Matan’s Shooter - Chapter 261
“—!!—–! ——!”
“—1 ..!”
Haaaa…….
The sea has no pattern. As soon as he got used to it there was a different wind, a different current, and the movement of the ship changed, turning over and swaying Leeha’s body.
Pheeeew…….
Still, he didn’t move.
In fact, although his body might shake, he constantly reminded himself that his body is ‘perfectly fixed’ with his mind and brain, even if his body might shake.
—–If
“!，—!!”
The surrounding noise was white noise.
Did Burke’s shout come from the watchtower, or did the navigator give orders? Nothing was audible to Leeha’s ears.
The only thing he was concentrated on was inside the scope.
A triangular hat with feathers stuck out in the distance, net to the mast on the upper deck.
After the command to be careful was delivered, the admirals of Kraven hid and issued orders on their own.
‘The distance is about 1,900m. There’s a 70% chance of hitting. If I shot as I practiced, captain Jung would have said something.’(TL: I don’t know who Jung is, he might be someone from Leeha’s military days.)
Never shoot. It is best to remove the probability of exposing a sniper’s location.
But there are times in life when it is unavoidable. Leeha took the wind and waves with his whole body and pulled the trigger slowly.
Baaaaaaaaang-
One…… two-
Click!
He could see pieces of wood bouncing over the scope. He succeeded in piercing the poles where the sail hung. Who was hiding behind it?
Leeha couldn’t take his eyes off the scope even after he finished firing.
Until he saw someone rushing toward the person he shot, confused, puffing his mouth, and waving his arms.
A better confirmation was, of course, possible through the quest window.
“Shooting complete! The Kraven 4th Fleet’s admiral is confirmed dead!”
Leeha smiled brightly, took his eyes off the scope, and shouted. However, this time the mood was different. The users and NPCs of Sailfish did not cheer as before.
“Ara? What’s wrong?”
“Kuhahahaha, good, do you have to concentrate like that to be successful?”
“Take a look around reinforcement-kun.”
Burke laughed, and the navigator gave him a pint glass. Leeha, who could only see one point, was then able to see the whole side. What was the current state of the sea above Dike Beach? “What……? So sudden-”
It was the same shout that Leeha should have heard while he was concentrating on sniping. The suspicious movement of the Kraven fleet, the fast-approaching maneuver of the Serpent Fleet, and the sea area where they couldn’t escape the encirclement if they don’t get out immediately!
“He didn’t turn the helm until the end, saying that he should not interfere with reinforcement-nim’s concentration.”
“Didn’t he catch one more? Kuhahaha, this is what war is like. There’s no victory without sacrifice.”
Burke spoke as if he knew that it would be the end of him and the Sailfish. At this point, not only Burke but also users on the Sailfish knew how they would end.
“Are you scrolling now?”
“I can’t……. It’s already blocked.”
“Ah, damn. If we survived, our contribution would have been huge…”
Death.
The entire Kraven fleet was forming an encirclement to prevent even seawater from getting out.
Fibiel forces always called them pirates, but they were definitely first-class navies. The 2nd and 3rd fleets, which had lost their commanders, and had no system in place, were left floating and naturally cut off the rear of the Sailfish, and the four leading fleets turned around and blocked the side of the Sailfish.
The only open space was the front.
‘And the one coming from the front is the Sea Serpent.’
Leeha changed the magazine of the Black Bass and looked around.
Fortunately, they have now formed an encirclement, so they would not get bombarded. However, if they start narrowing down like this, they will soon reach a crossroads. What could they do in the current situation?
Leeha’s brain started spinning rapidly. Standing there, all he could see is the flow of the sea.
“What are we going to do, Captain?”
“What should we do? What can we do?”
To die floating on the sea like a lost child? Among the gloomy nuances of the navigator and Burke, Leeha’s voice burst out.
“Full speed ahead!!!”
“W-what?”
“Full speed ahead, commander-nim!”
“Do you know what will happen if we move forward?”
Burke said sarcastically, but Leeha’s eyes did not lose their light.
“Serpent Fleet! That’s our only hope! The same goes for the other users! Do not give up!”
“What if we don’t give up?”
“Yeah……. We’ll die anyway and get a negative contribution, so we have to run rampant. Shall we shoot a cannon?”
Leeha was rather angry at their self-deprecating tone.
Why did they try to give up when it only got a little difficult?
There is a difference between a person who can turn a crisis into opportunity and a criminal who was bound to come out in such a place.
“That’s not it! Don’t get too hung up on the detailed instructions, look at the bigger picture! The most important thing in this war!”
“The most important thing?”
“The condition of defeat! We will win once Drake dies! Move forward, come one!”
Leeha pulled the bolt of the Black Bass and encouraged the users and NPCs. At that moment, the sound of the Black Bass reloading echoed in the calm sea.
Click-!
“I’m going to finish Drake. Listen to me.”
As soon as Leeha’s words finished, the Sailfish began to speed up.
Kraven narrowed their encirclement, and Fibiel’s ships chased after Kraven. And the Sailfish and the Serpent Fleet sped up while facing each other!
As if they were trying to devour each other, they were able to meet after less than 20 minutes.
Kraven’s encirclement was complete.
The Sailfish and the Sea Serpent were in front of each other.
The Sailfish plunged toward the sea, pouring out the remaining ammunition and supplies. The waterline, which was originally shallow due to a lack of supplies, gradually became shallower, and the already agile Sailfish took on a more elongated and slender appearance.
[Stop, Burke. We won. It’s over.]
A magically amplified voice came from the Sea Serpent toward the Sailfish, which was moving fast.
The Sailfish crew were momentarily stunned by Drake’s words, but they did not stop making the ship lighter. Items that were thrown into the sea even before they encountered the Sea Serpent were moving around the Sailfish, riding on the currents.
[What are you doing? Is that how you killed our admirals? Stop it right now.]
“Kuhahaha, this guy, Draaaaake! You were the ones who broke into our waters, so why are you treating us like some illegal fishing boats!”
When Drake’s voice was heard again, Burke let out a high-pitched voice. However, the distance between the Sea Serpent and the Sailfish was more than a nautical mile away. Approximately 1.3~1.4 nautical miles. He couldn’t hear it.
“Captain, I haven’t used amplification yet.”
“T-this guy, you should have used it sooner, that was embarrassing! Cough, use it now!”
“[Voice Amplification].”
After receiving the navigator’s assist magic, Burke belched once more.
The only thing that swayed the sea was the waves, and the ships were extremely quiet.
[Not even worth answering. Get off the boat, Burke. I order you to board the Sea Serpent.]
However, those who were already in the Sailfish knew.
What would happen to ships that were 1.5 to 3 nautical miles away from them?
Once Drake utters the word ‘fire’, the Culverin and the cannons will shoot The artillery shells that would fill the air would number at least 10,000. At that point, they did not have to worry about something like accuracy.
[Commander-niiiiiim-!!!!!]
And the army’s voice was heard from beyond Kraven’s encirclement. Burke shrugged and played with his shaggy beard. It looked like he had his own way of showing sadness.
“As expected. You are finally here.”
“Damn bastards. If you want to come, come quickly, or listen to me and run away.”
Drake’s voice drifted through the air as the navigator and Burke murmured.
[If I hear the sound of cannon being fired from Fibiel’s ship, I will make sure that not even a powder would be left from the Sailfish. Don’t come any closer.]
Fibiel reacted as if they hit a break. Still, the distance between Fibiel’s fleet and Kraven’s fleet was about 3 nautical miles. A culverin can reach, but a cannon cannot.
Drake was fully aware of that as well. Of course, Fibiel’s naval force was in a painful predicament.
“Eeeek-!”
“What should I do, admiral?”
There was at least one more nautical mile to go. However, he didn’t know how to respond to Drake, being told not to approach and not firing his artillery from afar.
Because he didn’t know what could happen, should he stop?
Fibiel’s admiral was indeed Burke’s man.
“What should we do? Contact the gun room of the entire fleet! If they harm the commander, we will fire them immediately. As long as Fibiel navy is locked down! Pretend to be pushed by the wave, and advance at the speed of 1 knot per hour!”
“Understood!”
Cat-like movements followed on the swaying Fibiel Navy ship. They had to move around carefully and keep in touch, and in the gun room, they had to prepare for any unforeseen circumstances.
[Burke, we will go back with your neck. I know you don’t want to bury your subordinates. Get off your ship now and board the Sea Snake.]
[Kuhahaha! I don’t want to, but will my kids stay still? The moment I get even a single scratch on me, I think even you ignorant bastards will know what would happen.
“Did you find it?”
“I didn’t. Drake is missing.”
“You bastard! Did the commander hide?”
They only need to see Drake’s face.
The users and NPCs of Sailfish tried to find Drake by using all their skills, but the enemy commander did not show himself easily.
“What should we do?”
“Keep looking! We might now be able to see him because he is far away. Don’t be obsessed with the hat, he might have taken it off and hid among the soldiers. We have to find Drake somehow!”
Even if they did, there was a problem with the distance.
He might now have figured out the exact method, but Drake must have already noticed that there was something there. The fact that he was hiding was proof of that, of course, there was no way to further narrow the distance.
The distance between the Sailfish and the Sea Serpent was still about 2 nautical miles.
About 3.7 km.
This naval battle was the longest-range sniping attempt using Black Bass.
It was a 1.8km long-range sniper, and there was an element of anxiety about being on a rocking ship, but anyway, Leeha had the experience of matching that distance in real life.
But this time?
An invisible enemy, and an ultra-long distance of 3.7km! It was a level that regardless if one was a genius sniper or not, one would not be able to do anything.
The users and NPCs tried to look at the Sea Serpent by giving their eyes strength to lose their eyeballs and adding buffs to all of the scrolls but they cannot find the target they wanted.
[I will give you 30 seconds.]
[Is that the time for us to run away?! Kuhahaha! Good. If it’s for 30 seconds, I’m not going to attack you especially ignorant people.]
[Nonsense. Get off the ship in 30 seconds.]
[If I don’t?]
Burke tried hard to kill time, but the joke didn’t work on Drake. Suddenly, the sky over the sea area began to darken with a rumbling sound. Also, it was only on the upper part of Sailfish as if it was painted.
[Let me show you why I am called the Second Storm.]
“C-c-commander!”
“What do we do? What do we do? Shield?”
“The shield is useless! That bastard’s skill is sinking target ships! It is one of the reasons why he can’t be defeated in a naval battle! He can sink the commander’s ship from the start! The short range for a naval battle is its disadvantage but at this distance-”
It was enough.
Drake has a skill that was enough to cause fear to the users.
[15 seconds left.]
[If I cross, do you guarantee the safety of our ships?]
[Of course. They’re idiots who don’t even know how to start a fire, but I’m not happy with this number either.]
There’s no way he didn’t know it was Drake.
Despite the slow speed of less than 1 knot, Fibiel’s fleet approached slowly and exceeded Kraven’s navy in numbers.
If there really was a dogfight, they wouldn’t win without taking any damage. Drake was a real commander who wanted to reduce even the slight damage.
(To be continued…)
