Pfft!
Fang Yuan dropped from the sky, his long blade skewering the merchant Captain's throat. A sailor rushed him, but Fang Yuan spun and finished him off.
Though deep behind enemy lines, Fang Yuan showed no fear; his aura alone made it feel as if he was the one surrounding everyone else.
"The Captain's dead!" a sailor screamed.
Instant chaos swept the merchant ship.
"Don't panic!"
The First Mate stepped forward to restore order.
"He's alone—don't fear him!"
Fang Yuan raised his blade and charged; the First Mate's face paled as he fled.
I was just talking big—why'd you take it seriously?
He couldn't escape; Fang Yuan carved through the crew like a hot knife. After a few fell, no one dared stand in his way.
Though the ship boasted a hundred sailors, losing Captain and mate left the rest fragmented; under pirate assault they crumbled in moments.
When Sakazuki bellowed "Quarter for those who yield!" at Fang Yuan's cue, the sailors' will to fight evaporated.
They were only here for a wage—who'd truly die for the merchant owner?
With just seven wounded and three dead, The Jackdaw captured the manchester and her hundred-plus crew.
Sakazuki stared at the disarmed sailors squatting on deck, the scene feeling almost unreal.
Ten casualties meant nothing to pirates—only the living split the coin.
Sakazuki thrust his fist skyward—
"Black King!"
The pirates echoed at once.
"Black King!"
"Black King!"
Pirate bands aren't unlike ancient armies: everyone backs a winner, and victory feeds morale.
This time they didn't ferry loot to the pirate ship; instead they ordered pirates and sailors to move stores from The Jackdaw to the manchester.
"From today this ship is The Jackdaw!" Fang Yuan declared.
Iron Black King, flowing ships—wherever he stands becomes The Jackdaw.
Fang Yuan asked the crew for word of black magic, witchcraft, anything arcane; such news could buy them lighter plundering.
This time he struck pay-dirt.
"West of Africa lies the Witch God Cult," the Third Mate confessed. "Most black magic at sea comes from them. We met their priests while trading ashore."
Witch God Cult?
Fang Yuan quickly realized he meant the Voodoo Cult dominant in West Africa.
Voodoo is famed for black arts; pirates of the caribbean 4's villain Blackbeard studied there, using dark spells to pummel Captain Jack senseless.
"Looks like Africa's on the itinerary," Fang Yuan mused.
After pinning down the Voodoo Cult's location, he herded the merchant sailors onto the old pirate hull, gave them meager food and water, and sailed away.
He kept only the Third Mate—to guide the way.
With barely forty pirates, splitting the force was pointless; one ship of full strength was enough.
Mid-Atlantic, Fang Yuan ordered no rest—set course straight for the British Peninsula.
Their prize bore no pirate marks; flying a national flag would let them slip into an English port to fence the loot.
The stranded sailors, given only enough supplies to crawl home, couldn't cross half the Atlantic; by the time they reported, years might have passed.
Besides, Fang Yuan had plans to set.
"Young Turner, have you decided?"
After the long voyage London's port lay ahead. On deck, Fang Yuan turned to little Will Turner.
"Entering the Naval Academy is perilous and hard. If you refuse, I'll understand," he said kindly.
The boy nodded firmly. "I will, Mr. Fang Yuan!"
"I'll become a Naval Admiral and carry out your orders!"
Months had passed since Fang Yuan first found young Turner.
With his knack for winning kids over, Fang Yuan had the boy utterly devoted.
Not to mention Fang Yuan held news of Turner's father.
"I've learned Bill Turner was indeed a pirate—and likely still alive," Fang Yuan said gently. "I'll keep watching out for him."
Hearing of his father, the boy's eyes lit, scattering much of his fear in this strange new life.
"Father… is alive?"
"That's wonderful!"
"Thank you, Mr. Fang Yuan!" young Turner exclaimed.
Across the pirates of the caribbean saga, the Turners are forever saving Dad—Will saved Bill Turner, his own son will save him—family tradition.
Young Turner knows aiding pirates is wrong, but if it helps him find his father, he's willing to be the bad guy.
"Alright then, I've already enrolled you in the Royal Naval Academy—looking forward to seeing you make something of yourself!" Fang Yuan patted Turner's head and urged.
The Royal Naval Academy sounded prestigious, yet a few gold coins could still buy a place.
Fang Yuan, however, had used a fake identity to register Turner; after all, he was a man destined to become the Pirate King and couldn't let anyone discover his connection to Turner.
After watching Turner enter the Royal Naval Academy and leaving him a bank account, Fang Yuan launched a major refit of the manchester at London Port.
The manchester had been laid out as a merchant vessel, quite different from a pirate ship.
So Fang Yuan had the craftsmen thicken her armor, add gun ports, fit bow and Stern Chasers, and stock powder and shot—so often that London policemen dropped by almost daily.
It kept Sakazuki and the other pirates on tenterhooks the whole time.
"My Lord Black King," Sakazuki found Fang Yuan and asked cautiously, "refitting in London costs more than in a Pirate Port and draws attention—should we move elsewhere?"
Fang Yuan shook his head; of course he knew such fanfare was conspicuous, but that was exactly what he wanted.
A pirate's nemesis is the navy, and on these seas the Royal Navy of England is the strongest. Building a pirate ship in the flagship navy's home port—once word spread, who could forget it?
Though the England Police kept an eye on them, under the persuasive power of gold everyone turned a blind eye to The Jackdaw's refit.
Fang Yuan publicly claimed the alterations were for defense against pirates; after all, the manchester had arrived bearing battle scars, and with coin to smooth things over he completed the pirate refit right under the navy's nose.
The refit was finished: the former merchantman manchester, now The Jackdaw, looked utterly transformed.
A massive ram had been fitted to her bow along with four Bow Chasers; the stern carried another four Stern Chasers; and the broadsides—upper and lower decks—held twelve guns per side, twenty-four in total, making forty-eight altogether: her firepower had leapt to a new level.
In addition, Fang Yuan designated a special Powder Magazine, reinforcing it with metal to keep the chance of an explosion during action to a minimum.
By the end of the refit, not only Sakazuki's pirates but even the craftsmen were muttering—what exactly had they helped create?
What merchantman spurns cargo space to stockpile powder?
All Fang Yuan could think was that their vision was still too narrow.
While rivals hoard grain, I hoard guns—my rivals become my granaries.
"I trade powder for their cargo—how is that not business?" he told himself with perfect conviction.
With everything ready, The Jackdaw prepared to sail again, but this time Fang Yuan had no intention of slipping out of port quietly.
"Since we're here, let's leave London something to remember!"
Once The Jackdaw had left the harbor and Fang Yuan calculated they were within maximum range, he gave Sakazuki the order.
"Hoist our colors!"
"Which one?" Sakazuki was still a bit dazed.
Fang Yuan shot him a sidelong glance. "Do we even have a second flag?"
"You mean—?" Sakazuki gasped; when Fang Yuan nodded, his blood surged.
"Lower the damn England flag and raise the banner of the Black Emperor Pirates!" he roared to the crew, relaying Fang Yuan's order.
"Starboard battery, elevation seven-eight degrees—stand by!" Fang Yuan continued.
Sakazuki, even more fired up, repeated the command.
The pirates, like him, were stunned for a moment—then every man grew excited.
Anyone who chose piracy already held life and Death lightly; defiance ran in their veins. Risky, yes—but so what?
Firing a salute in the Royal Navy's very lair?
With the Royal Navy of England ruling the waves, no pirate had ever pulled off a stunt so earth-shattering.
Fang Yuan's men were whipped into a frenzy.
Even if they died, they'd make the Royal Navy taste a Broadside first!
Fang Yuan's target was the lighthouse at London Port—the most conspicuous structure in sight.
Adjusting the guns took time; with forty-eight pieces and only forty hands—each gun needing at least two men—progress was sluggish.
Under Fang Yuan's guidance, though, the pirates moved swiftly into position.
"Fire!"
"Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom!"
The brand-new Jackdaw bellowed its thunderous roar at London Port—capital harbor of the world's strongest sea power.
"Rumble—!"
The lighthouse, Fang Yuan's chosen mark, snapped in half, the trajectory so well calculated the collapse looked like a precision demolition.
The whole harbor dissolved into chaos, and Sakazuki—learning fast—had the pirates bellowing their names at the top of their lungs.
"Black Emperor Pirates!"
"Captain Fang Yuan!"
"The Jackdaw!"
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