Chapter 233 - End of The Ken (2/2)

The pirates followed Zhang Heng’s orders by the dot, returning to Jackdaw once the fifteen minutes were up. The moment everyone on board, they swiftly retrieved the grappling hooks and started pulling away from Kent.

Once they were far enough, Jackdaw fired all their cannons at them. The captain’s quarters exploded with a ma.s.sive boom, breaking Kent into half. The blast instantly disintegrated Worden and his men, with nothing left of them except burnt flesh and cinders. Putting aside the fact that they were enemies, Zhang Heng was actually impressed by Worden’s spirit. Both sides knew that this was the battle that would determine their fate. From the start till the end, Worden had brilliantly strategized his attacks, barely making any mistakes as he went along.

He was simply unfortunate that Zhang Heng knew him well enough to win this fight. Earlier, Zhang Heng squeezed out every last drop of information he could about Worden. Armed with new knowledge about his adversary, Zhang Heng came up with an effective plan to defeat him. As for Worden, he never expected that to fight Jackdaw again. Hence, he spent no effort whatsoever to delve into Zhang Heng. Other than that, his previous victories and vast combat experience had turned him arrogant. Such costly errors eventually drove him to lose the battle, eventually paying the ultimate price with his life.

……..

Though the battle was over, Zhang Heng and his men had a s.h.i.+pload of things to deal with, no pun intended. Doctor Vincent faithfully treated the wounded in the infirmary. Gale, the carpenter, was scurrying about the decks with his other carpenters trying to fix all the damage they could find. As for Dufresne, he was counting the goods that they plundered from Kent, and, at the same time, figuring out a way to move all the gold bars from the bottom of the ocean. As the crew busied themselves with their seemingly neverending tasks, Zhang Heng brought some food and drinking water to the Parrot Island survivors.

While Jackdaw was fighting Kent, Erik and Brook had gathered the remaining pirates on the beach. Unfortunately, their guns wouldn’t shoot that far, and they could only stand ash.o.r.e and watch the battle unfold before them.

They burst into loud cheers the moment they saw Jackdaw claiming the final victory. Zhang Heng figured there would be a handful of survivors on the island but didn’t expect to see so few actually survived. As he pa.s.sed the rations to the famished pirates, he got to know that Black Prince Sam was killed in action.

“My deepest condolences. So, what’s your plan after this, Eric?”

“Initially, I wanted to destroy Kent to avenge him. Destroying Kent… this is what kept me alive on this island. But then again, I didn’t expect you guys to solve my problem so quickly. Luckily, they have six more s.h.i.+ps for me to destroy!”

“Erm… technically, there are only five s.h.i.+ps left. We destroyed the Miranda a few days ago.”

“Thank you so much. We are only alive now thanks to you and your Jackdaw. I plan to look for a s.h.i.+p to avenge Sam when I return to Na.s.sau. I will make everyone involved in this scheme pay dearly!” Erik roared furiously.

“However, I won’t force anybody to ride my path of revenge. The Quidah is gone, so is Sam. My life as a pirate is over. If possible, I’m hoping that you can take in the rest who are still alive.”

“No problem. You can always come back when you’ve settled your unfinished business.”

Zhang Heng shook Eric’s hand warmly.

There were less than twenty survivors from Quidah. Half of them wanted to avenge Sam with Eric. The other half wanted to join Jackdaw. Whichever s.h.i.+p they chose to board, though, these men were all experienced pirates, an invaluable a.s.set to any pirate s.h.i.+p of this era.

Most importantly, Zhang Heng was willing to absorb those wanting to join Jackdaw. Now that a wide range of talents was part of his crew, Zhang Heng was glad to know that the next challenge would certainly be met with a little more tenacity and valor. Owing to the unexpected ‘enlistment,’ pirates from the other two pirate vessels were quickly interested to join Jackdaw as well.

As for Swordfish, Brook was still alive. Hence, n.o.body there was interested to hop over.