Chapter Fifteen: Pirates Assault the City

It is worth mentioning that Sun Kang and Wang Weilong, who held grudges against Chu Cheng, were merely ordinary classmates, not friends. Sun Kang happened to be ranked among the top ten in the class, so he occasionally teamed up with them for activities. Chu Cheng found this believable; when Sun Kang had mocked him before, the others showed little reaction.

The homeroom teachers from several classes gathered the students merely to take attendance, briefly explain the situation, and give routine reminders about safety before dismissing them—no special tasks were assigned. There was no need; everyone understood on their own what could or could not be done.

As soon as the mentors left, students from each class clustered together in small groups to form teams. Usually, a team was limited to five members; Class Five happened to have exactly five, and Chu Cheng finally saw what a team invitation looked like. On his system panel, he saw an invitation from Wang Weilong. Upon accepting, a new team channel appeared, and he also noticed two team traits.

The first was experience sharing, but only for combat experience—not for quest or storyline rewards. The second was immunity to friendly fire.

Temporary teams only had these two traits, but it was said that if you managed to obtain certain special contracts, you could form a permanent team, gaining additional buffs beyond these two.

Suddenly, a thunderous cannon blast startled everyone. All eyes turned toward the harbor—they knew the pirate fleet had arrived. At the same time, Chu Cheng and everyone else received a notification:

“Notice: Emergency Scenario—The Black Sails King’s Revenge has begun!”

And that was all. Scenarios like this were always the same: no specific objectives, just a matter of seeing what you did during the event. Your actions determined your final rating and reward.

Chu Cheng closed his panel and ran with the others to the castle walls, which, being higher than most buildings in the town, offered a clear view of the two fleets facing off on the sea outside.

One side was the black-sailed pirates: one seven-masted flagship, four five-masted warships, sixteen three-masted frigates, and twenty-two two-masted boats. The other side was the kingdom’s garrison: one five-masted warship, three three-masted ships, and seven two-masted boats. The forces were grossly mismatched; the naval battle was overwhelmingly one-sided.

There was nothing they could do but watch as the kingdom’s navy was crushed. The defenders lasted barely a quarter of an hour before retreating in disarray, withdrawing rapidly to the docks. Many marines abandoned ship to join the land garrison.

The pirate fleet surged toward the port, forcing the kingdom’s ships aside and bombarding the dockside troops, driving them back. Then, an army of pirates leapt ashore, rallying under their leaders and charging into the town with wild shouts.

It was only then that Wang Weilong, observing from the wall, spoke in a low voice, “Once the pirates breach the town, we’ll have our chance to act.”

Chu Cheng asked immediately, “What’s our objective? Are we to help the defenders?”

Zhang Chunlei, standing nearby, shook his head. “Of course not. That’s the defenders’ job. What we need to do is seize the right moment and ambush the pirate bosses.”

Seeing Chu Cheng’s lingering confusion, Zhang Qing smiled and explained, “Strictly speaking, we could help, but we’re too few, and the pirates are too many. In a large-scale battle, we’d be at a severe disadvantage. If we attract the attention of a boss and they bring their forces down on us, we wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“But ambushing the bosses is different. We only target those who are isolated so we don’t get surrounded.”

“Oh, I see!”

“By the way, since this is your first time in such an event, let me clarify: for team operations like this, loot isn’t distributed based on points, but rather on a gold-share system—distribution depends on contribution and performance.”

“There are full shares, half shares, and none at all.”

“Generally, if you fight diligently and fulfill your assigned tasks, you’ll get a full share. If you slack off or fail your assignment, you might only get half, or even nothing, depending on your contribution. Additionally, if you perform outstanding feats in battle or save a teammate, you might earn an extra share. Also, the main tank and healer each get an additional share.”

Wang Weilong looked at Chu Cheng and said with a smile, “In our team, you’re the only main tank, and we have no healer, so you’ll get two shares when we divide the loot after the battle.”

“Oh, that’s a nice arrangement.”

Wang Weilong nodded. “Naturally. The main tank faces the most dangerous bosses, taking on the greatest risk, while the healer can save your life in combat. It’s only fair that both get extra compensation.”

“Very well then!”

Since the arrangement favored him, Chu Cheng certainly had no objections. In this system, with five members in the team, all loot would be divided into five shares, plus one extra for him as the tank, making six in total. The others each got one; he took two.

Of course, that was assuming everyone performed well and earned a full share. If anyone slacked and only got half or none, their share would be split among the rest. This system generally kept things fair and prevented freeloading.

While they and the other class teams were busy forming up and assigning roles, the pirates had already stormed into the port. With overwhelming numbers and cannon support from their ships, they quickly routed the dockside defenders, forcing them back into the town.

As street fighting broke out, groups of students began leaving the castle walls. Wang Weilong called his team to prepare for action. At the castle gate, he and the class monitors from other teams huddled together for a brief discussion. When he returned, he told them, “We’ve agreed to use the main street as the dividing line. Our team will take the southern sector.”

No one objected, and they headed straight out of the castle. The seaward side of Linhai Town was to the east; the north was where Chu Cheng usually trained. There were no human settlements to the south, but a few dozen kilometers down the coast there had once been a murloc tribe, long since wiped out.

The five of them wound through streets and alleys, passing many fleeing civilians, until they saw pirates and soldiers locked in combat up ahead.

The team halted, and Wang Weilong said to Zhang Chunlei, “Scout ahead—be careful.”

Zhang Chunlei nodded and slipped over to a corner of a nearby building, scaling up to the second floor with remarkable agility before vanishing from sight. His class was Ranger, making him far better at climbing than the others—except perhaps Chu Cheng, whose agility was not low, and who, with his supernatural agility and 100% jump distance bonus, could easily leap onto such a building. But since his current role was tank, he refrained from encroaching on others’ specialties.

Soon, Zhang Chunlei returned the same way, jumping down from the second floor and reporting, “I checked—the pirates have broken in everywhere, pushing through every alley. The main street is swarming with people, at least several hundred gathered there, and quite a few bosses over level thirty. The situation doesn’t look good.”

“Can’t the defenders hold them off?”

“The pirates have thrown in their entire force, and the kingdom’s main fleet hasn’t arrived yet. The Linhai garrison alone won’t be able to stop them.”