Close Combat Mage - Chapter 406

Chapter 406 – Fighting One’s Own Battles Pt. 1

A week later, a spectacular sight appeared on Camus Island, the kind the only occurred once a century. One hundred incomparably enormous and imposing ships, standing like individual castles, were lined up on the waters outside the harbor.

For the sake of these hundred enormous Camus ships, Suo Jia had spent nearly all of his money. With his remaining money, all he could buy was a hundred ships’ worth of rations. That also meant that he could not afford to buy the most profitable goods. Moreover, Suo Jia had only been able to get to this point because he had an overdraft on his merchant card.

Camus ships were over twice the size of large-scale ships; one needed to tilt their head back and look up to see the top. Each ship looked more like an island rather than a boat; it was just so excessively big.

A single boat wasn’t really anything surprising. After all, this place manufactured such ships. However, the scene of one hundred lined up together was one that was unfathomable to most.

The sails were like clouds all connected together. As one glanced over, they would see that the entire ocean had seemingly disappeared. In replacement were these white sails that seemed to touch the sky. The huge harbor was completely covered by these hundred fierce ships.

The manufacturing owner looked at the fleet before him, full of emotion as he murmured, “God, never in history has such a massive fleet appeared before. And the second largest one only possessed fifty Camus sailing ships!”

Since Camus flagships had twice as much capacity…the amount of personnel needed per ships also doubled. Between a hundred ships, the total number of people reached 20,000!

Suo Jia stood on the pier, gazing out at the porters constantly weaving between the wharf and the ships. He smiled and said to the manufacturing owner, “This is the first time I have formally created a fleet. However…this is just the beginning. The end is still very far!”

Suo Jia then turned around while saying, “Boss, I want to purchase another hundred Camus-grade ships. How much time would it take for them to be ready?”

“That…” The manufacturing owner hesitantly studied Suo Jia, feeling both pleasantly surprised and bitter as he answered, “Within half a year, we could at most supply another fifty Camus ships. Any more would have to start being made from scratch now!”

“Hm…” After quietly mulling this over a bit, Suo Jia resolutely declared, “Alright, in that case, please just go ahead and prepare those fifty first. However, let me make this clear: if anyone tried to sell Camus ships, you must secure them for me. Even if the price is high, it won’t be a problem!”

“Haha…” The boss smiled and nodded, before happily saying, “In that case, I’ll agree based on our trust. Don’t worry, if anyone sells Camus ships here, I’ll definitely procure them for you!”

Suo Jia nodded in satisfaction. He then summoned Xiang Yun and the others to get onto the flagship. A few hours later, once the last ship was also filled with rations, the fleet finally headed out.

All the villagers raced over to the shore to watch the largest fleet in history depart. Everyone watched as the first ship sailed out leading the way. By the time the last ship left the harbor, most of the day had already passed by. It was clear just from that fact alone just how massive this fleet was!

Now at sea, Suo Jia’s party of four was sitting at a round table, eating the delicious food Roger had made. Xiang Yun swallowed some of the food in his mouth and nodded as he commented, “This massive fleet is indeed much more stable. I can’t even feel it rocking at all; it’s as stable as standing on ground.”

Suo Jia chuckled and calmly stated, “Although this ship is very effective against the waves and wind, our fleet is still a bit too large. That is why I was thinking that we will have to split up!”

“Split up?” The other three people could not keep themselves from exclaiming in shock at Suo Jia’s words.

Suo Jia nodded. As he reached out to stab a piece of meat with his fork and tossed it into his mouth, he continued, “The hundred giant ships arranged in the shape of a ‘人’ means that…if we get attacked from both sides, we won’t be able to assist each other in emergencies!”

After noting that everyone’s faces seemed to show half comprehension and half confusion, Suo Jia patiently continued, “Our next destination is Northern Wilds Island, where agate comes from. Once we get enough agate from there, we’ll transport them to other islands to sell, and gain a huge amount of profit!”

As Suo Jia swallowed the mouthful of meat, he continued, “But to successfully reach Northern Wilds Island and deliver the agate out, we must cross through Devil Delta. That area has many adventurer groups and pirate ships. If we cannot protect our fleet properly, I have a feeling that…our losses will be unimaginably great!”

Xiang Yun indicated his understanding and announced, “In that case, what should we do now?”

Xiang Yun turned to look at Roger, saying, “Roger, you go over to the right side; I’ll go to the left. If we each go in opposite directions, we can protect the fleet. As for Boss and Nicole, they should stay at the tip of the arrow formation and lead the fleet out!”

“But…” Roger replied in concern to Xiang Yun’s suggestion. “But…our fleet is comprised of a hundred enormous-scale ships. The ‘人’ formation splits into two sides, which would mean each one would be very long. If we are just defending those two ends, what happens if the enemy attacks the middle? We won’t be able to go and provide emergency support!”

Xiang Yun bitterly chuckled and helplessly replied, “I know what you’re saying too. But we only have four people. Boss has to stay in front, while the other three people need to defend four positions. It’s impossible to arrange!”

“Sigh…” Roger helplessly lamented, “It would be great if we just had one more companion. That way, the fleet would be split into five sections, with each person defending one. I’m positive that nothing could go wrong in that case.”

Xiang Yun rolled his eyes in exasperation and huffed, “All you’re doing is stating the obvious. Of course everyone wishes to have more companions. But as you should also know, all of us have high standards for comrades. We’ve been out here for so long now, and yet when have we encountered someone that meets all our expectations?”

Roger had absolutely no response to Xiang Yun’s questions. Everyone finally finished their meal in silence. Then…Xiang Yun and Roger each took their leave, leaping through the air to cross over the ocean waters and bounding back to their own two sides of the fleet.

For the days following, Suo Jia continued to seclude himself in his cabin, quickly pushing forward the creation of the Divine Dragon Whip’s scales. As the journey progressed, the wind and waves remained calm. But once their fleet entered the Devil Delta, trouble finally came knocking on their door.

Bang, bang, bang… After a series of heavy knocks, a coarse voice shouted from outside the cabin, “Reporting! Both wings of the fleet have encountered fierce attacks. Also, ten Camus pirate ships have also appeared right in front of us!” Suo Jia gently put down the scales in his hand and slightly stretched out his sore hips before slowly standing up and walking out of the cabin.

As he looked towards each side, he saw that the entire fleet seemed to be immersed into battle. Each ship was surrounded by two or three small pirate ships that relentlessly attacked Suo Jia’s fleet.

If it were before, this kind of attack would undoubtedly cause a large amount of casualties. However, now that they had the peak-grade ships possessing Camus Sky Screens, it was impossible to be overtaken within a short period of time unless an opponent with experts like Xiang Yun or Suo Jia were encountered.

However, despite all this, the Camus Sky Screens still had a point where they would run out of energy, and would then be broken through after longer periods of time. According to Suo Jia’s calculations, the Camus shield could only maintain its protection for around ten minutes. Past that, it would become difficult to avoid casualties and losses. Suo Jia knew that they would have to defeat all of their enemies within ten minutes!

When Suo Jia saw the ten Camus pirate ships that gradually came into view in front of them, his eyes immediately lit up. He turned his head slightly to tell the Diamond Dragon next to him, “Go immediately to the right side, and help Roger defeat those pirates ships!”

The Diamond Dragon nodded in response to Suo Jia’s orders, and its body soared up into the air. Layer after layer of Glacial Armor appeared around its body…

“Roar!” With a powerful cry, the Diamond Dragon entered its combat state and abruptly crashed down onto a small pirate ship. The huge impact instantly snapped the pitiful pirate ship in half, as the Diamond Dragon’s sturdy body rose up into the air once more to fall back onto another pirate ship.

While this was happening, Suo Jia turned to tell Nicole, “You shouldn’t just slack around either. Go left and help Xiang Yun sort out the ships on his right side. Remember…no matter what, the battle has to be finished within ten minutes!”

Nicole urgently pressed, “Young Master, I want to stay behind to protect you. If I leave, what about those ten Camus ships in front of us?”

Suo Jia excitedly looked back towards the ten Camus pirate ships before them and he said darkly, “Those ten ships will definitely become mine. Hurry up and go, I’m going to open fire!” Suo Jia tapped his left food lightly, and his entire body floated up into the air horizontally, flying towards the ten pirate ships.

For some reason, the enemy did not open fire despite spotting Suo Jia soaring through the air. The pirate leader smirked in welcome as Suo Jia landed on their deck. And when Suo Jia finally got a close look, he realized in shock that standing next to the single-eyed, burly leader, was the person they had released last time: Whale!