TL: Etude


    As soon as Nathan released the fireball from his hand, he saw the enemy fleet enveloped in thick smoke that had burst forth suddenly.


    Before he could even express his surprise, a cacophony of crashing, shattering, and screams erupted on the ship, followed by a thunderous noise and a violent shaking underfoot.


    “What the devil is happening?” Nathan quickly steadied himself on the ship’s railing, focusing his attention on the deck. He had distinctly heard human screams just moments ago.


    A horrific scene unfolded before his eyes—on the deck ahead, a pile of disfigured bodiesy scattered. Some were motionless, evidently lifeless; others were screaming, not yetprehending their injuries; and some were whimpering faintly, appearing close to death. Among their mangled bodies were scattered fragments of human limbs.


    “Lord in heaven! The devil!” The deck was in total chaos. Though the number of casualties was not extensive, the dreadful state of the wounded instantly demoralized their luckier, uninjuredrades. Some tried to aid the fallen, some stared wide-eyed at the opposing warship trying to decipher its mystery, while many scurried around the deck seeking cover—they believed they had been attacked by a powerful crossbow cannon.


    Nathan’s mind was swiftly ovee with shock. His brows furrowed tightly, and his usual nonchnt demeanor vanished without a trace.


    Undoubtedly, they had been struck by the enemy, and the force of the attack was so tremendous that it had instantly inflicted severe damage, significantly reducing theirbat strength.


    “Damn it! What’s going on below? Why has the ship stopped moving?” An agitated voice yelled. It was Zod, the pirate leader. As themander of the fleet, the weight of responsibility on his shoulders urged him to regain hisposure first. If the ship lost power in the face of the enemy’s unknown long-range attack, they would be sitting ducks for further assault.Nathan then realized that the ship he was on was no longer advancing in the attack formation but merely drifting with the wind.


    He hurried to the cabin door, looked down, and saw chaos below, with many casualties there as well.


    Surveying his surroundings, Nathan noticed that not only his gship but also the first line of nine warships in the pirate fleet had been attacked, each plunged into varying degrees of disorder.


    “Leader Zod! It’s this thing that attacked us!” A sailor pointed at a round iron ball in the corner, shouting.


    His words drew many onlookers.


    “There’s another one here!” More than one iron ball was discovered.


    Nathan did not rush to join the crowd; he had a vague feeling that there was something unusual about these iron balls.


    “Ah! It’s burning me!” A bold pirate tried to pick up the iron ball but screamed in pain the moment he touched it.


    “Be careful, everyone, this thing is scorching hot!”


    Hot iron balls? Was this how the enemy attacked them?


    Nathan was startled. Did the enemy’s ship have some powerful catapult mechanism? But what about the strange smoke?


    Or could it be… some sort of supernatural power?


    While Nathan was lost in thought, the pirate leader Zod, cursing under his breath, went down to the cabin and whipped the rowers back into order.


    The pirate ship slowly started moving again. Zod then had his men signal the other ships, and the fleet resumed its previous course.


    Just as they were contemting boarding the enemy’s warship to investigate, the opposing Northwest Fleet was once again shrouded in thick smoke.


    Not again?


    The pirates were greatly rmed, but having learned from their previous encounter, they quickly dropped to the deck, lying prone.


    Yet, this did not prevent the arrival of the grim reaper. Apanied by a whistling sound in the air, iron balls bounced relentlessly on the deck, indiscriminately reaping lives in their path.


    It wasn’t just the damage inflicted by the iron balls themselves; the splinters caused by their impact also wreaked havoc among the pirates, leading to a chorus of wails and howls on the ship.


    The recently mobilized pirate fleet was once again brought to a halt.


    “Zod!” Amidst the chaos, Nathan loudly called out the pirate leader’s name, but there was no response.


    He then remembered that Zod had gone below to the cabin and hadn’te back up, prompting him to immediately go down to look for him.


    What he found, however, was the still warm body of the pirate leader.


    “Leader Zod… he’s dead!” The rowers, who had witnessed the leader’s demise at the hands of the mysterious iron balls, were utterly distraught.


    Gritting his teeth, Nathan dered, “Fine! From now on, I’m inmand of this ship!” This was not the time toment the loss of the pirate leader, who was, at best, an ally of convenience.


    No one opposed his words; everyone knew that this young man was of no ordinary status.


    Nathan quickly ascended the stairs to the deck, shouting, “Captain Zod has fallen! I dere that I’m taking overmand of the fleet. All leaders listen up… Damn, take cover!”


    Before he could finish, he saw the enemy’s Northwestern warship enveloped in smoke again, apanied by a thunderous noise.


    Nathan turned to run toward a stack of barrels nearby for cover. However, he suddenly felt something whiz past him, followed by a tremendous force at his side. The force was so immense, like a giant hand pping him, that he was violently thrown across the deck, rolling over multiple times. Afterpleting hisst roll, Nathan’s vision darkened, and he lost consciousness.


    …


    Tirpitz observed the effects of their attack through his telescope, pleased with the enemy’s dire state.


    The 12-pound naval guns were immensely powerful. The solid iron balls, propelled at an initial velocity of 477 meters per second and carrying high temperatures and massive kic energy, produced a sonic boom when flying past a person. Even if it didn’t hit directly, the shockwave could still cause significant impact, knocking people close to its trajectory unconscious or even causing concussions that could take months to heal.


    However, there was one imperfection. The attacking formation of the pirate fleet, with their ships’ bows facing the Northwestern fleet, limited the effectiveness of the cannon fire. Many of the cannonballs were deflected upon hitting the enemy ships’ hulls due to the angle of impact.


    Should he change their formation? Tirpitz was in a dilemma.


    Watching the chaotic pirate fleet, Tirpitz eventually made up his mind. gs were raised on the masts, and the fleetmander’s orders were ryed to each ship.


    The six ships at the rear continued firing at the pirate fleet, while the sailboats originally at the front began arge leftward turn, encircling the enemy and positioning their broadsides parallel to the enemy ships.