He was the infamous terror of the sea, his name struck fear into the hearts of all who crossed his path, like a specter that haunted the nightmares of innocent souls.

If only those people knew what had become of him now.

Defeat tasted bitter on his tongue, but it only stoked the embers of his vengeance against Zach who was his target, the two women who foiled his plans and the core culprit Hogan who had given him the mission with faulty and lacking information.

As for the inhabitants of the island, since they had dared to defy him, he vowed that he would make them pay for their insolence in the manner that pirates like him knew best. Countless pirate rivals and enemies had already suffered similar fates once they let Blackbeard escape their clutches.

Clara and Christina, the targets of Blackbeard’s wrath, had proven to be formidable foes, like fierce sirens luring sailors to their doom. Their strength and prowess were a thorn in Blackbeard’s side, like a persistent gale hindering his ship’s progress. He could not abide the thought of being outmatched by two women, and his wounded pride demanded retribution.

His crew, a ruthless band of marauders, shared their captain’s malevolence as well.

They were a bloodthirsty pack, always hungry for more plunder and power, like a relentless horde of raiders with nothing but wealth in their sights.

But as they retreated now, those ruthless pirates scattered like frightened rats fleeing a sinking ship, their dreams of victory shattered like a ship dashed against unforgiving rocks. The fear in their eyes mirrored that of cornered prey, knowing that their fate lay in the hands of their merciless pursuers who might be sharpening their knives for slaughtering them.

Blackbeard’s heart burned with a voracious hunger for revenge, like a raging inferno devouring everything in its path. He swore to avenge this humiliation like an apex predator that had been beaten by someone from the lowest tier of the food chain.

As long as he managed to survive, he would eventually return to sink this godforsaken island to the bottom of the ocean.

Although the sea was vast, it would not hide the two women from his wrath at that time.

For now, Blackbeard’s heart was as dark as the abyssal depths, fueled by a malevolent desire to raze everything around him to the ground. He planned to go back and regroup with his crew first. Then it wouldn’t be too late to wait until the winds of fate and the tide of time shifted, before engaging in a deadly confrontation with the enemies he made today.

Just as Blackbeard ordered his men to board the boats, his eyes widened with horror and rage as he witnessed blood red flames engulfing his favored ship. The inferno raged mercilessly, devouring the vessel that had served as a symbol of his power and dominance, like a vengeful dragon breathing its fiery breath upon a hapless town.

The little bit of hope that had flickered in the hearts of his crew was snuffed out heartlessly, replaced by a chilling realization that they were trapped in the clutches of a cunning and ruthless adversary.

Zach, the shadowy puppet master behind the scenes, reveled in the chaos he had orchestrated to show his soldiers the true usage of technology to get over the magical means of this world.

His heart was unfeeling as he watched the ship burn, like a true commander leading the tempo of the battle to make his side come out as the eventual winner.

Zach’s planning was meticulous as always. He knew that pirates would prioritize survival over the completion of mission since they weren’t exactly soldiers. A group being held together by benefits wouldn’t be able to stand the test of hardships. Therefore, he had ordered a few of his soldiers to take the boats the pirates had used to get to the island before the pirates could retreat to the edges.

Only then did he push the pirates to the extreme in order to force them to retreat to the shore in an attempt to escape the island. 𝐞𝐨𝘃𝐞𝐥.

Upon his orders, the soldiers used the very boats the pirates had relied on to reach the shore as instruments of destruction, turning them into fiery harbingers of doom, like betrayers among the crew. They headed towards the mother ship and shot RPGs towards the bottom of the ship, damaging the keel and setting fire to the whole thing. Even if the pirates somehow managed to douse the fire, the damaged keel would only cause them to sink in deep waters.

The leftover pirates on the ships were caught unawares by the bombardment of the RPGs fired by the soldiers. Some were blown to bits while some managed to survive with a loss of a limb at the very least. None of them would be battle worthy for the rest of their lives at the very least. Those who still had their legs intact managed to jump into the sea to survive but without their hands, their injured bodies wouldn’t be able to survive either. The rest of the pirates who were unable to move, burned with the ships like true sailors who regarded their ships as their homes and their burial place.

The crackling of the flames was a haunting chorus, drowning out any last glimmer of hope in the pirates’ hearts. The once-proud vessel that had sailed under their feet was now a funeral pyre, a tragic symbol of their defeat. And with it went their hope of returning home in this lifetime. The demonic forces pursuing them would never leave them alive after all.

The pirates, who had believed in their leader’s invincibility till today were cursing him now. They felt like rats trapped on a sinking ship with only the ocean all around them. Their only conclusion would be death. They were extremely sure about it after witnessing the twisted expression on their high and mighty captain’s face.

Blackbeard’s rage was like a tempest, threatening to consume him like a hurricane that churned the sea into chaos. He knew that Zach’s cruel tactics had driven them into a no-win situation, like a sea serpent luring unsuspecting sailors into a deadly trap.

Zach had already carried out a massacre with the help of his soldiers. After killing the pirates by the hundreds, he wasn’t going to stop before taking care of the remaining few. His people needed to know the effects of the equipment they were using this time because they needed to be in awe of technology in order to use it with caution and care. They couldn’t treat tanks and battle drones like they treated their personal armaments. This massacre was just a way for Zach to teach them the new style of warfare that they were going to follow in the future. After all, the wars they were going to fight in the future wouldn’t be suitable for guerilla tactics. The scale would be extremely large and the losses would be equally higher as well.

With the demonstration having reached its final stage, Zach spoke into his microphone once again, his voice a mixture of taciturnity and indifference.

“Group 1…Group 2…Fire everything you have…destroy every one of them.”

Group 1 were the RPGs wielding group while the group 2 were the soldiers who had been instructed by Zach to prepare the armored tanks earlier.

“These wretched pirates dare to point their weapons towards our home…shred them to pieces…FIRE EVERYTHING YOU HAVE!”

Diana being the field commander was the final authority in the execution of the plan. Her orders immediately put the soldiers into motion and fire rained down from above like it was the end of the world. The sky turned red with the ever-consuming fire burning everywhere around the pirates and the smoke colored the sky gray giving it a deadly look.

Zach himself wasn’t idle either. He wasn’t unwilling to dirty his hands. It was jus that these pirates weren’t worthy enough for him to raise his hand personally. Therefore, he was controlling the drones with the help of the system. Numerous battle drones in the sky were pointing the weapons attached to their bodies towards the cluster of pirates gathered at the shore.

Before the pirates could even come out of their shock of seeing their ships burning like kindling in the middle of the ocean, bullet shower greeted them from above.