The Mother of Destruction kept firing its 6th cannon, and it bombarded the Red Devil Skull mothership with shells from within.
The blast exploded the mess crew and other vital facilities. Even though the mothership was strong, constant bombardment made it give in. Yet, the mothership was still floating and functional, but it wouldn't be long unless something happened.
York was of course enraged. She realized that she fought a kid with space magic, and there was nothing she could do to counter it.
"Retreat!"
The pirates turned their ships around and retreated. This shocked the people on the island that watched the battle unfold for days.
The Destroyer's Fleet struggled hard and they were being pummeled for a while, and then suddenly, the Red Devil Skull exploded from within, and they all retreated.
But when they realized what this mean, the people on the island burst into cheers and hug each other.
"The Destroyer's Fleet drove away the pirates! We won!"
"WE WON!"
"Even the Red Devil Skull retreated! The Destroyer's Fleet is the greatest fleet ever!"
"Long live the island! Long live the Destroyer's Fleet!"
"Long live the island! Long live the Destroyer's Fleet!"
"Long live the island! Long live the Destroyer's Fleet!"
…
The Duke sitting in his office hearing this report was astonished. "Aldred… He's truly something else."
The Red Devil Skull was a feared mothership known for its grotesque firepower. It was said that it could defeat two or even three motherships in a fight, and its ability to change its form made it easy to move cannons from one place to another. So if one cannon was destroyed, it could be replaced by another cannon.
For decades this mothership had become The Red Skull Pirate's number one weapon.
But the Destroyer's Fleet managed to defeat them.
This was a legendary feat.
…
When the Mother of Destruction came to port, the people on the island were cheering for it. Tens of thousands of people gathered near the port, and when Aldred came out the people went crazy.
"That's the Admiral of Destroyer's Fleet. He's Admiral Aldred."
"I heard rumors that he could wrestle against 50 sea serpents underwater and defeat them all with his legs and hands tied."
"I also heard something like that. People say he impregnated 80 mermaids, and so he was blessed by the sea itself."
Aldred hearing this held his shocked expression. "Who the hell spread such rumors!?"
The people surrounded Aldred, and Bartrem and the soldiers had to create a perimeter around him. Even the island guards had to step in and control the crowd.
"Admiral Aldred, thank you!"
"You're my hero!"
"Oh my God! Impregnate me with your child!"
Zafrina held Aldred's arm and pouted. "Aldred hasn't even given me a child yet, how dare a stranger asked for it."
"Don't worry about it. They're just joking."
A beautiful woman crazily ran through the guards. "Admiral! Give me your seed!"
Bartrem and a few other soldiers had to pounce on her and took her down before she got close to Aldred.
Mary blinked when she saw this. "I don't think these people are joking at all."
After that incident, Aldred was treated like a hero on the island. His popularity grew even more when he came back with the loot he collected from the pirate's sunken ship. It was rumored that the loot was worth 12 trillion gold coins.
Since Aldred was staying in the palace, Zafrina decided to take him with her to the royal castle as soon as possible.
***
"Admiral Aldred, welcome back."
The Duke was waiting for Aldred in the dining hall.
"It's good to be back."
"You went beyond my expectation. The plan was to stall the pirates and wait for my fleet."
"Well, you guys took too long so we had to finish the pirates first."
Lord Rurcam stared at Aldred. Aldred stared back. After a few seconds, the both of them started laughing.
Bartrem's soldiers and Rurcam's guards could only sigh in relief. If both of them had a tense relationship, they wouldn't know what to do because Aldred was the hero of this island, and Lord Rurcam was a respected Duke.
It would be like having two wives bickering at each other, and the husband could not take sides.
"I heard all kinds of stories of your battle, Aldred. I even heard some things about mermaids."
"Yeah, don't believe any of them. Those rumors can be very wild."
Aldred shuddered when he recalled one of the rumors saying that he impregnated more than 50 mermaids…
"You are truly blessed by the sea. Did you know that the Red Devil Skull is undefeatable in this region of water?"
"I understand what you're saying. I feel its power directly."
"What do you mean?"
"I got hit by its cannon."
Rurcam's lips quivered. "That can't be. Even a Diamond Rank would be injured if they got hit."
"Maybe I am just lucky. The attack destroyed the entire pirate's mothership that I was on."
Rurcam nodded. "It is known for its incredible firepower."
Aldred bitterly laughed. "Too bad, I cannot steal it from the pirate."
He would come back and take that ship from the pirate, after all. He still had his teleportation points on the ship. For now, he had to increase his fleet.
"Seems like I have to change our deal," Rurcam said. "I was supposed to give you one of the pirate's mothership, but you already obtain one, and the other two got destroyed during the battle. So I guess I can build you another mothership."
"I was thinking of merging the mothership into one. Making it stronger and bigger. You know, instead of having a lot of motherships, I figured that I can have one but truly powerful one like that Red Devil Skull Mothership."
Rurcam was silent for a while before he nodded. "I heard you are looking for a magic blacksmith."
"Yes. I need one that can make ships."
In this world, the blacksmith didn't only make swords and spears. They also make other magical weapons or devices such as warships. Their task was mainly to refine metals and materials for the ship, however. Rarely do they design the ship itself. Those jobs were for the shipwright or shipbuilders.
"Follow me. I have someone to show you."
