Close Combat Mage

Nighttime. Suo Jia’s group of five were sitting around a circular table. After a long period of silence, Suo Jia turned his head and spoke to Xiang Yun and Roger, “Tell us about the results of your surveillance today! Did you discover anything?”

“Hm…” Xiang Yun nodded, deep in thought. He opened his mouth and answered, “If you assume the port as the divider mark, I found seven pirate fleets on the left sea territory. Each fleet had five medium-sized pirate ships, all with a lightning symbol on their flags!”

As soon as Xiang Yun finished speaking, Roger continued, “Yeah, I spotted four pirate fleets on the right sea territory. Each fleet also had five medium-sized ships, their flags bearing the same lightning symbol!”

Suo Jia nodded thoughtfully and turned to ask Nicole, “Any relevant information from the inn?”

Nicole confidently affirmed and answered in a serious tone, “I asked around a bit. The pirate ships outside are all part of the Thunder Pirates. According to the intel I received, the waters within 200 nautical miles of the port are all under the Thunder Pirates’ control!”

“What?!” Nobody could keep from sharply gasping at Nicole’s words. Although 200 nautical miles did not add up to too large of an area, occupying a territory at sea was nearly impossible!

Nicole glanced at everyone’s shocked expressions and continued, “The Thunder Pirates have a total of over two hundred fleets. Each fleet is comprised of five ships, so they have a total of over a thousand ships. The number of members they have reach a terrifying sum of over 200,000 people!”

The others were silent upon hearing Nicole’s comment. If the enemy was truly so powerful, then their business transaction this time was doomed to fail. There was no way they would be successful; no matter how powerful Suo Jia and the others were, they couldn’t possibly defeat over a thousand pirate ships.

As everyone contemplated this, Nicole added, “The Thunder Pirates’ ships are all equipped with stone catapults. Even the Camus Sky Screen wouldn’t be able to take being bombarded by catapulted rocks. This is also precisely the reason they are able to rampage through the territorial waters around here. However…because the ships keep large catapults and a great amount of stones to shoot with, they require a massive amount of supplies and cannot travel far. Their speed and mobility are also extremely poor. That’s why, as long as one charges out of the 200 nautical mile radius, they won’t be able to chase any further.”

“Charge through 200 nautical miles?” Suo Jia couldn’t help but laugh bitterly at Nicole’s words. This might not have been a difficult matter for medium or small-sized merchant ships, but Suo Jia’s ships were gigantic sailboats. It was an inescapable fact that larger ships had more trouble with turns and were slow to start. There was absolutely no way they could charge across 200 nautical miles.

While he was thinking this, Nicole went on to say, “But the Thunder Pirates don’t seem to be an extermination group. As long as one pays 50% of their total goods’ cash value, they won’t cause any trouble. That’s why, nearly all the merchant groups that come here all hand over the money to do their business.”

Miya immediately felt pity towards Suo Jia when she saw his pained expression. The world was always like this; wanting to do anything was truly very difficult, no matter what it was. There were too many untold dangers and obstacles that needed to be overcome. Only by breaking through these challenges could one emerge victorious.

Many difficulties seemed impossible to resolve, which was the reason why very few people were successful in the end. Only those that could create miracles could achieve that final success. But…could Suo Jia overcome all the trials and dangers this time? Miya would wait and see!

Miya watched Suo Jia contemplate to himself for a while before resolutely declaring, “Everyone, go to bed early. Tomorrow morning, let’s go meet the Thunder Pirates!”

“Ah?!” Miya immediately cried out in shock. No matter what, she would’ve never imagined that Suo Jia would do such a thing. What did meeting with the Thunder Pirates mean? Would they fight? If that were the case, it actually suited Miya’s preferences quite well.

The night passed without incident. The next morning, Suo Jia’s group boarded a fast, medium-sized ship that Xiang Yun procured and they raced out of the port in search of the alleged Thunder Pirates.

Soon after leaving the harbor, the silhouettes of the pirate fleets appeared. It was very early in the morning, but the Thunder Pirates had the waters sealed off 24 hours a day to prevent merchant ships from crossing the boundaries at night.

Upon seeing the pirate ships drifting not too far away, Suo Jia commanded for their ship to approach. When they got close, Suo Jia loudly shouted, “Hey! The pirate friends across! I want to meet your boss, bring me to him immediately!”

The pirates on the ships were stunned for a moment when they heard Suo Jia, but then lazily replied, “What? Want to sell agate? If that’s the case, then just hand the money over to me. There’s no need to disturb our boss.”

Suo Jia’s face darkened at the pirates’ response. He coldly declared, “How reckless. Since you won’t let me meet him, then I’ll just fight until he appears!” Suo Jia extended his right arm and the Sea God’s Trident instantly materialized in his right hand. A bunch of blue light orbs rapidly began to form.

Whoosh…crack! With the Divine Artifact’s boost, an enormous Ice Sphere nearly a meter in diameter blasted through the side of the pirate ship with a fierce bang. A flood of seawater poured inside the cabin, and the pirate ship gradually began to split apart as it sank underwater.

At the same time, Suo Jia jerked his head back and yelled, “Xiang Yun, Roger, don’t just stand around. Destroy all the pirate ships you can find. I refuse to believe that we can’t force the head of the pirates out!”

“Holy…” Miya’s head spun when she heard Suo Jia’s order. She had spent the entire night thinking up various possibilities, yet what she was seeing now was the most brainless approach, something that Miya simply had not considered. Yet when she assessed it now, it was indeed the most straightforward way to yield the fastest results. ƒ𝓇e𝙚𝔀𝐞𝚋𝓃𝐨𝘷e𝙡.𝒄𝗼m

Suo Jia met Miya’s astonished gaze and smiled. “I’m used to complicating simple things and simplifying complicated things. In reality, the simpler the method, the better the results. If you make something too complicated, you’ll probably just confuse yourself.”

Miya nodded with a pensive expression and replied in admiration, “I see, Miya has learned her lesson. But…what are we to do next? What do you want to discuss when you meet the head of the pirates? And if you kill so many of his people, will he actually talk with you?”

“Um…” Suo Jia hesitated for a while before chuckling dryly, “Honestly speaking, I’m just thinking as I go. It’s still too early to consider what will happen after seeing the pirate head. It will be an impromptu decision according to the circumstances when the time comes. Now that I think about, the saying that ‘changes always go beyond plans’ has truth to it.”

Miya stared at Suo Jia in a daze. She really wanted to ask him, “Is that any different from acting rashly?” However…before she could even voice this question, she found her own answer. To a foolish person, this was indeed acting rashly. However, to someone that had the ability to improvise, it was an intelligent course of action.

Suo Jia did not have any time to waste here. As a result, even if there were better methods of approach, he would not have chosen them because they took too much time, and time was of the essence. As long as he could quickly resolve the problem, Suo Jia would not hesitate to do anything, even if it meant risking his life!

Miya was quite dumbstruck by this. Such opponents were the most terrifying ones, since they would execute their plans regardless of the cost once they set their target. Even death was nothing to cower from. There was really no difference to [the actions of] a lunatic. The scariest part was that this was a group of extremely intelligent madmen. While their actions could be described as insane, it was more appropriate to describe them as miraculous!

They slaughtered their way through, dozens of pirate ships turning into destroyed shrapnel floating in the ocean waters. Moreover, the pirate ships’ attacks did not inflict any harm on the small ship Suo Jia was on.

While Suo Jia did not have the ability to simultaneously protect a hundred enormous Camus ships, the combined forces of Suo Jia, Xiang Yun, Roger, Nicole, and Miya could definitely protect a single small sailing ship. This was especially true with the help of the Sea God’s Trident Suo Jia possessed combined together with his ridiculous water manipulation power that could shift the ship’s position at any given moment. Thus, as they swept through their path, the small ship did not encounter any kind of harm.

Finally…a large gathering of shadows floated into appearance in front of them in the distance. Over a hundred large pirate ships were approaching, breaking through the waves of the horizon. Most of the Thunder Pirates’ fleets had finally arrived.

Suo Jia watched the Thunder Pirates’ fleets gradually come near, then tilted his head slightly to quietly say to Nicole, “Nicole, don’t do anything when we start battling later. Stealthily infiltrate the pirates’ flagship and then scout out the situation inside as they return to their hideout!”

“Ok…!” Nicole happily nodded in response to Suo Jia’s arrangements while also smugly shooting a sideways look at Miya, as if to say: Look…I, Nicole, am more useful than you, Miya!

Miya merely smiled in response to Nicole’s provocation, not paying it any mind at all…After all, Miya was much more mature than Nicole was, being at least five years older.

Per Suo Jia’s orders, Nicole gradually concealed her figure. At the same time, Suo Jia commanded, “Xiang Yun, Roger, and Miya: prepare for battle. Once the fight starts, we’ll start out with a fierce attack at first. Right before the enemy’s main fleets arrive, immediately pretend to flee in surrender. Remember, our goal is just to cover for Nicole. As soon as we achieve our objective, immediately retreat!”

Xiang Yun and Roger nodded at Suo Jia’s instructions. Only Miya stared at Suo Jia in surprise. She had not expected for someone like him, who was so reserved around women, to become this bold and callous in battle. When he was setting up battle tactics, he held the poise of a great general.

Meanwhile, the pirate ships in front were now within a thousand meters from them. Everyone could clearly see the people on the ships now. Suo Jia muttered something to himself, then declared, “Nicole, with your stealth ability and the Concealment Ring, you should be able to remain hidden forever as long as you don’t attack. So once you’ve finished the investigation objective this time, immediately ride one of the pirate ships patrolling the harbor to return. We’ll wait for you at the inn!”

Without waiting for Nicole to respond, Suo Jia shifted his gaze and shouted, “Alright, everyone, let’s split up!”