"They have the numbers, don't fight them head-on. I'll figure out a way for us to escape."
Before the battle had even begun, Drake turned sideways and whispered to Lin Qi.
"Mm."
Lin Qi nodded, the hand gripping his flags tightening slightly, before he focused his attention on the enemy ship.
The number of Servants on the other side was a bit excessive, while on their side, only Lin Qi and Drake could barely be considered to have the combat strength of Servants. The other pirates were just ordinary people with relatively rich combat experience.
So escaping was definitely the best choice.
It's just that, even Lin Qi was completely at a loss about how to actually escape.
Right now, even if Lin Qi summoned the Wyverns to flee, there was a chance they'd be shot down.
After all, the enemy's Anne Bonny probably didn't have aim as terrible as Lev.
Suddenly.
Lin Qi noticed a black dot in his field of vision leap up from Blackbeard's ship, landing accurately and lightly onto the Golden Hind.
"Should have done this earlier. Just stealing something and yet dragging it out for so long…"
Mary, holding a large cutlass, crouched low, her tone carrying a hint of dissatisfaction.
Anne and Mary's fame wasn't particularly high; they were just twin pirates active during the Age of Sail. In terms of reputation, they couldn't even match Blackbeard, let alone Drake, whose life achievements were quite outstanding.
But regardless of history, once summoned as Servants, they all had a trick or two up their sleeves, so one couldn't let their guard down.
Mary didn't say anything more, her expressionless little face cold as she moved with light steps, swinging the cutlass in her hand fiercely down towards the pirate closest to her.
Relying on the strength of a Servant, even if her Strength parameter wasn't high, she could probably easily disembowel an ordinary person.
The pirate's terrified face was right before her eyes. Mary could almost already envision the scene of blood flying everywhere.
But then she abruptly noticed a black shadow flash before her eyes.
Clang!
Lin Qi arrived in time, using his flag to block Mary's cutlass as it swung towards the pirate.
Mary frowned, somewhat surprised that Lin Qi had come so quickly.
And—
This person's strength is greater than mine…
After testing their strength briefly and barely seeing Lin Qi show any sign of strain, Mary quickly confirmed this fact.
Just as the counter-force from Lin Qi came, Mary borrowed the force from Lin Qi to instead attack the other crew members scattered across the deck.
The cutlass swung out, its shadow falling directly onto another crew member's face.
Clang!
The crisp sound rang out again.
A look of surprise appeared on Mary's expressionless face.
So fast…
And I randomly targeted another person, yet he could still react?
That's right, it was Lin Qi again, blocking in front of Mary.
Having cleared three Singularities and fused with quite a few Servants, Lin Qi could no longer be called weak. At least when facing ordinary second or third-rate Servants, Lin Qi wouldn't feel overwhelmed.
Bang! Bang!
Suddenly, gunshots rang out. Two bullets shot towards Mary from a tricky angle.
Mary sensed the attack and hurriedly retreated, narrowly dodging the two bullets.
Then she looked coldly at the certain captain who had fired.
"Hey, aren't you looking down on me a bit too much? I can't just ignore you attacking my crew like this."
Drake blew on—the dissipating smoke from her pistol barrel, a faint, elusive smile on her face.
As soon as she finished speaking, Drake's expression turned serious. Like a quick-draw artist, she shamelessly pulled the trigger rapidly on Mary.
Bang! Bang!
Two bullets, fired almost simultaneously, shot straight towards Mary.
Mary wasn't fooled by Drake's trick. She used the cutlass in her hand to block both bullets.
"Tch, blocking bullets with a sword… no matter how you think about it, that's just cheating, right?"
Drake looked somewhat displeased at the scene.
One could only say Drake still didn't understand the concept of Servants well enough. In fact, any Servant with a halfway decent identity could easily handle non-Noble Phantasm firearm attacks.
So Lin Qi wasn't surprised by this scene either; he didn't pay it much mind.
Besides, right now he was more concerned about another person…
While fighting Mary, Lin Qi had actually divided part of his attention, focusing it on a certain someone on the other ship.
And now, that guy had disappeared from the other ship—
A figure with a cold glint in his eyes had appeared behind Drake at some point, the spear in his hand thrusting towards Drake's back without the slightest mercy.
The sound of metal clashing rang out.
Bright sparks illuminated the faces of Lin Qi and the attacker.
"As expected! You were waiting for us here, weren't you?!"
Lin Qi gritted his teeth, straining to block Hector's attack, but the corners of his mouth couldn't help curling upwards.
Knowing that Hector was not only skilled at defense but also at finding opportunities to secure victory, how could Lin Qi not guard against him?
Hector, finding his attack blocked, widened his eyes in surprise, looking at Lin Qi who was right in front of him.
This time he was genuinely shocked. Because of Blackbeard's suspicions, he wasn't slacking off this time; he had used his real skills to launch this sneak attack.
And yet he was seen through? And even blocked?
Drake clearly hadn't expected someone to sneak up and attack her so stealthily. She only reacted after realizing the attack had been blocked by Lin Qi.
Her heart immediately jumped. While backing away quickly, she also pulled the trigger on Hector.
Seeing this, Hector forcefully pushed Lin Qi away, then spun his spear to sweep the bullets aside.
This casual display once again drew a displeased tch from Drake.
"Wow, looks like you're pretty concerned about this old man's actions, young man. But I'm just a washed-up old uncle. Surely I'm not worth you paying so much attention to?"
Hector scratched his head, looking at Lin Qi with a probing gaze.
"Whether you need to be paid attention to or not, I think you should know better than I do."
Despite Hector's relaxed and casual demeanor, Lin Qi didn't dare relax in the slightest. He maintained his stance, his eyes fixed intently on Hector's movements.
Besides, blocking Hector's attack hadn't been easy for Lin Qi; he had only barely managed it by activating the acceleration from [Dodge].
"Huh? Looking at you like this, do you know me or something?"
Hector blinked, searching his memory for acquaintances matching Lin Qi's appearance.
The scar on Lin Qi's face was quite distinctive. Hector quickly finished comparing all the people he knew but couldn't find anyone who matched Lin Qi.
He was even more confused.
How could he know that Lin Qi knew him from the game and, even before formally meeting him, had directly considered him a major threat?
Lin Qi didn't speak, just stared tightly at Hector.
He didn't like trash-talking in the middle of a fight.
"Not much of a talker, huh? But if you don't help out, your other crewmates might not last much longer."
Hector tilted his head to look behind Lin Qi, signaling for him to check the situation behind him.
Hector wasn't lying. After Lin Qi engaged Hector, Mary, who had also boarded the ship, was freed up.
If not for Drake, who indeed had some skills bolstered by the Holy Grail, managing to tie Mary down, there would have been casualties on the ship already.
"I know. No need for your concern."
Lin Qi still refused to shift his attention away from Hector.
But Lin Qi wasn't just sitting idly by either. He traced a semicircle on the deck with his foot.
In the next second, the Rune symbols all over the ship began to glow, precisely empowering every member of their side, including Lin Qi himself.
The pirates looked in amazement at their glowing bodies, feeling the unbelievably abundant power within them, each one growing excited.
"Woo-hoo! Boss, look! I can easily jump three meters high now!"
One pirate, testing his body's enhanced strength, even nearly jumped straight onto the Golden Hind's main sail.
"Me too! And before I couldn't see this little girl's movements clearly, but now I can!"
"Same here…"
Drake wasn't left out either; the Rune enhancement was applied to her as well.
"So there's this kind of trick too? Little Lin really thought of everything, don't you!"
Drake clenched her fist, feeling the significantly increased strength, and couldn't help but sigh with admiration.
Then she waved her hand grandly and said:
"Alright, you scoundrels! Now that you can see the enemy's attacks clearly, don't just stand there like idiots! Seize the chance and counterattack!"
"Ooh rah!" ×N.
The pirates raised their cutlasses and cheered. Several pirates were already swinging their blades towards Mary, whose expression had darkened.
Hearing the commotion behind him, Lin Qi raised an eyebrow at Hector.
Did someone really think Lin Qi drew all those Runes just to reinforce the ship?
Although Lin Qi, as a magus, didn't possess a skill like [Territory Creation], the Golden Hind, covered in so many Runes, could sufficiently be considered Lin Qi's territory.
While its functions probably couldn't compare to those built by a professional Caster, it was more than enough for Lin Qi and the others.
"Uh, looks like you came pretty prepared, young man…"
Hector scratched his head awkwardly, but he couldn't help feeling somewhat troubled inwardly.
Looking at Lin Qi's clear, somewhat naive appearance, he had thought Lin Qi would be easy to trick… Who knew he'd be so troublesome?
"Ah, well, no helping it. Then let this old uncle have a proper fight with you—"
Having observed for a while and found no obvious openings, Hector had no choice but to engage head-on.
Thus, the two sides began to exchange blows, their figures constantly shifting across the deck.
For a moment, it actually seemed like a close, evenly matched fight.
"Whoa! So the new guy is this fierce?!"
A pirate who had been watching this battlefield looked at the dangerous movements of both sides, his face full of astonishment.
In the eyes of these veteran pirates, Lin Qi had always given off the feeling of the kid next door—seeming shy and well-behaved.
How could they have known that this extremely well-behaved kid could be so fierce in battle?
That fighting style—like a beast staring intently at its opponent, with a fierce glare and not a word spoken…
To be honest, it was a bit chilling.
...