Three days later, in the southern waters, near Skull Rock, the stronghold the Blood Anchor Pirates had operated for years. Skull Rock took its name from its resemblance to the skull of a giant beast; reefs crowded its waters, and its channels were complex.
Osen, "Riftwhale," captain of the Blood Anchor Pirates, was a scar-covered giant nearly three meters tall. On the deck of his flagship, the Blood Shark, he and several trusted officers were drinking stolen wine and eating roast meat, loudly boasting about their latest "haul" and imagining how they would expand their power with the stolen wealth. Suddenly, a shrill alarm, distorted with panic, rang out from the lookout tower atop the mast: "Ships! So many ships! It's... it's Hua Country's fleet! They're coming straight at us!"
Osen shoved the woman in his arms aside, rushed to the bow, and snatched up a telescope. On the horizon, a fleet was cutting through the waves at speeds far beyond ordinary warships! Its vessels had sleek lines, their hulls reflecting a cold, hard metallic sheen, nothing like common wooden seagoing ships. The flagship at the head was long and slender. Above its enormous sails, a command flag bearing the character "Gan" and Hua Country's Dark Bird national flag snapped wildly in the wind, carrying a savage killing aura like mountains of corpses and seas of blood! It was Gan Ning's Jinfan, leading the enhanced and refitted main force of the East Blue Fleet!
"What are you panicking for?!" Forcing himself to remain calm, Osen smashed his wine bottle and roared, "They're just a few odd-looking ships! How many days has Hua Country's navy even existed? What could they possibly do? Lads, stop being cowards! Prepare to board! Let those landlubbers see the strength our Blood Anchor forged fighting through