"Your Highness, they have begun boarding actions. If we continue to fire the ballistas, we might implicate those pirates."
Craghas Drahar, observing the distant ships with a cold gaze, replied indifferently, "Cease firing the ballistas. Have the longbowmen prepare. Let them fight for a while, then once they are within range, shoot down everyone, friend or foe."
"Yes!"
Craghas Drahar, the Crabfeeder who was infamous in the original history, Prince of Myr, and Naval Commander of the Triarchy Alliance, had not yet even taken the Stepstones.
In the original timeline, after the Conquest of 96 AC, upon defeating Volantis's invasion of the Disputed Land, the three Free Trade Cities of Lys, Myr, and Tyrosh declared the formation of the "Three-City Alliance." After several years, they drove out the pirates and outlaws entrenched in the Stepstones and completely occupied the islands.
Initially, the Seven Kingdoms were quite pleased with this action, but the subsequent skyrocketing tolls severely affected their trade with the Free Trade Cities across the Narrow Sea. The most affected was undoubtedly Corlys Velaryon, the "Sea Snake" and Lord of Tide Head Island.
However, due to Daenerys's disruption, who successfully rode a dragon, the Triarchy Alliance had been unable to achieve their goal, losing many warships and men. Those warships and men had, of course, long been captured by Daenerys and taken to Tarth.
This time, the Triarchy Alliance Fleet, led by Craghas, deployed a hundred warships, expecting to easily defeat these pirates. Yet, to their surprise, they spent a year without achieving their objective.
That was because the pirates of the Stepstones now not only received secret supplies and support from Dreamfire Island but also had many "pirates" arranged by Daenerys mixed among them. Naturally, they were much harder to deal with than in the original history.
And this time, after receiving news that the Patriolius Family had broken away from Braavos, the Triarchy Alliance Fleet and the pirates even joined forces to devour this fat sheep.
It must be said that there are truly no eternal enemies or friends in this world, only eternal interests.
At this moment, the waves on the sea grew increasingly turbulent, and the sky became overcast. A storm was imminent.
Markris, now elegantly dressed and refreshed, looked even more handsome and dashing. He stood on the brand new Rogue Prince, closely monitoring the naval battle. He was now a great pirate captain commanding over thirty pirate ships.
These ships were seized for him by Sevan, who had successfully ridden a dragon, from the pirate lairs in the Snake Lizard Islands and the Sunset Sea.
When Sevan pledged allegiance to Daenerys, Markris also brought his pirate fleet to the Stepstones and occupied a small island.
Because Markris was already familiar with the pirate captains of the Stepstones, and now under the pressure from the Triarchy Alliance Fleet, those pirate captains easily accepted him.
This joint effort to deal with the Partilios Family Fleet was instigated by Sevan through Markris after Sevan received notification from Daenerys.
However, unlike those pirates who preferred to charge headlong into battle, he relied on his fleet's advanced trebuchets and ballistas to first destroy the weaponry of the Patirius Fleet's outer ships. Then, he used ballistas and a rain of longbow arrows to eliminate as many mercenaries on the Patirius Fleet's ships as possible.
Only then would he board the ships and quickly take control. He only killed those who resisted completely; others were imprisoned. While other pirates and the Patirius Fleet were fighting fiercely, he had already successfully captured about ten brand new three-masted ships.
The mercenaries on the Patirius Fleet saw that Markris's pirates were not intent on killing everyone, so their will to resist was not as firm.
Most pirates, when plundering, would almost always kill everyone, so once encountering pirates, one could only fight to the death for a slim chance of survival. This also caused pirates to suffer heavy losses during each raid.
This is also why very few people could rise to prominence in those pirate dens; the survival rate of pirates was simply too low.
The fighting had been going on for over an hour, and both the Patirius Fleet and the pirates of the Stepstones had suffered severe losses.
Craghas Drahar finally brought his Three-City Alliance Fleet closer to the Patirius Fleet.
"Prepare, fire!"
At his command, a deluge of arrows instantly rained down upon the chaotic mercenaries and pirates.
"I knew these bitches from the Triarchy Alliance had ill intentions! Quickly form a shield wall!"
The pirates' oak shields were quite effective against arrows, so this wave of arrows did not cause them much harm. The same was true for the mercenaries; their weaponry was superior, and without engaging in boarding actions, the Three-City Alliance Fleet would find it difficult to harm them further.
However, after such a long battle, both the mercenaries and pirates had suffered significant damage. Neither side was now a match for the Triarchy Alliance Fleet.
"Let's join forces against them!"
The mercenary and pirate captains quickly reached a consensus. Thus, the two groups who had just been fighting fiercely instantly unified their front, turning their attention towards the Three-City Alliance.
Seeing the two groups suddenly unite on the battlefield, Craghas Drahar couldn't help but sneer,
"Do you think this will stop the Three-City Alliance? This time, I will not only devour the Patirius, but I will also root out you rats of the Stepstones."
He ordered the fleet to quickly adjust its formation, preparing for boarding actions. Simultaneously, a series of high-pitched, melodious horn calls echoed from the Three-City Alliance Fleet.
Markris had a premonition that something was wrong and quickly stood at the bow of his ship, shouting,
"Brothers, retreat!"
The cunning Markris knew when to cut his losses and quickly led his brothers and the fifteen captured three-masted ships in a swift retreat.
Just then, another fleet of fifty to sixty ships appeared from above. Their flags clearly indicated they belonged to the Three-City Alliance. It seemed the Three-City Alliance had agreed to cooperate on the surface, but in reality, they intended to capture them all!
The storm suddenly swept in at this moment, and the waves became even more ferocious. Only Markris, who had been on the periphery and pulled out early, narrowly escaped the encirclement of the Three-City Alliance Fleet.
After breaking through, he fled quickly with his fleet towards his stronghold without looking back. This immediately caused a drastic drop in the combat power of the Stepstones pirates.
Several pirate captains immediately began to curse loudly,
"They are all untrustworthy villains!"
"I hope you don't fall into my hands, otherwise I will definitely turn your heads into drinking cups."
To the far right, the Three-City Alliance Fleet furiously launched ballista attacks against the Patirius Fleet and the pirates' Blood Skull Fleet, causing them to suffer immediate heavy losses.
And to the left, the Three-City Alliance Fleet continuously attacked them with arrows, making it impossible for them to counterattack with trebuchets. The situation suddenly turned unfavorable for the Patirius and pirate allied forces.
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