our family is gone

Chapter 822 Setting up a trap
Sixty years old is definitely considered old in this world, but for a nobleman of noble status, he has been living a life of luxury since childhood and does not have to work hard or endure hunger, which keeps his body in very good condition.

Not to mention that he has access to extraordinary powers that are unimaginable to ordinary people. Some precious potions, powerful accessories and mysterious rituals allow him to delay aging.

But some things are not so easy to solve. His age has caused him to decline and he is beginning to feel a little overwhelmed.

Fortunately, a special potion has recently appeared that alleviated his embarrassment. At first he just wanted to try it, and it really helped him regain his confidence.

Although the price in gold coins was an astronomical figure for ordinary people, it was just a drop in the bucket for him.

Unfortunately, the limitation is not the money, but the limited quantity of medicine. He can only get a little, and this month's supply has been used up, so he can only wait until next month.

But not long ago, he received news that the cargo ship was hijacked by pirates, resulting in not only a shortage of potions but also a higher price. He didn't care about the money, but the lack of goods.

"Damn pirates!"

The old man opened the drawer and found that there was not a single piece left. He couldn't help cursing the pirates in his heart. He didn't know if he could get any goods from the pirates. It would be a waste to give them to those guys.

Of course, he wanted to get the medicine directly, but unfortunately the black market was very cautious about shipping and he couldn't find any traces. He only heard that it was a secret recipe from a foreign palace. Otherwise, if he could get the channel or the recipe, how much would it cost...

The old man in the room was handling family affairs. He did not admit his age and still had the energy to hold on to the power of the family, but he also needed to work until dark. Perhaps he was really old.

At this moment, the door was pushed open, and a young man walked in casually. He looked up and said something incomprehensible.

"There are only 36 members of the family left, only one is missing."

What does it mean that a stranger can walk in here?
"Who are you?" The old man thought he still had some authority, and his voice couldn't help but get louder. It was unclear whether he was calling someone or trying to give himself courage.

"It's the Swordfish Pirates that you support, right?" Lance didn't care, but asked according to the rules to avoid making a mistake.

But when Lance said this, the change in the man's expression was certain enough.

"It seems that I am not mistaken, otherwise I would have killed your whole family by mistake."

Lance's calm words made the old man's expression change drastically. The annihilation of the entire army, which was more terrifying than the decline of his family, stimulated his reason. He opened the cabinet under the table, took out a beautifully shaped pistol that looked like a work of art, pointed it at Lance and pulled the trigger.

"boom!"

Facing the gun muzzle so close to him, Lance simply turned his head to avoid the bullet. The next second, he straightened his head without even stopping and walked in front of Lao Deng.

It was only at this time that Lao Deng realized something. His stiff expression could not stop showing fear, and his pupils were trembling, but he still spoke in a tough manner.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but come at me if you have anything to do with me and hurt those innocent people."

"But when the pirates have been plundering for more than ten years and countless ordinary people have lost their homes, have you ever thought about whether your wife and children will be spared from the disaster? If you are enjoying the benefits, then don't say you are innocent.

Also, everyone in this manor is dead, and the gunshots can’t call for guards.”

Lance said as he stretched out his hand towards Old Deng. The power of flesh and blood seized control of his body, and then a bewitching voice filled his mind...

A moment later, Lance got what he wanted. He raised his hand and waved it as if to drive away something. The next second, complex symbols appeared out of thin air, and Lao Deng disappeared on the spot.

Why did he take away the space core left by the wizard first? Because Lance needed a clever way to take him away. It would be a waste to kill him before squeezing out his value. He was evidence of Totnes' collusion with pirates.

What's more, noble materials are very rare, and the technological development of the sanatorium needs their contribution, and Lance needs to prove that nobles are no different from ordinary people.

After Lance solved the problem, he searched the paper and then crossed out a name on the paper. From the dense lines on the paper, it could be seen that he had been investigating all the way.

From islands to Totnes, from pirates to brokers and then to merchants related to brokers, and the bureaucrats and nobles behind the merchants.

That is to say, he can use charm and control to quickly get what he wants, otherwise ordinary people will be cut off at one of the ends no matter how they investigate.

And even now, Lance could only stop here, because if he checked further up, he would find the four major families of Totnes, and above the four major families was the only woman known as the "Scarlet Rose".

From what we have found out so far, the thread is probably that the woman seized the Duchess's property. At that time, there was nothing to be divided in Totnes, so in order to appease those nobles, they were given the right of privateering.

However, the noble bureaucrats still had to save face, so their fur traders would begin to support pirates, allowing them to plunder, and some even used it as a means to crack down on disobedient merchants by selling the routes to pirates.

The so-called merchant city, the so-called free hand, this is Totnes!

There was no point in checking further, and even Lance could only do so far because he had a play prepared that required an audience.

"This inner city is good, because it is separated from the outside world..."

The darkness gradually obscured the departing figure, leaving behind only another dead silent manor.

…………

The empire, a country based on feudal aristocracy, does not have a unified army, let alone a navy.

Therefore, all the funds were raised by local lords, and that is why there are so many active pirates. Some pirates even work part-time as part of local organizations.

For example, Totnes. Although they supported the pirates, ordinary people don’t know that.

The people believed that they were protected and did not need to worry about pirates, and at the heart of this was the navy of Totnes.

I have to say that the navy here is quite powerful. They have already moved cannons onto ships, and compared to Hamlet's shabby modified ship, they are real warships.

In the summer, Totnes was lit up all night long and was bustling with people coming and going. But now in the early hours of winter nights, except for the homeless, no one is willing to stay outside for a while, and the streets are rarely quiet.

Until a loud bang and fire exploded at the dock in the early morning. The exaggerated noise woke many people up from their sleep, and then shouts were heard from somewhere.

"The pirates are attacking!"

"Murder! Run away!"

"It's pirates, all pirates!"

The people of Totnes, who had not been harassed by pirates for a long time, did not react at first, but then there were several explosions, which completely woke up the entire dock. They were all sailors, and they were very familiar with pirates, and even afraid of them. They didn't care about so much and fled quickly. The street was empty just now, but now many people ran out in a short while, and the chaos spread quickly.

The bureaucrats in Totnes hastily pushed the women away from their arms, the sheriff's whistle was blowing as if it was about to die, the wealthy businessmen called in their guards, and panic was on everyone's face.

What's even more outrageous is that the commander wanted to assemble his troops, but found that less than half of them were supposed to be there.

"Where's the fucking man?"

"I don't care, bring him back to me right now."

"What are you looking at? Get on board, you bastards! They're right in front of me, you bunch of rubbish!"

Who wants to stay in the barracks in such a cold winter? Of course they would spend the night outside. Anyway, it has been who knows how many years. How could pirates dare to attack Totnes? They are lucky not to cause trouble for the pirates.

But now there is a problem. Even the soldiers themselves are panicking. Facing the pressure from their superiors, they can only quickly gather people and then go on board...

The dock is now very lively. Several ships that have been set on fire are emitting strong flames, illuminating more than a dozen pirate ships flying skull and crossbones flags.

"Why are they so damn slow? Are those guys useless? Don't they have any vigilance at all?"

Under the lord's arrangement, they detonated several bombs, set several ships on fire, seized the dock, and were just short of rushing in to kill and loot.

But according to the plan, the Totnes troops should have been mobilized, so why was there no response?
"Here they come! They're moving, run."

As soon as these words were spoken, those people stopped pretending and quickly boarded the boats and fled, sailing away from the dock under the light of the fire. Those warships had cannons, and no one knew their power better than them.

As soon as they fled, a fierce round of artillery fire was heard at the dock. The shells had no regard for the ships and people at the dock. It was because they retreated quickly and the people were scared away before, otherwise, who knows how many people would have died.

The ships that Hamlet blew up and burned were all pirate ships that came here by themselves, but the ones they attacked were real local ships, which was really cruel.

But when the Totnes fleet arrived, everyone had run away and could only look at the dim fire in the distance.

After finally gathering together, they were unwilling to let the "pirates" go just like that. After all, everything had gone fine for so many years, but now it exploded in their hands. If they couldn't produce any results, their superiors would take their lives.

"Go! Chase them and sink them!"

The fleet commander was not very old, and was wearing an exquisite military uniform, long boots and a boat cap. The slim design of the uniform made it look more like a dress.

The soldiers' clothes were in a mess, some were wearing uniforms and some were not. It was obvious that they were rushed back in a hurry. Now they were very angry because if they couldn't catch the pirates, the commander would kill them.

With pressure coming down layer by layer, and since they had never suffered such humiliation before, they immediately mobilized all their forces, and twenty warships headed for the sea.

Gradually the fire became clearer and clearer, and after a desperate chase they seemed to have really caught up, but the captains started shouting as soon as they came into range.

"Cum for me!"

It can be seen that the fleet is indeed elite. In this situation, the fleet spread out on both sides like a big hand to surround them, followed by a burst of indiscriminate bombardment.

It is no secret that Totnes pursues exaggerated large-caliber artillery, and the shells fired can easily tear apart the pirate ships. Even if they hit the water, the water columns will rise into the sky, which is more powerful than those on Hamlet's ship.

"Fuck! These bastards have really strong firepower. Fortunately, we ran fast."

A ship was drifting in the darkness, looking at the roar and flames that kept erupting in the distance, as well as the destroyed pirate ship, and it couldn't help feeling scared. If it really took off on the sea, it would probably be doomed. It couldn't be on land where it could still rely on technology to fight.

Now they also understood why the lord had always emphasized that giant ships and cannons were the future of naval warfare.

From here we can see that there are actually only a few operating soldiers on each of those pirate ships. After arriving at the designated location, they simply abandoned most of them, boarded one ship, extinguished the fire, and ran in another direction.

Those that are still burning are for them to fight. How can they eliminate the "pirates" if they don't fight?
It has to be said that since no pirates dared to provoke the Totnes navy, they did not have much actual combat experience. But now this kind of target really gave them a lot of fun. They could see that there were no pirate ships on the sea, only some wooden boards and debris floating in the water.

"Hahaha! If you dare to attack me, I will make sure you return with a crushing defeat!"

"These pirates are courting death. They dare to cause trouble in Totnes."

"They should be thankful to have died in the sea. If they had died in my hands..."

The artillery stopped firing, and everyone from the captain to the sailors looked excited. After all, they could finally report to their superiors. However, it seemed that not many people noticed that there was fog.

Wait until they react.

The fog had even cut off their connection with other ships, as if they were the only ship drifting on the sea.

"What's going on? Why is it so foggy all of a sudden?"

However, before they could react, a faint sound seemed to come from a distance, and then gradually became clearer, like some ethereal melody.

"Siren! It's the Siren!"

"Don't listen! Run away!"

Most of those who can make a living on the ship have heard similar legends through word of mouth. Perhaps the sense of security given by the gunboats made them forget these things, but now when they really face them, they remember the fear.

They screamed madly, covered their ears to resist the erosion of that power, and some even fell into the sea during their crazy struggle.

The sound echoing in their minds became louder and louder, and soon most of them fell into a daze, standing still and drooling.

At this time, only the lights left on the gunboat could show a strange ship approaching vaguely in the fog. It was covered with barnacles, starfish and water plants, and had an overall smell of desolation and death.

What was even more bizarre was that there was a man standing on the bow, and the sound that made them stunned came from the conch in his hand.

The sound of chains colliding was heard, directly connecting the two ships together, and Lance rang the captain's bell.

"You little brats! Get up and work."

As the bells rang, countless skeletal arms stretched out from the ship to grab the side of the gunboat, connecting the two together, and the chains seemed to be eager to drag those guys into the cabin...