In the sky, the dense dark clouds that shrouded the entire sky released torrential rain under the pressure of the gale, as though it would soon crush the sea.
On the surface of the sea, the rolling huge waves were like the palm of a demon god, tossing the thousand-ton cargo ship around like a toy. The mournful cries of the unfortunate crew members who fell into the sea could be faintly heard in the wind and rain.
When lightning flashed across the night sky and illuminated the distorted faces of those who fell into the water, everyone in the caravan could clearly feel the taste of despair.
"Throw away the goods! We must throw away the goods to reduce the weight of the ship! Otherwise, we'll all die …" At the last moment, the human desire to survive finally prevailed over greed and the order of social hierarchy. A few young sailors on the flagship of the fleet, who had tied themselves to the mast with ropes, could no longer suppress the panic in their hearts and told the most direct and simple life-saving method for a ship in a desperate situation.
The instant their words left their mouths, the cold rain rushed into these sailors' mouths, choking them so much that they began to cough in a heart-wrenching manner. However, with someone taking the lead, the old sailors, including those senior fleet guards who had a few years of sailing experience, immediately shouted, "That's right! We can only throw the goods into the sea if we want to live …" Smashing open the cargo cabin door, they began to throw the valuable Hellfire specialties into the sea.
When Vitas saw the crazy actions of the sailors and guards from the window, he opened the door trembling and shouted in exasperation, "You guys don't want to live anymore! All of you don't want to live anymore! These are the goods of the Golden Velvet Flower Trading! Just try it if you dare to throw them into the sea …" However, both of his hands were gripping the door handle tightly in the cabin, not daring to walk up to the deck.
At such a critical moment of life and death, of course, such a cowardly and powerless action of the middle-aged merchant would not have any effect. Nobody knew whether it was an illusion or it was really effective, but after throwing away some goods, the crew and guards of the flagship of the caravan felt that the wooden ship under their feet had become much more stable.
For this reason, they worked harder to throw away all the things in the warehouse that could be thrown away by manpower into the sea, as though they would have more hope of survival if they reduced the weight by one kilogram.
When the rain clouds gradually dissipated, the surface of the sea slowly returned to its calm state. When the warm sunlight shone through the clouds and onto the deck, everyone was stunned at first. Then, they sat on the ground in ecstasy and shouted at the top of their lungs, "We've won! We've made it! Hooray! We've won …"
"I actually survived, I actually survived, haha … I've been drifting on the sea for twenty years and I've never heard of such a huge storm, but I actually survived, haha …"
"This must be the protection of the Ocean Goddess, Tiinaros. If it wasn't for the help of the gods, we would have been buried at the bottom of the sea yesterday. Great Tiinaros, I will pray to you more sincerely in the future …"
Upon hearing the noisy cheers outside the cabin, especially when some people began to pray to the god they believed in, Zhang Lisheng curled his lips and sealed a sturdy animal skin bag before hanging it on his waist. Turning around, he strode out of the room.
There was still a wet drizzle falling from the sky, but the sea breeze was no longer as suffocating and frantic as it was during the storm. Instead, it had become refreshing and pleasant.
Walking around the deck and looking at the sea, the caravan, which originally had hundreds of cargo ships, only had less than 20 tattered ships left. The only reason these survivors were not destroyed by the terrible tsunami last night was that the young man had consumed three faith gems and quietly saved them.
In fact, Zhang Lisheng could have saved the flagship of the fleet without burning the power of the faith stone. In fact, he could have even saved two or three more cargo ships in order to deceive others, but that would have been too easy for others to see through him.
For the sake of caution, after pondering over it, he finally decided to use the 'strategic reserve' of the faith stone. When the young man recalled that he had used up three faith stones for no reason, he subconsciously touched the animal skin bag on his waist and sighed secretly.
Fortunately, Zhang Lisheng was very satisfied with the effect of releasing the faith stone. That feeling of having everything under his control could be said to have confirmed the goal of his first effort. When the young man was savoring it, he suddenly heard a hoarse and sharp shout. "It's gone! It's all gone!
Other than the ballast wood, all of the other goods have been thrown away by you guys! Do you know how much gold coins that is worth? A city! A wealth that can buy a small city has been thrown into the sea just like that! According to the Maritime Law, you guys have to compensate! Compensate … "
"Mr. Vitas, it was Anozi and Sandra who first brought up the idea of throwing the goods to save their lives. We're just following their instructions. Besides, I saw that the other cargo ships in the caravan have also thrown their goods into the sea. I'm afraid those merchant ships that escaped the tsunami are the same as us, they only have wood left in their cargo ships. Everyone is the same.
Besides, you didn't go up to the deck to stop us from throwing the goods into the sea during the tsunami last night. Now that we're out of danger, it's all thanks to this method that we managed to save our lives, but you want us to compensate? Even though I'm just an ordinary old sailor who doesn't know anything about the Maritime Law, I'm afraid the Sailors' Guild won't agree to this if you want to charge us with this crime.
I'm just afraid that we'll damage your reputation and the trading company's reputation for nothing. "
"That's right, Mr. Vitas! There are only more than ten cargo ships left out of the 109. Everyone knows how dangerous the storm last night was. I don't believe that the judge will convict us if we throw the goods to save our lives in such a situation."
"That's right! Usually, the guild won't stand up for us, but I don't believe that nobody will care about this kind of thing …"
The sailors' words rendered the middle-aged merchant speechless, especially when he heard the word 'reputation.' He felt as though the strength in his body was slowly being sucked away by someone. Very soon, it disappeared without a trace as he slowly slumped onto the deck like a pile of mud.
Vitas knew that if he was faced with a single sailor, he could easily crush him. However, when this number became hundreds or thousands, his status was not enough to reverse the truth.
When the middle-aged merchant thought of the loss of this voyage, he felt a little desperate. After calming down and carefully calculating, he realized that he could actually afford to lose the goods. After all, even though the value of those Hellfire specialties was high, they were exchanged with slaves. If he was lucky, perhaps he could just use the wood on the remaining cargo ships to offset the loss. At most, he would have taken the risk for nothing.
However, the value of those large cargo ships belonging to the powerful families that he represented in the caravan was simply incalculable. Now that so many of them had been destroyed, even if the tsunami was an irresistible natural disaster, how could he escape the punishment?
When the middle-aged merchant was worrying about his unpredictable future, one of the sailors by the side unintentionally looked to the east and suddenly shouted with a dumbfounded expression, "I-Is that my illusion or is there really a harbor? Or is it a mirage? Don't tell me that it's a mirage?"
When a bearded burly man, who was sitting shoulder to shoulder with the startled sailor, heard his words, he stood up in surprise and rushed to the bow of the ship to shield his eyes with his hand to take a closer look. Then, he turned around and shouted in ecstasy, "That's the city wall of the Sea Haines City! It's not a 'painting' drawn by the devil in the sky! Our ship has returned to the Sea Haines City!"
There were many legends in the Kattaman City State of being swept by the storm and waves overnight after encountering a tsunami and drifting for thousands of kilometers. However, it was unheard of for a ship to remain in an eastward direction and actually sail back directly in the end.
At this time, even the sailors who did not believe in ghosts and gods began to whisper in their hearts. By the time the fleet docked at the harbor outside the city, almost everyone was thanking the Sea Goddess Tinaros for her grace in a whisper.
The caravan consisting of more than ten large and giant cargo ships was not eye-catching in the Sea Haines City State's Sea Haines City Port, which was known as the secondary capital of the Kattaman City State. However, all of the ships were dilapidated and looked as though they would fall apart at any time, so it was very eye-catching.
Soon, a group of idle people gathered on the shore and stood under the huge ship, whispering and looking up. Most of these people were strong laborers waiting to load and unload goods at the port, while the rest were the shop assistants and bosses who happened to come to the port to watch the bustle.
"M-Mr. Vitas, i-is this your Golden Seagull?" Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the lucky ones who had escaped the disaster went down the suspension ladder. Those whose suspension ladder was broken had to rely on the cable as they forced themselves to disembark one by one. When it was Vitas's turn, a sudden exclamation resonated from the crowd, "Y-You've encountered a tsunami?"
"Yes, Mr. Savich." Turning his head to look at the unrecognizable giant ship behind him, Vitas quietly took a deep breath and resumed his pretentious posture. Looking in the direction of the voice, he smiled at a short old man with sparse hair who was dressed in bright silk luxurious clothes and said, "A terrifying storm that's rarely seen in hundreds of years. More than a hundred ships are only left with these few ships to return.
It's all thanks to the protection of Her Highness Tinaros that I can talk to you now. "
"Oh my god! Only 16 of the 100 large cargo ships have returned! The Golden Velvet Flower Trading has really suffered a heavy loss!"
"Not all of the lost cargo ships belong to our trading company. Not only that, the returning ships are filled with wood produced in the Hellfire Sea, so the loss is still acceptable," Vitas pretended to be reserved as he said.
"The wood from the Hellfire Sea is a hot commodity. You can always find 'good stuff'. If it's possible, I hope to book two ships. You can just name the price." Upon hearing that it was profitable, the short old man's eyes lit up right away. No longer bothering to comfort his unlucky colleague, he said with a chuckle.
"25 gold coins per square meter. You can pay after inspecting the goods. I've discovered a new trade route and obtained the trading right of a Hellfire tribe. In the future, you can have as much of this wood as you want." The middle-aged merchant said forthrightly, "Alright, Mr. Savich. That's it then. I'll go back to the trading company first.
The loss of this trade is huge, so I must report to my boss as soon as possible. "Then, he strode away from the port.
The port occupied a large area. Vitas would take off his hat to pay his respects to the merchants he was familiar with along the way. He did not reveal the flustered and exasperated look he had on the ship at all. However, when he left the port and turned into a remote alley, the middle-aged merchant's spirit collapsed right away. He flashed a bitter smile that was uglier than crying at the black-haired young man who had been following him.
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