The southeast wind was blowing at force six.
Tonk stood at the bow of the ship and held up the statue of the goddess of the wind. He blew three breaths into it, and although the statue itself showed no response, a strong wind soon started to blow around the ship. The sails swelled, and the Black Pearl's speed increased dramatically. Tonk's hair was blown in all directions by the wind. He looked at the rope tied to the mast, and saw that it was pointing due south instead of the southeast!
Observing the direction of the rope or flags is an easy way to determine the direction of the wind.
"What wonderful stuff," Tonk couldn't help but kiss the statue of the goddess, and luckily, this action didn't bring any divine retribution.
Thanks to the southerly wind, the Black Pearl soon overtook the Lucky, and three hours later, the Black Pearl had left the Lucky far behind. Tonk didn't want the distance between the two ships to be too great, so he ordered the crew to take down some of the sails and slow down the ship's speed.
Tonk noticed that only the ship he was on could benefit from the power of the wind after using the statue of the goddess, and the Lucky couldn't even catch any wind even if it sailed side by side with the Black Pearl.
In the days that followed, Tonk used the statue of the goddess of wind once a day, making the Black Pearl faster and faster. He moved most of the Lucky cargo onto the Black Pearl to reduce the Lucky burden so that the two ships could still sail at a relatively even speed.
In the first few days at sea, Flora was always avoiding Tonk, and even when they met, she would be very nervous. But after a few days, she found that Tonk had not done anything inappropriate, and slowly returned to her usual self.
Although Flora was a lookout, she still had some free time every day. When she had nothing to do, she learned some navigation knowledge from One-eyed, and the rest of the time she spent making handicrafts. She liked to use animal teeth, shells, and other things to make small trinkets. She was also good at carving patterns on bones and weaving.
Flora had been working on a tooth necklace and had only finished half of it. Tonk had taken a liking to the necklace, and Flora promised to give it to him once it was completed.
On this day, as if it were a sign, the sky was gloomy, and it had been drizzling since morning. The sea looked black, and the two ships seemed to be sailing in a shaky inkwell.
Black Pearl was in the lead, and due to the statue of the goddess, Lucky had fallen far behind.
Flora was on duty, scanning the horizon with a telescope. After slowly turning around, she turned to look behind her and wanted to see if Lucky was okay. She repeated this observation process every day and had become accustomed to everything being normal, but today, when she looked, she was surprised to see Lucky signaling with flags.
Flora had learned some simple flag signals, and she found that the signal being displayed by the other ship was: danger!
"Captain! Lucky is in trouble!" Flora's face changed, and she shouted.
Tonk was originally sipping wine in the captain's cabin, but when he heard the sailor's report, his face turned cold, and he hurried out. He climbed up the mast's lookout tower along the rope ladder and snatched Flora's telescope to look at Lucky. However, the lens was foggy.
He wiped off the raindrops on the lens before finally seeing the situation of Lucky, which was displaying a signal of danger.
Lucky had over a dozen cannons and One-eyed, a sharpshooter, so even if they encountered ordinary sea monsters, they wouldn't have to worry. But now, they were displaying a signal of danger, indicating that they must have encountered a very difficult problem.
Tonk shouted urgently, "Bring out the signal flags! Quickly!"
The sailors on board became nervous, and someone immediately went to retrieve a set of signal flags. However, these sailors were all novice navigators and none of them knew how to use the signal flags, so Tonk had to do it himself.
"Tell me what they are saying over there, and I will signal them from here," Tonk said urgently to Flora. The two of them squeezed onto the lookout tower, braving the wind and rain.
"But I don't know many of the signal flags!" Flora panicked and her eyes started to water.
"There is no time!" Tonk handed the telescope to Flora and picked up two small flags of different colors. He signaled "rendezvous," which meant that the Black Pearl should turn around and help the Lucky.
Under pressure, Flora miraculously remembered even the signal flags she had only heard once or twice before.
"They're saying that they've encountered a formidable enemy!" Flora shouted, watching the other ship's movements closely.
A formidable enemy? Tonk was intrigued. Who could One-eyed be referring to as the formidable enemy? A sea monster? The navy? Or the Black Toad Pirates!? The thought of this enemy gave him an ominous feeling.
To confirm his suspicion, Tonk signaled "pirates."
The Lucky, which was also observing the Black Pearl's reaction, immediately changed its signal.
"They answered 'yes,' and added the number 'six.' I don't know what that means," Flora shouted.
Tonk's heart skipped a beat. It seemed that they had indeed encountered the Black Toad Pirates, as they happened to have six ships! He regretted his earlier assumption that the vast sea made it unlikely for the two fleets to meet.
At this moment, One-eyed was also standing on the lookout of Lucky, using flag signals to communicate with Tonk in front. Behind the Lucky, six Black Toad pirate ships were chasing closely, crushing the waves as if they were a group of fierce beasts baring their fangs.
The two pirate groups had just collided a moment ago. Over the past few days, the Black Toad pirates had been trying to find out Tonk's whereabouts and had been chasing him based on the scattered information they had obtained. As Tonk had stayed on Starfish Island for several days, the Black Toad pirates had finally caught up with him.
The Black Toad pirate group was full of momentum this time, determined to kill Tonk and avenge past disgrace.
One-eyed was well aware of the Black Toad's strength. Ignoring the other ships, even the Purgatory, a single ship, was enough to destroy the Evil Dragon Pirates.
Originally, this battle was a foregone conclusion, but One-eyed thought of Tonk's special ability. Perhaps Tonk could turn the tables with his powerful strength, just like last time.
With this slim hope in mind, One-eyed changed the flag signal.
Can we win?
Flora relayed Lucky's question to Tonk. Tonk gritted his teeth and remained silent. Although he had the Sea Vortex Crazy Fish Ring and his own Pirate King System, which were both powerful, he had no confidence in facing six ships.
The Sea Vortex Crazy Fish Ring could still be used two more times, but even if he was lucky enough to destroy three ships, the opponent would still have three left. Then it would be two against three, and he would still be at a disadvantage. Although Tonk had some reward points, the amount of heat they could generate was limited.
And not only is there a difference in quantity between the six ships and the two ships, but also in firepower and personnel!
The three captains of the Black Toad Pirate Crew are second-order strength, so what about Harold himself? A true strongman, even if he charged alone onto the Black Pearl, Tonk would find it difficult to resist.
If they were to engage in a direct fight, Tonk would only have a 20% chance of winning.
Helplessly, Tonk raised the signal flag for "escape."
The Lucky fell silent for a moment as if it had made a big decision, before raising the signal flag for "I will cover the rear."
After Flora reported the enemy's movements, she hesitated and asked, "Captain, I see a ship catching up behind the Lucky. Are they going to attack us?"
The previous sea battle left a deep impression on Flora, and even now, she still felt lingering fear when recalling those scenes.
Tonk had no intention of answering Flora. He snatched the telescope from her and looked towards Lucky, but the other party had stopped signaling. Behind the Lucky, a ship was desperately chasing, and they would soon enter firing range.
If one ship slowed down the Lucky, the slower large ships behind it would catch up and launch a fierce attack. Perhaps they wouldn't even engage in close combat and the Black Toad Pirates would choose to simply sink it.
On the Lucky, One-eyed climbed down from the mast, with a solemn expression. In his pirate life, he was gambling with his life once again. He bet that Tonk would keep his promise and eventually destroy the Black Toad Pirate Crew. And what he had to do now was to slow down the Black Toad's fleet.
"Turn the sails southeast by 25 degrees! Also, throw everything on the ship except weapons, including food and water!" One-eyed shouted loudly on the Lucky Star as he passed the pirates.
The rain became denser at this moment, wetting everyone on the deck. Everyone's expression was tense, even a little fearful.
"Captain Tonk will come to save us, won't he?" asked a pirate who had seen Tonk summon a whirlpool before. He was full of awe and admiration for Tonk.
One-eyed didn't answer the pirate. Instead, he took out his pistol and pulled the trigger into the sky, saying loudly, "Those who disturb morale will be shot, those who disobey orders will be shot, those who are cowardly and afraid will be shot! Now, turn the sails!"
The pirates followed the order and changed course. One-eyed did this to lead the Black Toad's fleet away and buy time for the Black Pearl to escape.
One-eyed held a long rifle and said coldly, "Hawkeye, if you're a man, you should step forward and fight with me!"
Seeing Lucky turn its bow, Tonk already understood One-eyed's determination. One-eyed's decision meant that he was sure to die. Tonk felt particularly uncomfortable, as One-eyed was a good buddy.
In the distance, a row of gun muzzles shone with fire, and the sound of booming cannon fire came!
The southeast wind was blowing at force six.
Tonk stood at the bow of the ship and held up the statue of the goddess of the wind. He blew three breaths into it, and although the statue itself showed no response, a strong wind soon started to blow around the ship. The sails swelled, and the Black Pearl's speed increased dramatically. Tonk's hair was blown in all directions by the wind. He looked at the rope tied to the mast, and saw that it was pointing due south instead of the southeast!
Observing the direction of the rope or flags is an easy way to determine the direction of the wind.
"What wonderful stuff," Tonk couldn't help but kiss the statue of the goddess, and luckily, this action didn't bring any divine retribution.
Thanks to the southerly wind, the Black Pearl soon overtook the Lucky, and three hours later, the Black Pearl had left the Lucky far behind. Tonk didn't want the distance between the two ships to be too great, so he ordered the crew to take down some of the sails and slow down the ship's speed.
Tonk noticed that only the ship he was on could benefit from the power of the wind after using the statue of the goddess, and the Lucky couldn't even catch any wind even if it sailed side by side with the Black Pearl.
In the days that followed, Tonk used the statue of the goddess of wind once a day, making the Black Pearl faster and faster. He moved most of the Lucky cargo onto the Black Pearl to reduce the Lucky burden so that the two ships could still sail at a relatively even speed.
In the first few days at sea, Flora was always avoiding Tonk, and even when they met, she would be very nervous. But after a few days, she found that Tonk had not done anything inappropriate, and slowly returned to her usual self.
Although Flora was a lookout, she still had some free time every day. When she had nothing to do, she learned some navigation knowledge from One-eyed, and the rest of the time she spent making handicrafts. She liked to use animal teeth, shells, and other things to make small trinkets. She was also good at carving patterns on bones and weaving.
Flora had been working on a tooth necklace and had only finished half of it. Tonk had taken a liking to the necklace, and Flora promised to give it to him once it was completed.
On this day, as if it were a sign, the sky was gloomy, and it had been drizzling since morning. The sea looked black, and the two ships seemed to be sailing in a shaky inkwell.
Black Pearl was in the lead, and due to the statue of the goddess, Lucky had fallen far behind.
Flora was on duty, scanning the horizon with a telescope. After slowly turning around, she turned to look behind her and wanted to see if Lucky was okay. She repeated this observation process every day and had become accustomed to everything being normal, but today, when she looked, she was surprised to see Lucky signaling with flags.
Flora had learned some simple flag signals, and she found that the signal being displayed by the other ship was: danger!
"Captain! Lucky is in trouble!" Flora's face changed, and she shouted.
Tonk was originally sipping wine in the captain's cabin, but when he heard the sailor's report, his face turned cold, and he hurried out. He climbed up the mast's lookout tower along the rope ladder and snatched Flora's telescope to look at Lucky. However, the lens was foggy.
He wiped off the raindrops on the lens before finally seeing the situation of Lucky, which was displaying a signal of danger.
Lucky had over a dozen cannons and One-eyed, a sharpshooter, so even if they encountered ordinary sea monsters, they wouldn't have to worry. But now, they were displaying a signal of danger, indicating that they must have encountered a very difficult problem.
Tonk shouted urgently, "Bring out the signal flags! Quickly!"
The sailors on board became nervous, and someone immediately went to retrieve a set of signal flags. However, these sailors were all novice navigators and none of them knew how to use the signal flags, so Tonk had to do it himself.
"Tell me what they are saying over there, and I will signal them from here," Tonk said urgently to Flora. The two of them squeezed onto the lookout tower, braving the wind and rain.
"But I don't know many of the signal flags!" Flora panicked and her eyes started to water.
"There is no time!" Tonk handed the telescope to Flora and picked up two small flags of different colors. He signaled "rendezvous," which meant that the Black Pearl should turn around and help the Lucky.
Under pressure, Flora miraculously remembered even the signal flags she had only heard once or twice before.
"They're saying that they've encountered a formidable enemy!" Flora shouted, watching the other ship's movements closely.
A formidable enemy? Tonk was intrigued. Who could One-eyed be referring to as the formidable enemy? A sea monster? The navy? Or the Black Toad Pirates!? The thought of this enemy gave him an ominous feeling.
To confirm his suspicion, Tonk signaled "pirates."
The Lucky, which was also observing the Black Pearl's reaction, immediately changed its signal.
"They answered 'yes,' and added the number 'six.' I don't know what that means," Flora shouted.
Tonk's heart skipped a beat. It seemed that they had indeed encountered the Black Toad Pirates, as they happened to have six ships! He regretted his earlier assumption that the vast sea made it unlikely for the two fleets to meet.
At this moment, One-eyed was also standing on the lookout of Lucky, using flag signals to communicate with Tonk in front. Behind the Lucky, six Black Toad pirate ships were chasing closely, crushing the waves as if they were a group of fierce beasts baring their fangs.
The two pirate groups had just collided a moment ago. Over the past few days, the Black Toad pirates had been trying to find out Tonk's whereabouts and had been chasing him based on the scattered information they had obtained. As Tonk had stayed on Starfish Island for several days, the Black Toad pirates had finally caught up with him.
The Black Toad pirate group was full of momentum this time, determined to kill Tonk and avenge past disgrace.
One-eyed was well aware of the Black Toad's strength. Ignoring the other ships, even the Purgatory, a single ship, was enough to destroy the Evil Dragon Pirates.
Originally, this battle was a foregone conclusion, but One-eyed thought of Tonk's special ability. Perhaps Tonk could turn the tables with his powerful strength, just like last time.
With this slim hope in mind, One-eyed changed the flag signal.
Can we win?
Flora relayed Lucky's question to Tonk. Tonk gritted his teeth and remained silent. Although he had the Sea Vortex Crazy Fish Ring and his own Pirate King System, which were both powerful, he had no confidence in facing six ships.
The Sea Vortex Crazy Fish Ring could still be used two more times, but even if he was lucky enough to destroy three ships, the opponent would still have three left. Then it would be two against three, and he would still be at a disadvantage. Although Tonk had some reward points, the amount of heat they could generate was limited.
And not only is there a difference in quantity between the six ships and the two ships, but also in firepower and personnel!
The three captains of the Black Toad Pirate Crew are second-order strength, so what about Harold himself? A true strongman, even if he charged alone onto the Black Pearl, Tonk would find it difficult to resist.
If they were to engage in a direct fight, Tonk would only have a 20% chance of winning.
Helplessly, Tonk raised the signal flag for "escape."
The Lucky fell silent for a moment as if it had made a big decision, before raising the signal flag for "I will cover the rear."
After Flora reported the enemy's movements, she hesitated and asked, "Captain, I see a ship catching up behind the Lucky. Are they going to attack us?"
The previous sea battle left a deep impression on Flora, and even now, she still felt lingering fear when recalling those scenes.
Tonk had no intention of answering Flora. He snatched the telescope from her and looked towards Lucky, but the other party had stopped signaling. Behind the Lucky, a ship was desperately chasing, and they would soon enter firing range.
If one ship slowed down the Lucky, the slower large ships behind it would catch up and launch a fierce attack. Perhaps they wouldn't even engage in close combat and the Black Toad Pirates would choose to simply sink it.
On the Lucky, One-eyed climbed down from the mast, with a solemn expression. In his pirate life, he was gambling with his life once again. He bet that Tonk would keep his promise and eventually destroy the Black Toad Pirate Crew. And what he had to do now was to slow down the Black Toad's fleet.
"Turn the sails southeast by 25 degrees! Also, throw everything on the ship except weapons, including food and water!" One-eyed shouted loudly on the Lucky Star as he passed the pirates.
The rain became denser at this moment, wetting everyone on the deck. Everyone's expression was tense, even a little fearful.
"Captain Tonk will come to save us, won't he?" asked a pirate who had seen Tonk summon a whirlpool before. He was full of awe and admiration for Tonk.
One-eyed didn't answer the pirate. Instead, he took out his pistol and pulled the trigger into the sky, saying loudly, "Those who disturb morale will be shot, those who disobey orders will be shot, those who are cowardly and afraid will be shot! Now, turn the sails!"
The pirates followed the order and changed course. One-eyed did this to lead the Black Toad's fleet away and buy time for the Black Pearl to escape.
One-eyed held a long rifle and said coldly, "Hawkeye, if you're a man, you should step forward and fight with me!"
Seeing Lucky turn its bow, Tonk already understood One-eyed's determination. One-eyed's decision meant that he was sure to die. Tonk felt particularly uncomfortable, as One-eyed was a good buddy.
In the distance, a row of gun muzzles shone with fire, and the sound of booming cannon fire came!
