"Is that why you asked me to recruit ten French-speaking men on the island?"
"Yes. We need to keep thirty of them on the deck and disguise them as sailors on the merchant ship. Hmm, try to choose those who don't look so fierce and skinny. The rest of us will stay in the secret compartment below the deck. Oh, and the cannons. There are too many cannons on the ship. Let's throw away half of them."
"Are you serious? Leaving only a dozen cannons to deal with the most powerful British warship in the Caribbean Sea? "
"Trust me. There's no difference between sixteen cannons and thirty-two cannons against the Scarborough." Orff shrugged and looked around. "Any other questions?"
"Even if we do as you say and are lucky enough to fool the people on the Scarborough into believing that we are a French merchant ship, we will still be at an absolute disadvantage against them," Zhang Heng, who had been silent all this while, finally spoke up. "Good question.
"That's a good question. We all know that there are 700 people on the Scarborough, but this number is actually an exaggeration. Captain Elmer was born into a noble family, and his lifestyle is very luxurious. This has not changed even on the Scarborough. He spent money to hire musicians, a personal chef, attendants … and a bunch of other people to keep him company. These people have no combat power, and with the logisticians on the ship, there should only be 600 people who can really fight."
"Using what you said earlier, I don't see any difference between 600 and 700 people," Owen said. "That's a good question.
"I haven't finished yet. The situation at Marbella is very tense. At the beginning of this year, the Navy recruited a group of experienced sailors from the New World. Now, about two-thirds of the Scarborough are new recruits. Most of them are fishermen and farmers from the colony. They have only gone through a short training period of one or two months. Their combat skills are very average. As long as we can stun them in the first round of attacks, there is a high chance that they will completely collapse after that. So, our real enemy is the 200 veterans. Now, everyone on this ship is a real man. One on one, I don't believe that you will lose to anyone."
Orff's last sentence successfully ignited the passion in many of them, but there were still very few who agreed with him.
The most important thing was that the Scarborough was infamous. It had always been a nightmare for pirates around the Caribbean Sea. When they thought about challenging such a behemoth, the morale that they had worked so hard to raise fell again.
Orff clapped his hands. "Gentlemen, I know what you're worried about. I've told you from the beginning that this is not an easy journey. The treasure will not come to us on its own. There is no doubt that we will encounter challenges along the way, but as long as everyone works together …" Orff clapped his hands.
Owen could not help but interrupt him. "Challenging the Scarborough is not a form of training. It's too dangerous. Even if we don't make any mistakes in the middle, we still don't know if we can take it down. You said that the treasure map must be kept a secret. We have been following your orders unconditionally for a long time, but I'm afraid we can't do that this time. If you want us to agree to this, you should at least tell us why you want to do this."
Owen's words resonated with the rest of the pirates. Orff could only nod in agreement. "Well, we are very close to our target now. It's about time to tell you guys. I've received news that the fifth treasure map is with Count Bellomont."
"Count Bellomont? The Earl of Bellomont, governor of New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire? "
At first, some of the pirates did not know what this name meant, but after hearing it, they could not help but gasp. If there was a list of the most powerful people in the New Continent, Bellomont would definitely be at the top. It was almost impossible to get the treasure map back in the hands of such an important person.
"Yes, he was also the one who personally sent Kidd to the gallows. After Kidd died, a large part of his belongings fell into his hands. Not only the fifth treasure map, but also clues related to the sixth treasure map. In other words, as long as we catch him, we will almost be able to find the treasure." Orff then threw out another bargaining chip. "Besides, his value is no less than a treasure. If we can successfully capture him, we can ask for a ransom of 400,000 pounds."
The number made everyone's breath quicken. After all, Kidd's treasure was still a little far away, but the ransom was right in front of them.
However, what really played a decisive role was Orff's last sentence. "Bellomont will leave his territory in one and a half months to go to Charleston to attend his youngest daughter's wedding. That will be our best chance. If we take down the Scarborough, we can lock down the port of Charleston and go ashore to capture him."
…
"I must have been crazy to vote for it." Marvin's hand, which was holding the potato knife, was shaking. "We're dead, aren't we? The cannons on the Scarborough will tear us to pieces, or the sailors will rush up and kill us all. God, I should have listened to you and voted against it."
"It's useless. Even with your vote, it's still a long way from voting against this operation." Zhang Heng was still calm. If he could decide how things would go, he would not want it to end up like this. However, Orff was in charge of the Sea Lion now, and the latter was wary of Zhang Heng. Zhang Heng had been keeping a low profile on the ship. Although he voted against it, other than mentioning it to Marvin, he did not try to dissuade anyone.
At this point, there was no point in complaining. The only way to survive was to take down the Scarborough together.
Zhang Heng and Marvin were chosen to disguise themselves as merchant crew because they did not look as ferocious. Now, they were the cooks on this "French merchant ship."
Zhang Heng took off his black coat and handed it over to the ambushers in the mezzanine for safekeeping along with his weapon. However, just to be safe, he still kept a dagger for self-defense. The dagger was hidden under the potato skin under Marvin's feet.
After a while, footsteps could be heard outside the door. Griffin, the bookkeeper, ran down the deck. "The Scarborough has taken the bait. It's coming this way. Mr. Orff asked me to inform you to get ready. Don't give yourself away."
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