Not only Richard discovered that the captain at the helm, Morgan, also gradually realized that something was wrong: the ghost ship had not been thrown away, nor had he been deceived into deviating from its direction. For some reason, the ghost ship seemed to know the location of the "Nalu Rongguang Fisherman" very well, and even without the guidance of lights, it still followed closely. In this way, he made the ship turn sharply to the left, which was a "smart thing" - not only did he not widen the distance, but he also made the distance smaller.
Looking at the blue flames on the ghost ship in the distance, Captain Morgan's expression was extremely solemn. He took a deep breath and issued an order from his mouth.
Next, Richard, who stayed on the deck, saw Captain Morgan trying his best to get rid of the ghost ship behind him.
For example, completely extinguishing the lights and walking blindly is extremely risky;
For example, pour a large amount of kerosene into the sea, sail a certain distance, and then ignite it with a rocket to produce a blazing flame, trying to make the ghost ship mistake it for the "Nalu Rongguang Fisherman";
For example, a large number of ropes tied between pontoons were lowered into the sea water in an attempt to entangle the pursuing ghost ship.
…
In Richard's view, although these methods have no technological content, it is not easy to come up with them. At least... the way of thinking is advanced.
Applying the same approach to air combat on modern Earth would be equivalent to radio silence, infrared jamming bombs and counter-ambush.
But... even so, none of these methods worked.
The ghost ship is really like a ghost in the dark night, constantly getting closer, closer, and closer.
The atmosphere on board the "Naru Rongguang Fisherman" became tense. All the sailors were awakened, and Captain Morgan steered and directed with all his strength. After knowing that extinguishing the torches was useless, he simply lit a lot of torches to light up the sea surface, tried his best to increase the speed, and had a real speed contest with the ghost ship.
But... the ghost ship is still approaching...
Finally, the ghost ship arrived only a few hundred meters away from the "Naru Rongguang Fisherman". Under the light of the faint blue flames, the empty deck could be clearly seen.
The faces of the sailors changed. Some passengers in the cabin noticed something was wrong and ran to the deck. Seeing this situation, they couldn't help but panic. Fortunately, he remembered Captain Morgan's previous warning, so no commotion occurred.
The atmosphere was extremely depressing.
Captain Morgan stood at the helm of the ship, his face frighteningly dark.
First Mate Williams looked at Captain Morgan carefully and asked aloud: "Captain, what should we do now..."
Captain Morgan didn't answer because he didn't know how to answer - he had thought of everything he could think of and really didn't know what to do now.
It seems that it won't be long before the ghost ship will completely catch up. By then, regardless of whether the ghost ship is a pirate in disguise or not, the "Naru Rongguang Fisherman" will be in an extremely bad situation.
Is there really no solution
Captain Morgan thought bitterly.
At this time, a voice suddenly came from the deck, suggesting: "Lost the cargo."
"Huh?" Captain Morgan was stunned and raised his eyebrows.
First mate Williams stared at the sailor and said, "Which one of you is talking, stand up? Lost the cargo? Huh, who wants to lose the cargo, I will lose him first?"
The sailors looked horrified and quickly shook their heads in denial.
Richard in the corner of the deck looked calm, as if he had never done anything.
First Mate Williams was about to investigate further when he was suddenly stopped by Captain Morgan, who said, "Wait a minute, Williams."
"Captain, you—"
"Losing the cargo might be a good idea." Captain Morgan said slowly, "If you lose all the cargo, the ship will be lighter and the speed will be increased, so you can get rid of this ghost ship."
"But Captain!" First Mate Williams was anxious, "If all the goods are lost, how will we explain to the merchants when we go to sea this time..."
"There will always be a way." Captain Morgan raised his hand to interrupt Williams. "I think clearly. If the cargo is lost now, the only loss is the cargo, and there is still a chance to save it. But if it is really When the unknown ghost ship caught up behind us, not only all the cargo was lost, but also the ship and all of our lives."
"But Captain..."
"Stop talking, Williams, execute the order!" Captain Morgan snapped, "Open the warehouse and throw everything you can see into the sea! Do you understand me?!"
"Yes, I understand!" First Officer Williams gritted his teeth.
"Repeat it to me!"
"Open the warehouse and throw everything you can see into the sea!" Chief Mate Williams shouted.
"Very good, then why are you still standing here? Take someone to do it!"
"Yes!" First Mate Williams gritted his teeth, named a large number of sailors, and ran towards the warehouse.
Not long after, boxes of goods were lifted onto the deck and then pushed into the sea.
"Plop, puff, puff..."
The weight of the "Naru Rongguang Fisherman" has been continuously reduced, and its speed has been significantly improved. You can see that the ghost ship behind it is getting closer and slower, and then the distance is widened again. Farther and farther, farther and farther…
"Phew, I'm saved, I'm saved!"
"Finally got rid of it!"
The passengers on deck cheered.
But the sailors were silent. Although they were temporarily out of danger like the passengers, losing all the cargo meant that the voyage would be fruitless even if it reached the destination, and their hearts were heavy.
At the helm, First Officer Williams sighed and looked at Captain Morgan at the helm: "Captain, do you want to take a rest? Since the cargo is lost, we don't have to rush, and the ghost ship is also behind It’s far away, so don’t be too anxious.”
"Let's wait until daybreak." Captain Morgan said, "It's still not safe now. I'll go and rest until daybreak."
"Okay." First Mate Williams knew Captain Morgan's temper and stopped trying to persuade him. He stood guard silently.
Captain Morgan steered the ship meticulously.
At this time, the cheering passengers were tired after celebrating and returned to the cabin to rest, and the deck became dead silent.
For a long time…
Stars streaked across the sky, the night passed away bit by bit, and a faint glow emerged from the east.
Captain Morgan slowly let go of the rudder, and his body swayed slightly due to the long period of exertion. First mate Williams, who had been guarding next to him, quickly stepped forward to hold him.
"Captain, are you... okay?"
"I'm fine, don't worry about me." Captain Morgan raised his hand and said, "I'm just a little old, just take a nap and you'll be fine."
As he spoke, Captain Morgan left the helm of the ship, letting the waiting helmsman take over the helm, and walked toward the captain's cabin, followed closely by First Mate Williams.
"You should take care of things on the ship first. Don't worry too much about the cargo. All problems will be solved when I wake up." Captain Morgan said.
"Yes." First Mate Williams nodded.
"That's good." As he spoke, Captain Morgan had already walked to the captain's cabin, opened the hatch and was about to go in.
At that moment, the "Nalu Rongguang Fisherman" shook violently, the hull made a frightening "squeaking" sound, the speed dropped sharply, and then stopped. Under the influence of inertia, Captain Morgan, First Mate Williams, and many sailors on the deck leaned forward and almost fell.
Captain Morgan stood firm, turned to look at the rudder, and asked with an ugly face: "What's going on?"
"Captain—" At this time, the helmsman, who had just taken over the helm of the ship, stood up tremblingly. His face was ten thousand times uglier than Captain Morgan's, and he almost cried and reported, "Captain, we... hit the rocks!"
Hit the rocks!
this!