48 Hours a Day

This time, Elmer was really panicking—especially when after that man with a black beard killed his two escorts, he cut off one of their heads. The blood-filled ball of flesh rolled up to Elmer’s feet. The Lord Elmer who had lived like a prince his whole life nearly threw up at the sight of the decapitated head. His remaining escorts, on the other hand, were beside themselves.

 Fortunately, the chief officer who immediately worked out the pirates were intent, responded quickly by sending a team of sailors to help. At the same time, the people on the lower level finally climbed up the gangplank.

 All at once, several sabers were pointed at the bearded man. Although Black Beard was bold and fierce, he was still human. In a circumstance as such, he could only carry on the fight while beating a retreat.

 The pirates had finally reached the most precarious juncture of the battle. If they let Elmer retreat to the second level, then their hope of ever winning this battle would be very slim. By this time, everyone was boosted with adrenaline shots—not just the navy, even the pirates came to support their allies. They somehow managed to force the enemies to retreat by fighting fiercely.

 Both sides engaged in a fierce battle to complete for the gangway exit. The bearded man took advantage of this opportunity, turning his attention Elmer who was standing on the other side, and led his men to push their forward a few times. In the end, however, the attempts were unsuccessful and he had more wounds added to his body.

 When the British sailor realized that the frightening figure was not invulnerable, their morale soared. The pirates guarding the exit of the ramp were taking on more and more damage.

 The scales were tipping.

 Zhang Heng used the last short musket on the enemy in front of him, and then took out the rifle gun from the oilcloth. Initially, he aimed his weapon at Elmer. From what he had observed since the beginning this guy was the captain of the ship. But just as he was about to pull the trigger, he hesitated.

 The situation they were in right now was not exactly what they had expected. Although Elmer was the highest-ranking person on the Scarborough, the person who had been directing the battle all the while was the chief officer on board. Getting rid of Elmer now might not mean that he had eliminated the head of the snake. The chief officer would take over the command of the battle and that was clearly not an ending that Zhang Heng wanted.

 There was not much time left for him to think. His comrades could very well lose their position at the ramp. In the shortest time available to him, Zhang Heng made a decision and shifted the muzzle.

 At first, the chief officer was also under protection. But when Elmer was in danger, he had to send nearly all of his armed men over to help, leaving himself with only three men. When he saw that Elmer was safe for the time being, he relaxed a little. They just needed to hang in there for another two minutes, then the pirates blocking the ramp would all be killed, and the whole situation would turn around.

 The chief officer turned his attention to the ongoing battle on the other side, completely unaware that he had become the target. And although the three sailors guarding were monitoring the surrounding, they were unsuspecting of the possibilities of dangers coming from farther away.

 Having undergone Simone’s special training, the gun now felt like an extension of Zhang Heng’s own body. Once he was in the zone, his mind would automatically shield itself from any distractions. His whole person would be completely still and calm like a reef by the shore. Zhang Heng took a deep breath and gently pulled the trigger with his forefinger.

 The guards had no idea what had just happened. All they knew was that the chief officer’s head suddenly snapped backwards and he fell to the ground. It was not until they saw the blood gushing from his head that they began to panic.

 Simultaneously, the voice of the system prompt spoke in his ear.

 [Successfully killed a senior commander of the Royal Navy, +15 game points. You can refer to the character panel for more information.]

 The man with the black beard was keenly aware of the fleeting chance for an attack, and swiftly led the six remaining pirates towards Elmer, ignoring his bleeding shoulder.

 The short muskets in their hands roared like thunders in the night.

 Now that they had lost their commander, the British navy was in complete disorder. But the pirates themselves were also spent. The tug-of-war at the exit of the gangway was finally resolved and the British sailors on the second floor broke through the blockade and rushed to the deck.

 The addition of this new force was disastrous for the exhausted pirate. A look of relief and excitement washed over Elmer’s face but one minute later the smile froze his lips.

 The last escort who was standing in front of him fell to the ground, and he looking into a pair of wild, beast-like eyes.

 The moment the eyes looked back at him, Elmer felt as if he had fallen into an endless abyss and his blood and soul had been completely frozen.

 The owner of those eyes pressed a cutlass at Elmer’s throat and said in a deep voice, “Tell your men to surrender.”

 Lord Elmer was extremely unwilling. All they had to do was endure a little longer, maybe just another half a minute, and the whole situation would have been entirely different. The screams of the pirates ringing in his ears gave him so much pleasure.

 Elmer thought about his lineage and his family, and wanted to show some moral integrity. But when the blade cut his skin, Elmer abandoned all courage and quickly gave orders to the sailors on the deck. “Put down your weapons!”

 The sailors hesitated to obey the order. Elmer was furious. “What do you think you’re doing? Are you going to disobey your captain’s orders?”

 The sailors exchanged looked. Unfortunately, the highest-ranking officer at the time was the captain alone, not enough to convince the crew. Finally, however, under Elmer’s influence, someone finally put down their weapon.

 And once someone started to do it, a few more followed.

 The man with the black beard spoke, “Your captain has already surrendered to me. I am willing to swear on my name that I will spare the lives of those who surrender.”

 Immediately, more people dropped their weapons. When the rest saw that they were on their own, they also gave in.

 In the end, the Sea Lion miraculously won the battle at the cost of 47 pirates’ lives, and 29 injured. Nearly everyone who survived were wounded. When they returned to their ship to be patched up after the battle, they found out that the doctor on board had died in the battle.

 Fortunately, the Scarborough also had doctors on board. The one with the best medical skills was forced to join the Sea Lion. Zhang Heng searched the faces around him, thinking that there was no way the farmer’s son could have survived this vicious battle, but when they were clearing up the battlefield, he found the guy behind a cannon, bleeding at the mouth and shaking like a leaf. Next to him was the body of a British sailor, the flesh on his throat bloody and mangled.