Gunners, Take Your Positions

"Raft! Raft! Elves are coming to the island!"

Such a sound drifted in from outside the window.

Kang De's expression hardened. "They've arrived very quickly."

He seemed to have underestimated the elves' decisiveness.

Burned the boat? Then build a raft and row over!

This news not only reached Kang De's ears, but also quickly reached Goth's officers, and soon Captain Oswald's voice could be heard on the deck.

"Mr. Kang De! Mr. Kang De!"

The captain called out, sounding somewhat anxious.

"I'm here! Wait a minute!"

Kang De responded loudly, pondered for a moment, and said, "Let's go to the deck!"

Led by the Parrot, Kang De and the animals broke through to the deck via another route. The captain had already climbed onto the mainmast lookout tower and was gazing into the distance.

Kang De looked around but didn't find the knight. "Where's Cleveland?"

"The knight is leading the charge to wipe out the stubborn elves!" the captain replied. "I'm glad you're safe. Now I will command the sailors to hold off these elves who have swum across from the island. Please leave!"

Kang De looked up and replied, "No need, my companions and I can also help in the battle!"

"Excuse my bluntness, sir, setting aside Her Highness the Princess's orders to protect you, while you are brave and strong, you seem to lack experience in boarding action. In such a confined battlefield, experience and teamwork are more important than mere brute force!" the captain shouted. "Therefore, please return to your cabin!"

This was a mature and reasonable statement, but unfortunately, Kang De was not one to blindly follow authority. His family had taught him that if he was not convinced, he did not have to back down.

He said, "Captain, you don't have enough men. If things escalate to boarding action, the situation will be very bad. I have a better suggestion. Would you like to hear it?"

The captain frowned.

With a formidable enemy at hand and the battle situation urgent, if any of his subordinates questioned his orders or argued with him, they would most likely be thrown into the sea.

But this Cathayan was not his subordinate; in fact, the princess had ordered him to protect him closely.

Most importantly, he's a very good fighter.

Moreover, his animal companions are also very capable fighters.

He even suspected that Kang De was a Druid, because only a Druid could train so many damned animals... In this case, he could not contend with a powerful force.

With this in mind, he suppressed his displeasure and said, "The situation is urgent. If you have any good ideas, I'm willing to listen to them, but please hurry."

Kang De replied, "The answer is simple: we are outnumbered and must not allow the elves to board the ship. Therefore, we will eliminate them on their way to charge... using the ballistae on the ship!"

The Wings of Wayne has five giant ballistae on each side and ten on the second deck.

When Kang De boarded the ship, he was taken aback by these behemoths, because these ballistae were indeed very powerful, even more complex than the Rome torsion ballistae. The elves' talent for shooting was truly brought to its extreme. These ten ballistae had rotating gun mounts, gear transmission structures, and various accessories that he did not recognize but whose uses he could guess... Judging from the construction and craftsmanship alone, they were masterpieces of pure mechanical structures.

To put it simply, if such a thing appeared on Earth, it would definitely be wildly sought after and collected by enthusiasts. In this world, however, it would be a terrifying weapon of war for the elves.

The approach then becomes quite simple.

During the Russo-American War, Metal 0-1 Team and Navy SEALs infiltrated the Hudson River and raided the USS Oscar II ballistic missile submarine. After seizing control of the submarine, they unleashed its full load of long-range cruise missiles on the surrounding Russian fleet, forcing the Russian fleet to withdraw from the United States East China Sea. This operation of using the enemy's weapons to strike the enemy is a classic tactic.

Activision can do it, so can I, Kang De.

Upon hearing Kang De's plan, the captain's eyes flashed with disappointment and anger.

He had assumed this Cathayan was speaking with great conviction and must have some profound insights, but he never expected him to have such an idea.

However, considering the enemy's skill and combat capabilities, he patiently explained quickly, "It's a good idea, but impractical. First, we don't have enough manpower to raise the sails and change course. Under these circumstances, no more than three ballistae can successfully fire at the target."

"Secondly, ammunition is insufficient. Each ballista only has three bolts; the rest are stored in the armory, one of the strongholds where the remaining elves are putting up a last-ditch resistance."

"Again, it's late at night, and our target is just the spirits on their rafts. They're scattered, and our gunners can't pinpoint their exact location, making firing very difficult."

"Furthermore, without a caster to imbue the special crossbow bolts with energy, our crossbow bolts are just ordinary crossbow bolts, unable to exert area-of-effect damage, further increasing the difficulty of shooting them, do you understand?"

He sighed. "Thank you for your help, but now I must take command of the defenses. If you really want to do something, you can assist the Knight Cleveland..."

Kang De said, "Parrot, Honey Badger, Howling Rat, go help the Knight... Don't let those elf dogs get desperate and try to sink the ship or anything, otherwise we won't get anything. Be careful."

This argument is more likely to persuade them.

The Parrot cried out, "Face the gale!"

Several small animals immediately ran towards the cabin.

Upon seeing this, the captain's eyes flashed with anger. "Mr. Kang De..."

Ignoring his anger and imposing manner, Kang De calmly walked to one of the ballistae. "Captain, are you going to waste your time arguing with me, or are you going to do something more meaningful? Send me a few sailors who know how to operate ballistae, and I will prove it to you."

The captain's sharp gaze was almost like a sword, fixed on Kang De.

Kang De simply looked back at him calmly.

A moment later, the captain called out, "Oliver! Take your assistant and report to Mr. Kang De!"

Soon, several Goth People ran to Kang De, pounded their chests in salute, and cried out, "Mr. Kang De!"

Kang De looked at him and realized, oh dear, it was someone he knew. He had beaten him before and had seen the resources provided by the kind-hearted Kang De.

"Mr. Oliver, is that right? You've run into me today... If all goes well, you'll receive recognition from your country, and my personal thanks."

Mr. Seed Dikang flashed a smile that promised lifelong peace, "You know what I mean."

Mr. Oliver immediately flashed a knowing smile, "Go ahead and give the orders!"

Kang De waved his hand, indicating that he should follow me.

Oliver had three assistants, and the four of them operated the ballista. They approached the ballista with Kang De turned to him and asked, "Zhuzi... I mean Oliver, are you the ballista shooter?"

Oliver smiled proudly, "Sir, the Penguin's best gunner, bar none."

Kang De pointed to the massive, heavy ballista on the pedestal. "Elf stuff, can you even use it?"

Oliver quickly replied, "Sure! Both the elven and human ballistae are designed using the technology of dwarven engineers. The differences in their performance stem almost entirely from variations in materials and minor details. While we may not be able to utilize the ballista's full potential, we can still operate it."

Kang De then asked, "The captain said that the biggest problem with firing the ballistae is the visibility in the dark and the power supply to the ballistae?"

Oliver shouted, "Yes!"

There was absolutely no impatience.

After all, he was just a ballista officer on the ship, of low rank, and lacked the captain's arrogance and prestige. Moreover, his feelings for Kang De were a mixture of awe and admiration, which were far deeper than those for the captain.

After all, Kang De was not only a good fighter, but also had guts.

The former can earn his respect, the latter can turn him into a sycophant.

Kang De nodded in satisfaction.

Oliver's attitude pleased him greatly.

"Then I'll address the first question."

He took a pair of sunglasses out of his backpack and handed them to Oliver: "Try them on and see how they work."

"This is somewhat similar to the windproof goggles worn by griffin riders..."

Oliver put on the sunglasses, and the burly Goth man instantly transformed into a sunglasses-wearing hunk. He exclaimed, "By the sea god! Is this a magical accessory?"

In his vision, everything around him shimmered with a faint, cold light, every detail clearly visible.

It was as if he had the vision of a cat.

The enchantment that allows one to see in the dark was so engraved by Kang De on his sunglasses.

It works very well.

Kang De asked, "With this, can you determine the direction of the sprite and thus the angle of attack?"

Oliver replied decisively, "Of course! With this, even if I can only use ordinary crossbow bolts, I'm confident I can maintain a hit rate of around forty percent and smash the elf's raft to pieces!"

"No need, because we have better crossbows."

Kang De reached into his bag and grasped a Magic Power crystal he had found in Master Laclais's room. He focused his mind, Extraction and decomposed it, and a vast amount of Element power surged into his body.

He said, "Now start loading the arrows, adjusting the direction, positioning, and getting ready to launch. Quickly."

Oliver carried out Kang De's order without hesitation.

In the hearts of these Goth sailors, Kang De held great prestige, not only because of his fighting prowess, but also because he was an admirable resource tycoon—male respect can sometimes be that simple.

Kang De was struck by the stunning beauty of mechanical designs from another world.

This ballista is a product of pure mechanical work, entirely driven by human power, making the most of its mechanical structure and achieving the best in this aspect... Such a thing could certainly be designed on Earth, but there is no need for it, so this was the first time Kang De had ever seen such a thing.

That's amazing!

That's pure romance for men.

He watched as several Goth People continuously turned unknown handles and levers, adjusting the direction of the ballista, which also had a firing mount, much like an anti-aircraft gun from World War II. Oliver sat on it, adjusting some small parts, constantly issuing commands, and keeping an eye on the distance.

Gunners in position.

Two assistants placed the thick crossbow bolts into the firing slots and turned the upper string back and forth. The back-and-forth action of the transmission mechanism stretched the thick composite crossbow string backward until it was locked.

Oliver finished setting the target and looked at Kang De.

Kang De placed his hand on the arrowhead.

A massive surge of Element erupted, propelling the enchanting process.

He then stepped aside and nodded to the other person.

Oliver looked up, made the final adjustments, and then slammed on the trigger.

With a dull thud, the ballista vibrated, and bolts whistled out, hurtling into the distance.

A faint, lingering glimmer of light seemed to remain in the air.

"Conserve your energy, and advance quickly!" Mailun whispered the order. Some of the rangers around him crouched on the raft, while others simply jumped into the sea. The precious space on the raft was used to store bows and arrows—although the elven craftsmanship had a certain degree of waterproofing, keeping them dry would undoubtedly maintain their maximum shooting performance.

Eager to avenge their defeat and fearing that the Wings of Wayne would fall into enemy hands and bring shame upon the entire Royal Navy, their belief in the invincibility of the Elves kept their morale high. They were eager to return to the Wings of Wayne and wipe out the audacious invaders, leaving not a single one alive.

As commander, Mailun was constantly encouraging his soldiers. "Don't be afraid, our comrades will fight to the death. Don't worry about the enemy using our crossbows; how can they see in the dark? Spellcasters can't manipulate Magic Power, so they can't fire the special crossbow bolts. Even if they could fire them, they wouldn't pose any threat to us. Speed up, board the ships! Board the ships! Board the ships! Kill them all!"

Just then, a familiar buzzing sound came from afar.

Mailun instinctively shouted, "Crossbow bolts coming!"

With a bang, the huge crossbow bolt shot into the sea, splashing up a massive wave. Before the elves could even laugh at the accuracy, a surge of blue lightning erupted in the next instant!

Seawater conducts electricity, and the electrical energy surges forth. Terrifying electric light suddenly spreads, turning the surrounding seawater into a lightning pool!

The sea sprites were instantly struck by lightning. Before they could even scream, they were paralyzed by the electric shock and sank straight into the sea. Although wood cannot conduct electricity, seawater still splashed up everywhere! The spray carried sharp electric flashes, and many sprites on the rafts were electrocuted and fell into the water!

Lieutenant Mailun stared wide-eyed, his mind blank. Although he hadn't been electrocuted, the scene before him still shocked and bewildered him—this was the Holy Seal Archipelago, so how could the special crossbows activate?

But the next moment, he woke up with a start.

Now is not the time to dwell on this issue.

Instead...

Regret and fear overwhelmed him, and he cried out, "Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!"

Ordering his men to charge at all costs wasn't necessarily a bad idea, since ballistae had a minimum firing angle, but he had already seen the Wings of Wayne raising its sails.

This means that the Goth People had mastered the maneuverability of ships.

Therefore, retreat is the only option.

Lieutenant Mailun roared, "Retreat! Retreat!"

His face was covered in water droplets, whether from seawater or tears, he couldn't tell. He had undoubtedly made the wrong decision, and many elves had died because of it. Resentment and pain gnawed at his heart.

Faced with this attack, the elves were thrown into chaos. Some wanted to help their companions, while others were at a loss. Upon hearing Mailun's command, they all froze for a few seconds, after all, they were not particularly elite.

Just then, a second crossbow bolt came hurtling in.

Mailun's eyes widened in fury as he roared, "Retreat! Run! Run!"

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PS1: Ah, my cold is getting better. I'll speed things up tomorrow. Goodnight everyone.