Chapter 139 - Jackdaw (1/2)

Zhang Heng could hear the thunderous boom of cannons after he left the Queen Anne’s Revenge. Charleston was bathed in bright flames.

When he saw that, Zhang Heng knew that Orff’s and Teach’s plan for revenge had begun. Everything that happened after that had nothing to do with him. His life on the Queen Anne’s Revenge was finally over. After tonight, Teach, and the Queen Anne’s Revenge would disappear for some time. Zhang Heng would only meet them again four years later, but that’s a story for another time.

All 16 people on the ship made use of what little time that they had and picked a helmsman.

“I just took scanned our surroundings just now. Around twenty boats are docked by the harbor right now. Between them, there are twelve small boats, eight medium boats, and two big boats. They are basically empty right now. It should be an easy task for us to snatch them.”

Charleston and Nassau were at least hundreds of kilometers apart. It would be impossible for them to sail all the way to Nassau with the tiny vessels that they were on right now. Besides, a golden opportunity had presented itself right before them. While the Queen Anne’s Revenge was drawing the attention of the enemies, it would be the best time for them to hijack those boats.

“You guys should have made your choices by now, right?”

Zhang Heng took a look around and knew that the group of people with him would become his crew later on. Owen was right. It was a fact that these were the most experienced group of pirates the Queen Anne’s Revenge had seen.

They were extremely skillful and had years of experience between them. Most importantly, they had a squeaky clean background. They neither belonged to Orff nor Frazer. If Zhang Heng did not step in, they would have indeed met a horrible ending since the powerful people on the ship were trying to fight for the throne.

Billy and the rest of the old pirates took a look around. There was excitement in the air.

“The Royal Navy has a corvette here. It’s a medium-sized vessel equipped with around 30 cannons. Although this corvette is similar to the Sea Lion, it’s definitely more powerful. She should sail a lot faster, as well. Right now, we are powerful enough to take her and sail back to Nassau. We just need to recruit more people from Nassau, and we should be good to set sail,” said Billy.

“Actually the Queen Anne’s Revenge is not suitable for raiding other boats. She’s too big, and will surely be slower than the others. Besides, she would need a huge crew of pirates to manage her. Of course, if they only targeted merchant ships, they would not need all that crazy firepower. Everyone would eventually receive a minimal amount of loot each time since there are so many pirates on board. And it’s not exactly easy to hide this massive battleship as well,” lamented an old pirate.

“Let’s not wait anymore. Let’s do it,” said Zhang Heng.

Fifteen minutes later, 17 of them climbed up the corvette using a rope. Since the ship wasn’t assigned anywhere, only a total of 10 navy officers guarded the ship. Zhang Heng ambushed them, tied them up, and stowed them into one of the tiny boats that they were in before.

After that, all started to work in unison to release the mainsail and to cast-off the anchor. Suddenly, they saw two boats filled with navy personnel rowing towards them as fast they could.

However, it was all too late.

As the wind began catching the sails, the corvette started to budge slowly. Zhang Heng stood on the bow of the vessel, leading his people. He had no intention to interfere with the Queen Anne’s Revenge’s battle. Soon, Zhang Heng was already leading the corvette far away from the enemies. The moment the corvette left the harbor, everyone on board erupted into a mighty cheer.

“I just did a quick check. The food and water on board are more than enough for us. At this speed, I think we should be able to reach Nassau sooner than expected. Captain, the only thing you need to do right now is to name the ship,” said Billy.

Without him realizing it, it had been a year since Zhang Heng entered this world. Throughout this period, Zhang Heng had tried his best to blend into his surroundings. He ate, slept, and fought alongside pirates the entire time and even invested a lot of effort to learn different skills from them. Still, he did not forget his origins.

“I shall christen her the Jackdaw!”