It wasn't until after dinner that Zhang Heng had time to check his character panel. His information had been updated once again.
Name: Zhang Heng
Gender: Male
Age: 19
Player ID: 07958
Rounds completed: 3
Current game points: 777
Items in possession: Shadow Key (E), Shadow Moment (D)
Skills: Piano Lvl 1, Language Proficiency Lvl 1 (Proficient in three languages for daily communication), Car Modification and Maintenance Lvl 1, Skiing Lvl 1, Rock Climbing Lvl 1, Archery Lvl 2, Wilderness Survival Lvl 2, Driving Lvl 2, Shooting Lvl 2
Evaluation: The player is sheltered by shadows. At the same time, he has driving, shooting, wilderness survival, and archery skills. He has a certain degree of self-defense, but does not have any obvious strengths. Estimated to be able to complete seven rounds of the game.
… …
After three months of practice in the real world and 48 hours of training, Zhang Heng's rock climbing had finally broken through from Lvl 0 to Lvl 1. Now, he could climb most man-made rock walls with his bare hands. As for natural rock walls, it would depend on the situation. The angle and the quality of the rock could affect the difficulty of climbing.
Shooting and Skiing were the two new skills that he had acquired in the last quest. Shooting was also the skill that he had displayed the most talent in so far. It only took him a month to level up from a newbie who had just touched a gun to Level 1. The night when he and Simon escaped from the guerrilla's camp and fought the mysterious expert by the lake, it also stimulated the potential in his body.
In the end, not only did he win the life-and-death battle, but he also upgraded his shooting skill to Lvl 2.
And that was not the end. After that, he lived with Simon in Sweden. The two often went hunting in the mountains together, and Simon taught him all kinds of skills, including rapid shooting. Zhang Heng's shooting skill had long surpassed Lvl 2, but he didn't know how far he was from Lvl 3.
In fact, he also discovered that when a skill reached Lvl 2, it would become very difficult to improve it further. That meant that one had already reached an outstanding level among ordinary people, and the room for improvement would become increasingly narrow. Take his Lvl 2 archery as an example. Zhang Heng felt that he could only maintain this level with practice. If he wanted to advance to the next level, he would need some other external stimulation.
Just like the life-and-death battle by the lake that night. Unfortunately, this kind of thing was not easy to encounter. If possible, Zhang Heng hoped that he would never encounter it.
After understanding the current situation, Zhang Heng closed the character panel.
As night fell, the waves on the sea grew stronger. Lying in the hammock, Zhang Heng could feel the dinner he had just eaten shaking back and forth in his stomach. He had been on a ship before, but it wasn't for long, only half a day. The wind and waves were relatively calm, so he didn't get seasick.
But this time, the situation was obviously different, especially in the crowded forecastle. He was lying with a group of pirates who hadn't bathed for a long time, and the air was mixed with all sorts of unpleasant smells. After a while, Zhang Heng could not help but vomit.
Upon seeing this, the pirates burst into laughter. "Are you kidding me? Are you a fledgling on your first voyage?"
"Yeah, I'm starting to regret letting him join us on the deck." Another pirate chimed in.
Life on the sea was boring, so finding fun was a basic skill for pirates.
However, there were also helpful guys among them. A black pirate handed Zhang Heng a wooden bucket so that he could vomit in it. He also poured a glass of water for Zhang Heng.
"Thank you."
After vomiting, Zhang Heng felt a little better. He rinsed his mouth with fresh water and thanked the pirate.
"You're welcome. Don't take their words to heart. Those guys are just bad mouths. They're not bad people. You'll find out when you stay here for a while." The black pirate stretched out a hand. "Goodwin, the gunner of the Sea Lion."
"Zhang Heng." Zhang Heng held the wooden bucket with one hand and shook hands with the other.
"I saw your performance on the deck. It was very impressive. What did you do before? A soldier?" Goodwin asked excitedly.
"Something like that. I did participate in … a war before."
"Did you win?"
"Not really. But at least I and the people I care about survived."
"You're so lucky. I also participated in a war, but we lost." Goodwin pulled up his collar, revealing the brand on his left chest.
"My tribe was defeated by another tribe. They killed my father, mother, and the elders in the tribe. They sold me, my brother, and my six-year-old sister to a slave team. I don't remember how long we were on the ship. At that time, everyone was shackled, crammed into a small cargo hold at the bottom. We couldn't move, and in fact, we didn't even have the space to breathe. When we arrived at the place they called the New World, less than eighty of the three hundred black people on the ship were still breathing. My brother died in my arms."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Zhang Heng said.
The black slave trade began in the 15th century and reached its peak in the 17th and 18th centuries. The development and construction of the colonies required a large amount of cheap labor. It was obviously unrealistic to rely on the small number of European immigrants. So the merchants shifted their attention to Africa, where European countries competed to set up trading posts and fortresses, instigated relations between tribes, purchased war captives, or hunted black slaves themselves.
Now, Zhang Heng was in the era when the triangular trade was flourishing. Merchants traveled from Europe to Africa to buy black slaves, then transported them to the Americas to be sold to American plantations and farmers. After that, they would transport American specialties such as gold, coffee, and cotton back to Europe to reap a huge profit.
This situation lasted until the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, when Britain, France, and the United States gradually banned the black slave trade. However, although the government no longer supported this practice, private smuggling was still rampant. The true decline of the black slave trade would have to wait until the 1860s.
"I was bought by a coffee planter in Charleston. I worked there for eight years, and then I was sold to a ship as a sailor. I did the most work, but the food was the worst. Until she found us."
"Who?"
"The Sea Lion. She gave me freedom and accepted me. The people up there treat me as a comrade, a brother. When we fight, we watch each other's backs. There's no such thing as a master or a slave here. We're all equal and free people. Besides, we all have the same home."
"Where?"
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