Exploring Technology in a Wizard World
Chapter 429 - 428: Chasing Waves in the Angry Sea

Chapter 429: Chapter 428: Chasing Waves in the Angry Sea

On the open sea, the Naru Glory Fisherman.

Everyone stared at the approaching ghost ship, their eyes widening involuntarily, as fear rapidly spread across the deck. Although it was unclear what would happen if the ghost ship drew near, it certainly would not result in anything good. At that moment, people recalled all the legends about the ghost ship, remembered the many ships that had vanished upon encountering it, their faces turned ashen, they were at a complete loss, utterly clueless about what to do.

Finally, the alert Captain Morgan shouted, "Set sail! Quick!"

"Williams, pull up the anchor!"

"Uh, yes!" The first officer shuddered, snapped back to reality, and quickly ran to do it.

"Bartes!" Captain Morgan called out again.

"Present!" The second officer also responded.

Captain Morgan stretched out a hand, quickly gauged the wind direction, glanced once more at the pursuing ghost ship, and commanded, "Wind’s on the port side, Bartes, raise the mainsail, veer starboard!"

"Understood!" The second officer went to do it.

"Garus, raise the jib!" Captain Morgan issued a third command.

"Yes!" The third officer responded and quickly did as instructed.

"Pruda, raise the mizzen!"

"Yes!" An experienced sailor dashed off.

"Where’s the helmsman? Tomia, take the wheel..."

"Yes..."

Orders continued to pour out of Captain Morgan’s mouth, but the ghost ship kept gaining ground, everyone’s hearts jumping into their throats.

Just then, with a ’buzz,’ the Naru Glory Fisherman trembled slightly, the hull creaked, and it started moving forward slowly, then gaining speed rapidly, continuously accelerating.

"Whooosh—"

The sea breeze kicked up, billowing the raised sails, generating strong thrust, propelling the Naru Glory Fisherman away from the terrifying ghost ship.

"Phew! We’re saved!" Everyone cheered.

"Ah, we won’t be caught by the ghost ship!" A sailor also showed a relieved expression.

Captain Morgan stood coldly on the deck, glancing back at the ghost ship, bluntly splashing cold water on everyone on board, "Gentlemen, don’t celebrate too soon. The ghost ship hasn’t stopped; it’s still following us. It’s got its sights set on us! I don’t know what it’s using, but its speed is faster than ours, and it will catch up to us soon by maintaining course!

However, luckily, their ship is bigger and absolutely harder to maneuver. We can use this to our advantage to try and widen the gap. But we must align well with the wind direction... I don’t know if you all understand, but this chase has just begun, and no one knows the outcome.

If any of you believe in the True God, then pray, pray for the protection of your True God. However... I don’t worship any deity; I only believe that fate is in our own hands. From now on, I will take full command of the ship, and all sailors must stay alert. Whoever dares to slack off, I will be the first to kick them into the sea to lighten the ship.

And for the passengers, you can stay in the cabins or remain on deck, but I have one requirement: do not wander around or shout, do not disturb the sailors’ work or my command. Otherwise, I will also throw you into the sea, and I mean it!"

After finishing a long tirade, Captain Morgan turned away from the stunned crowd, who had yet to react, and walked away.

Reaching the helm, Captain Morgan pushed aside the helmsman named Tomia and took over the wheel himself, then yelled at the sailors, "Are you all dead? Get to work!"

"Ah, yes!" The sailors snapped out of their daze and hurriedly sprung into action.

"Click, click, click..."

Captain Morgan continuously turned the ship’s wheel to adapt to the shifting wind direction at sea, occasionally shouting, "Mainsail offset, starboard two notches! Quick!"

"Yes!"

"Jib offset, port six notches, now!"

"Yes!"

"Trim the stern sail, pull it taut!"

"Yes!"

The merchant ship turned and sped up.

Before long, Captain Morgan was shouting again, "Wind on the starboard! All sails to the left! Williams, Bartes, Garus, Pruda, have you not eaten? Put some strength into it, hurry up! Click click click!"

Captain Morgan, while turning the ship’s helm, continuously roared out commands. Everyone from the first officer to the second officer, the third officer, and the sailors were scolded as if they were his grandchildren, nodding obediently, gritting their teeth, and working desperately. Even if their hands were cut by the riggings and blood kept flowing, they dared not utter a word of complaint.

The merchant ship turned again.

This action, apparently very effective, helped the "Naru Glory Fisherman" to slowly but steadily distance itself from the ghost ship.

In a corner of the deck, Richard, as one of the few passengers left on deck, took in everything with his eyes and silently nodded in his heart, understanding from where Captain Morgan’s assertive dominance stemmed—it was his own capability.

Without mentioning anything else, the sailing skills displayed by Captain Morgan had outshone most people in the current world, even surpassing wizards.

After all, a wizard might know spells, but steering, handling sails, and commanding are matters that require intimate and experienced hands, not achievable without decades of seafaring experience. The current world’s maritime studies hadn’t evolved to the level of extensively applying mathematical knowledge like on modern Earth. How to handle sails, how to steer, and how to accelerate weren’t explained by numbers or formulas but had to be figured out through repeated trials. This was considered one of the most valuable pieces of knowledge in the current world.

And such knowledge couldn’t be learned without considerable ability.

Clearly, this was the source of Captain Morgan’s confidence.

Richard’s eyes flickered.

Turning his head to look again at the ghost ship, he saw it gradually being left behind by the "Naru Glory Fisherman," distancing itself from the most dangerous proximity, getting farther and farther away...

...

Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, the whole afternoon had passed.

As dusk approached, the remnants of sunlight filtered through the clouds onto the sea surface, rusting it bit by bit, patch by patch.

By this time, the ghost ship in sight had shrunk to a mere speck; almost no one felt threatened, leading them all to let out a long sigh of relief.

But Captain Morgan neither relaxed nor dared to relax, standing before the ship’s helm, his hands never leaving the helm.

"Tap tap tap..."

Footsteps sounded, and the first officer, Williams, brought Captain Morgan a bowl of meat porridge to sate his hunger, saying, "Captain, why don’t you take a break? That ghost ship, which might be disguised as pirates, we’ve left it far behind; there’s no need to worry too much."

"Gulp, gulp, gulp..."

Captain Morgan took the bowl of meat porridge, drained it in a few gulps, and thrust the bowl back into Williams’ hands. He "clicked" the helm slightly, speaking slowly, "It’s not that simple."

"Hmm?"

"First Bart, then Jack! Two consecutive men losing their minds, there’s definitely something odd! The appearance of the ghost ship wasn’t a coincidence either! So... I suspect that the ghost ship has had its eyes on us for a long time and won’t give up the chase that easily. Don’t mention that we haven’t completely shaken it off yet; even if we had, there’s no telling when it might secretly catch up. We must take this seriously, otherwise we’d die without knowing how."

"Then—" First Officer Williams exclaimed, "Captain, what should we do?"

"What can we do? It’s just about seeing who can last longer. Tell everyone to take turns resting tonight; we need to ensure at least a third of the crew is on deck at all times and be ready for everyone to get up and work at any moment. Also, prepare more torches and kerosene."

"Captain, you mean..." First Officer Williams, having heard this, had a guess but was a bit uncertain.

"Huh—" Captain Morgan closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then opened his eyes, his gaze sharp as a knife, and declared, "Nonsense, of course, it means we’re prepared to continue sailing through the night!"

"Uh..."

...