Suddenly, "Iron Bone William" looked up at the sky.

The sky was already somewhat gloomy today, and now wisps of cloud were continuously accumulating, gradually pressing down to the sea, and the sky was getting darker.

Meanwhile, several black needle-tailed swifts flashed over the pirate ship like bolts of lightning, disappearing as quickly as they appeared.

"It's going to rain! But it shouldn't be heavy rain. Lower the sails and drop anchor, keep close watch, let's wait here.

We're just putting on a show, there's no need to circle around with the Navy anymore."

"Yes, Captain!" The burly young man obeyed and departed, and soon afterward, the shouts of pirates working the rigging echoed across the ship.

Soon the "Twin-tailed Fish" sailing alongside the "Iron Bone" received the signal flags, and the pirates controlling the merchant ship executed the same maneuvers.

At this moment, they could hardly imagine.

Their every move had already been watched, and unexpectedly, the Navy warship they had planned for arrived so quickly!

Ding ding ding—

The alarm bell rang.

"Captain, a target has been spotted!"

The lookout atop the mast stashed away the brass telescope, slid down like a monkey, and reported beside Aiven.

Aiven, who was "resting with his eyes closed," opened his eyes, though the sea birds had already transmitted the other ship's intelligence back.

Even when visibility is excellent at sea, and a sharp-eyed lookout can see dozens of kilometers away, all they can do is see; the details remain indiscernible.

As his ability enhanced, the sea birds' reconnaissance range increasingly extended, having constructed a comprehensive reconnaissance network. The scene dozens of kilometers away was as clear as the lines on his palm to Aiven.

His "Conch" had departed from the site where the "Twin-tailed Fish" incident occurred and had caught up with this pirate ship in just a day without the "Black Hand" providing intelligence, not relying merely on luck.

Though these details couldn't be shared with the crew for now, Aiven nodded, encouraging the lookout, "Good job!"

With a shake of his cloak, Aiven stepped onto the command position and shouted orders:

"Level 1 combat readiness! Get into upwind position, open the gun ports, let's serve the pirates a hot appetizer!"

In naval battles, occupying either the upwind or downwind position comes with respective advantages and disadvantages.

At least for the "Conch," having only one layer of artillery deck, there wasn't much concern about failing to open the lower gun ports due to flooding, and being upwind, the cannon range is greater, offering a stronger advantage!

Boom.. boom.. boom..

The port side panels opened.

The sailors dragged the shipborne artillery weighing up to five thousand pounds with pulleys, loading gunpowder and solid iron cannonballs into the firing port, ready to fire.

The "Conch" slowly adjusted its combat stance, aligning its side with the pirate ship that also sighted the "Conch" as it re-raised its sails on the distant sea surface.

Aiven looked at the densely clouded sky and the rain droplets already starting to fall, releasing his hands from the "Mist Silver Lamp," the Ocean Treasure in his coat; white mist appearing during heavy rain would be quite unreasonable.

His mission was simple, to retrieve the "Twin-tailed Fish," sparing unnecessary confrontation with the pirates as envisioned by the Viscount. After all, as long as he lost the material evidence, not being directly caught red-handed by officials, the Viscount's crisis would be resolved.

After today, who would believe the pirates' words anymore?

Moreover, there was an interesting character among the mission objectives.

The final intelligence sent back from the "Twin-tailed Fish" earlier lacked details of the pirate ship's identity, and Aiven originally intended to use this merely as a drill.

Upon seeing the pirate ship firsthand, he discovered that such a notorious character was responsible for hijacking the "Twin-tailed Fish!"

"Is it 'Iron Bone' William?"

There was no cover on the vast sea, especially since Aiven hadn't used the "Mist Silver Lamp" to summon fog. The "Iron Bone" had already noticed the Navy warship advancing with exposed breach!

"Captain, should we fire?"

It's difficult to ambush on the sea, and before entering the firing range, the burly young man standing behind Captain William softly inquired.

"The pig in Westcarr City isn't offering enough for us to risk our lives, let's just hand the 'Twin-tailed Fish' over to the Navy, our task is complete.

"However, doesn't this warship seem slightly different from what was promised? It arrived a bit too quickly, didn't it?"

While verbally adhering to the plan, William, with his years of pirate experience, keenly sensed that the development seemed a bit off.

The complete plan was that their side would capture the "Twin-tailed Fish," which was transporting contraband, along with all its crew. Then they would "unexpectedly" encounter the Kingdom Navy patrolling there, leaving the "Twin-tailed Fish" for the Navy to "catch red-handed."

If the plan went smoothly, they might not even have to meet the Navy at all.

That fat pig would achieve his goal, and he could retrieve his first mate, who had been accidentally captured while replenishing supplies ashore recently, and then leave the soon-to-be whirlpool-like "trouble spot" on the Black Sea East Coast as quickly as possible!

But now, it seemed something unexpected that he didn't understand had occurred.

Although the "Iron Bone" had been lingering in the predetermined waters to facilitate the Navy's subsequent finding, this would take time.

The Kingdom Navy is not something privately run.

That fat pig had used connections to leak information, and then the Navy dispatched several cruisers of sufficient weight that wouldn't favor Viscount Andrea. According to their planned schedule, it should have been delayed by at least one or two days.

The warship now appearing alone differed significantly from the plan described by that fat pig!

"Call back all the brothers from 'Twin-tailed Fish,' you all retreat first, and I'll go have a word with our Navy friends.

Wouldn't it show 'Iron Bone' as too weak to have no response at all?"

Given the difference between the Navy's power and their side as initially planned, although William still did not intend to fire against the Navy, he was skillful and bold, thinking that probing this strange warship a bit was not a problem.

Therefore, the officers and men on the "Conch" witnessed such an incomprehensible scene: faced with their continuous approach, not only did the pirates fail to prepare for battle, but they quickly abandoned the merchant ship "Twin-tailed Fish," gathered swiftly on the pirate ship, hoisted the sails, and fled far away into the distance?

"Are pirates so considerate nowadays?" The officers and men looked at each other in bewilderment. Although taking credit for "recapturing" the merchant ship was now easily achieved, they really couldn't understand the pirates' actions.

Only Aiven, aware of the inside story, understood that the pirates had finished their performance and were preparing to exit the stage.

According to the script, as part of the Kingdom Navy crew on a cruiser, people should be sent onboard to inspect, enabling the crew to publicly see the contraband on the ship. With testimonies from everyone, they could firmly blame Viscount Andrea for illegal activities.

At this critical moment, it was enough to cost the Old Duke his seat in the Wake County council due to the scandal, and perhaps even more.

"But you'll be disappointed!"

To be cautious, Aiven confirmed that the pirate ship "Iron Bone" had indeed sailed far away, and that trying to return and ambush them would take at least half an hour, then ordered:

"Get a little closer, keep your distance, lower the boat and send a few people over to see if the pirates left any traps."

While the sailors proceeded with standard operations, the sea birds had already entered the "Twin-tailed Fish" for reconnaissance.

He was very curious about the "contraband" that even the Viscount spoke of with such mystery.

Soon, the small Needle-tailed Swifts had conveyed the scene they saw straight into Aiven's mind.

In the cabin, though covered with coarse black woolen fabric, the hefty black objects were instantly recognizable to Aiven.

"This... seems a bit too much, doesn't it?!"

It turned out to be a total of twenty pieces of shipborne artillery, stripped of other components!

Some even had their fabric removed, as if they were afraid others wouldn't see them, exposing the cast iron artillery directly.

They were certainly not brand new Kingdom ordnance, and the Viscount didn't have the nerve for that. Judging by the wear and the markings, they seemed to be second-hand goods decommissioned by the Thessaly Kingdom Navy.

They were probably meant to have their markings removed and be refurbished, then secretly transported to a dockyard for upgrading merchant ships with armament, or simply for resale.

Regardless, even decommissioned military equipment is much better than privately cast cannons.

In this age of Great Navigation, scholars once measured a nation's naval strength by the quantity of artillery it possessed. The more cannons, the stronger the firepower, and the more formidable the navy!

No one would ever think they had too many cannons, especially when it came to high-quality military hardware.

Even if it wasn't illegally sold by the local military, it would still be a definite contraband, which is a large deal only a few powerful great nobles can afford!

Given Viscount Andrea's status, daring to get involved in such dealings, even with the protection of a title, would result in imprisonment.

No wonder that old fox was so frightened!