The Nemo sailed for two days on the vast sea before finally encountering a fishing boat. However, the fishing boat showed no reaction to The Nemo's arrival, continuing to focus on fishing. Linley breathed a sigh of relief, it seemed that no large-scale conflict had occurred here, otherwise the fishing boat would have fled immediately upon seeing a strange ship.
The sea has always been full of danger for humans, and those who can make a living at sea are often desperate. Those who sail the seas, on the surface, are doing business, but in fact, they are also engaged in piracy, and some merchants even make robbery their main business, while business has become a side business.
If a ship approaches and the other party is heavily defended, they will do business; if the other party has a weakness, they will choose to rob. This was a common practice among seafarers in ancient times. A lone fishing boat with few people on board should be on high alert when encountering a strange ship.
Only under the protection of the Roman Empire, in areas where Roman warships patrol frequently, will fishing boats be so at ease in their work, because they know that even if they are robbed, the criminals will be brought to justice by the Roman warships.
This shows that the order here has not yet collapsed, and fishing boats are still operating normally.
Fishing boats generally don't run too far, after Linley and his crew saw the fishing boat, they soon saw the coastline. This is an island called Andros, which is not small, with a large population, a city on the island, and a garrison.
This island is not easy to deal with, Linley decided to find a smaller island without a city. As they continued forward, a Roman warship appeared ahead. This was a quinquereme, a type of warship with five rows of oars, fifty meters long, with one hundred oars on each side, and four hundred oarsmen alone.
When these oarsmen rowed at full speed, the ship could sail at extremely high speed, using the ram at the bow to smash small ships. Even though The Nemo was faster and more maneuverable due to its sails, it was difficult to escape pursuit.
"Get ready everyone!" Nemo seemed a little nervous.
The oarsmen glanced down at the weapons at their feet, they were not only oarsmen, but also fighters, which was the custom of the time. However, Linley's side didn't have any good weapons, just some stolen daggers and shields.
"Lord Linley, there's a Roman warship ahead." Pandora climbed onto the ship to report.
"I see." Linley replied in a bad tone.
Pandora was scouting ahead. She discovered the enemy and returned to report, which seemed good, but was actually not very useful. Because Pandora's speed in the water was fast, but her position was low, she could only barely leave the water about a meter above. The ship's mast was very high, and the sailors on the mast could see far away.
By the time Pandora discovered the enemy and returned to report, it was too late, The Nemo had already seen the Roman warship, and the Roman warship's mast was higher, so it must have seen The Nemo too. So her scouting was actually not very meaningful.
"They're executing criminals up there, it seems like your followers." Pandora said.
"What!" Linley asked in surprise.
"They're carrying grapevines." Pandora explained.
Grapevines are useless as weapons, medicine, or food. Except for Dionysus' followers, others generally don't carry grapevines with them.
Linley changed his mind, it seemed that Pandora's forward scouting was still very meaningful. At least Pandora could see and hear many details that could not be discovered from a distance.
"Since they are my followers, we can't stand idly by." Linley said. "We should investigate."
On the Roman warship, the configuration of 400 rowers, plus other crew and officers, totaled at least 450 people, and could reach 500 when fully staffed. However, the Nemo only had slightly over a hundred people, and their weapons and equipment were incomplete. Despite this, facing the crisis of his followers being killed, Linley had to take action, otherwise the followers' faith would be severely hit.
"Everyone be on high alert, ready for battle!" Nemo adjusted the triangular sail, looking for the best sailing angle.
As captain, he was the highest commander on the ship, and Linley's orders were carried out by him. Linley was not proficient in naval tactics, and rash commands could lead to failure.
"Have you participated in any naval battles before?" Linley asked.
"Of course, I've experienced many battles at sea," Nemo replied, "but most of the time we outnumbered our enemies. If we don't have the advantage in numbers, we usually choose to retreat and wait for a better opportunity."
"Understood." Linley looked around, comparing the strengths of both sides. The two ships were vastly different in size, Linley's side was mainly fishermen, while the other was trained professional soldiers, their combat power incomparable.
"But we have a huge advantage, they seem to be unprepared for us, we can launch a surprise attack." Nemo said.
"Then let's do it." Linley responded decisively.
Under normal circumstances, the attacking side would have the advantage, but the situation at sea was different. The two ships were visible to each other on the open sea, there was no space to deploy formations, nor were there cavalry for a surprise attack. The two ships gradually approached, but the lookout on the Roman warship remained silent. From the wind direction, the two ships' courses did not intersect, and they could only get close if they lowered their oars. Such a small boat, at most a hundred or so rowers, daring to attack a five-bank galley was undoubtedly courting death.
Nemo manipulated the sail, driving the Nemo towards the Roman warship with the wind, and the lookout still didn't notice. Linley's hands were slightly sweaty, he suddenly remembered that there was still one combat power he hadn't used, so he summoned Bavaria.
"Finally it's my turn to show off!" Bavaria waved his two-handed giant sword and laughed loudly.
"Keep it down." Linley reminded.
"It's okay," Nemo said, "we're at sea, the sound won't carry."
Linley looked at the Roman warship from afar, even though they were hundreds of meters apart, he could still clearly see the scene on the ship. Dozens of Bacchic priests wearing cloth robes and grapevine badges had their hands bound and were forced to the stern. The Roman soldiers held short swords, forcing the priests to desecrate the statue of Dionysus. The priests who refused to obey were stabbed in the abdomen and then thrown into the sea.
Dozens of man-eating sharks circled the ship, whenever someone fell into the water, the man-eating sharks swarmed up, tore the priests apart and devoured them, the blood stained the sea red, attracting more man-eating sharks.