Bu Weibenetrion feràlaper cezionedellastrada, nonpuòcapireche, mentrelavittoriadellamacchina (The good general knows not only the way to victory, but also the opportunity not to win)

- Polybius (ancient Greek historian)

The power of the fire of Rome terrifies all those on both sides; Therefore, Oscar also ordered the fleet to leave the sea quickly. Having set foot on the land of the republic, each person on board the transport spoke to his people about what had happened today.

"His Excellency Oscar, the leader of the House of Augustus, possessed 'a thing' much like black lightning in the sky, which the soldiers unleashed with the intention of burning the enemy," they said. As a result, in just an instant, the four pirate warships belonging to Blackbeard and all the pirates on board were burned to death. The whole sea was blazing with fire, and Blackbeard and Calico Jack fled in fear; That's why they didn't conquer us. ”

In John Leckham's memoirs, an account of his pirate career is recorded: "One day, when we were joining forces with Blackbeard to attack the Augustus convoy, the men [referring to the army on the transports] used a machine that had never been used before; And what the machine spews out is the devil's fire!

The standard-bearer of the attacking ship signaled to me: 'Captain, we are in an unprecedented calamity, they have set fire to our deck and the surrounding sea, and we will be reduced to ashes. Even if we turn our backs from here, we have nowhere to escape, there are flames everywhere that cannot be extinguished!! So this is a catastrophe that cannot be saved except by the gods, and the only way to do this is to get out of danger by the enemy who attacks us with demonic fire, and all we can do is to kneel down and pray to Heaven for deliverance! ’

After witnessing the terrifying power of the Reformed version of the Fire of Rome, Oscar felt that he might have actually freed a desolate beast from Pandora's box. If you use such a weapon that destroys the balance for a long time, sooner or later your enemies will also have such a weapon that hurts nature. Whether it is so-called justice or evil; Such a dehumanizing weapon should not be used. Otherwise, it will only be the human beings themselves who will be hurt; This is something that Oscar, who has received more than twenty years of education in life above all else, cannot accept.

So, after returning to Sardinia; Oscar ordered that everything about the weapon be kept strictly secret, and that it was not even allowed to be written down. Oscar not only kept the recipe for the Roman Fire extremely secret (known only to himself), but also to prevent the enemy from snooping on the secrets; It is even rarely used in warfare, and it is better to sacrifice soldiers than to live and die, and never show people weapons.

Three full days have passed since the brutal naval battle of September 10; During these three days, the entire convoy was in a state of extreme quiet. No one wants to speak, and no one dares to appear in front of the Oscars; Even the flag-bearer on the Oscar ship was terrified when he saw Oscar. This bankrupted Oscar's idea of being ready to reuse the standard-bearer.

for in the hearts of all; Although Oscar, who brought this cruel weapon, saved everyone's lives, the person who was able to bring this weapon to the world is really no different from the devil. Therefore, everyone looks at Oscar with a trace of fear and fear; Of course, we can't deny that these people are in awe of Oscar in their hearts, and they no longer dare to do things that go against Oscar's wishes.

Suddenly, an extremely shrill trumpet sounded from a twin battleship in charge of guarding the perimeter; The flag-bearer immediately climbed the mast and began to watch the message coming back from the battleship. It turned out that another pirate fleet had appeared 2,000 meters away; Moreover, although the pirate fleet did not have five ships this time, it had four three-column warships and five double-column warships.

However, the arrival of pirates did not cause panic in anyone. For the crew and the soldiers of the Guard, they didn't think that these pirates could withstand the superweapons of the House of Augustus. It's just that everyone doesn't want to see the cruelty of that day again. Of course, in relation to one's own precious life; Cruelty to the enemy is also a must.

is different from the relaxation of the crew and the carelessness of the soldiers, Oscar really wants to scold his mother at this moment. This piracy in the waters of Sicily is too rampant, isn't it?! And the strength is too strong, right?! Three days ago, it was a wave of five and three warships led by a fleet of pirate ships totaling up to ten ships; Today, another wave of pirate fleets of four trilinear battleships and five double-lined battleships.

Are all the pirates from all over Sicily here? With such a strong fleet, even the entire Roman Republic can't find more than ten?! How can a small Sicilian pirate be so powerful? Of course, Oscar wouldn't know; The so-called Sicilian pirates who crisscrossed the Mediterranean, and now the only ten pirate fleets have been encountered by him, four of them!

That's right, it's the combined fleet of the female pirate Anne Bowley and the Oriental pirate Zheng Shi's that is heading towards Oscar's fleet. However, they weren't here to attack Oscar's fleet; The fate of Blackbeard and Calico Jack three days ago has been known to all the pirates in the nearby seas. Moreover, the devil's fire in the warring seas is still burning; The burned corpses floated nearby, so that all the ships passing by did not dare to stay for even a second, for fear that their own ships would also be consumed by the devil's fire!

The so-called devil's fire is naturally the Roman fire that Oscar brewed. The horror of Roman fire and its burning properties at sea are beyond the world's knowledge; At least in this world, apart from the mythical divine fire of the divine realm and the devil's fire of hell, there is no flame that can achieve such an effect. Coupled with the corpses in the fire, whether they were sinful pirates or not, the withering of life is always terrifying; So, the name of the devil's fire was born.

In the name of the devil's fire, this time the female pirate Anne Bowley and the Oriental pirate Zheng Shi joined forces to find trouble for Oscar. But Oscar doesn't think so! The Roman fire has run out, and the remaining ejectors are mere decorations; If the pirate fleet really wants to attack again, it will inevitably be a real battle.

At that time, even if it can successfully repel the attack of the pirates, killing 1,000 enemies and losing 800 themselves, the Guards Regiment, which is not good at naval warfare, is likely to pay a heavy price. Without the thousand-strong elite of the Guards, what would Oscar do to complete his plan to conquer Lower Sicilya? This seemingly unsolvable deadlock gave Oscar a headache.

2000 meters, 1000 meters, 500 meters, 300 meters; Soon, while Oscar was pondering a solution, the pirate fleet had arrived 300 meters away from Oscar's fleet. Just when the helpless Oscar was about to give the order to prepare for battle, these nine pirate warships actually lowered their pirate flags in unison; And then at the same time, white flags of surrender were raised!

This made Oscar, who had long been nervous and ready to fight to the death, almost bite his tongue off, the script is wrong! Isn't the arrival of a pirate fleet supposed to be a life-and-death struggle with one's own fleet? How can you take the initiative to catch up and surrender, this is not scientific?! Ignoring Oscar's surprise, the crew, sailors, and officers of the transport began to cheer; Pirates took the initiative to surrender, is there anything more glorious than this?

Especially for these crew members and sailors who have been working on transport ships for many years, they used to pray before going to sea that they would not encounter pirates at sea, and if they had no choice but to avoid pirates. If you are caught by pirates, you can save your life after handing over your goods and money when you encounter a relatively well-intentioned pirate (such as the pirate prince Bellamy and the black baronet Roberts); If you run into a brutal pirate like Blackbeard, you'll be dead.

Therefore, it is not the crew and sailors who live in the pirate-infested seas to understand their deep fear and fear of pirates. And now, the mighty pirates Blackbeard and Calico Jack, who once terrified the Mediterranean merchant ships, have been defeated by the Augustus; The female pirate Anne Bowley and the Oriental pirate Zheng Shishi also volunteered to surrender.

All this made the crew sailors who had been living under the pressure of pirates feel so incredible that some crew members even began to pinch their own arms to see if they were dreaming! The fear of the fire of Rome that had previously hung over everyone's hearts also disappeared at this moment, and all of them turned into a crazy worship of the Augustus family and the leader of the Oscars!

When Licinius stood behind Oscar, raised his right hand and shouted, "Long live Augustus!" The entire convoy became a sea of cheers. Everyone, whether it be an ordinary sailor, or a soldier of the Guards, or a captain or captain of a ship; Led by Licinius, they all raised their right hands and shouted the same words: "Long live Augustus!" ”

Amid everyone's cheers, Anne Bowley took Mary Reed and Zheng Shishi to Oscar's ship in a lifeboat flying a white flag. Seeing this scene, the shouts of the crowd were no longer long live Augustus; for they know who brought them all this glory. So, the only main theme of this moment is: Long live the Oscar leader!