Chapter 179: 179

Chapter 179: Turning The Tide Around

“Captain, what should we do now?” asked the pirates on the Blizzard .

Hutcheson was in a dilemma as well . The Quidah’s hull had been severely damaged by another pirate ship earlier . It seemed like they were on the verge of breaking up . Not only did they not stop for repairs, but they continued charging at the Blizzard, carrying out a suicide attack .

On the other hand, the Jackdaw had managed to deal with the intruders coming from the gunwale, ready to assist the Quidah . After a long bout of hesitation, Hutcheson decided that he would retreat for now . Immediately, the Jackdaw went after them . They attempted to fire on the Blizzard, but unfortunately, Hutcheson managed to dodge every attack with his masterful maneuvering skills .

Anne, too wasn’t happy when she saw the Blizzard trying to make a run for it and wanted to continue pursuing them . However, she was stopped short by Dufresne . Though the Jackdaw outgunned the Blizzard, they had fewer pirates with them now . With only 20 people on board, the Jackdaw couldn’t utilize her firepower to its fullest .

The Blizzard might even retaliate if the Jackdaw continued the chase . So after a short pursuit, the Jackdaw decided to turn back to Goddess’ Spear . Seeing that the Jackdaw was no longer on their tail, Hutcheson became incredibly frustrated . This was indeed a significant loss to him . Initially, he intended to attack and plunder the Quidah and the Goddess’ Spear with two pirate ships . If he managed to pull it off, he would become the most powerful pirate of the area .

Not only did his plan fail, but it also cost him a ship and half his crew . Fortunately, his Blizzard did not suffer any damage . In the end, he wanted to take out the Jackdaw as a consolation prize . Sadly, the Jackdaw did not continue their pursuit . Left with no other options, the Blizzard had to flee the scene as fast as possible . Though the battle was thrilling and tumultuous, it lasted for only 20 minutes from beginning to end .

Currently, the Quidah’s condition was worse than Hutcheson estimated . Seawater was gushing into the bottom of the ship . Even though their carpenters were trying their hardest to plug up the hole, the seawater had flooded the cabin and was now up to the pirates’ knees . It would be impossible for them to participate in another battle .

Before the Blizzard fled the scene, the Quidah had already begun repairing their ship . The helmsman, Eric, and everyone else aboard chipped in to help . They looked for everything around them that could be used to close up the hole . At the same time, some pirates activated a pump, hoping to flush out the entering seawater . With their combined effort, they managed to get the water out faster than it could come in .

At the same time, Black Prince Sam was done with counting the loot on the Goddess’ Spear . With the Blizzard out of the game, it was now easier for them to divide the spoils .

“I want to thank you for helping us . Honestly, you guys deserve a larger share than us . However, the Quidah suffered a great deal of damage from the battle with the Blizzard . We’ll need a lot of money to repair our ship . Consider that I owe you guys a favor for what you have done for us,” said a remorseful Black Prince Sam .

“Captain Sam, you are most welcome . If the Quidah wasn’t here, they would have surely targeted us instead . It’s a miracle than your ship managed to retaliate and sink the enemy . Only your crew can pull off an insane move like this . ”

Black Prince Sam simply shrugged . It was indeed not an easy task for the Quidah to turn the tide around after their ship was severely damaged by the enemy . Black Prince Sam welcomed all the compliments poured at him and his crew with a big heart .

“Eric is good at coordinating battles . With his sharp skills, he is more than capable of becoming a captain . I have talked to him a lot regarding this matter . However, it seems like he’s not interested at all . ”

While they discussed, their pirates were done dividing the loot . Black Prince Sam was probably the most reasonable captain around the entire Nassau . He had this certain charm that could draw people closer to him . Always behaving humbly, he told everyone that his crew was the reason for his success . However, almost everyone from the Quidah could be replaced except for Black Prince Sam . Without his charm, it would be impossible for the entire pirate crew to band up and work toward the same goal .

Influential people usually came with a mighty temper, something that would never change over the course of time . Black Prince Sam might look like an easy-going captain, but the truth was, he was the only one on the ship that could make everyone obey his orders without being questioned .

…… . .

The Jackdaw was getting closer to the Goddess’ Spear . They rescued a couple of pirates that had jumped off the enemy ship earlier . After a series of interrogations, they finally discovered their background . Hutcheson’s pirate crew had only been formed recently . They were initially a band of raiders . Not too long ago, they encountered a merchant ship flying a British flag . Technically, they were not supposed to plunder them, but when they found out that they were hauling a considerable amount of silk, Hutcheson decided to break the rules and attacked them . To make sure that no one knew about it, he ordered his men to kill everyone on the merchant ship . Unfortunately, someone on his boat sold him out in the end .

Once he knew about it, he had to flee the port with the rest of his men . Before they left, they didn’t look for information about their next target, eventually wandering the high seas for two weeks . One fine day, Hutcheson came across two pirate vessels that were fighting against each other . He then helped one to eliminate the other . Not only did he receive a portion of the loot, but the winning captain even thanked him for his assistance . However, Hutcheson, being Hutcheson, quickly decided that he should destroy the other ship as well . The other vessel, on the other hand, was unprepared to face Hutcheson’s surprise attack . In the end, he destroyed them and took all their loot into his possession .

After this incident, Hutcheson felt that it wasn’t such a bad idea to conduct a ‘dog-eat-dog’ style of business . So, he placed some of his men on the pirate ship that he captured, recruited a small batch of pirates, and ordered them to loiter around pirate-infested waters . They would plunder merchant ships and other pirates that were heavy with loot . He was smart enough to make sure that both his ships would not get too close to each other, with only a mirror to communicate with each other . When one of his ships attacked its target, Hutcheson would pretend that he was passing by . He would ‘help’ the target to ‘attack’ his pirate ship . When the right moment arose, he would turn around and attack the ship that he ‘helped . ’

That was the time when Hutcheson mastered the skill of dodging cannonballs . Many powerful pirate crews around the area lost out to his tactics . This time, though, Hutcheson changed strategy, but his goal remained the same . Loot wasn’t the only reason that motivated Hutcheson to attack the Quidah . After several victories, Hutcheson’s ambitions got more demanding as well . Money could no longer satisfy his desire, and now, he yearned for his name to be known in the entire area . If he managed to defeat the legendary Quidah, he would surely be able to make a name for himself .

Unfortunately, his wish wasn’t granted this time . Captain Sam had brought a group of elite pirates with him to board the Goddess’ Spear, and he managed to trick everyone with his realistic acting as well . The best part was, he managed to make the Quidah suffer severe damage . Still, the Quidah somehow managed to destroy one of his ships and pushed him to a corner .