Zhang Heng only communicated with her for a short period of time in the storm, and the information he obtained was similar to the one he got from Seth.
The owner of the voice in his ear claimed that she was an ancient Celtic god who could protect the navigators of the sea and give her believers the ability to control storms.
Of course, this ability was a little discounted. Not only could she control storms, but she could also only use it once a month.
According to Betty, it was because her name was almost forgotten by the world. She promised that if Zhang Heng could recruit more believers for her, she would give Zhang Heng more power. If Zhang Heng could restore her to her peak strength, she would make Zhang Heng the true king of the ocean.
Millions of believers would be needed to achieve this. That was why Betty set her eyes on Zhang Heng. She liked his extraordinary leadership skills.
However, Zhang Heng did not agree to her request immediately. Other than the fact that Zhang Heng would only be staying in this world for a little more than ten years, it would be meaningless even if he became the king of the sea. Other than that, Betty's words reminded Zhang Heng of the monster called Moresby that escaped from Papua New Guinea.
According to the old man in the Tang suit, the monster used to be a totem worshipped by a certain tribe. However, following the demise of the Alkiz tribe, it had to trap itself in a short time loop to survive. When it came out again, it was extremely weak.
And now, Betty's situation made Zhang Heng realize that these so-called supernatural beings were also facing a crisis of survival.
Compared to humans, they were in a much more dangerous situation.
Because of this, Zhang Heng had always been wary of these supernatural beings. When even their basic survival was threatened, how trustworthy could their promises be?
Especially under the premise that he had not figured out what happened to the carrack, it was impossible for him to believe everything Betty said.
But no matter what, he did obtain some useful information from this encounter.
Whether it was Moresby or Betty, their strength seemed to be directly related to the number of believers they had, and they seemed to be afraid of being forgotten by the world.
Zhang Heng had heard many fairy tales when he was young. No matter which mythological system it was, the gods were inseparable from their majesty. They created the world and humans, and they were almost omnipotent. But now, it seemed like the relationship between them was more like a symbiotic relationship.
It was like a crocodile and a toothpick bird, a sea anemone and a hermit crab.
Zhang Heng did not know if this metaphor was appropriate, but watching the sunset by the seaside tonight had nothing to do with what happened before. He just remembered that it had been almost two years since he came to this world, and he was getting more and more used to his current life.
On the other hand, the memories related to his previous life also became more and more distant.
It was only when he saw the setting sun in front of him that he recalled bits and pieces of the other world. Perhaps this was the only thing that had not changed in the past two hundred years.
However, he did not indulge in any nostalgic or sentimental emotions. He quickly pulled himself out of his memories and shared the bottle of rum with Anne in silence. The two of them returned to the beach where the campsite was.
Billy walked over to him. "I don't know if Annie told you, but we're almost done with the repairs and cleaning. We'll be back in the water tomorrow afternoon."
Zhang Heng nodded. "Everyone has worked hard for the past few days. Let's take a half-day break after the repairs are done. We'll depart the day after tomorrow."
Billy had no objections. Not long after he left, Dufresne walked over to Zhang Heng and reported to him, "Our food and water problems have been solved. The supplies on the ship are enough to last us for a month and a half. Considering that we still need to gather the survivors on Parrot Island, I hid the rest of the food and water in a cave on the west side of the beach. This way, we can maximize our mobility. At the same time, if we need to, we can come back here to retrieve the supplies. After all, the two places are only a day apart."
"You did a good job," Zhang Heng praised the quartermaster. However, the quartermaster did not leave.
Dufresne paused for a moment before continuing, "As for the cannons, we've been through a few fierce battles, and we've consumed a lot of them. However, other than the 24-pound cannon, we've also managed to replenish them on Miranda."
Zhang Heng frowned. "If we can't do it, we'll have to replace the 24-pound cannon with a 12-pound cannon."
"Actually, I'm not worried about the cannons. It's the gunpowder," said the quartermaster. "The gunpowder on Miranda isn't waterproof and moisture-proof. Since we were at war, many of the barrels were torn apart. We managed to salvage some of them. I opened two barrels earlier and thought that they were fine. However, when I checked them again just now, I realized that a few of them were severely damp."
"Is there enough gunpowder on the ship for us to fight a battle?"
"About enough for us to fire seven to eight rounds of cannonballs," Dufresne answered after a brief calculation.
This number was still within Zhang Heng's acceptable range. Seven rounds of cannonballs was more than enough to determine the winner of a battle. However, this meant that they had less room for error. Still, there was no reason for them to give up now that they had come this far.
Now that the Jackdaw's hull had been repaired, it was no longer as fragile as before. Even if they couldn't defeat the enemy, they could still choose to escape. Now that his sailing skill had reached Lv.3, Zhang Heng was confident that he could steer the ship.
Whether it was for the five thousand pounds of gold, or for the surviving pirates on the island, or for revenge, this battle was necessary.
Zhang Heng patted Dufresne's shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll use seven rounds to finish them off."
"Yes, captain." The quartermaster was obviously unwilling to return to Nassau empty-handed. All he did was fulfill his duty and report the situation to Zhang Heng. As for the final decision, it was up to the captain.
It was a quiet night.
The next day, the pirates sent the repaired Jackdaw back to the sea on rolling logs. When they saw the new Jackdaw in the water, the pirates burst into cheers. Their hard work for the past few days had not been in vain. Not only had they repaired the cracks and holes in the hull, but they had also used extra materials to reinforce the Jackdaw in preparation for the final battle.
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