling the entire Pirate Alliance fleet.
Countless arrows were shot towards the still-unsunk ships in the middle.
The entire Pirate Alliance had no ability to resist; their total annihilation was only a matter of time.
Meanwhile, on the other side, the Miracle Fleet had begun boarding actions with the Tyroshi fleet.
Horth, facing the leaderless Tyroshi fleet, unhesitatingly adopted the most conservative tactic, intending to use his elite naval soldiers to defeat the sailors on these ships one by one.
The Tyroshi fleet was completely disorganized at this moment, because at the beginning of the battle, their fleet commander and the flagship where the captains were located had mysteriously disappeared from the sea.
Originally, the fleet commander had gathered the captains to arrange the final mission, to avoid any mistakes when the battle began.
As a result, with the disappearance of the flagship, the entire fleet's command structure also vanished.
There were no captains on any of the ships, and the Tyroshi military system did not have a rule for a subordinate to take over if a captain or other officer went missing.
As a result, when the Miracle Fleet used flanking tactics to divide the entire Tyroshi fleet into dozens of small areas and conducted boarding actions, the entire fleet had not even managed one effective counterattack.
On one side were sailors dressed in cloth and armed with wooden spears, on the other were warriors in armor, wielding shields and swords.
The superiority and inferiority of the two sides were extremely obvious.
Many sailors on the ships surrendered voluntarily as soon as the battle began.
Although some ships still resisted stubbornly, the final outcome was already predictable.
Under this sea area, the Glutton swam leisurely, occasionally spitting out broken pieces of wood, including some masts and gnawed human corpses.
Although it had just swallowed the Tyroshi flagship whole, completing the task Lynd had given it, it did not intend to stop there.
Its eyes were still fixed on the surface of the water, and when it saw the Tyroshi ships breaking through, it rushed over and swallowed them whole, enjoying a good meal.
It only stopped attacking those ships when Lynd arrived in the nearby waters, saw the battle situation, and ordered it to stop.
By now, four or five ships of various sizes had fallen into the Glutton's belly.
Even though it had extremely strong digestive power, capable of melting even steel with its stomach acid, so much stuff going into its belly at once still gave it a feeling of post-meal bloating.
Yet, even so, it still had a strong desire to devour, which perfectly matched its name, Glutton.
Through the constantly arriving carrier pigeons, the battle situation on both sides of the sea was within Lynd's grasp.
The Three Sea Monsters Alliance perfectly executed their plan, completely encircling and annihilating all the Pirate Alliance's ships on the sea, leaving no escapees, while their own losses amounted to only a few longships and dozens of sailors.
The situation on the Miracle Fleet's side was even better.
Horth not only completely annihilated the Tyroshi fleet but also captured most of their ships.
There were over a hundred of these ships, including dozens of armed merchant ships and ten three-decked galleons, and these ships were all intact, capable of being incorporated into the Miracle Fleet with minor modifications.
The captured sailors on these ships also numbered over two thousand, but unfortunately, there were no officers among them, only low-level sailors.
Since the battle went so smoothly, the original plan was slightly modified, canceling the part about returning to port for rest.
Lynd directly ordered Asha and her team to begin clearing the islands occupied by the Pirate Alliance and Tyrosh, and sent messages to the immigrants preparing on God's Grace Island to head to these islands to assist Asha and her team in the occupation.
At the same time, he also ordered the Miracle Fleet, along with the captured Tyroshi fleet, to go to Black Stone Island for rest.
Moreover, when passing by Tyrosh, he deliberately had the fleet sail outside the Tyroshi port, allowing the people of Tyrosh to see the current state of their fleet.
The Glutton, under Lynd's command, also surfaced near the Tyroshi port and lingered for a moment, instilling fear in the Tyroshi people.
Black Stone Island is located directly west of Tyrosh, only a few leagues away.
Standing on the high walls of Tyrosh's port, one can see Black Stone Island, and similarly, standing on the lighthouse of Black Stone Island, one can also see Tyrosh.
Black Stone Island was originally occupied by Tyrosh.
The Tyroshi built towns and lighthouses on Black Stone Island, allowing the lighthouse to help ships avoid the reefs in the area at night and safely enter the port.
However, Black Stone Island was later occupied by pirates, becoming a stronghold for pirates to plunder Tyrosh.
After several failed attempts to reclaim Black Stone Island, Tyrosh had no choice but to build high walls and fortresses along its coastline to resist pirate raids.
Afterward, the Tyroshi ruling class used various methods to negotiate with the pirates of the Stepstones, reaching some agreements and paying a protection fee, which significantly reduced the incidents of pirates plundering Tyrosh through Black Stone Island.
Later, Black Stone Island changed hands several times between Tyrosh and the pirates, until more than two years ago, the Three Sea Monsters Alliance appeared, defeated the pirates on Black Stone Island, and occupied it.
Tyrosh initially welcomed the Three Sea Monsters Alliance's occupation of Black Stone Island, because the Three Sea Monsters Alliance was very disciplined, never plundering Tyroshi merchant ships, and even maintained the safety of the Stepstones shipping lanes, truly an anomaly among pirates.
It wasn't until Tyrosh learned that the Three Sea Monsters Alliance was actually under Earl Lynd of Summerhall, and that the Three Sea Monsters Alliance began conquering other islands in the Stepstones, that they felt something was amiss.
In the eyes of the Tyroshi Grand Prince, while the Stepstones being occupied by islands was troublesome, these were only minor troubles.
However, if someone unified the Stepstones and became the King of the Stepstones, then that would be the major trouble they should worry about.
Therefore, afterward, even though Tyrosh continued business dealings with Miracle Port openly, they secretly incited pirates to attack Black Stone Island and other islands occupied by the Three Sea Monsters Alliance, precisely to prevent anyone from unifying the Stepstones.
In recent months, when the Miracle Fleet from Miracle Port was stationed on God's Grace Island and began patrolling the Stepstones waters, Tyrosh felt the impending danger, which led to their current action of forming a fleet and allying with the Pirate Alliance.
However, what they didn't expect was that they had received a letter the day before, stating that the alliance was successful and that they would attack God's Grace Island tomorrow, only for their fleet to be completely annihilated today, all their ships captured by the enemy, and paraded through the outer seas of Tyrosh.
Immediately, the entire Tyrosh was plunged into panic.
Warriors and Unsullied throughout the city ascended the city walls and fortresses, nervously watching the movements on the sea.
The citizens in the urban area also frantically hid in their houses, doors tightly shut, and the prices of various goods in the market instantly soared, increasing several times over.
As for the leaders, the Tyroshi Grand Prince and his officials gathered in the executive hall to discuss countermeasures, until the next morning, when a tribune, carrying the Tyroshi Grand Prince's personal letter and gifts of apology, was taken by a small fishing boat towards Black Stone Island.
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