Exploring Technology in a Wizard World
Chapter 426 - 425: Divination Woman’s Next Move?

Chapter 426: Chapter 425: Divination Woman’s Next Move?

After a while, Jack finally appeared in the distance, holding a bowl of something dark and unidentifiable, trembling as he walked towards Captain Morgan and said, "Captain, this is the meat porridge I made for you, please... please taste it."

"Uh-huh," Captain Morgan responded, did not dismiss it because of its appearance, and handed over the whip he was holding to First Officer Williams, taking the bowl of meat porridge from Jack.

Jack’s eyes widened, his face tense with nerves as he watched Captain Morgan.

Captain Morgan brought the bowl to his lips and gently blew on it before taking a small sip.

"Gulp!"

Jack swallowed nervously, his gaze fixed intently on Captain Morgan’s face, hoping to discern some assessment of the meat porridge from his expression.

But Captain Morgan was expressionless.

With no expression, he moved the bowl away from his lips, looked at him with no expression, and expressionlessly asked, "What do you think of the taste of this meat porridge yourself?"

"I... gulp!" Jack gulped again and replied, "I don’t know. I really don’t know. I was too nervous to try it, so...ah!"

Suddenly, Jack’s voice turned into a terribly miserable scream. Captain Morgan had slammed the scalding meat porridge onto his head, causing him to flail his arms wildly, trying to swipe the porridge off his face.

Captain Morgan’s voice was ice-cold as he said, "You useless fool, you dare serve me something you did not even dare to taste yourself?"

"Captain, I... ah!" Jack managed only a few words before he began to scream again as Captain Morgan took the whip back from the First Officer and lashed him mercilessly.

After a dozen lashes, Captain Morgan was still not appeased, and turned to the red-haired Sailor Paul beside him, "You, hang this waste up on the mast and don’t let him down without my order!"

"Yes." Sailor Paul, not daring to disobey, quickly grabbed Jack along with a few other sailors and dragged him to the mast. Jack struggled and pleaded incessantly, but it was in vain; he was eventually hung upside down on the mast. The cold sea breeze kept blowing, causing Jack to shiver violently, his face in agony.

Seeing this, some sailors on the deck seemed slightly sympathetic since Jack was one of their own. However, a passenger on the deck felt no such empathy, most of them seemingly taking pleasure in his misfortune.

Richard overhear someone continually speaking up.

"Hey, it seems I wasn’t wrong; that idiot really got hung up there."

"There’s no surprise at all, that guy has no cooking skill whatsoever. I mean, now I’m even doubting if he qualifies as a sailor. There’s probably no one worse than him on this entire ship, right?"

"I think so too. Ah, having such a sailor is just bad luck. If I were the captain, I wouldn’t hang him up on the deck; I’d throw him into the sea to feed the fish. Such a fool should be fish food."

Someone inwardly said, "Isn’t that a bit too harsh? Honestly, the guy just made some bad food, it wasn’t on purpose. I think hanging on the mast, blowing in the cold wind all day is punishment enough. After all, it’s not a crime, there’s no need to kill him."

"Hmph," someone snorted, "If you’re that kind-hearted, wait till you get poisoned by the food he cooks someday, and make sure you enter the grave with a smile."

"I..."

"Hey, I’m just saying, we’re all looking out for ourselves. After all, no one wants him to cook for them."

As the passengers discussed, Richard lost interest, finding it unnecessary to stay, as he didn’t see any reason to get involved in such petty affairs on the ship.

He glanced pityingly at Jack swinging on the mast, shook his head, and walked down into the cabin, then proceeded to his own chambers and entered Eden to continue his study.

A moment passed, and it was dusk.

...

As evening approached, twilight descended.

The setting sun gradually sank toward the water, dense clouds resembling flames painted the western sky.

The light of the setting sun and the fire clouds were all reflected in the sea, lighting up the entire surface brightly, dazzlingly, as the "Naru Glory Fisherman" seemed to sail through light itself.

Encircled by this beautiful vista, Richard took a break from his studies, left Eden, and walked up onto the deck to catch some fresh air.

At this time, with no boisterous passengers around, the deck was spacious, and coupled with the twilight scenery, it greatly lifted Richard’s spirits, relieving the mental fatigue brought on by long hours of study.

However, when he turned his head to look to the side, Richard’s brows furrowed slightly.

He saw the poor sailor Jack still hanging from the mast, after being blown by the cold wind all day, it was uncertain if Jack had fainted, as his eyes were closed, motionless.

"Could he be dead?" Richard wondered, then he heard footsteps approaching.

"Tap tap tap..."

A few sailors appeared, running toward the mast; apparently, they had Captain Morgan’s permission to quickly bring Jack down from the mast and lay him on the deck.

After being rescued, Jack slowly opened his eyes and stood up from the deck, his expression somewhat strange.

A sailor asked with concern, "Jack, are you alright?"

"I..." Jack’s voice was weak, "I’m fine, but... but did you hear a voice?"

"Huh? What voice?" the concerned sailor asked, puzzled.

"Can’t you really hear it? It’s the voice of God, he’s saving me, helping me escape this terrible state, he..." Jack kept talking, and the sailors who had rescued him, hearing this, unconsciously stepped back cautiously, concerned, "Jack, you... you’re not going crazy like Barth, are you? What voice did you hear, you... don’t scare us?"

"No, I’m not scaring you, I’m saving you," Jack stated assertively, a strange smile appearing on his face, "Yes, I’m saving you. And you... you should want to be saved..."

With those words, not to mention the sailors who grew fearful, even Richard in a corner of the deck squinted his eyes.

The next moment, Jack yelled and suddenly ran to the ship’s side, forcefully diving into the water, "I really am saving you!"

"Splash!"

A loud splash occurred, and a huge splash surfaced, followed by Jack’s figure disappearing without a trace.

Richard’s eyes narrowed into slits, he stared at the sea surface for a long while, thinking darkly: Could this be the Divination Woman’s second move? But what is this: direct manipulation of suicide to forcibly create a sense of panic?

This tactic might work against normal merchant ships, but now the "Naru Glory Fisherman" has Captain Morgan, a very powerful figure. As long as Captain Morgan is present, no matter how much chaos there is, the ship will not descend into disorder, which is one advantage of the captain’s autocratic rule.

So what exactly is the Divination Woman thinking? What is her purpose?

Richard continued to ponder.

...