Carina gulped down the bottle of rum. Under Zhang Heng's guidance, she managed to divert her attention away from the spice ship they were chasing. However, she did not manage to stay quiet for long. When the alcohol kicked in, she began to talk about other things, most of which were related to her childhood.
She talked about her father, who rarely showed his face since birth, her mother who was obsessed with dancing every day, her lover who sprayed perfume all over her body, her sister who was two years older than her but liked to snatch things from her, and an old dog named Parker …
Most of the things she talked about were intermittent, mixed with her emotions. "I thought we didn't like each other that much. I thought that after my father went to prison, my mother would be with her lover, and my sister would go to London to study painting … because my family was born broken. This is something I realized when I was six years old. Everyone there, including me, was busy with their own things, indifferent to others. But strangely, when the bad news came, no one left."
Carina paused for a moment. "This is the most unreasonable part of the whole thing. We spent our whole lives trying to escape this black hole that swallowed us. But when the opportunity was right in front of us, why did we choose to stay?"
Zhang Heng waited for Carina to reveal her answer, but she started to talk about a salon she attended last year. She complained about how terrible the desserts were and how hypocritical the guests were. After a while, she laid on the table and stopped moving.
Zhang Heng did not wake her up and let her sleep in his room. Instead, he left the captain's cabin. There was nothing else in the cabin other than books, and he did not have to worry about Carina discovering his secrets.
He closed the door behind him, and there was no one in the pitch-black corridor outside.
Zhang Heng did not walk too far. He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. At this moment, he finally felt a deep sense of exhaustion.
Unlike when they left the port in high spirits, the Jackdaw was now shrouded in an atmosphere of doubt and depression. After what happened to the perfume ship and the Duffy, the crew had developed an instinctive suspicion toward the so-called intelligence. Even when Zhang Heng announced the news about the spice ship, it did not boost the crew's morale much.
As time passed, more and more people started to voice their doubts. Zhang Heng was not as calm as he appeared to be, especially when he thought about the failure of the first voyage. The Jackdaw's living environment would undoubtedly deteriorate further. More importantly, as the captain of the ship, he would have to bear the blame as well. When he returned to Nassau, he would have to face an even more dangerous situation.
Therefore, Zhang Heng couldn't help but have his doubts. He had even considered the extreme situation that Karina mentioned. However, there was no point in being overcautious at this point. Instead, he might as well go all the way.
Right now, everyone on the Jackdaw could panic, but as the captain, he could not afford to show even the slightest bit of negative emotions.
In times of helplessness, everyone would naturally place their hopes on the captain, hoping that he would be able to lead the ship out of this predicament. His confidence and calmness were the last consolation for the sailors. Zhang Heng knew that the current situation was not entirely a bad thing. If he could really lead everyone through this crisis, he would be able to quickly establish his prestige among the new and old crew members and become a true leader.
However, the question now was, could he really do it?
Zhang Heng did not know the answer to this question. In the previous few rounds of the game, he basically only needed to take care of himself and do what he needed to do. He was the same kind of person. When he was in school, he rarely participated in group activities and preferred to be alone. It was not that he did not know how to communicate with others, but he simply did not like to do such things.
However, the main mission of this round of the game was to establish his own power. To him, this was an unprecedented challenge. From the very beginning, he was forced to deal with Frazer and Orff. During his time on the Sea Lion, Zhang Heng not only learned various skills related to sailing, but he also learned and thought about the way Orff and Teach led their crew.
Fraser had also given him a lot of help in this matter. The old pirate had once said that outstanding captains didn't necessarily have the same characteristics, but without exception, they were all people who could make use of their characteristics to the extreme.
Take Blackbeard Teach for example. Although he rarely participated in the ship's affairs, the crew on the Sea Lion deeply respected him. For a whole three years, not a single crew member dared to challenge his position as the captain. Or Black Prince Sam. He was the most loyal pirate leader in all of Nassau. All the pirates under his command loved and respected him from the bottom of their hearts. And then there was Honegg. Before he retired, he was known for his generosity. Everywhere he went, he had followers.
That was why Zhang Heng had been thinking about his characteristics since early in the morning. He did not want to rule by fear like Teach, and it would be difficult for him to mingle with the sailors at the bottom of the hierarchy like Black Prince. Honegg's generosity was not something everyone could learn.
After thinking about it for a long time, Zhang Heng decided to label himself with trust. He hoped that the Jackdaw's crew could trust him, especially when they were in trouble. Everyone would think of him and trust him unconditionally. As time went by, the crew on the Jackdaw would not hesitate to carry out his every order, even if they did not understand the meaning behind it.
Zhang Heng knew that this was the most difficult path to take. There was no shortcut to this kind of thing. The only thing he could do was to forge his skills through every crisis. Once he succeeded, the pirate group he led would possess the ability to execute and tenacity that other pirates did not have. It would be difficult to defeat them.
However, all these were for the future. If he could not lead his crew through this crisis, everything would be for naught.
… …
"You look very tired." A voice suddenly came from the darkness.
Zhang Heng opened his eyes and saw a face right in front of him. He did not know when the red-haired girl had appeared in front of him, holding an oil lamp. However, with the surrounding environment, it felt like he was in a horror movie.
Annie looked at the tightly shut door behind him and asked suspiciously, "You guys …"
"Erm, she came to me to discuss the plan for tomorrow."
"What's the plan for tomorrow? Aren't we chasing that spice ship until we catch up with it? "The red-haired girl was puzzled.
Zhang Heng could not refute her. Perhaps Anne was the only person on the ship who had never wavered. He did not know if it was because the red-haired girl had a big heart or something else, but she never seemed worried about the outcome of this operation.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
