**Chapter 35: Rulers of the Three Seas**
Arendelle has returned to tranquility.
However, Soren’s war has not yet ended, as he must give Prince Hans a painful lesson.
Otherwise, once he has recovered, he will definitely pose a threat to the West Coast, which Soren absolutely does not want to see a new threat emerge. As long as he eliminates Prince Hans’s fleet, it will be nearly impossible for him to threaten Soren’s rule over the West Coast for a while. Establishing a fleet takes far more time, energy, and wealth than reorganizing a legion on land. Only after significantly weakening the navy of the Southern Islands can Soren rest easy and allow his pirate leaders to control the shipping routes connecting Arendelle.
Southern Coast—Overseas Islands.
Southern Coast—Eastern Kingdom.
Southern Coast—Arendelle.
When these three lines are connected, Soren’s power will spread across the three seas, and the wealth he possesses will increase at an astonishing rate, even possibly surpassing the total tax revenue of a kingdom. At that time, he would have countless opportunities, with financial resources, material goods, and manpower all in place. The network of force connected by three shipping routes would resemble a C-shaped encirclement, ready to advance toward any target he desires. At that time, the role of the Red-Haired Pirate Woman Adele Isabella can be fully realized.
Soren’s overseas strategy will be fully formed at this moment!
………………
The Dark Tide Strait.
This is a very special shipping route.
Because it is the boundary between the waters of the Dark Tide Merfolk and humans, marine creatures have their own territories. Just as Soren’s overseas routes will never easily invade the territory of the Naga Sea Monsters. The ocean has vast boundaries, and intelligent marine species occupy their own territories. They are not foolish enough to assimilate the vast sea into their sphere of influence, but they absolutely will not allow other creatures to easily enter their territories. Therefore, there are some places in the ocean that cannot be easily entered, especially by large-scale fleets.
To put it in terms of land, it’s like moving your legion into another country’s territory.
The most likely result is a declaration of war!
The Dark Tide Strait is a boundary point. The mutated Dark Tide Merfolk have established their own kingdom at the bottom of the sea, with grand and magnificent cities and palaces, living almost in isolation like other mutated species submerged in the continent. Marine life rarely communicates with humans, and in fact, under the protection of the Ocean Goddess, Soren still finds it difficult to have much interaction with the Naga Tribe. Marine species are filled with aggression. In Soren’s memory, the places where reputation is hardest to earn are predominantly occupied by marine creatures.
Even gaining favor with ogres is easier than with them! (Just send more meat.)
………………
The Ghost Ship drew closer here.
On the side of this strait, there are numerous pirate ships ready for action, with a small number being large battleships, and more being fast boats. Due to the narrow and elongated terrain of the strait, fast boats can fight more flexibly and are convenient for pirates to conduct landing operations. Most of the pirate leaders under Soren have already arrived, but the Half-Elf First Mate is nowhere to be seen, with the leader being the Red-Haired Pirate Woman Adele Isabella.
Soren naturally guessed a little about what was going on but chose to ignore it.
The Southern Islands still have some military strength, and their coastline also needs to be restrained.
Although Soren was a bit late to depart from Arendelle, he arrived at the Dark Tide Strait ahead of time. As the Ghost Ship appeared, the pirates present immediately felt invigorated.
This is the power of a leader!
Since Soren rose on the Southern Coast, he has yet to face a defeat. His pirates are naturally full of confidence for the upcoming battle.
Morale is built up through a series of victories.
Some may prefer to use inspiring words to boost morale, but Soren believes more in the courage brought by victory.
Words are actually very pale.
Unless it is a desperate counterattack with no way out. Otherwise, morale should brew in a series of battles.
“Soren, my lord!”
Pirate leaders including the Red-Haired Pirate, Cyclops Pirate, Scarface, Sir, and Giant gathered around, kneeling on one knee and bowing their heads, saying, “We are all prepared for battle.”
As Soren’s territory has grown larger.
His status has naturally differed; although he remains the Pirate King, some have already started to think that he has almost established a pirate kingdom.
Pirates should be chaotic.
Yet he has established order among the pirates, albeit with bl**d and slaughter as the foundation.
But order is still order, and order establishes rules.
The rules belonging to pirates.
Especially after Soren single-handedly defeated and repelled the navy of the Southern Islands, even some of his subordinates have proposed to rewrite the legendary “Pirate Code,” with the identity of the ruler of the Southern Coast, Executioner, Master of Modo, Protector of the Ocean Goddess, and Guardian of Arendelle—Soren—to establish the legendary “Pirate Code,” thereby affirming his supreme position among pirates.
The King of the Three Seas!
The pirate leaders under Soren believe he is now qualified to rule as the Pirate King over the Southern Coast, West Coast, and North Coast. As Soren’s capable assistants, their status should also rise further.
“Prepare for battle!”
Soren’s figure soared into the air, using flight magic to overlook the sea from above, and effortlessly spotted the approaching enemy in the distance.
The enemy is entering the strait, and Prince Hans probably did not even dream that the pirates of the Southern Coast would ambush him here. Traditionally, pirates do not dare to engage with regular armies; Soren should be the only one in the past century to lead pirates in open combat against the kingdom’s navy. This is not just a personal feud among pirate kings; once war breaks out, it would mean directly declaring war against a kingdom. Yet Soren now has the confidence and strength to do so, for on the sea, he is the true king!
Boom!
A dull sound of cannon fire rang out.
As the enemy came into view, the pirate ships immediately began to attack, with fast boats carrying pirates waving weapons and shouting. As they approached the enemy’s warships, they immediately threw their grappling hooks.
A massive shadow emerged beneath the sea.
Not only did the mutated orca surface, but also another distorted giant body emerged, a sea serpent with three heads. After the incarnation of the Ocean Goddess arrived, it became one of Soren’s servants.
“Black Flag!…”
“It’s the pirates!… Prepare for battle!…”
In front, a dense array of warships all flying the black flags representing Soren’s fleet; upon seeing the enemy before them, which was no less than their own numbers, the Southern Islands’ navy immediately wavered.
The nightmare from a few days ago seemed to still linger, and now they were about to face an even greater challenge!
The entire Southern Coast’s pirate coalition.
Prince Hans stood on deck, shivering, a look of despair on his face. For he saw the distant Ghost Ship, the one that had appeared like a nightmare during this time.
“Your Highness!”
The expression of the high-level sorcerer was also somewhat panicked; he tugged at Prince Hans beside him and whispered, “We should prepare to retreat! We cannot match the enemy!”
“Retreat?…” Prince Hans’s expression went numb as he murmured, “How do we retreat? Back to Arendelle?”
The high-level sorcerer avoided eye contact; as a high-ranking spellcaster, he did not want to lose his life here.
He spoke in a voice only Prince Hans could hear, “I set up a teleportation array on the ship. It can directly transport us to my tower.”
A teleportation array?
Prince Hans’s expression showed a hint of life, looking pale as he said, “What about them? We can retreat! What will happen to these troops?”
The high-level sorcerer’s expression turned resolute as he lowered his voice, “Your Highness! We can’t worry about that anymore!”
“Once the enemy rushes over…”
“It won’t be easy to retreat then!”
The pirate army was advancing like a torrent!
The pirate leaders under Soren could all stand their ground on their own; all grew in battle as high-level professionals. Perhaps none of them have reached the Legendary Domain yet, but many once led their own crews of pirates. Their battle experience is incredibly rich. Not to mention that there were also two sea monsters and Soren’s Ghost Ship stationed there, each pirate was filled with high spirits!
The battle of Fury Sand Island had just recently ended.
Facing the current scene, they were hardly afraid. Some even believed that the terrifying light would appear again. (Arcane Crystal Superconducting Pulse Cannon.)
………………
Prince Hans stood stiffly in place.
Finally, he gritted his teeth and handed over the command to the naval commander beside him. Then he followed the high-level sorcerer into the cabin.
The flank had already been disrupted by sea monsters; if he didn’t leave soon, he would likely lose all chances.
On the other side.
Soren was also searching for Prince Hans’s warship, to eliminate the enemy once and for all, would be the best outcome.
However, the enemy would not foolishly let their command ship appear at the forefront. This would be delivering themselves to be focused and sunk. In a naval battle of such scale, even the most heavily armored Dragon Head Battleship would sit in the center, and only Soren dared to boldly charge through enemy lines with the Ghost Ship, which can dive underwater.
The battle inside the Dark Tide Strait continued.
However, the outcome of the battle could already be anticipated. No one noticed that on the other side of the strait, some ocean creatures with dark scales were also observing them.
“Don’t mind them.”
A strange creature covered in dark blue scales watched ahead, its mouth close to half the size of its head, holding a peculiar sea fork-like blue metal weapon. Nearby were many similarly appearing marine creatures, all with dark scales, resembling an army resting in the seawater.
The leader-like Dark Tide Merfolk’s mouth curved into a cold smile as it slowly said, “Just a war among humans!”
“As long as they do not enter our territory, there is no need to care for them. If they dare to enter our sea, immediately sink all their warships!…”
These marine creatures re-submerged into the sea.
But faintly, some dark blue figures could still be seen distributed in the area outside the strait.
………………
*(PS: There’s only one update today. This segment of the naval battle has ended; next is the plot involving the deities.)* (To be continued ~^~)
