Phantom Bat launched his desperate escape.
He knew very well that, in terms of pure combat strength, his six medium-sized ships were no match for that terrifying behemoth behind them. Worse still, he did not even have a single cannon aboard.
His only remaining hopes lay in two things. One was Liu Xiang's fearsome reputation, which he believed would make the enemy hesitate. The other was the agility of his own ships. Smaller vessels were supposed to be faster, and he was confident that they could outrun any massive ship.
Yet the moment he actually fled, he realized something was terribly wrong.
The colossal ship chasing them should have been slow. Its size alone should have made it sluggish and unwieldy.
Instead, it was frighteningly fast.
Phantom Bat had encountered Western three-masted galleons before. Those were among the fastest ships on the seas, able to reach seven to ten knots at most.
But this monster behind him was easily twice as fast.
Twenty knots, at the very least.
"What in the world is this speed?!" Phantom Bat screamed inwardly.
What he did not know was that Li Daoxuan had already restrained the ship's speed.
Outside the diorama box, Li Daoxuan's miniature vehicles could reach two hundred meters per hour. Once translated into the miniature world, that still meant a terrifying forty kilometers per hour.
Any model boat equipped with even the weakest motor could far exceed such a speed.
Li Daoxuan had deliberately limited the motor's output, fearing that such insane velocity would either overwhelm the people inside the box or drive them completely mad.
Even so, the Wanli Sunshine could still cruise steadily at over twenty knots.
At that speed, the pirate ships had no chance.
Phantom Bat had barely fled a short distance before he realized the horrifying truth. The massive ship behind them was not falling behind at all.
It was closing in.
The only mercy was that, to maintain pursuit, the Wanli Sunshine had to keep its bow pointed directly at them. That meant only the forward cannon could fire.
Its terrifying broadside cannons remained unusable for the moment.
Otherwise, if dozens of those cannons fired together, his entire fleet would have been wiped out in an instant.
Cold sweat streamed down Phantom Bat's face.
"We can't escape!" he roared. "Signal the other five ships. Prepare to board!"
He clenched his teeth and shouted, "We'll grapple that monster. All six ships together. Swarm their deck and fight them up close. If we seize that ship, Captain Liu Xiang will reward us beyond imagination!"
A ripple of excitement spread through the pirates.
That ship was enormous. If they truly captured it, the profit would be unimaginable.
"Prepare to board!"
The six pirate ships erupted into activity.
Pirates flooded onto the decks. Some climbed the masts. Others swung along the rigging. The gunwales were packed shoulder to shoulder with men.
Every pirate gripped a blade. Many also carried firearms.
Phantom Bat himself held a Spanish flintlock.
This was a high-quality weapon introduced to East Asia by Spain years ago, and it had long since become a prized firearm among seafarers.
With an arrogant flick of his wrist, Phantom Bat loaded the flintlock, preparing for the chaos of close combat.
As they completed their preparations, the Wanli Sunshine loomed ever closer.
Phantom Bat bellowed, "All six ships, spread out. Encircle them!"
His subordinates hurried to relay the command using flag signals.
The six pirate ships immediately fanned out, forming a broad crescent. They planned to let the Wanli Sunshine sail straight into the trap, then swarm it from all sides.
But they had overlooked one fatal detail.
During pursuit, the Wanli Sunshine could only use its bow cannon.
Now that the pirates had spread out, its broadsides were fully exposed.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Cannons on both sides of the Wanli Sunshine roared at once.
Massive iron cannonballs screamed through the air.
One slammed into the side of a pirate ship with a deafening crash, tearing open a huge hole. Splinters flew everywhere as the cannonball smashed through the hull, destroying everything in its path.
Another struck the deck.
A pirate was pulverized instantly, his body reduced to a bloody smear. The cannonball tore through the planks and vanished into the ship's depths.
The death of a single man barely registered with the pirates.
They had fought too many battles.
They had clashed with red-haired Westerners, with Franks, with the Ming imperial navy, with Zheng Zhilong's fleet.
A cannonball killing someone nearby meant nothing. As long as it did not hit them, they would not even flinch.
What they did not realize was that after the first round of solid shot, Jiang Cheng frowned and shouted, "Switch to explosive shells!"
The second volley was completely different.
"Boom!"
An explosive shell slammed onto a pirate ship.
A heartbeat later, another explosion erupted.
Boom.
Pirates on the deck were blasted into the air, limbs torn apart as bodies flew in every direction.
"What the hell is this?!"
"What's happening?"
"They're not firing solid shot. Those are explosive shells!"
"Damn it! Explosive shells are insanely rare! Even the Westerners barely use them!"
The technology for explosive shells existed in both East and West, but it was mostly confined to legends or books like the Wubei Zhi. It was almost never used in real combat.
Only now did the pirates realize the horrifying truth.
Their enemy had not only mastered explosive shells, but was actually using them in battle.
"We can't fight their cannons!"
"Charge forward!"
"Full speed ahead!"
"Charge!"
The pirate ships surged forward under relentless cannon fire.
Boarding was their last hope.
At that moment, heads suddenly appeared along the towering gunwales of the Wanli Sunshine. One after another, gun barrels extended beside them.
From that height, the sailors looked down on the pirate ships below.
It was a perfect firing angle.
"Fire!"
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The pirate decks were packed with men preparing to board.
They were perfect targets.
A single volley dropped a large swath of pirates where they stood.
Phantom Bat raised his Spanish flintlock and fired back in desperation.
Bang.
The shot cracked loudly, but the bullet vanished into the air, its path meaningless.
Such was the cruel reality of smoothbore firearms.
"Closer!"
"Closer!"
"Grapple!"
Through cannon fire and gunshots, the pirate ships finally slammed alongside the Wanli Sunshine.
Grappling hooks flew upward.
But the gunwales were terrifyingly high.
They still had to pull themselves up.
At the same time, sailors on the Wanli Sunshine began tossing hand grenades downward.
Grappling hooks flew up.
Hand grenades fell down.
They crossed paths in mid-air.
The grappling hook seemed almost smug, waving its sharp, cross-shaped claws as if greeting the grenade proudly.
The grenade remained cold and indifferent, refusing to acknowledge it.
Each continued along its path.
Clang.
The grappling hook latched onto the gunwale, clinging firmly and fulfilling its purpose.
Boom.
The grenade exploded on the pirate deck.
The pirate who had thrown the hook was blasted backward, his body torn apart.
Only then did the grappling hook seem to look back.
"Huh? Where's my master?" it seemed to ask. "You were just here. Weren't you going to climb up? Hurry up."
The pirate, riddled with shrapnel, groaned weakly.
"I'll climb your… bloody… hell…"
His head slumped to the side.
He died.