CHAPTER 307: CHAPTER 221 DIVINE SIN

"Your Highness, what do we do now?"

The deckhouse of the Dragon King was in utter chaos. The Samurai from the Mizuno Family were fiercely debating whether or not to continue fighting the Wanjin Navy, but ultimately, only Mizuno Shichiro could make the final call.

But right now, Mizuno Shichiro’s mind was a mess, unable to make any decision.

This naval battle was completely outside the realm of normalcy—he simply couldn’t accurately judge the situation. In the Japan Middle Ages, anyone who could use fire attacks well was already considered a master; in typical engagements, boarding actions were the main approach. The most you could do was use tactics like the "empty ship trick," dismantle your own deck to make your opponent fall straight down when they boarded. But blasting a ship to pieces from three miles away—he’d never seen anything like it.

The entire nature of warfare has changed!

But Mizuno Shichiro also knew, he had to decide now—even a wrong decision was better than no decision. Due to a lack of orders, the ships of the Dragon King and the hundred Water Thief vessels were still doggedly approaching the Chita, and at this moment, every second was priceless. Whether to fight or flee—they needed an answer.

He was, after all, a veteran of many battles. He had underestimated the enemy at first, and panicked only because something so unprecedented had happened. Now that danger was imminent and his life was on the line, he instead managed to calm himself, steady his breathing, and begin to think hard.

The situation wasn’t looking too good. The enemy’s weapons were alarmingly powerful: if they tried to retreat now, on open water it’d be hard to gain distance quickly, and they’d likely be chased down and attacked from afar by the enemy...

Rather than be hammered from a distance, better to gamble on a direct fight. Besides, the enemy fired only once and stopped, which probably meant their reload speed was slow. This was actually the best opportunity to charge in.

If he could just capture their Golden Ship, even at the cost of losing a dozen ships it would be worth it—especially if he could seize that "one-shot-ship-destroying" weapon...

Then the Mizuno Family unifying these seas wasn’t just a dream—even just expanding their power would be possible...

Besides, the enemy had only a single clumsy big ship up front. His troops were closing in from both sides with over a hundred warships. One hundred against one—he still held the advantage!

With that realization, Mizuno Shichiro’s eyes went bloodshot. He roared, silencing the confusion among the attendants, and gave his order: "Keep moving forward! Set off fireworks! Order Pinglong and Five Ghosts Pill to pick up speed—surround Nozawa’s Golden Ship and pin them down! I repeat—if the Dragon King sinks, ignore it! Today, we must crush the Nozawa family!"

Panic in a crisis didn’t matter—as long as there was a backbone, everything would hold. Mizuno Shichiro’s reputation held sway: the uproar atop the Dragon King quickly died down. Whether they favored engaging the Wanjin Navy or not, everyone followed his command, waving flags and firing signal flares, ordering the small ship squad chasing Chita to accelerate, even if it meant rowing till they coughed up blood. They had to close in on the enemy.

Mizuno Shichiro didn’t just stand by, either. Seeing morale restored, he signaled for a Household Retainer and commanded, "Pingchuan, you take command now. Do everything you can to capture their Golden Ship."

Pingchuan instinctively answered yes, then, still confused, asked, "Your Highness, you mean..."

"I’m going to the front lines myself—to lead the assault personally!"

Mizuno Shichiro left it at that, said no more, and with several attendants hurried off the Dragon King’s deckhouse, heading to the stern, preparing to transfer to a nearby Customs Ship. The enemy’s new weapons’ reload speed was an unknown; the Dragon King was too big, too conspicuous. There might not be a second lucky escape, so shifting command post was safer.

He wasn’t stupid—if he couldn’t withstand the rocket attacks, he’d at least dodge them, right?

With so many ships, and given the slow reload the enemy seemed to show, even if all anchored and stood still for target practice, the enemy would need half a day to sink them all!

Mizuno Shichiro had no sense of honor, no "if the ship sinks, I die with it" resolve—he’d planned to withdraw early. But the reload speed of those Wanjin rockets turned out to be faster than he expected. He had just ordered the Water Thieves to lower a small boat and hadn’t yet slid down the rope, when Chita’s foredeck erupted in immense white smoke and twelve pointed iron rods soared skyward on the power of gunpowder once more.

This time, Harano and the others had learned from their previous experience. They’d calculated the range and wind, waited for the moment when Chita cut steadily through the waves, and then fired—real progress in live battle technique. The rockets didn’t disappoint, roaring toward the Dragon King in under ten seconds.

This time the angle was flatter. The Dragon King was first struck at the bow, then at the tower deck. The two thick iron rods smashed in, shaking the hull so violently that a shower of wooden splinters triggered a chorus of screams.

Mizuno Shichiro, a seasoned Water Thief, hesitated not for a second—losing all concern for appearances, he simply leaped off the stern into the sea, not even bothering with a boat, swimming hard for distance.

It was absolutely the right choice. He’d swum only a few yards when the Dragon King’s entire deckhouse blew apart—only its massive size kept it from collapsing instantly, but flames began to rage. Soon after, the rocket that hit the bow exploded, blasting off half of it and sending the surging Dragon King plunging nose-first into the sea, its stern pointing skyward like some kind of codename-zero creature.