Chapter 56
A fierce naval battle between Drakan and the Pirate Alliance unfolds in the Eastern Sea!
The battle was broadcast live on Ard Live through FlyingMan’s real-time streaming and spread through the airwaves via JGN, Jeil E&M’s cable gaming channel.
Although cable game broadcasting had been called outdated since the advent of Ard Live, its influence had not completely disappeared.
Rather, cable game broadcasting was still able to survive because the middle-aged and older generations, who were not familiar with Ard Live, and the loyal viewers who had only watched TV since the previous game, were much more comfortable with TV.
In any case, the naval battle in the Eastern Sea, broadcast through various channels, caught the attention of countless viewers interested in Ard Saga itself.
[King-awesome ship lol]
[As expected, Drakan is nothing without his money lol]
[What do you mean, money? It seems like the Merfolk did everything?]
[For real lol. It seems like he should raise them again. They look super fun]
[Aren’t the Merfolk also money? What are you talking about?]
[Why are the Merfolk money— Go watch Drakan’s broadcast again. What a low standard]
[Offering my condolences to the pirates, action beam~]
[Ah, this is the world of ruthless modern naval warfare……]
[Good. Subscribing to Drakan from today]
[Hyung-nim, please don’t just laugh and subscribe to FlyingMan too ㅠㅠ]
A one-sided trade of damage using Wyverns and Merfolk!
The viewers laughed and cheered at the sight of the naval battle, where they only had to attack the enemy from an overwhelmingly advantageous position.
The Pirate Alliance!
No matter what anyone said, they were the ultimate villains of the East, and the viewers felt a sense of ‘invigoration’ at the sight of them dying without much resistance, at the sight of Drakan’s fleet unilaterally overwhelming the Pirate Alliance and achieving an overwhelming victory.
[Fuuuuuuuck!]
[Invigorating!]
The cool and refreshing feeling of drinking cold cider straight from the refrigerator with ice cubes!
The cider produced by FlyingMan and Merfolk King Nereus under Drakan’s command received rave reviews, and soon expectations for the second round began to swell among the people.
If the appetizer is this good, how good will the cider be that will be served as the main dish!
Although Drakan had achieved an overwhelming victory, the naval battle was not completely over yet.
It was only natural that people’s eyes turned to the battlefield where the next battle would take place.
▄ ▄ ▄
Pirate Archipelago.
Four rocky islands floating above the eastern sea.
Barren, yet situated at the heart of the eastern trade route, these islands have long been infamous as a haven for pirates. After Pirate King Drake unified the eastern pirates, they were transformed into the headquarters of the Pirate Alliance.
Among the four rocky islands, the central island, the only one with a spring of clear water, once held a haphazard jumble of temporary structures. These have now been replaced with neat stone buildings, and a fortress-like citadel, built using the island’s abundant rocks, has been completed.
Although it paled in comparison to proper fortresses or grand castles built on land, this seemingly impressive stone citadel was one of the Pirate King’s proudest achievements.
The citadel’s underground vault overflowed with gold coins and treasures plundered from coastal villages and merchant ships, and the central island’s harbor bustled with countless pirate ships, teeming with slaves and riches.
Truly an island of gold!
It wasn’t that there weren’t those who coveted the island, overflowing with wealth amassed through piracy. However, faced with the overwhelming might of the Pirate Alliance’s fleet, they couldn’t even lay eyes on the Pirate Archipelago before becoming fish food.
Beyond the horizon, ships began to appear, one by one, in the waters off the Pirate Archipelago, a den of evil to the residents of the Gasan Kingdom, plagued by the eastern users and pirates’ plundering, as well as the merchants traversing the eastern sea trade route.
It was Drakan’s carrier strike group, the one that had obliterated Cortes’ fleet without a trace.
“We’ve finally arrived.”
Drakan, clad in black full-body armor, muttered in a low voice, standing on the spacious flight deck of the “Steelwing,” the flagship of Drakan’s carrier strike group, its massive size truly impressive.
A faint smile played on Drakan’s lips.
From the Lawless Port Recapture Operation until now!
The primary goal he had set was to defeat the Pirate King and gain the unwavering support of the eastern users, and now that goal shimmered right before his eyes.
“It’s quite moving, isn’t it?”
Beside Drakan, Shin Ha-yeon, a female mage in a robe, smiled brightly at him.
Looking at Shin Ha-yeon, with her gentle smile, Drakan said,
“This is all thanks to you.”
Shin Ha-yeon!
True to her chaebol status, the capital she had invested in propelling Drakan to his current position was truly staggering, and Drakan was well aware of this fact.
Without the unwavering support, both material and moral, provided by Shin Ha-yeon and Jeil E&M, he wouldn’t have reached this point in such a short time!
“I’ve only done what I had to do. I’m a little embarrassed to hear you say that.”
Shin Ha-yeon blushed slightly, responding to his words with a shy smile.
It wasn’t that there hadn’t been opposition within the group to her investing such a vast sum in Drakan.
The elders, who were her father’s retainers, kept alive only because dealing with them within the group was troublesome due to their past contributions, and the remnants of her younger brother and older brother, who were somewhat competent and thus spared, had made quite a fuss.
They argued that investing such a large sum in Drakan, who currently offered little in return, was akin to pouring water into a bottomless pit.
Of course, Shin Ha-yeon wasn’t foolish. She knew perfectly well who was behind this opposition.
It was none other than her father, Chairman Shin Hyeon-cheol, who had practically been driven out of the Simseong Group and had built up the Jeil Group from scratch.
‘Oh, Father. If you didn’t like your daughter as your successor, you should have said so directly.’
Her father, Chairman Shin Hyeon-cheol, had consistently disliked her from the beginning.
The position of the group’s chairman should be inherited by a son!
That was Chairman Shin Hyeon-cheol’s philosophy.
It was only because she had disposed of her far less competent older brother and her good-for-nothing younger brother in the blink of an eye, leaving them beyond even his reach, and had turned even him, the chairman, into a figurehead and a puppet, that he had reluctantly acquiesced to the current situation.
In this context, investing in Drakan, who offered low short-term returns, was a tempting morsel to incite rebellion.
And Shin Ha-yeon, knowing full well that this rebellion was instigated by her father, ruthlessly purged those who had risen against her.
And while she had the sword drawn, she went ahead and demoted her father from a half-puppet to a complete backroom elder, holding only the title of ‘Chairman.’
Thus, Chairman Shin Hyeon-cheol’s final rebellion was quelled without much fanfare, and through this bloodshed, she finally gained complete control of the Jeil Group.
As a result, her image in the upper-class social circles transformed from a mutant to a ruthless, wicked woman, even evoking ominous creatures like the praying mantis or the black widow spider. However, she didn’t bat an eye at such rumors.
“On the contrary, I’m sorry I can’t offer you more support, Drakan-nim.”
Shin Ha-yeon understood the essence of support very well.
Investing in Drakan was superficially an investment in a promising streamer, but that was just the shell.
In essence, this was politics.
From the users playing Ard Saga Second in the narrow sense, to the viewers watching Ard Saga-related content on Ard Live, to those interested in Ard World in the broad sense!
The essence of investing in Drakan was the politics of captivating the public opinion of all those people.
And investments in politics often appeared inefficient on the surface.
Therefore, Shin Ha-yeon had no intention of cutting back on her investment in Drakan just because there were no short-term profits, as the purged individuals had argued.
After all, the money she was pouring in now was nothing compared to the rewards that would come once Drakan’s rebellion succeeded!
“Is that so?”
Drakan’s eyebrows twitched at Shin Ha-yeon’s words.
“Yes.”
“Then how much more can you give me in the future?”
Shin Ha-yeon smiled again at Drakan’s question.
If it were anyone else!
They would have uttered some insincere words of humility, trying to gauge her mood, or politely declined.
Only he could make such a demand so naturally in front of her, the woman whom even the elites feared and called a black widow or a wicked woman.
And Shin Ha-yeon liked him for that.
“Anything that can be done with money and power.”
The power held by Shin Ha-yeon, the de facto ruler of the entire group, was beyond common sense.
The wealth of the Jeil Group, accumulated through its confectionery and food businesses, department stores, distribution businesses, cable channel operations, K-POP, multiplex cinemas, and various content production and distribution, including dramas and movies, was truly immense. And the power of Jeil E&M, a key player in the ever-growing Korean Wave, was increasing day by day.
For Shin Ha-yeon, who held all this immense wealth and power, the cost of investing in Drakan was, in a way, a mere drop in the bucket.
“I like it.”
Shin Ha-yeon’s smile deepened at Drakan’s reply.
She liked his words, “I like it.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
“Now that I’ve received the money, I need to earn my keep.”
Drakan replied to Shin Ha-yeon’s words.
Her eyes sparkled at his words.
Drakan!
He always produced results that exceeded the money she invested.
Shin Ha-yeon could confidently say that she never regretted choosing Drakan as her partner.
Even if she had provided the same level of support to other rankers or streamers, they wouldn’t have achieved the same results as Drakan!
These achievements were results that only he could achieve.
Therefore, she had made the best choice.
Thinking this, Shin Ha-yeon looked at Drakan, and he smiled and whispered his instructions.
Soon after, FlyingMan and the Wyvern squadron, following Drakan’s orders, soared into the sky from the aircraft carrier’s flight deck.
▄ ▄ ▄
Although the Pirate Archipelago consisted of four islands, only the central island had an environment suitable for human habitation.
The other three islands were nothing more than small rocky islands, barely deserving to be called islands, and the Pirate Alliance had built lighthouses on the three small rocky islands that also served as watchtowers.
And now, the watchtowers built on those rocky islands were suffering from an unexpected aerial raid.
Kwa-gwang!
The watchtowers burning with a roar!
Leaving that sight behind, Drakan’s carrier strike group cut through the water towards the central island and stopped.
“As expected, not only have they built defenses at the port, but the pirates’ defense forces are swarming like ants.”
Drakan muttered like this, observing the enemy lines through a telescope from the flight deck.
The central island was mostly a natural fortress-like island with rugged cliffs, and therefore, the only facility where ships could dock was a small sandy beach created between the rocks.
The pirates had built a port on the sandy beach, and they had built defenses with cannons installed at the port under the orders of the Pirate King.
It was a situation where anyone could see that a landing operation would inevitably result in heavy casualties!
However, Drakan had no intention of fighting a head-on battle by foolishly throwing landing troops into the fortified port as the Pirate King wanted.
“Nereus.”
“Yes, Apostle-nim.”
“Proceed as planned.”
“Your command will be obeyed.”
Receiving Drakan’s order, Nereus jumped into the water from the flight deck and dived. A little later, the sea near the coastal c*iff opposite the port rippled, and Kraken’s huge tentacles soared up and hooked onto the edge of the c*iff.
Following that, countless Merfolk began to climb up from the sea, using Kraken’s tentacles as a ladder connecting the sea and the c*iff.
It was the moment when the main game to catch the Pirate King began.
