It is normal for fog to form on the sea, especially when there is a large temperature difference between early morning and evening.
The guys who came to round up the "Ghost Group" chose the time in the evening, which is the time when people are most likely to be ignored and lose their alertness.
At this time, the light is dim and there is thick fog, so even if a large-scale fleet approaches, it will not be easy to be discovered in advance.
Unfortunately, there is Anna on the ship, a water devil fruit user who is extremely sensitive to weather changes. She senses the water vapor in the air and asserts that there will be fog in this sea area, but the concentration will never reach the level where it is blind now.
What's even more pity is... Raymond has already predicted the movements of the pursuers.
Obviously, someone used the "fog of war".
This is also a commonly used method in naval battles to limit the enemy's field of vision.
Obviously, the pursuers are also on guard against the "Golden Ghost"'s powerful leap forward function. Only when the encirclement circle shrinks, will the possibility of their roundup be successful will increase.
Moreover, if the distance is really shortened to the coverage range of the magic artillery, the artillery coverage of the range line will make it impossible to escape even if you want to.
...
Anna stood on the deck and looked at the subtle ripples on the water. She whispered a spell in her mouth, and a big hand condensed with water elements reached into the sea.
After sensing it for a moment, she said: "Captain, judging from the movement of the waves, we should be surrounded. There are many enemy ships, at least more than eighty. The nearest ship is only sixty nautical miles away from us.
..”
"Um."
Raymond nodded, which was completely consistent with the information he perceived.
He said: "The fish in the sea are also conveying this news... To the northeast seems to be the enemy's main fleet, and there is a powerful aura on the ship that makes even large sea kings fearful."
Raymond has the skill of [Soul Language] and can sense the "emotions" of sea creatures.
Although he couldn't communicate like a conversation, he could still clearly perceive the signals that fish in the sea conveyed to each other to avoid danger.
Even though the fog obscures the view, the information exchanged by the fish has revealed the approximate location of the hunting ships.
Those guys from the [Night Emperor] group never imagined that their deliberate roundup had actually been exposed to Raymond and the others' perceptions.
At this time, Colin asked: "Captain, do we need to fire a few shots now to test the enemy's situation? This range is not a big problem for our newly developed magic artillery..."
"No, wait until they get closer."
Raymond shook his head. Since he planned to fight, he couldn't scare away the enemy easily.
He added: "The distance is too far and the shooting deviation is too large, it is easy to scare those guys away. Since they used the 'fog of war' this time, it seems that they intend to sneak to a distance where we cannot escape."
We just pretended we didn't notice it and waited until they entered the 'absolute range' before firing..."
Colin nodded, "Yes, Captain!"
...
"Absolute range" is a technical term in naval warfare, which means the range from which a ship cannot escape.
This is an activity data measured according to the technological level of the ship.
For "Sea King"-class ships, the ultimate range of the Sea King artillery is about thirty nautical miles, and the so-called "absolute range" is roughly twenty nautical miles.
This range is the coverage area of the magic artillery. It will be difficult for the opponent to escape.
The speeds of the two ships are almost the same, so the two ships will bite tightly.
Even if the opponent has a speed advantage, the time it takes to leave the firing range is enough for the magic artillery to refill many rounds of ammunition.
Within the "absolute range" range, escaping is not a good option. The best option is to engage in an artillery battle until one side is sunk.
This is the result that the pursuers of the [Night Emperor] Regiment want to see!
Because their "Sea King" battleship has an absolute range advantage over the "Predator" battleship!
Unfortunately, the opponent they encountered was the "Golden Ghost"!
...
The "absolute range" of an ordinary "Predator-class" battleship can only cover a radius of ten nautical miles. Once a "Sea King"-class battleship approaches the range of twenty nautical miles, there is almost no possibility of survival.
But for the special predator-class battleship "Golden Ghost"...
This "absolute range" range is at least forty nautical miles, which is twice that of ordinary Sea King-class battleships!
This is an absolute technological crush!
The range of other people's artillery is not as good as yours, but you can show off their faces.
The identities of hunter and prey were immediately reversed due to the range of the artillery.
The two most important factors that affect the range of magic cannon are materials and runes.
The greater the magic energy pressure the barrel can withstand, the greater the range and power of the artillery.
Therefore, this results in the size of the artillery being proportional to the range. The larger the ship, the larger the artillery can be loaded, and the farther the range...
But now, Colin has recast the magic cannon on the Iron Toad and forged the top-level magic cannon exclusive to the "Golden Ghost" - the Toad Cannon. (Don't blame the author, this is the name given by Nicole.)
[Dwarves’ Golden Rune Book] The S and SS level runes on it are far beyond the current level of runes in the world. The artillery materials and runes on board the "Golden Ghost" are now the best.
...
Because of this, the power of the small artillery of the Predator-class battleships has caught up with the range of the "Poseidon-class" artillery!
As for such main guns, there are three on the Iron Toad.
There are also more than a dozen small artillery pieces with a slightly shorter range.
The current firepower of the "Golden Ghost" is a nightmare for any fleet below the "Poseidon Class".
Yes, a fleet, not a single ship!
...
However, no matter how accurate the magic artillery is, the firing error at ultra-long distances will be very large.
Hitting a ship dozens of nautical miles away is like shooting a mosquito with a gun.
A slight difference can lead to a mistake of a thousand miles.
If you fire the cannon in advance, you might actually scare those people away.
This time, Raymond planned to teach those who had crooked ideas about their "ghost group" a painful lesson, so naturally he didn't want to alert others.
"Everyone should hit the target a little bit, aim a little, and when the time comes, we will use two rounds of artillery to kill the enemy's main battleship."
Raymond said, looked at Colin again, and said: "The 'Sea King' class battleship is not that easy to sink. When the time comes, you may need to snipe at fixed points and be prepared for follow-up fire..."
"Captain, don't worry, I guarantee that the first round of main artillery will kill a Sea King battleship!"
Colin nodded and said confidently: "The 'three-round stacked shooting method' is enough to break through the Neptune-class rune defense armor. Those guys... there will be no return this time."
"Um!"
Raymond has naturally heard of the professional term "triple stack shooting".
This method... is specifically used to "break through" the defensive steel plates of ships.
The biggest reason why there are three main guns on the "Golden Ghost" is to meet this artillery attack technology.
When three guns are fired at the same target, with a one-second interval in between, the shock wave will form a superimposed "resonance" on the ship's hull. This method is about twice as destructive to the ship's defensive armor than hitting it at the same time!
This is the main artillery warfare technique commonly used to destroy ships, but it requires very high accuracy of artillery.
The "Toad Cannon" is enchanted with SS-level [Stability Rune], and its accuracy is unparalleled in the world!
As the only sailor of the "Ghost Regiment", Thor also looked excited, "Hey... when they enter the artillery range, they won't be able to escape even if they want to!"
A cook like Sha Mao, who was also a gunner during battle, also looked forward to it: "Tsk, tsk, there are more than eighty local warships... I wonder how many of them can escape in the end..."
As one of the designers, Nicole is naturally full of confidence in the firepower of the ship she designed. "As long as they don't escape, it won't be surprising if the whole army is annihilated."
After a pause, she continued: "It's a pity that the technology for applying the 'Magic Annihilation Cannon' to shipboards is not mature yet. Otherwise, it wouldn't be so troublesome to deal with those guys..."
...
"Captain, the wind is blowing east to south, and the enemy is already approaching. Someone is casting spells to interfere with the weather, and the sensing signals are confused..."
Anna carefully steered the helm, always maximizing her external perception.
The fog on the sea is getting thicker and thicker, and the fog is flowing everywhere on the sea, making it hazy to the eyes.
The "Golden Ghost" also gradually sailed into the fog.
Even though Raymond possesses the extraordinary vision of "Gorgon's Eye", his field of vision is limited to a few nautical miles.
"We are about to enter the 'absolute range' of twenty miles..."
Raymond sensed it briefly and determined the location of the enemy fleet.
At this moment, his thoughts were extremely clear, all kinds of information flashed rapidly in his mind, and he calculated the various possibilities of this naval battle again and again.
Although the ship's technology has a crushing advantage over the enemy, it cannot be blindly confident.
There are always many people with weird abilities in the world of navigation, and some small mistakes may cause the ship to capsize.
Thinking that there was nothing wrong with being careful, he shouted to everyone on the boat and confirmed it for the third time.
"Have the mines been deployed?"
"The arrangement is complete."
"Where's the sensory buoy?"
"It has been arranged all the way as planned. As long as the metal hull touches it, the coordinate signal will be fed back immediately."
"Anna, have you determined the alternate dive route?"
"It's been determined."
"..."
Problem after problem, not only attack, but also retreat.
Raymond considered almost every point.
"Don't worry about the small boats, those three 'Sea King-class battleships' must be sunk!"
He added: "According to the intelligence, the most troublesome person coming this time is the captain of the 16th Division of the [Night Emperor] Regiment, [Flamingo] Rhine Kaledo. His is the phantom beast type [Light Feather]
[Flamingo] is an ability user who is at the peak of Sequence 1 and a top master with half a foot in Sequence 0. He is very powerful in combat. He has wings to fly into the sky in his animal form. He is good at long-distance attacks and has a very fast escape speed. There is nothing special about that guy.
There are obvious shortcomings, but his melee combat ability is not particularly outstanding..."
Everyone looked serious and nodded in response: "Yes, Captain!"
"The artillery battle will definitely not kill those top experts, but there will be a fierce battle at some point, so everyone should be prepared... In addition to Rhine, there are several noteworthy enemies..."
Raymond told everyone about some of the data about this "Golden BOSS" he knew in the game and the information he got from Capone.
In the previous game, there were top BOSSs in the pirate camp such as the "Endless Seven Emperors" (there are only seven in the game). Their information was very detailed in the player forum, and their skills, abilities, weaknesses... were all clear.
This [Night Emperor] Division 16 has no secrets at all in Raymond's eyes.
The number of personnel, the firepower of the ship, the abilities of several masters on board...
Before the fight even started, almost all the combat power of the enemy team was included in his calculations.
Although the half-step sequence 0 [Flamingo] Rhine is troublesome, it is not an existence that their "ghost group" can't help.
If you know yourself and your enemy, you can fight a hundred battles without danger.
Intelligence is definitely the most important factor in war besides strength!
...
At the same time, in the thick fog, a huge fleet sailed quietly like a monster.
In the cabin of the main ship, [Flamingo] Rhine, wearing a pink feather cloak, was playing poker with a group of subordinates.
This round-up operation is not worth paying too much attention to them.
In the eyes of these veteran pirates, no matter what the identity of the target is or how high the bounty is, there is still an absolute gap in strength.
This was a quick and easy capture.
It's like catching a grasshopper that's jumping happily. It's not strong enough. The only thing you have to be careful about is not to let it jump away.
"Tsk tsk, Captain Rhine, you said we are just encircling and suppressing a small pirate group, why do we need to mobilize so many people? Including those who are watching the fun, I'm afraid there will be more than 80 ships..."
"Jie Jie... If the newcomers of our [Night Emperor] Regiment, the so-called 'Ghost Regiment', can survive today, they will be able to brag for the rest of their lives."
"Nowadays, the newcomers may not be very capable, but they are quite popular. I really thought that the title of 'Pirate Supernova' would be so easy to carry..."
"..."
On the poker table, what everyone brought to cushion the table were several reward orders.
The first one was printed with a series of tall red numbers with a reward of 799,000, which was clearly Raymond's reward order.
In the remaining pictures, Thor, Colin, Lulu, Anna, Sha Mao, Nicole, Gigi...all are there.
All the minions sneered at the young faces of the "Ghost Group" from time to time.
The bounty for these young men right under their noses is almost as high as that of their own captain. Why should they?
[Flamingo] Rhine had yellow teeth, a cigar in his mouth, and said with a ruffian tone: "When the fight starts, you can show off my tricks. The leader wants to live... Don't
Those boys were killed."
Minion A: "Haha... With so many of us going, I'm afraid those guys will be scared to death without having to do anything."
Minion B: "Boss, the leader seems to be very interested in this 'ghost group'... What's so special about those newcomers that they want to survive?"
"Those people the leader wants must be useful, so don't ask around."
Hearing this, a flash of light flashed in Rhine's eyes. He obviously knew more about the inside story, but he didn't say much.
He then said: "If the matter is settled this time, the captain will reward you with a large sum of money. Then I will take the guys to have some fun..."
"Captain is mighty!"
"Hahaha... I heard that the 'Bunny Girl Tavern' in the 'Blood Shark Collar' has recently received a batch of good products. They are all fair and tender high-class nobles... We'll go there when we're done?"
"Hurry up, after this work, find a place to have fun. Damn it, in order to hunt down those slippery guys, I haven't tasted meat for almost a month..."
"..."
When all the minions heard this, they instantly became excited.
They were whistling and doing vulgar crotch thrusting, as if they had begun to fantasize about the taste of women.
"You can go anywhere! The reward for this trip is enough for brothers to play with the best girls and drink the best wine!"
Rhine waved his hand and his tone was very heroic.
Changing the subject, he added: "However, don't be careless. I heard that Lei Meng's swordsmanship is average, only at the level of Sequence 4. But he is still a high-level telekinesis master in the 'Shenyou Realm', so be careful.
The boat capsized in the sewer..."
"Captain, with you coming out in person this time, isn't it easy for a newcomer to be caught?"
"Isn't that right? The 'ghost group' hasn't even noticed that it's surrounded now, so it's probably that they don't have any powerful players..."
"Hehe... Even if we find out now, it's too late! The encirclement has been formed. No matter which direction they escape from, they can't escape..."
"When the time comes, just fire cannons to scare people. I guess when they see so many of our warships, they will immediately surrender..."
"Oh, what are these unworthy newcomers worth paying attention to? Come on, let's continue playing cards..."
"..."
Hearing the attitude of his subordinates who did not take this mission seriously at all, [Flamingo] Rhine felt a slight sense of crisis in his heart for some reason.
But he turned around and thought about it carefully, but didn't take it to heart.
After all, in the current situation, no matter how you look at it, it is absolutely impossible for those "little shrimps" to escape.
But at this moment, something unexpected happened!
Rumble...
The explosion suddenly sounded, and the entire cabin trembled.
"What's going on? Did it hit a rock? Or was it a sea king attack?"
Everyone in the cabin was stunned.
Immediately, the crew member in charge of the call came with bad news.
"Captain! Oh no, one of our patrol boats was sunk!"
"Sinked? Where is the enemy?"
"I don't know...the fog is too thick and I can't see clearly..."
Boom!
Another explosion sounded, and a ball of fire exploded not far away.
"Captain! No, 'Ship 36' was also sunk..."
"Damn it, we've been discovered! Clear the fog and prepare to fight!"
[Flamingo] Rhine shouted loudly.
When he thought about it, the other party probably discovered the vanguard and fired a few shots at will.
Because their fleet was dense, two ships were hit...