Fighters on the Stormy Sea

The Helpers

Although Bane was blasted off his ship into the sea and got his body shattered, he managed to survive. Not only that, but he also acquired a new body - a flexible and powerful octopus.

Captain Bane, who came back to life from the abyss of the sea, witnessed how the old order of the Frozen Sea disintegrated. He watched the pirate fleet he built to fall apart, and those vicious pirates chased by Franco, someone he has always despised.

In the midst of the sea waves, Bane vowed to reassert his authority, regain control of the Frozen Sea, and hang Franco and the bumpkins who supported him.

Bane's first thought was for his most loyal man, Zygmunt. Although this scar-faced guy lacks wisdom, he is always ready to fight for him.

As much as he is taken aback by Bane's new body, Zygmunt, loyal to his captain, soon recognize Bane’s familiar voice and usual brutality that remain unchanged. The return of the tyrant of the sea makes these stray dogs see the hope of life again. They re-hoist at the top of the sail the flag of 'Black Shark' and determined to reunite.

However, it was not easy to get back everything that had been lost. Ever since Bane was blasted into the sea, the ambition and hatred once subdued by Bane’s power had finally seen the light of day. The old order no longer exists, and the vacuum of maritime power left by Bane stimulates almost every pirate, who form various small gangs and are ready to follow the old path of Bane, eliminating other pirate fleets one by one to become the new dominator.

It is too slow for Bane. Now, his heart is filled with hatred and rage, and he wants to get back everything he lost almost instantly. 。 'What a good-for-nothing you are! ' Bane drops the chart, jumps to his feet, and with one of his tentacles throws off the sailor who was moving a cannonball.

Things did not go well in the last several days. Not even one of his former sailors came back to him, which makes Bane very impatient.

'First Mate Zygmunt, keep an eye on these guys!' 'I’ll go and find some more guys.'

Bane shouts at the top of his voice, then wiggles his tentacles before jumping into the sea and disappears.

Time flies. After waiting for three days, the crew lost patience again. They believed that Bane’s re-emergence could have been a turning point for them. Now it seems they have rejoiced too soon.

The anxious crew lost their head and were ready to give up completely and seek their own way out.

Therefore, a mutiny occurred inevitably. People scramble for the supplies and the valuables on the ship. It is such a mess.

Zygmunt wants to stop all this. Perhaps he is the only one that still believes sure Bane would return. But he is at a loss what to do facing the chaos. The crew has no time for the poor guy. They push Zygmunt out of their way and then go for the lifeboats that are not enough for all the crew to escape.

The first lifeboat is grabbed by four big harpooners, their upper bodies bare, tattoos exposed. The tight muscles and cutlasses hanging from their waists are the sheer demonstration of their strength. Other crewmen should know the better ways other than to compete with them.

These men pull at their oars and shout all sorts of bad words, ready to find a reliable gang of pirates.

'Hey, guys, I don't even mind join Franco. I mean, he blasted Bane into the sea with just one shot.' The strongest harpooner is shouting arrogantly, forgetting that he was moved to tears by Bane's return only a few days ago. He laughs and goes on, 'Maybe I'm tired of being a stupid harpooner. I should be a captain.'

The gloating harpooner continues, heedless of the silence of his companions and those on board the ship.

The atmosphere suddenly solidifies as a cold wind blows by. Before the fat harpooner could turn around, a huge tentacle wrapped around his throat and crushed it without mercy.

The tentacle belongs to the dominator the Frozen Sea, the cruel and ruthless Captain Bane. Behind him, there is a group of ugly, half-man, half-fish sea monsters.

'Get your asses back, you fools,' Bane thundered at the petrified crew in a stony voice, as the monsters behind him let out bloodcurdling laughs.

With the return of Bane, the pirate ship once again returned to normal, but those ugly and horrible sea monsters still leave the pirates trembling with fear.

But there is no denying that these monsters must be a bunch of great helpers in the fights to come.

The New Ship

The fiendish pirate leader convulses, his fingers loosen, and drops his axe. Bane smiles and tightens his tentacle around the fat harpooner’s throat. The fugitive can’t fight back as all, and his face begins to swell purple. He swears in a vague voice.

Bane shows his trademark grins and throws the dying man onto the deck, who continues to convulse. Beside him is a crew of shivering men with no will to fight. They crouched on the ground, looking at Bane and his grotesque minions in fear.

'Now, can I have the ship?' Bane turned back and whispered.

'I thought that all the pirates of the Frozen Sea would remember my rules. I am not an unreasonable man. All I want are some small rewards, and the respect for a captain.'

'Just because a bumpkin gave me some hard time not long ago doesn’t mean you bastards should shit on my head!'

As he speaks, Bane sits down on the chair that belonged to the pirate leader he has just killed. When the ugly minions behind him heard this, they waved their weapons and came forward, like a group of beasts waiting to eat.

’Since you didn’t do me the honor.’ Bane turned his head around and gave the monsters a deep smile.

’Throw them all into the sea! Kill them all!’

A cheer went up from his minions, and nothing is more thrilling the for these sea-dwelling monsters than killing. Blood mingled with sea water and seeped on to the deck.

While toying with his cutlass, Bane looked with great interest at this large brigantine, a newly acquired war trophy for him. Old as she was, the ship still features excellent design and great power. With thirty-two cannons, the ship makes a perfect tool for plundering at sea. Unfortunately, it was not equipped with huge bow and stern guns, and lacks protective armor and huge snout bow. His former ship Behemoth was much better.

Infuriated by the memory of the destroyed Behemoth, Bane rose suddenly from his chair, like a colossus rising from the sea level.

'First mate Zygmunt!' Bane growls, calling his most trusted assistant and entrusts him with this important task.

'I need a new ship, faster and stronger than the Behemoth. Do you know what I mean?'

'But, Captain, we are short of materials. We need steel, cannons and wood for our armor, and we can only get them on land,' replied Zygmunt timidly.

'Who told you that you must go to those fools to buy them?'

'Now go. Your new friends will help you.' Bane looks at the ugly sea monsters, with grins on his face again.

A few days later, a huge and colorful ship suddenly appears on the Frozen Sea. However, it is more like a huge sea monster than a ship. Its hull is covered with hard sea shells, reefs and rocks. The black muzzles are attached with a large number of poisonous creatures in the water. The huge octopus-shaped snout bow showcases the identity of its owner to the world.

This is Bane's new ship, and it’s called “Ymir”.

The Nightwheel

'That's one hell of a deal,' Franco swore furiously, spitting forcefully onto the deck.

In front of him are the remains of a huge Toothed Mech-Shark. Franco and his crew discovered this monster a month ago, and have been chasing after it across half of the Frozen Sea, using up all their supplies to capture the monster.

Even the most experienced fleet will feel powerless dealing with this giant ocean beast that is 15-meter long. Its struggle and fury after being captured almost capsized the Nightwheel, which may have turned all these sea hunters into his food.

Fortunately, Franco rose to the occasion. He jumped onto the back of the rampaging shark, and smashed its skull with his war hammer.

Hunting such a huge beast is a thrill in the eyes of people of Northern Vale. In fact, it almost killed Franco. Despite many years at sea, his still remains a terrible swimmer.

Franco sized up the beast carefully before giving the order to return to the port. The plan was to dock at Northern Vale's largest port, divide the loots and sell the shark parts to the merchants there for money that’s enough to hoard a whole shipload of winter supplies.

Since the disappearance of Bane's 'Black Shark' fleet, the coast of Northern Vale and the Frozen Sea have returned to their former liveliness, with large numbers of merchant ships coming from Moniyan, Panlong City and the Eruditio.

Within two days, the Nightwheel fleet will arrive at the port. Exhausted from a two-month voyage, the crew fell asleep on deck. Franco, however, is not as patient. He puts his war hammer into the cabin, grabs a sharp axe, and begins to dismember the beast.

It took Franco half an hour to disembowel the shark, whose skin, covered all over with scales, is so thick. Franco looked carefully into the rib cage of a Toothed Mech-Shark. Its liver is large and plump, and the oil it contains is a precious material that would not freeze even on the coldest days.

'It was worth it.' Franco wipes his blood-covered hands with his shirt, and walks towards the cabin stepping on the blood on the deck. ” As winter approaches, the wind at sea is blowing colder and colder, causing Franco to shiver. He wiped his nose and muttered, 'It's time to go back to the port.'

He stopped and looked to the south. Through the night mist he could as if see the shoreline of Northern Vale and the tavern there.

'Hey!'

'Help! Is there anyone on board?' The sea wind brought a cry for help from the water.

Franco narrowed his eyes and saw a figure crawling up the broken sampan with one hand and rowing toward the Nightwheel with the other.

'What a wretched fellow!' Franco could not see his face clearly, but he threw out the rope and pulled the man up anyway.

Franco frowned as he surveyed his soaked attire.

'Well, you bastard, have you met a sea monster? I don't have time to kick you asses recently.'

The man Franco saved is a pirate, who has lost much strength from being in the water for a long time.

'He…he's back!' The pirate looked at everything on board the Night Wheel and said in fear.

'What are you talking about? I am Franco and I’m standing right here, ready to kick your pirate asses.' Franco kicked him,' he said with disdain.

'It's Bane…he's still alive. He's back with his fleet.'

'Black Shark! King of Pirates! He's become an octopus! They're back!' The pirates on the deck cried in panic and awoke the rest of the crew who are still sleeping. They gathered around Franco, swearing.

'His huge ship is moving towards the shoreline, and is unstoppable!'

'Bane?' Franco frowned, ignoring these irrational pirates. He turned southwards, looking into the dark in deep thought.'.

All of a sudden, he shouted, 'Everyone! Get back in position!'

'Turn the ship around. Throw away anything unnecessary. Time to get busy!'

'The storm is coming.' muttered Franco.

The Storm

On the surface of the Frozen Sea, a storm is already brewing. The turbulent water formed a huge whirlpool, which spread up from the bottom of the sea.

Below the surface of the sea, Atlas is driving the huge mech sentinel to break through the turbulence and dive deep into the sea. Aurora’s Heart he has been searching for is already in sight.

On the sea, Franco and Bane's fleets are coming from two opposite directions. The two bitter rivals and sworn enemies want to settle everything once and for all today.

The two fleets keep getting closer. Although they have heard about Bane's new ship from the pirate they saved, Franco and his men were taken aback when the huge and ugly Ymir appeared on the surface of the sea: the side of the ship, full of reefs and rocks and shells, is flashing with frightening colors, while the huge octopus on the bow is extremely depressing. Even the most experienced pirates have never seen such an ugly and attractive ship.

'Full speed ahead, I will hang Franco and all his men on the mast!' Bane, on the other side, caught a glimpse of Franco's fleet, and he finds it hard to suppress his anger as he remembered the day when he was thrown into the sea by that pumpkin.

'Nightwheel, fall back, the other ships spread to the wings and continue to advance.' Looking at the menacing Bane, Franco ordered his fleet to retreat, luring Bane into his trap.

As expected, Bane was so furious to see Franco retreat, and he immediately ordered his ships to speed up. Before Bane realizes it, Ymir has left his other ships behind, and been surrounded by Franco’s fleet.

'Fire! Captain Bane and his circus are here for revenge, ha-ha!' yelled Franco, and hundreds of cannonballs streaked through the rain towards Ymir.

Ymir's armor, consisting of rocks, reefs and seashells, is much tougher than Franco expected. Two volleys of cannons did not cause any fatal damage to it.

After fending off two attacks, the mighty cannons of the Ymir begin to fire back, damaging one of Franco's convoys with a single cannonball.

Bane exclaimed triumphantly, 'Kill them all and burn up all the ships. Show no mercy'

After exchanging two rounds of fire, other pirate ships arrived. The two fleets were locked in battle on the stormy sea. Although Ymir is a tough ship and has superior firepower, Franco's ships have greater maneuverability. They take advantage of the vortexes and storm to keep Bane at bay, firing cannonballs non-stop.

At that moment, a cannonball comes whizzing in and hits one side of the Ymir, shattering its armor that has taken a great amount of damage. Ymir has now revealed its biggest vulnerability.

'Now! The Nightwheel is speeding forward. We're going to send Bane and his ugly minions back to the bottom of the sea!' Seeing the right timing, Franco ordered the Nightwheel to head at full speed towards Ymir. This time he wants to wipe Bane out once for all.

'Come on, I will kill you bumpkin with my own hands!' In response, Bane ordered Ymir to go full speed ahead as well. This will decide where this fierce sea battle is going.

The storm is getting stronger and stronger with violent wind and rain. Just as Nightwheel and Ymir are about to collide head-on, a huge vortex appears from the bottom of the sea, preventing the two ships from direct confrontation. A huge mechanical creature rises from the vortex with dazzling light in its hand. Atlas has finally found Aurora’s Heart he has been searching for. The storm becomes more violent.