Chapter 422 - The Ship of Misfortune, Naru Glory Fisherman
Chapter 422 of "Exploring Technology in a Wizard World" opens showing developments: Hai Ya Port, the Naru Glory Fisherman.Just as the plump tavern owner had mentioned, it... Keep reading!
Hai Ya Port, the Naru Glory Fisherman.Just as the plump tavern owner had mentioned, it was a fine, large merchant ship preparing to head north. The crew was fully assembled, preparations were abundant, yet considering the long journey ahead without docking, the Captain decided to take half a day for additional supplies before setting sail straight for the destination.
At that moment, the Naru Glory Fisherman was moored in the middle of the port, connected to the shore by numerous gangplanks. Many sailors were sweating profusely as they carried food, vegetables, dried meat, wine, and freshwater, walking over the bobbing wooden planks onto the shipâs deck. Under the direction of the Sailor Boss, Third Officer, and Second Officer, these provisions were stored in various storerooms.
The Captain was a lean, half-white-haired old man named Morgan, with strands of gold mingling with silver in his hair, his beard well-groomed, appearing capable and authoritative. At the time, he wore a sky-blue fitted outfit, a longsword hung at his waist, and in his hand, he held a leather whip, standing at the bow overseeing the actions of all the crew members.
Richard, accompanied by Pandora and a few other passengers preparing to embark on the northbound journey, after having their tickets checked, were led onto the ship by a square-jawed, burly man who claimed to be the First Officer and then continued down toward the lower cabins.
Everything up to this point was quite normal.
But as they walked, Richard felt that something was amiss.
Why were they continuously descending?
Based on his previous experience of taking a large vessel to the East Coast, the lower the cabins, the worse the conditions. Especially the bottom deck cabins, which were incredibly damp and might even leak.
Yet, the First Officer named Williams truly brought everyone down to the lowest level and then proceeded to assign cabins to each person.
After the allocation, with a âcreak,â Richard pushed open the door to his temporary cabin and saw an extremely low ceiling, with only a lantern lit like a bean providing a feeble glow.
The walls of the room were covered in shells, while a clump of unidentified mushrooms grew in the corner. The roomâs furniture consisted of nothing more than the lantern and a bed, which was more miserable than the accommodations on the giant ship he had been on before.
Stepping on the damp floor and touching the bed, Richard wasnât at all surprised to find the bedding extremely damp.
He sighed lightly, then waved his hand to cast a spell, quickly gathering the moisture in the cabin and then freezing it into ice cubes, which he stored in the Space Iron Ring.
The cabin became dry, and sitting on the bed, Richard had already figured out what was going on.
Unsurprisingly, he had been slightly tricked by the plump tavern owner.
Although the tavern owner had repeatedly assured him that he had arranged a particularly good cabin, in reality, to save money, he must have arranged the cheapest and worst cabin available.
But it didnât matter, after all, he wasnât going to actually stay in the cabin. Considering the lengthy voyage, he would spend most of his time experimenting in Edenâbefore leaving White Stone City, he had taken great pains to fully construct Eden into a qualified portable laboratory, which he couldnât afford to waste.
With that thought, Richard walked to the cabin door, planning to see when they would departânow at the port, the ship was too chaotic, not suitable for entering Eden. Waiting until they had set sail would be more appropriate.
Stopping at the cabin door, Richard turned his head to look at Pandora, who was sitting on the bed, continuously muttering to herself, and asked, "Pandora, do you want to come up to the deck with me for some fresh air?"
Pandora looked up, answering Richard very seriously, "Five times five equals twenty-five!"
Richard: "..."
"Uh, alright then." After a brief silence, Richard spoke, instructing, "You continue memorizing the Multiplication Table, stay in the cabin, donât wander, donât cause trouble, understand?"
Pandora: "One times five is five, two times five is ten, three times five is fifteen, four times five is twenty, five times five..."
Richard shook his head, turned, and walked out, making his way to the deck.
Here, Richard could see that the sailors had finished resupplying the ship, which was nearly complete, and they were now preparing to leave port.
On the deck, some sailors were retracting the gangplank, attempting to raise the anchor, while on the shore others were strenuously untying the ropes that secured the ship.
Suddenly, Richard saw that among the crowd on the shore, the Divination Woman stood like a lingering spirit, her eyes staring fixedly, full of bitterness as if she were cursing or threatening.
Due to the distance and the noise of the environment, Richard couldnât hear clearly. Even though he couldnât make it out, he could guess that it was either cursing or threatening.
That didnât matter to him, he didnât believe that with the Divination Womanâs abilities, she was capable of causing harm to a ship from afar? Even an Official Wizard wouldnât have such power, right?
With a "snap," the sailors on the shore had completely untied the shipâs mooring ropes, and using the remaining plank, they wobbled back to the deck. Then, the final boarding plank was retracted, letting the merchant ship set sail towards the open sea.
The figure of the Divination Woman on the shore grew more distant, and finally, Richard saw her raise her hand in a clear gesture of threat before turning to leave.
Richard shook his head lightly, not taking the incident seriously, and prepared to return to the cabin to enter Eden.
Just then, a commotion arose from the other end of the deck.
"Stop him, quick stop him!" several sailors yelled.
"Hmm? Whatâs happening?" Richard wondered, turning toward the noise, only to see a round-bellied fat man holding a kitchen knife and running fast.
Behind the fat man, several sailors gave chase, but they couldnât keep up.
The rest of the sailors on the deck, seeing the knife in the fat manâs hand, didnât dare get too close, and the fat man managed to run all the way to the edge of the deck in one go.
By now, the ship had fully left port and was moving deeper into the sea.
Then a group of sailors slowly surrounded the knife-wielding fat man, constantly trying to talk him down.
"Barth, whatâs wrong with you? Letâs talk this out, donât hold the knife."
"Thatâs right. If you have any issues, say them, whatâs with suddenly grabbing a knife? Everyoneâs waiting for you to cook; if something happens to you, weâll all go hungry!"
As the sailors said this, the knife-holding fat man was exceptionally agitated, wildly waving the knife with his hand to keep the sailors at bay, while hysterically screaming, "Youâre all bastards! This is a Ship of Misfortune, do you understand? If we keep sailing like this, everyone on board will die, theyâll all die! Turn the ship around now, return to port, quickly!"
"Thisâ" Hearing what the fat man named Barth had said, the sailors couldnât help but be stunned.
At that moment, the square-faced burly First OfficerâWilliams, pushed through the sailors and approached Barth, furrowing his brow, "Barth, have you lost your mind? What are you rambling about? The Naru Glory Fisherman has never had an accident, how could it be the Ship of Misfortune? Iâll have you know that the Captain just went to rest in the Captainâs Room, and if he comes out and sees you like this, heâs bound to reward you with his whip!"
At these words, a shiver of fear flashed through most of the sailorsâ eyes, clearly they had a profound fear and aversion to the Captainâs whip.