Behind the thunder of the broadside volley, the sailors of Gao Family Village froze for a heartbeat, as if their minds had lagged behind their eyes. Then realization struck. The entire deck exploded with laughter and cheers.
"Hahaha! We're sailing a divine vessel!"
"Bestowed by Dao Xuan Tianzun himself! Their cannons cannot even scratch us!"
"What were we scared of earlier?"
"Speak for yourself! I almost wet my pants!"
"Shut up. You're just a grunt."
"Grunt? I am studying liberal arts so I can apply for officer training!"
"Ha! You cannot even write your own name properly!"
"Enough talking! Load and fire!"
Their morale surged like a rising tide. Fear vanished as if it had never existed.
Across the waves, the Kurushima Pirates stared in mute horror.
They had clearly watched their cannonballs smash into the enemy ship's broadside, only to bounce away like pebbles thrown against a stone wall. The scene was so absurd that their thoughts simply stopped working.
Their shock resembled a modern man launching his most prized weapon, an atomic bomb, at an enemy warship, only to watch it rebound harmlessly after the explosion. Anyone would lose their mind witnessing such a thing.
Kurushima Yokuhisa shrieked, his voice cracking.
"What was that just now? Tell me I saw it wrong! The cannonball bounced. I saw it bounce!"
His men exchanged blank stares before one answered cautiously.
"My lord... you did not see wrong."
"Idiot!" Yokuhisa roared, veins bulging across his neck. "There must be some trick! Charge! Prepare boarding action! Once we grapple their ships, they will not dare fire their cannons!"
The Kurushima fleet surged forward through the storm of artillery.
Meanwhile, the cannons of Gao Family Village continued their relentless rhythm, alternating between solid shot and explosive shells in a chaotic but deadly barrage.
Solid iron balls smashed through hulls and decks, punching cavernous holes through the Red Seal ships. Explosive shells burst across crowded pirate decks, scattering iron fragments and bodies in all directions.
Even so, artillery of this era had limits. Explosive shells relied mostly on shrapnel. They could slaughter crews but rarely shattered an entire ship with one blast the way later cannons could.
The Kurushima Pirates endured the punishment. Their ships bled splinters and smoke, yet they continued forward, staggering across the sea like wounded beasts refusing to fall.
"They are trying to board us!" Jiang Cheng shouted. "Do not let them close in! Japanese samurai are monsters in close combat!"
The order passed quickly across the fleet.
Unfortunately, the helmsmen of Gao Family Village were painfully inexperienced. River navigation was one thing. Maneuvering during a spinning naval duel required an entirely different skill set.
Despite having nearly double the speed, they somehow allowed their formations to be intercepted head on.
Shi Lang nearly exploded with rage.
"Aiya! Are you steering with your feet? A fourteen-year-old like me could do better! Once we return, every one of you will train under me!"
He fumed loudly, but Li Daoxuan remained calm.
Such mistakes were expected. Naval warfare could not be mastered overnight. Besides, Gao Family Village did not truly fear close range combat.
As long as the enemy approached within the correct distance, matters would become... very interesting.
Sure enough, once the gap narrowed, the firearms of Gao Family Village erupted.
Dense volleys rang out in rapid succession. Bullets poured down like steel rain upon the approaching Kurushima Pirates.
The boarding teams collapsed in rows before they could even throw grappling hooks.
The Kurushima Pirates also possessed firearms. They raised their prized Japanese Tanegashima arquebuses and fired back. The exchange instantly revealed the difference between the two sides.
Gao Family Village used rifled guns. Their weapons reached farther and struck with frightening precision. Pirates fell long before they could retaliate, while the Tanegashima arquebuses struggled to reach effective distance.
The pirates could only endure the slaughter as they pushed forward.
After absorbing brutal losses, they finally crept close enough for their arquebuses to fire. Yet their shots lacked accuracy. Most bullets vanished into the sea or sky. The few that struck the composite hulls of Gao Family Village vessels left nothing more than shallow dents.
The range that allowed smoothbore muskets to fire was also the perfect distance for throwing hand grenades.
Gao Family Village sailors casually tossed black iron grenades across the waves. The explosives landed on Red Seal ships and erupted into violent bursts, shaking decks and scattering terrified pirates once again.
The Kurushima men simply could not understand.
Cannons exploded. Grenades followed. Every direction roared with blasts. Standing on deck became nearly impossible.
If they could not stand, boarding was out of the question.
By the time their ships drifted alongside Gao Family Village vessels, the Red Seal ships resembled haunted hulks. Not a single pirate dared remain on deck. Everyone hid inside the cabins like frightened turtles.
The concept of boarding collapsed completely.
Seeing this, Gao Family Village soldiers gradually lowered their weapons. They stared at the drifting pirate ships beside them, unsure how the battle had reached such a strange stalemate.
"Our guns cannot reach them anymore. They are hiding inside."
"Should we toss grenades into the cabins?"
"They sealed the hatches. They are hiding like turtles."
"Then... should we board them instead?"
An awkward silence spread across the deck.
None of them had real experience with boarding combat.
Li Daoxuan frowned slightly. He had no desire to send his tiny followers into cramped cabin fighting. Once combat moved into tight corridors, firearms and grenades would lose their advantage, and casualties would become unavoidable.
Casualties were something he despised above all else.
He briefly considered stepping in personally.
Just as that thought surfaced, a strange roaring noise rose from behind the fleet. More than a dozen battered pirate boats charged forward. These were the Zhoushan pirate guides Gao Family Village had previously captured.
Their ships were slow. They had rowed with desperate determination, chasing the main fleet across the sea. By the time they finally caught up, the decisive naval exchange had already ended.
These former pirates were desperate to prove their loyalty. They wanted redemption, survival, and recognition from their new masters. The moment they arrived, they hurled themselves into battle without hesitation.
They could not understand Gao Family Village's signal flags. Orders meant nothing to them. Their thinking was simple.
Charge forward. Kill the enemy. Prove your worth.
Watching them rush in, Li Daoxuan abandoned the idea of intervening.
Fine. Let them finish this.
The Gao Family Village sailors stepped back and watched as a brutal boarding battle finally unfolded.
The Zhoushan pirates swarmed onto the Red Seal ships. Encouraged by this, the Kurushima pirates hiding in their cabins crawled out and rejoined the fight.
Steel clashed against steel.
Japanese katanas flashed against Ming broadswords.
In pure martial skill, the Japanese warriors held the advantage. However, they had just suffered catastrophic losses under Gao Family Village's overwhelming firepower. Their morale shattered like frightened birds scattering from a storm.
The Zhoushan pirates, on the other hand, fought under the protection of a terrifying new patron. Their confidence soared.
Under such conditions, the outcome required no prophecy.