Chapter 77: Whimpers of a Departed Spirit
“Oh?” Sheyan relaxed himself as he raised his head to admire the vast dark sky. A warm breeze gently blew across his cheeks.
Sheyan couldn’t help but sigh, he felt that the seabreeze contained a tinge of moist and wildness. A familiar feeling to him who had worked on board a ship for over 7-8 years. It was an indication of an incoming hurricane. Yet, the surrounding of Herb Island contained no such ports to shelter ships from it!
Naturally, Sheyan wasn’t the only one who could sense this inevitable hurricane. In a matter of seconds, the anchored pirate ships all sounded off their unique horns; deep resounding mournful shrills that carried the urgent message for the pirates on shore, to hurry and return.
According to Sheyan’s experience, there was still roughly half an hour before the hurricane reaches here. As such, there wouldn’t be a problem in utilizing the huge winds now to push off the sails and get the ships back to the first-rate sheltering Turtuga port. However, if one were to delay here for over ten minutes, it would be extremely easy for the hurricane to chase up and decimate and massacre the entire ship.
Sheyan exhaled a heavy long breath. The traders sent from Turtuga port should’ve already discovered the disappearance of Madam Lord Fokke, but probably had not found her corpse yet. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be so peaceful and would’ve surely raised their blood flags, sounding off their cannons in search for the culprit.
Instead, this extremely untimely hurricane left them with no choice but to cut short their search and return back to Turtuga port! If they didn’t do so, the goods they purchased would certainly be lost to the sea. To the Fokke family, whose position was currently shaky, this would pose a problem for the family’s foundation. As such, no one dared to bear this responsibility.
Since that was so, the search party for Madam Lord Fokke could only be temporarily suspended, until the hurricane dies down and the winds turn calm before resuming it; thereby tarrying this matter for another 2-3 days. This was an extremely splendid and favourable news to Sheyan. He believed that whatever missed out traces he left, would be wiped clean by the insane Caribbean sea hurricane. Furthermore, the necklace given by Jack Sparrow would not vanish suddenly in just a short time span, this itself was enough.
When a person is merry, his mind becomes absent. When Sheyan hurried back to the Bell and Mug, the drunken pirates resembled headless flies on the ship; aimlessly knocking around in drunken stupor. This was due to the core members like Scarface Harry, Xiaer and even Ammand, probably drinking too much in celebration during the pirates assembly. Hence they were dead drunk and had knocked out in their cabins; snoring so loudly that even if the heavens shook, they wouldn’t be able to hear it.
Although second mate Robben was sober, he was a mediocre man who did not have much prestige. Shouting loudly in vain till his voice turned hoarse, the more he helped the worst it got. A group of drunk pirates even circled him and started dancing.
Upon witnessing this, Sheyan’s expression turned solemn as he took large strides across the deck. Anyone who dared to block him or wildly drunk individuals were all lifted up, thrown or kicked into the sea. Of course, water was a pirate’s dry land, and thus they would not drown. Still, they had to choke on a few mouthfuls of seawater and troubled themselves greatly to return to the ship. A few grumpy pirates even cursed out loud whilst in the water, loudly shouting profanities and threatening to toy with the person’s (the one that threw them overboard) female family members private parts or rape them.
However, when they realized the person they were scolding was Sheyan, they immediately awkwardly shut their mouths in obedience. Even those pirates who weren’t on good terms with Sheyan could only mumbled to themselves and cursed silently.
Very quickly, the order of the ship was restored. Sheyan paced around on deck, shouting and ordering the ruthless pirates and delegated them work. Occasionally, he would even help out in areas that required manpower; occasionally shouting out encouragements to people managing the sails; occasionally nudging or kicking a few pirates and cursed at them.
Strangely, the pirates who were kicked overboard, though they had a belly of bad air, still consented to Sheyan’s action. The effectiveness and efficiency of their work soared, and after not even 10 minutes, the Bell and Mug was the first to raise its sails.
Presently, the imminent hurricane was rampantly exhibiting its signs. Thunderous booming traversed from the distance. If it was day time, surely a pressuring image of massive black clouds would fill the sky.
The sails of the main mast finally raised with the rest, these sails of the Bell and Mug looked gravely swollen from the raging winds. Generating adequate force, this skinny and long ship took off with frightening speed; it was like a graceful flying fish elegantly gliding towards Turtuga port. With such nimble speed, even the king of speed within the Caribbean sea, Black Pearl, had to acknowledge it.
“When did Ammand find such a good navigator?” Several pirate captains gazed upon the sailing figure of the Bell and Mug and exclaimed.
Not even half an hour later, the outline of a majestic cliff that looked like a giant arm appeared in a distance before Turtuga port. The flickering torches of the lighthouse was too dim, like a candle about to be extinguished by the wind. Amidst the turbulent sea, one could clearly see and feel that the entire Caribbean sea was like a giant ripple, brimming with an irresistible dignity.
In the absence of a guiding navigator, Sheyan skillfully shouted and scolded at his crew to hold rudder and successfully anchored within the safety of the port. No doubt, this once again raised the admiration of these pirates and they felt that Sheyan was truly mysterious.
To them, navigating and steering the ship to successfully lay anchor in the darkness was a secret passed on privately amongst navigators. Yet, they had no clue that in Sheyan’s real world, this sort of fundamentals of piloting a ship could be easily learned and grasped. As the ambitious vice captain of his previous ship he worked on, it was essentially a required course that Sheyan had to go through.
Subsequently, other pirate ships begun entering the port consecutively.
Soon after, the hurricane brewed in; raising towering waves as tall as 7-8 meters, thrusting fear into the watchful spectators. Although the ships were resting inside the safe haven of this port, with anchors laid at the bow and tail of the ship, they could still feel the furious storm enveloping the entire Turtuga port.
At this moment, a Beihai style 3-masted huge ship unwillingly drifted shakingly into the port. This was the ship that Turtuga port had sent out for purchasing dirty goods. However, its condition was not spared, its main mast had been chopped down by the billowing winds, the nearby sails on the other two mast had been ripped apart; wildly flapping in mid air. Looking at such a miserable state, it looked as if it would sink at any second.
Sheyan stood at the bow of the ship, signalling to Robben with his hands.
“Prepare a jolly boat, I wish to go ashore.”
The shocked Robben replied.
“Crew head, the taverns are probably closed.”
Sheyan gently replied.
“Can’t I force open the door? Also, I do not fancy staying and sleeping on this ship amidst this storm.”
Robben shrugged his shoulders.
“Your command shall be carried out at once.”
Sheyan nodded and returned to his cabin to grab a few things. After several minutes, he was standing on the pier of Turtuga port.
Even though the billowing hurricane caused a huge chaos, but due to the pirates’ return, a few taverns decided to open their doors to welcome them in. Yellowish pale lights struggled out through the cracks of the door entrance.
Sheyan wasn’t in a rush to enter a tavern, he glanced at the time and made his way to the seashore.
The sea was rolling aggressively, as massive dark blue waves crashed heavily against the thick breakwaters before bursting into thousands of water droplets. Even the ashen colored bricks beneath his feet was distinctly tremoring. This sort of scenario would cause a dryland native to tremble in fear, but this was a common occurrence to Sheyan. He folded his arms against his chest, and peacefully waited atop the breakwater.
Before leaving the port, Sheyan had previously acquired a hidden mission from Chris. He had obtained the mission’s follow-up from Mole Waller back at his grocery store. Although Sheyan was fiercely taken advantage of by that old man, he still gained the benefits of a few mugs of golden rum. At the end, that old man had gave him a crystal ball fragment. This fragment upon placing it in the water, displayed the following pointer:
「 When the midnight bell sounds, whimpers of the departed spirits would be restored into truth, history’s dust would be wiped away, the truth will finally be revealed 」
Currently, this seaside was coincidentally the same place where he previously placed the crystal ball fragment in the water during the day.
When midnight arrived, the surface of the water sparkled with bits of silverish brilliance, as though the bright moon was illuminating the area. Nevertheless, that brilliance gave one a serene yet ice-cold feeling, it was like sucking out the breath of a living person. The areas that were sparkling with this silver brilliance were strangely tranquil, only rippling slightly. Moreover, the raging sea seemed to be suppressed by an invisible layer, and was unable to churn up any billowing waves.
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