Chapter 170: 170

Following a piece of intel given by Carina, the Jackdaw was chasing down a ship called the Goddess’ Spear, a whaling vessel plying the waters around this area . Their patience finally paid off this time, after being at sea for over a year . Recently, some ships which returned to Nassau told everyone that the Goddess’ Spear had managed to hunt down a 70-foot giant sperm whale . It was so smart that the Goddess’ Spear circled the same spot for three months just to capture it .

It was time for them to reap the rewards of their hard work . Getting a sperm whale was a giant treasure in itself . Its fat could be refined into blubber . The oil from its brain could be used to make whale-wax . And then, the most valuable treasure, ambergris, lay within the whale’s intestines .

Ambergris either came in a hue of black or grey . When first extracted from the whale’s stomach, it would be in wax form, not to mention that it smelled terrible . Once dried, it would turn amber, and the foul smell would be replaced by a unique fragrance . It was typically used as a fixative for very premium perfumes . As a result of its rarity, ambergris was more expensive than gold . This was undoubtedly the reason why Zhang Heng set his sights on the Goddess’ Spear .

The previous pirate ship that attempted to plunder the Goddess’ Spear did not end up well . In this era, whale hunting was to be considered a job with extremely high-risks, and only true men dared to venture in this field . Having such brazenness, they didn’t even flinch when they saw a pirate ship . At that time, they did not have enough firepower to take on it . Nevertheless, their captain instructed them to take on the pirates the moment they boarded the ship . At the end of the day, they used tridents and fishing nets to defeat the pirates that came with guns and sabers .

The entire ship of pirates ended up being prisoners of the Goddess’ Spear . The sailors took possession of their weapons and ammunition . Once the situation was under control, the sailors were instructed to slit the throats of the pirates and toss their bodies over the deck . It was a clear warning to any other potential pirates that this would happen to them too .

Their brutal method worked way better than expected . Whenever the weaker pirate vessels saw a pile of bodies on the deck, lying on their own blood, they would turn around and leave the Goddess’ Spear alone . As for the more powerful pirate groups, the sight of the bodies only got them more excited . This could only mean that the ship must be hauling some precious cargo .

The Jackdaw did not retreat as well . After his first victory, Zhang Heng managed to recruit even more pirates to join him . Right now, he had a total of 62 pirates on board . The newly hired pirates were of better quality than the first group of pirates who joined them . This was especially true for the cannoneer . Billy managed to convince the most skillful cannoneer from another experienced pirate group to join the Jackdaw .

Dufresne, too, had managed to recruit a very talented chef . Initially, the chef worked for a hotel on the island . After joining the Jackdaw for about half a month, every single pirate on board took turns to complement his food . It seemed that life on the high seas wasn’t as bad as it was anymore .

Most importantly were the newly recruited pirates . The old pirates had their absolute faith in Zhang Heng . Due to their previous success, Zhang Heng did not need to give them another morale-boosting speech . No one on the Jackdaw feared the piles of bodies on the Goddess’ Spear, which gave Zhang Heng the confidence to continue pursuing them . The fierce battle that they were about to face would only increase the combat experience of his pirates .

Previously, the fight between the Happiness and the Jackdaw proved too easy for them . It was evident that the Happiness was a lot weaker than the Jackdaw in terms of firepower . In fact, it did not even look like a battle at all, being more like target practice . In the beginning, the Jackdaw took a few hits from them, but soon after that, the Jackdaw dominated the rest of the battle . The only dangerous thing that happened on the Happiness was Anne getting ambushed by the navies that hid in the cargo hold .

This time, taking down the Goddess’ Spear wasn’t going to be that easy . Although the whaling vessel proved a formidable foe, Zhang Heng was more worried about his competitors . One week after they left port, they crossed paths with a pirate ship . Not too long after that, they met another one . Both ships raised their black flags at almost the same time . Thankfully, after a short conversation and exchange of information, the Jackdaw and the other pirate ship came to an agreement that they would leave each other alone .

They were actually not being friendly but were simply afraid of the Jackdaw’s overwhelming firepower . As nobody had any loot on their ships during that time, they chose to settle the matter peacefully .

Zhang Heng’s mind drifted elsewhere as he had his gaze fixed on the pirate ship that slowly sailed away from them . He was wondering how Carina was managing her situation back in Nassau . Before he left, she discussed her plan with him, and Zhang Heng decided to invest 100 gold coins in her . The money could be used to solve some of her problems besides fortifying the partnership between Zhang Heng and her .

Zhang Heng also promised that he would invest another 800 gold coins in the future . Carina would no longer need to worry that Zhang Heng would kick her out of the game . By becoming her partner, he would be entitled to 20% of her yield . If Carina did manage to convince more pirate ships to partner up with her, and if they returned to Nassau with a ship full of loot, Zhang Heng would also be able to profit from that as well .

Billy was tempted to invest in this venture as well but was forced to reconsider as he needed to provide for his family . In the end, he invested only 30 gold coins . As for Anne, she spent a total of 40 gold coins since there was no more need to purchase a house . And just like that, the two of them became small shareholders of the business .

At the same time, Laeli began to contact his people at the mansion .

After a short moment of distraction, Zhang Heng snapped back to reality . He realized that it was pointless for him to worry about Carina . It was entirely out of his control since he was out at sea . All he could do was to have faith in his partner . As captain of a pirate ship, he should focus more on the sea . If not for the conundrum of the black-market alliance, there would be no need for him to care about what happened on the island .

The Jackdaw needed to grow a lot stronger . Once his vessel was categorized as a top-tier pirate crew, it would easier for him to control his fate . That was why every voyage was important to Zhang Heng . This time, he was confident that he would be able to bring something valuable back to Nassau .

As compared to other pirates, he had his Hunter’s Blessing and Lucky Rabbit Foot with him . If everything went right, these two items should help him in pursuing the Goddess’ Spear . Besides that, he received a notification from the game to inform him that his sailing skills had increased to LV 2 .

With everything set in stone, it was time for the Jackdaw to shine .