Chapter 557 - 61: Return Journey (Part 2)
A moment later, he made an even more terrifying discovery—
The speed of the ship was not only not slowed by the headwind, it was continuously increasing!
From the initial 8 knots to nearly 10 knots now, it seemed to defy the will of nature, navigating the sea with some fish-like limbs.
"Oh my God! What on earth am I seeing?"
Seeing something that overturned his understanding, Havier jumped off the sofa, holding his head and murmuring to himself.
The other Spanish sailors, curious about his discovery, gathered around Havier and whispered inquiries.
When Havier expressed his judgment, these people initially found it unbelievable, thinking Havier had been frightened.
But the sofa’s armrest was not locked, and after they stepped on it to look out, they all took on the same "seeing a ghost" expression as Havier.
An old sailor was even so shocked that he kept muttering—
"How is it possible, how is it possible..."
...
The sailors on the Steel Bone did not know what kind of awe-inspiring power the ship their leader built actually had.
Before starting a new life, they were like "frogs at the bottom of a well" who could only see a small piece of the sky. The whole world was advancing, only they were stuck in stagnation.
They did not know what kind of technology was used by external navigators to build ships, nor did they understand how firearms and cannons were invented and utilized.
No comparison, no harm.
From the very start, these blank sheets were written with the usage method of Chen Family rifles, outlined with the driving principles of steamships.
The era of sailing ships faded from the world of sailors along with Chen Zhou’s education.
To the sailors, the history of navigation seemed to leap from canoes to steamships in a single bound.
As for the hundreds of years in between, they have yet to clearly comprehend.
Chen Zhou plans to have contemporary navigators teach them this knowledge.
Even ancient sailing ship researchers of later generations could not understand sailing ships better than 17th-century sailors.
Chen Zhou doesn’t have much knowledge stored in this area, and as a person who is well aware of his skills, he dared not mislead others in this regard even if he liked teaching—
During future battles at sea, his hypothesized knowledge and data could very well affect the course of the battle, deciding the life and death of dozens or even hundreds of people.
Chen Zhou is willing to teach the islanders the verified knowledge learned from the modern era without any reservation. However, he dared not fabricate what he did not understand.
This is quite different from many obstinate and self-opinionated rulers.
...
With ample fuel supply, the steam engine gradually operated at full capacity, and the speed of the Steel Bone reached its theoretical peak, leaving a broad ripple on the sea, heading straight for the Big Island.
The sailors stood on the deck, holding long guns, each showing a joyful expression at the thought of the islanders welcoming them at the port.
This operation was exceptionally smooth. They captured the tribe leader and took a group of Spaniards’ prisoner with only a few shots fired, which, according to the sailor handbook, should be considered a "commendable performance."
Upon thinking of the possible rewards upon landing the island and even a celebration banquet, every face was filled with pride and joy.
Even Sunday, the usually cold and harsh commander and captain, was noticeably more amiable.
...
At the bow of the Steel Bone, Sunday, in a camouflage uniform, stood with an upright posture, accompanied by a native girl in a loose sailor uniform.
This girl, according to the tribe leader, was brought over from the Spanish gathering area.
There were not many who understood both native and Spanish languages, to interrogate the Spaniards and obtain more accurate intelligence, Sunday did not hesitate to take risks—
Along with taking those "two-tongued" indigenous servants from the Spanish gathering, he cleared out the entire area and captured the remaining few Spanish sailors.
Sunday intended to search the Spanish gathering area to find the treasures mentioned by Chen Zhou.
But the team he led was short of hands, with only 11 people including himself, managing both natives and Spanish captives had them stretched for resources, wanting to undertake anything else might lead to other issues.
This operation had already wiped out all armed threats on the island.
At the speed of the Steel Bone, they could make several round trips between the two islands in one day, transporting the captives back to the Big Island for placement, after a brief rest, they could promptly return to the small island.
...
Inside the confinement room, the Spanish sailors nervously awaited their "final judgment."
Although they already knew these people were civilized, the cruelty of the civilized world was merely more dignified than that of primitive people, and the pain and torture might be even more severe than in primitive society.
Knowledge can make people more sympathetic, but it also enables them to understand more ways to inflict pain.
A stranger nation, an unfamiliar world, how it would view outsiders, was a terrifying question for the sailors—
After all, as outsiders, their attitude toward the local natives hadn’t been so friendly.
To be more precise, they treated the natives entirely as slaves or even livestock, so naturally, they were filled with fear.
Havier did not know where this ship was heading, as he listened to the continuous rumbling of the steam engine, his heart surged like the seawater pushed away by the ship.
Frequently stepping onto the sofa armrest to look out to sea, the corner of the island visible when docked ashore had long disappeared, leaving only the endless azure sea and sky.
No matter how experienced, the old sailor could not determine the direction or destination through this narrow view.
This group seemed to emerge from some fissure of the world, they spoke a language Havier had never heard, navigating an iron ship he’d never seen, slicing through waves driven by some demon or malicious power.
Even if Havier racked his brains, he couldn’t fathom the future of himself and his companions.
The anxiety in his heart could not be alleviated, pushing Havier to the brink of collapse several times, he sat on the sofa holding his head, involuntarily replaying various experiences in his mind since he could remember.
From a hunter to a sailor, over these years, he had lied through his teeth, drank and smoked excessively, had a foul temper, stolen, deceived, hired prostitutes, got women pregnant, and then disappeared, he had done too many bad things.
Havier had heard the priest say that there are seven deadly sins in the world: pride, envy, sloth, wrath, greed, gluttony, and lust.
Now looking back, he felt he had genuinely committed all seven sins, and thus couldn’t help feeling some regret in his heart.
However, what Havier regretted was not the things he had done in the past, but why he boarded this merchant ship and followed the orders of the ever-irritating Kilian—
As usual, he attributed the roots of his misfortunes to others, as if others could control his legs, leading him onboard and across the island.
...
The deep rumbling in the depths of the cabin ebbed and flowed with Havier’s thoughts, eventually gradually diminishing.
Time had not passed long; Havier didn’t expect the destination to be so close to the small island, thinking the ship had encountered some incident at sea, he got up and skillfully stepped onto the sofa to look out.
However, before he could see the scene outside the window clearly, footsteps echoed from outside the room.
Realizing his status as a captive, unbinding oneself violated the rules, Havier dared not act recklessly and promptly jumped off the sofa armrest, crouching on the ground, cautiously casting his gaze toward the door.
Within two seconds of stabilizing his position, the door was opened by a sailor in a blue uniform.
Noting that the prisoners inside had all untied their belts, the sailor did not reprimand but just gestured with his hand.
The guards behind him immediately surged forward, using thin yet durable steel cables to bind these unruly individuals again —
But this time, what the Spanish sailors felt was not just "tight."
The thin steel cables deeply cut into the captives’ wrist flesh, not to mention aiding their companions to unbind, even remaining still would induce piercing pain.