Chapter 23: Encounter with Pirates
The First Trade Fleet continued its voyage smoothly. Thanks to favorable ocean currents, they expected to reach the Port Town of Terek in about ten days. However, as they were relying on the winds, there was a possibility of delays.
This time, since they were sailing in a fleet, they planned to approach further east while updating the terrain and seabed maps. Due to the aerial reconnaissance conducted solely from high altitudes, they had not gathered detailed information. Given the potential for establishing a land base in the future, surveying the coastal areas was essential.
“There doesn’t seem to be any suitable docking locations,” one of the crew remarked.
“Yes, Commander,” replied another. “While it’s not that the waters are particularly shallow, there are few sheltered bays, and almost no places where trading ships can moor. If there were cliffs, we wouldn’t need to dig the seabed, making it a promising candidate, but unfortunately, such locations are nearly nonexistent.”
The Port Town of Terek appeared to be the most favorable option, but they had no intention of occupying and developing it. They were not seeking dominance; in fact, they preferred locations that were less frequented by people to avoid unnecessary conflicts.
“Then perhaps we should consider establishing a maritime base closer to the resources,” the Commander suggested.
“Indeed. We should ensure that we can move to the offshore area via a pier and plan to develop it into a port by excavating the seabed in the future,” came the response.
If they could acquire resources independently, trade would be less of a necessity. Originally, World of Space was primarily about exploration. While trading was possible, players typically operated on a star system basis, making it far more efficient to develop their own systems. Heavy users often possessed multiple resource-rich star systems and engaged in active trading, but she had not reached that level and lacked even the means to travel between star systems.
If the civilization on this planet had reached a stage of mass consumption, relying on imports for resource acquisition might have been an option. However, at least at this point, there were no signs of large-scale resource mining. According to Ringo’s predictions, it would be more efficient to find mines and develop them using the technology possessed by The Tree Fortress.
“We’ve deployed three magnetic sensor-equipped solar-powered reconnaissance aircraft, Swift, so we should soon discover iron mines. Once we can pinpoint their locations, we can load survey equipment onto the trade fleet and conduct on-site investigations,” Ringo reported.
“Let’s hope they’re far from any indigenous settlements… I’d rather avoid unnecessary conflicts,” the Commander replied.
“Yes, if we encounter any natives, there’s a high probability of conflict.”
As always, war seemed to be rampant across the continent. It felt miraculous that the Port Town of Terek had not been swept up in the chaos. In reality, it appeared to be due to the cunning of the Guild Master, Kuravia Terek. The only towns along the southern coast of the Northern Continent that were stable at a significant scale were Terek and the Northern Islands Occupation State. Given that the latter possessed exceptional military power, it was understandable. This suggested that Terek’s political influence was considerable.
“For the time being, we’ll continue trading with Terek to procure the resources needed for mine development,” the Commander concluded.
“Yes, the development of seabed deposits will still take time,” Ringo confirmed.
The seabed surveys around The Tree Fortress were progressing, and they were beginning to understand the distribution of resources. However, all promising deposits were located deeper than 1,000 meters in the deep sea, and they currently had no means of extraction.
“With our existing submersible’s capabilities, we can only carry a few dozen kilometers worth of resources, correct?” the Commander inquired.
“Yes, Commander. Due to operational time constraints, it’s not feasible for profitability. It would be far more efficient to allocate resources to trading. It’s estimated that recovering resources equivalent to one submersible would take over 400 days,” Ringo explained.
“That’s… not viable,” the Commander sighed.
“Yes, Commander. Our top priority must be discovering and developing terrestrial deposits. Once we can secure sufficient resources, we can also begin developing seabed deposits.”
It would have been ideal to find a nearby deposit, but reality was proving to be less accommodating. For the time being, resource recovery from the sea would be limited to seaweed beds. The seaweed, which served as a cellulose raw material, was growing rapidly and production was proceeding smoothly. They were planning to expand management facilities to create high-efficiency cultivation and harvesting systems. It seemed that nutrient-rich ocean currents flowed into the surrounding waters, providing an optimal environment for seaweed cultivation.
“You’ve become quite the expert on cellulose,” the Commander remarked.
“Indeed…” Ringo replied.
They were also working on adjusting molecular structures to develop high-hardness building materials. The manufacturing process was incredibly complex, so mass production had not yet been achieved, but they had discovered compositions with strength comparable to steel. While acquiring iron materials would undoubtedly be cheaper, the current absolute quantity was insufficient, prompting ongoing research into increasing production of this ultra-hard cellulose material. It might not be long before a combat vessel made entirely of cellulose was constructed. While it would likely be more expensive than one made of steel, the mere thought of it sounded rather cheap.
“Well then, let’s see how much iron we can acquire in the next trade…” the Commander mused.
“We’ve confirmed that there’s a decent stockpile, but it seems they’re also gathering from the surrounding areas, so we’ll have to rely on that,” Ringo replied.
At this rate, it would be years before they could expect to construct a battleship. Ringo was fully committed to resource exploration.
“Commander, we’ve spotted pirates,” Ringo announced.
“…Pirates?”
The trade fleet was sailing just a few days away from the Port Town of Terek. It was only natural that the solar-powered reconnaissance aircraft, Swift, which had been monitoring the surroundings from above, would detect the shadow of a ship. One vessel had somehow located the First Trade Fleet and was approaching.
“We’ve confirmed the pirate flag. It’s a sailing ship, but it appears to be faster than us. We expect to be caught up in a few hours,” Ringo reported.
“…Our ship should be reaching its maximum speed for a sailing vessel, right?” the Commander asked.
“Yes, Commander. Theoretically. If that’s the case, we can assume the enemy is operating outside of theoretical limits.”
“Could it be magic?”
The pirate ship was approximately 85 meters long, with five masts, and it was rapidly increasing its speed with its sails fully unfurled. Considering the wind and ocean currents, it was comparable to a Light Sailing Trader (LST) class. While it wasn’t designed for maximum speed, that wouldn’t be a valid reason for it to lose to a pirate ship. The unnatural acceleration suggested that some form of magic or similar power was at play.
Although they were not yet within visual range from their ship, the pirate vessel boldly displayed its flag. If they had been an ordinary trading ship, the sight of a pirate ship approaching from downwind would have been nothing short of terrifying.
“In just a few minutes, they’ll be within the range of our main cannon,” Ringo noted.
“I think it would be rather cruel to sink them with an off-screen attack…” the Commander mused.
From the top of the mast, the visual range would be approximately 15 kilometers. Since the enemy also had masts, they could theoretically be visible from about 30 kilometers away. However, atmospheric conditions could impair visibility, so the effective identification distance was likely around 20 kilometers.
The maximum range of the 150mm smoothbore cannon equipped on the Light Sailing Trader (LST) class exceeded 20 kilometers. With Ringo’s abundant computational power, it was not impossible to achieve a direct hit from over 20 kilometers away.
“For our first real combat deployment, this might be a suitable target,” the Commander remarked.
According to observations from Swift, the pirate ship did not seem to be equipped with rotating turrets. It was likely classified as a line ship. This meant that to attack, they would need to run parallel and close the effective range. The effective combat distance for a line ship was said to be a few hundred meters. While the range might exceed one kilometer, accurately hitting a target would be feasible only within 100 to 200 meters. Still, compared to a ballista, the firepower was on a different level, making it a significant threat in this world of technological advancement.
“Our watertight design is robust enough that a few direct hits shouldn’t lead to sinking,” Ringo reassured.
“Well… just be careful with the Communicator Androids. Losing them wouldn’t be too painful this time,” the Commander replied.
“Yes. There’s a possibility of losing some steel materials, but…”
“Let’s prioritize gathering combat data.”