Exploring Technology in a Wizard World
Chapter 432 - 431: The Final Struggle!

Chapter 432: Chapter 431: The Final Struggle!

Ran aground.

One of the dangers of night sailing is running aground.

In fact, throughout the entire nautical journey, running aground is a very likely occurrence. This is because there are not only reefs visibly protruding above the water but also submerged reefs hidden below the water’s surface.

During the day, if the lighting is good, one can see the shadows of the underwater reefs and avoid them in time. But now it wasn’t fully light yet, and the sea was dim, making it impossible to spot the submerged reefs. Striking them head-on led to running aground.

The consequence of running aground is stranding—the ship stuck amongst the rocks.

To explain further, the ship’s hull sits lower than the submerged reefs. After hitting the submerged reef, the ship continues to move forward under inertia, eventually lifting the bow up, reducing displacement, and losing buoyancy until it can no longer move.

And being unable to move implies that... the Ghost Ship that they had just managed to shake off would catch up before long.

Thinking of this, a chill ran through the hearts of everyone on deck. The passengers below in the hold, roused by the sharp jolting, all rushed onto the deck to see what had happened, and their faces turned ashen when they discovered the ship had run aground.

"Damn it, you idiot, how could you steer the ship like this!" First Officer Williams came to his senses and took three steps as if they were two, rushing towards the helm. He lifted his fist, ready to hammer the helmsman.

"Williams, stop it, let go of Tomia, we haven’t failed yet!" Captain Morgan shouted.

"Uh, Captain?" First Officer Williams subconsciously released his hold and looked at Captain Morgan, only to see his face unnaturally flushed with blood, the veins at his temples bulging, his expression one of madness and determination.

"Captain, we’ve run aground, is there any hope for us?" First Officer Williams asked. Though it was a question, he had already settled on a negative answer in his heart. Having followed Captain Morgan for quite some time, he knew a fair amount of nautical skill and really didn’t believe they could quickly extricate themselves from this predicament.

"There’s hope, there’s hope," Captain Morgan said, his voice very firm, "Today is the full moon; there will be high tide. If my calculation is correct, it’ll be not long after daybreak. At that time, the sea level will rise, and the ship will float again. So... as long as we make the ship light enough, we can break free from the reef."

Williams was taken aback; he truly hadn’t thought of that approach.

In fact, Captain Morgan hadn’t thought of it either. At the moment they ran aground, he had despaired. But just as he despaired, suddenly a voice behind him reminded him, "Wait for the tide!"

Captain Morgan quickly came to his senses. He was now sailing close to the coast, where running aground was highly likely—an unfortunate reality, but a fortunate reality was the influence of the tide. For reasons unknown, during his decades at sea, he was well aware that the sea would rise and fall twice each day. And at the beginning and the middle of the month, the tide would rise even more significantly.

Today was the middle of the month!

With this thought, Captain Morgan turned to look for the person who had reminded him, but couldn’t find anyone.

Time was limited, and there was no time to conjecture. Captain Morgan swiftly shouted an order to Williams, who was about to strike someone, then began issuing commands, hoping to grasp at this last sliver of chance: "Everybody, throw everything that can be thrown overboard into the sea! Hurry! If you don’t want to die, get moving!"

At this command, the sailors and passengers on the deck were momentarily stunned, then all rushed into the cabin. The next moment, countless miscellaneous items were thrown out.

Tables, chairs, stools, pots, pans, ladles, iron hooks, broken buckets, boots, clothes, tattered bedding, spare wood for ship repairs, iron ingots...

Soon, the flotsam surrounded the entire vicinity of the ship.

Dawn broke, the sun rose, and the sea began to stir and indeed rose.

Captain Morgan roared out, continually directing the adjustment of the sails to work with the wind, forcing the ship to back away and free itself from the submerged reef.

"Squeak, creak!"

The "Naru Glory Fisherman" emitted a bone-chilling noise as if it would fall apart at any moment, but it was indeed gradually breaking free from the reef.

The people cheered, and a smile appeared on Captain Morgan’s face.

Just then, someone suddenly cried out, "Captain, the Ghost Ship!"

The people on deck turned their heads and saw the entirely black Ghost Ship appearing in the distance. During the time they were delayed by the reef, the Ghost Ship had obviously not stopped at all and had stubbornly caught up.

But there was still a distance.

There was still a distance!

Everyone realized at that moment, as long as they could get the "Naru Glory Fisherman" free of the reef and sailing again before the Ghost Ship covered that distance, with its reduced weight, the Ghost Ship would definitely not catch up. But... if the Ghost Ship closed that distance before they broke free from the reef, then all was lost.

Who would be faster?

The moment of life and death! The most dangerous time had arrived!

All at once, everyone went mad, whether sailor or passenger, all ran to the sails, their eyes red, helping to maneuver them, in hopes of speeding up the ship to get clear of the rocks and to reverse away.

"Squeak, twist, squeak, twist!"

The "Naru Glory Fisherman" shook wildly, inch by inch, bit by bit, moving out of the rocky reef area...

Victory seemed just within reach.

But... all of a sudden!

"Crack, boom!"

The "Naru Glory Fisherman" shuddered violently and suddenly tilted to the left!

"Thud, thud, thud!"

A sailor, drenched from head to toe, ran up from the cabin with a look of despair on his face, yelling, "Captain, Captain! The bottom left side has been punctured by a rock! It’s leaking continuously! We can’t block it!"

This!

The people on deck were instantly petrified, and even Captain Morgan’s expression stiffened.

"What, what did you say!" Captain Morgan sounded as though he hadn’t heard the sailor clearly.

The sailor wiped the sea water off his face and shouted, "The bottom left side has been punctured by a rock! It’s leaking continuously! We can’t block it! If we don’t find a way to stop it, we’re going to capsize!"

"Crack, crack, crack..."

As the sailor spoke, the ship tilted more and more to the left, clearly about to overturn—the sailor’s words were no exaggeration at all.

"Damn it!" Captain Morgan cursed, shouting, "Even if you can’t block it, you must block it, otherwise we’re all dead!"

"But it really can’t be blocked!" the sailor screamed, grabbing his hair, "We’ve thrown away the wood for blocking, how can we block it!"

"Then break open the right side of the lower cabin as well, let the seawater completely fill the lower cabin, and then seal off the passage between the lower and the second-to-last deck."

"But then, we can’t get away from the reef, we’ll have to stay here," the sailor said.

"I know!" Captain Morgan shouted, his eyes also reddening, he "swish" drew the Longsword from his waist, twisted his head to look toward the Ghost Ship getting closer and closer, and spoke out, "This damned luck, if we can’t get away then we can’t get away! I want to see what exactly is this Ghost Ship, and why it keeps chasing us!"

"Uh..."