Chapter 1648 (Raw 1630):
After the Iron Hand Yama left, Xiao Suo started panting endlessly. His back was already soaked.
That person's aura was too scary.
"Captain, are we really going to become cannon fodder?" Xiao Suo still felt somewhat upset, enraged.
As Xiao Chen looked at the ship formation on the map, he entered deep thought. Strictly speaking, based on the formation, the group at the very front would suffer the most attacks; they were definitely cannon fodder.
However, that might not be a bad thing.
Xiao Chen patted Xiao Suo's shoulder and smiled. "Don't overthink. Exposing our strength would result in us dying an even more miserable death. With the true combat prowess of the Black Cutlass, it will be easier for us to survive as cannon fodder."
"However, I'm really not satisfied with this…" Xiao Suo muttered while lowering his head.
"Actually, while the Iron Hand Yama's words are hard on the ears, they may be true. He himself climbed to where he was through bloody killing, moving up step by step."
Xiao Chen added softly, "Someday, I will hand this pirate ship to you. Take what you are going through now as training. All of the high-ranked pirate ships started as cannon fodder, then broke out of their shell."
"Captain, I…"
"Stop speaking and properly calm yourself."
Danger and opportunities went hand in hand. Xiao Chen firmly believed in this.
Somewhat rashly accepting this Savage Blood Pirate Group's mission might look like jumping into a fire pit, but he might be able to obtain something from it.
From the lookout tower, Xiao Chen gazed at the huge pirate ship in the distance. He discovered that it had a lot of damage.
Many crewmembers were urgently repairing it.
What kind of enemy was it? To think that the strong Savage Blood Pirate Group could not deal with it. Furthermore, they had to gather so many pirate ships to help them. This was really curious.
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Early the next morning, Xiao Suo helmed the pirate ship to the very front of the formation.
The three front rows were mostly mediocre pirate ships, all of them ordinary. They were all here to try their luck or perhaps were hot-headed like Xiao Chen's group, making similar decisions.
The many 4-Star pirate ships remained at the back with the Savage Blood Pirate Group's flagship in the center; they were the main force.
"Whoosh!"
A man appeared from the air and landed on the deck of the Black Cutlass. Then, he presented a storage ring.
"Here are three hundred thousand Inferior Grade Spirit Jades. After the mission is over, there will be another three hundred thousand Inferior Grade Spirit Jades. If your performance is outstanding, there will be extra rewards. The Savage Blood Pirate Group can fulfill one of your requests.
"However, if you do not follow orders, there will be only one result. I believe I don't have to say it."
After speaking, that man left quickly.
"Indeed, high risk equals high gain. No wonder so many pirate ships came here to risk it," Xiao Chen said softly.
Elder Tang's lips twitched as he said, "I wonder how many merchant ships the Savage Blood Pirate Group has robbed, even daring to rob the merchant ships of the blessed lands. These Inferior Grade Spirit Jades are probably worth nothing to it."
"Set off!"
Just at this moment, a resonant roar rang out. Standing on a huge sea bird in front, the Iron Hand Yama directed the many pirate ships to advance.
At the same time, the Iron Hand Yama's gaze swept across the pirate ships at the lead.
This gave the feeling that the Iron Hand Yama's gaze was fixed on one, deterring rash actions and thoughts of escape.
One hour later, an island appeared before everyone.
Strictly speaking, it should be a large continent, not much smaller than a great realm.
"That is the territory of the Skeleton Dragon Hall, a Rank 3 sect." Elder Tang showed a shocked expression. Now, he knew what the Savage Blood Pirate Group intended.
The Savage Blood Pirate Group had gathered many pirate ships to directly level this evil faction Rank 3 sect.
Pillaging a sect…it turned out that this was the Savage Blood Pirate Group's true mission.
If this had been known beforehand, no one would have been willing to come. However, now that they were like arrows nocked on a bow, there was no backing out.
"Elder Tang, how strong is this sect?" Xiao Chen asked.
"It is not really strong, somewhat weaker than my Beast Governing Sect. There is no comparison at all between it and the Rank 3 sects in the blessed lands. However, it is still a Rank 3 sect, possessing deep accumulations. Why is this Savage Blood Pirate Group taking such a huge risk?"
Elder Tang showed his confusion as he said, "There must be more to this."
"Never mind that for now. We are about to reach the shore."
Very soon, the many pirate ships soared into the air and flew to the land in front. Once they reach the land, gravity weakened, the environment less complicated than in the starry sea. The pirate ships could fly now.
Under the command of the Iron Hand Yama, the pirate ships quickly coursed through the clouds, heading straight for the Skeleton Dragon Hall.
The Skeleton Dragon Hall's people seemed forewarned. Aside from some random resistance along the way, there were no obstructions at all.
After a while, everyone saw a huge dragon skeleton lying in a group of mountains. The Skeleton Dragon Hall was within this rack of bones.
There were as many experts as there were clouds within the dragon skeleton, giving off intense killing intent. Indeed, the Skeleton Dragon Hall already gathered all its experts.
"Charge!"
The Iron Hand Yama commanded, and three rows of pirate ships steeled themselves and charged at that horrifying dragon skeleton.
"You are seeking death!"
The cold jeers of the Skeleton Dragon Hall's cultivators came from the mountains. Countless large formations activated, radiating lights of various colors. The killing moves of the Skeleton Dragon Hall's experts accompanied the lights, surging over.
The overwhelming attacks roared out. The sky instantly changed color, turning dark and gloomy with black clouds churning.
"Rumble…!"
The overwhelming attacks fell like heavy rain, covering the sun as they came, drowning the front row of pirate ships.
Explosions rang out continuously. With this round of attacks, more than half of the front row of pirate ships broke apart and shattered, turning into dust lingering in the air.
Without the protection of their ships, the pirates in those ships were exposed to the attacks of the formations, dying extremely miserable deaths.
The so-called cannon fodder was completely true.
"Second row, prepare…charge!"
The Savage Blood Pirate Group needed to use these ordinary pirate ships to drain the formations of the Skeleton Dragon Hall, using their corpses to carve a path for the fleet. Then, the Savage Blood Pirate Group's elites would charge in and finish the battle.
With the Iron Hand Yama staring at them and the elite 4-Star pirate ships behind, the three front rows of cannon fodder had no path of retreat at all.
These ordinary pirate ships could only advance. If they hesitated, they would die even faster. After all, there was a fifty percent chance of survival. If they put in their all, they might not die.
As long as they did not die, the rewards that they obtained would be even more startling.
The three rounds of attacks drained too much energy from the Skeleton Dragon Hall's formations. After the 4-Star pirate ships behind launched a volley from their Neptune's Rages, the formations broke.
The Black Cutlass had the defenses of a peak 4-Star pirate ship. As Xiao Chen expected, they easily blocked the attacks of the Skeleton Dragon Hall.
The relatively undamaged pirate ship caught the commanding Iron Hand Yama's attention as he found it somewhat strange.
However, this feeling lasted for only a short while since countless cultivators sortied from that dragon skeleton lying in the mountains, charging towards the pirates.
The Iron Hand Yama himself entered into a bitter battle.
A huge battle commenced. At this moment, the 4-Star pirate ships behind joined the assault as well.
The battlefield immediately enlarged by a hundred times, stretching for tens of thousands of kilometers.
The scene turned incredibly chaotic. The Black Cutlass could no longer protect itself deep in the battlefield.
"Captain, our defenses are broken," Fei`er said anxiously.
After enduring a few rounds of attacks, the defenses finally broke. There would be no way to recover them within a short time.
In fact, the defensive formations of most of the pirate ships had broken already.
"I know. Don't expose the ballista towers and the Neptune's Rages yet. I'll deal with this."
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Three Minor Primal Core Venerates from the Skeleton Dragon Hall took the opportunity to land on the Black Cutlass's deck. Then, they charged towards the ship's hold with cold smiles.
Xiao Chen snorted coldly and personally charged over while holding the Lunar Shadow Saber.
"Turns out that it is only a half-step Primal Core pirate. Quickly finish him off."
The Skeleton Dragon Hall's three Minor Primal Core cultivators did not think highly of Xiao Chen, preparing to end this battle quickly.
Coincidentally, Xiao Chen was planning the same thing.