freenovelworld Chapter 221 Rhinoceros Shaking the Star
Chapter 221 Rhinoceros Shaking the Star
Chapter 221 Rhinoceros Shaking the Star
A giant arrow came hurtling towards him.
Until it ran out of speed and disappeared into the sea behind the two gold coins.
"Chief, we've successfully broken through!"
Cyril excitedly announced the outcome of the battle.
Henry remained solemn upon hearing this.
It's too early to be happy now.
He already suspected that the current situation might be a scheme orchestrated by the loyal dog.
However, the loyal dog strategy is never easily countered, so we must never take it lightly.
Henry turned around and looked out from the stern of the ship.
More than a dozen huge arrows were stuck in the deck, and the side and stern plates were also riddled with thorns.
If Henry hadn't added countless magical attributes to this ship, the entire crew would probably have sunk to the bottom of the sea along with the Two Gold Coins.
At that moment, Benson appeared at the top of the stairs and came to Henry's side:
"Boss, we're now beyond the range of the giant arrows. We should be able to create some distance while the enemy turns around."
Henry nodded: "How many giant arrows are left?"
"More than half have been used, there are about forty or fifty left."
If the enemy is an entire fleet, this number is definitely not enough.
Henry then looked at Cyril's quiver, where only a dozen or so magical arrows remained.
This gave him a sense of relief; if there had been dozens more enemy ships, his two gold coins might have truly been trapped.
He looked towards the central comb; the sail still hadn't been raised.
It seems the comb rod was seriously damaged this time; Victor has spent so much time trying to fix it but still hasn't succeeded.
Once the enemy starts to accelerate, given the current speed of the two gold coins, they will eventually be overtaken.
But right now, Henry can't do anything but wait.
Victor was a skilled shipwright, and even though he was old, his craftsmanship was impeccable.
Moreover, the two share a deep friendship, and Viktor cannot afford to slack off in his current work.
At this moment, Cyril suddenly reminded him:
"Over there, Chief, enemy ships are speeding in from those two directions."
Henry looked in the direction Cyril was pointing.
Suddenly, two more agile squads were dispatched from the side and rear of the ships by the enemy fleet.
Each squadron has five boats.
However, instead of sailing in the direction of the two gold coins, the two squadrons sailed parallel to the two gold coins.
Benson suddenly asked, "What are those ships doing? Heading in this direction, they'll never catch up with us!"
Henry immediately saw through their trick: "They're not trying to catch us, they're trying to restrict our escape route."
"Restricting escape routes?" Benson frowned. "Why?"
"Clearly, they don't want our ships to be able to escape at will, or... or, something is lurking and waiting in the direction the two gold coins are heading," Cyril continued.
Henry nodded: "We must be wary of unknown dangers, and we should not proceed according to their wishes, but..."
Now that both gold coin ships are missing a sail, we have no other choice.
At their current speed, if the two gold coins were to change course carelessly, they would inevitably be overtaken by those ships.
Once those longships make contact with the two gold coins, they will definitely take the initiative to attack, reducing the speed of the two gold coins so that the ships behind can catch up.
However, both Gold Coin ships are currently facing an ammunition crisis, and Henry must avoid conflict.
Therefore, Henry had no choice but to blindly walk into the trap, even though he knew it was a trap.
Familiar—Henry frowned.—This feeling was all too familiar. Although there was no direct evidence, Henry was already willing to bet that this was the loyal dog's plan!
Loyal dogs always plan their strategies very comprehensively and thoroughly, taking one step at a time and planning a hundred steps ahead.
Back in the South China Sea, Henry was just like he is now, always falling into one trap after another.
It was as if his every move had been anticipated.
That's why Henry considered the loyal dog a formidable adversary.
Even though he was already dead, he continued to bring Henry a constant stream of problems and difficulties.
Henry is truly helpless in the face of the current situation.
He was already incredibly lucky to have broken through the encirclement; he could only take it one step at a time.
"The ship continues forward. Keep the jellyfish alert to the situation ahead, and the other shrimp on high alert, ready to fight at any time."
Benson went to carry out the mission, while Cyril stood on the cockpit, accompanying Henry to keep an eye on the pursuers behind them.
In less than twenty minutes, the jellyfish's report had been delivered:
"Boss, a fleet has been spotted in the waters ahead."
Henry was startled. A fleet?
He immediately went to the bow of the ship and looked ahead.
Sure enough, a fleet spread out horizontally had already blocked Henry's path.
Following this trend, he was bound to encounter those fleets.
With pursuers behind them and small squads chasing them from both flanks, the two gold coins were effectively locked onto their flight path and unable to move at all.
Henry suddenly realized that there was more than one encirclement!
Before them lay the second encirclement.
Moreover, the pursuing forces of the first encirclement also became part of the second encirclement.
Henry suddenly realized.
Looking at the ingenious layout, Henry concluded that this could only be the work of a loyal dog!
Cyril said, "I roughly counted them, and the force is still around a hundred ships."
"That means, including the ships behind us, there are now nearly two hundred ships surrounding us."
Cyril nodded, while Henry felt a pang of despair.
Two hundred?!
The current situation of the two gold coins is even worse than that of the black goat more than ten years ago.
Henry immediately realized that this loyal dog was trying to drive him to his death!
He took a deep breath and carefully considered his options.
Turning now will inevitably cause the ship to lose speed.
If they were to remain stationary on the sea and allow all enemy ships to surround them, then the two gold coins would truly have no chance of winning.
Therefore, the Gold Coin must be kept moving, so he cannot order the ship to turn; it can only sail with the wind.
But if things continue like this, Henry will have to face a problem: the two gold coin ships will inevitably encounter the enemy sooner or later.
A more densely packed solution lay ahead, but Henry had no better idea of how to solve the problem.
He could only copy the approach used in the first encirclement and continue to break through the encirclement from the front.
Henry prayed that the ship's giant arrows and magic arrows would be enough for him to carve a bloody path through the sea.
The two gold coin ships were ready for battle, and before long, both sides were within range of the giant crossbows.
The ships ahead opened fire first, but due to limited ammunition, the two gold coin ships did not retaliate immediately. The old helmsman carefully adjusted the ship's direction, but unfortunately, it still seemed somewhat rough.
After the two gold coin ships had been hit three times, the crossbowmen in front finally began their counterattack.
A crossbow bolt pierced the surface of the foresail.
Although it's just a hole, it won't render the sail useless, but it will definitely have an impact.
Henry had no time to worry about it, because the shrimp in the cabin reported that the ship was already taking on some water.
"Find someone to patrol the cabin with you. If they find any other areas taking on water, report it to me immediately."
Henry told the man to get down, and the man nodded and immediately went to carry it out.
He then placed his hand on the hull and activated the boat's "drainage" function.
This function, like the "heating" function, was implemented using multiple entries with the help of Victor.
The specific effect is to pump out the water accumulated in the lower deck and discharge it outside the ship.
This function lasts for a maximum of two hours, after which it must be re-enchanted for it to continue working.
Fortunately, the two gold coin accounts had never used this function before tonight, so it can last for another two hours.
If two hours pass and the two gold coins still cannot break through, they might as well stop the ship, stick their heads out, and let those righteous people cut them off.
As the ships continued to approach, Cyril also nocked his bow and aimed at the enemy ship within range that posed the greatest threat to the Two Gold Coins.
An arrow was shot out and pierced the sea near the target ship.
Cyril didn't miss; he did it on purpose.
Henry had already told him that the arrow could bring cold.
The moment the arrow sank into the water, the seawater beneath the enemy ship suddenly froze into ice.
With the hull covered by floating ice, the rudder naturally couldn't turn.
The ship could no longer sail freely until the ice melted.
The battle unfolded as Henry had anticipated.
The two gold coin ships withstood all the giant arrows, and in turn, fired their own giant arrows in retaliation.
If any ship gets too close to the Two-Jin Coin, it will be hit and sunk.
If there is no time to spare, Cyril will shoot a magic arrow and use his supernatural powers to solve the problem.
This naval battle has become a test of the two Gold Coins' endurance and ammunition reserves.
Shrimp scurried about on the deck, and huge arrows grazed Henry several times.
The people inside the cabin must have been just as overwhelmed, and it probably wasn't much safer than the deck.
Hiding anywhere won't help; if they can't break through, all the pirates on this ship will die!
It's unclear how much time passed, but the two gold coin ships swept past countless other vessels, gradually tearing apart the encirclement of the enemy.
Like the sun breaking through the clouds, Henry's vision could now pierce through the gaps in the enemy fleet, revealing the distant sea. Cyril's voice was filled with joy: "Chief, the two gold coin ships have reached the edge of the enemy's encirclement!"
Henry nodded: "But we must not let our guard down, especially at crucial moments."
As they were talking, Benson stepped forward:
"Boss, this is bad! We've used up all the giant arrows!"
Damn it, why did we have to run out of ammunition at this crucial moment?
Benson then asked, "Can we remove the giant arrow from the hull? That should hold out for a while longer."
Henry shook his head: "This ship has a special structure. Without Victor's supervision, it would be too dangerous to pry open the planks."
But Victor is currently repairing the midmast, which is of paramount importance, so this work has to be postponed.
Henry looked at Cyril's back again; only one magic arrow remained in the quiver.
The two gold coin accounts are completely out of ammunition and supplies!
"Oh my god—"
Just then, Cyril suddenly murmured something.
Henry followed Cyril's gaze and looked ahead.
A three-masted sailing ship was heading straight toward the Two Gold Coins.
The warship was enveloped in a green halo, and the outline of the green light formed the shape of a giant rhinoceros.
Cyril exclaimed, "What is that?!"
Benson's voice was filled with despair: "How could this be! Boss, that's something from over a decade ago!"
Henry certainly hadn't forgotten that this enormous rhinoceros running on the sea had a body as large as the Black Goat and possessed unparalleled strength; with just one strike, it had inflicted irreparable damage on the Black Goat.
Even after the Black Goat was converted into Victor's restaurant, the glaring scar remained unhealed.
"Hmm...
Henry couldn't help but sigh. First the loyal dog, then this extraordinary rhinoceros—it was as if they had planned it all along, and this "debt" from over a decade ago was being settled specifically tonight.
The problem is that, although it is only missing one comb rod, the two gold coins are much smaller than the black goat.
If the two gold coin ships were to withstand the rhinoceros's attack, they would surely be completely smashed to pieces.
Benson quickly reminded him, "Boss, you should order everyone to avoid him immediately!"
Henry was silent for a moment, then calmly replied:
"No! Keep going!"
"Boss, stop joking! It'll blow up those two gold coin accounts!"
"The Two Gold Coins are surrounded by the enemy fleet. We have no room to turn, and if we deviate from the wind direction, the ships behind us will close in, and we will completely lose any chance of breaking out."
Henry's eyes did not waver or falter in the slightest.
"Besides, exposing our sides to that rhinoceros would only put us in danger."
"But what if we collide—"
"...Then let it crash!" Henry interrupted Benson.
Then, he led Benson and Cyril behind the railing on the bridge to avoid being injured in a collision between the two ships.
Henry's eyes were firm, but he was not blindly confident.
The rampaging rhinoceros, upon approaching the two gold coin ships, lowered its head, preparing to use its hard rhinoceros horn to send them flying.
Upon witnessing this scene, Cyril and Benson held their breath, too terrified to utter a sound.
But Henry simply placed his hand on the hull and activated an incantation applied to the bow: "Neutron Star".
This was an extremely difficult and complex enchantment, and it took Henry a full six months to successfully enchant it.
Moreover, Henry only succeeded in this enchantment once.
It is not only difficult to enchant, but also has relatively high requirements for the enchanted object.
If the object being enchanted is too small or not sturdy enough, this skill can even backfire.
This causes the enchanted object to disintegrate, collapse, and eventually annihilate completely.
Once successful, it will bring unparalleled density and hardness to the target.
With its prow adorned with a neutron star, Henry had no fear of it colliding with anything.
A moment later, the rhinoceros charged with its horn.
However, this time the rhinoceros horn could not budge the bow of the ship in the slightest.
Henry saw the rhinoceros hide vibrate violently, and in an instant, the green rhinoceros turned into a mist of light and disappeared into the night sky.
The two gold coins continued forward and collided with the other ship.
The ram at the bow was like a sharp blade, easily slicing the ship in front of it in two, like cheese.
Even Henry was shocked by what he saw.
He knew that "neutron stars" were powerful, but he didn't expect them to be this powerful.
But this is also Henry's trump card; he won't waste the "neutron star" unless absolutely necessary.
After crossing the wreckage of the rhinoceros ship, the sea ahead suddenly opened up into a bright and clear vista.
Benson and Cyril were still in shock when, after a long while, Benson belatedly exclaimed:
"We made it out!?"
Once he was certain, he cheered along with the shrimp from the sea:
"Two gold coins!"
"Henry the Navigator!"
"Long live the pirates!"
Henry smiled and breathed a sigh of relief!
Just then, Cyril pointed in a direction and exclaimed, "Chief! Look over there!"
Henry looked in the direction of the sound and found a second encirclement. He then sent out two small teams to follow the two gold coin ships side by side.
This was the second time this had happened, and he couldn't help but wonder:
"Could there be a third layer of encirclement?!"
Henry swallowed hard. The ship was out of ammunition, and he had already used up the "Neutron Star".
Now, the two gold coin accounts have no chance of fighting back.
With nearly two hundred ships chasing behind, Henry had no chance to stop and catch his breath.
Less than twenty minutes into the voyage, Henry was drenched in sweat and gasped for breath.
May the gods protect you.
The third encirclement blocked their path.