The pirate flag bearing the Black Skull's emblem slowly descended, replaced by the vivid Crimson Tiger banner, which unfurled boldly from the flagpole of the Black Skull.
"The old Crimson Tiger sank, but our pirate crew has been reborn! I hereby declare that this ship, the Black Skull, shall be renamed the Crimson Tiger from this day forward!!!"
Leilin stood on the deck and made the announcement, immediately drawing cheers from his men.
Compared to the previous Crimson Tiger, which had been built on the Black Tiger's hull, the pirate ship he now commanded was worthy of being Kro's flagship. Not only was it entirely covered in a layer of magical armor with defenses at an astonishing level, but its size and displacement also far surpassed the former vessel.
All of this, however, now belonged to Leilin.
"Robinhan, split off a portion of the crew and get the warships in the rear moving as well!"
"Yes, Boss!" Robinhan rubbed his hands together excitedly. The Black Skull pirate crew had amassed considerable wealth—no fewer than ten large warships, each one no inferior to the previous Crimson Tiger.
This time, the Crimson Tiger pirate crew had truly hit the jackpot.
"Get the ships moving first, then we'll supplement the crew and head to Haige Island for the naval battle!"
Having wiped out two major pirate crews in one stroke, the only remaining force in Marquis Louis's hands was his armed slave-trading fleet. How could Leilin possibly let him go?
But his manpower was now facing a severe shortage. After managing to get the ships moving, he could barely scrape together enough crew, let alone fighters.
This situation brought a bitter smile to Leilin's lips.
"I'm afraid these large warships will have to stay in port for a while. The crew I can bring to the naval battle probably won't fill more than five large ships…"
He possessed powerful vessels yet lacked sufficient men to crew them—such was Leilin's current predicament.
He had even considered having his family guards pose as pirates, but quickly dismissed the thought.
After all, his opponent this time was not another pirate crew but an armed fleet belonging to a major noble. Setting aside the matter of secrecy, his own family's guards would likely refuse to take part.
Not to mention the consequences such an action would bring—Leilin had no intention of losing the protection of moral legitimacy.
Therefore, he could only bring along the pirates under his command, and the majority of those subordinates had perished in the earlier explosion.
But these were minor problems. Once word spread that the Crimson Tiger had destroyed both the Black Skull and the Tiger Shark, there would be no shortage of pirates begging to join.
The two fleets parted ways, and Leilin retreated into the captain's quarters to examine his haul.
Kro's captain's quarters were spacious, the surrounding walls adorned with all manner of shimmering oil paintings and other works of art—clearly accumulated over a long career in piracy.
"Kro's private vault is a minor matter, since most of his wealth is aboard this magical warship beneath my feet. What's truly valuable are a mage's tools!"
Leilin unceremoniously claimed Kro's gem-encrusted golden chair and studied the items on the table with keen interest.
The first thing to catch his eye was a dusty leather pouch.
"A Dimensional Bag!" Leilin's eyes lit up. He had long envied this legendary standard装备 of high-level mages, but even with the Faolan family's current finances, acquiring one had been nearly impossible.
And now, Polujie had willingly delivered one right to him.
Such a personal mage's Dimensional Bag would naturally contain hidden mechanisms or even curses, but under the Chip's scans, nothing could escape detection. Leilin cracked them all with ease.
The Dimensional Bag contained nearly ten cubic meters of space, which delighted Leilin considerably.
In one corner lay a scattered pile of gold coins and gemstones, estimated to be worth tens of thousands of gold kros, yet these were the least valuable items in the bag.
"So many… so many high-grade spellcasting materials, and spellbooks…"
Leilin's smile widened further. These were things that money alone could not buy. When he caught sight of several ancient scrolls, his grin stretched to its limits.
The scrolls bore intricate patterns on their surfaces and appeared to be crafted from the hide of some creature, with visible traces of scales.
As Leilin ran his fingers over the scrolls, he sensed a faint field of spiritual intimidation.
"Dragon's Might!!! These scrolls are made from dragon skin!"
Leilin's eyes blazed as he slowly unrolled the scrolls.
【Ding! Spiritual power data detected. Scanning…】
Within the scrolls were vast quantities of spell circuits and text in wildly different scripts—a method of storing information that could compress enormous volumes of text and data onto an area no larger than a single scroll. Though encrypted to some degree, the security was trivial in Leilin's eyes. The Chip's notification sounded immediately.
【Decryption complete! Transferring to memory zone!】