Pirate Kingship.

Chapter 216 Horse Latitude, Calm Belt

call--!
The sea breeze howled, filling the sails.

The northeast wind that prevails in the Bantaan Islands all year round provides a perfect side wind for every sailboat that sets out to sea and continues to explore the south.

It's not a headwind, nor a tailwind, but a side and rear wind.

For every captain, there is nothing better than a smooth sailing.

If there is, it must be this side wind that keeps blowing!

The world's fastest three-masted ship, the Golden Hind, sailed south from its base camp, Rapids Fortress, and its first stop was the Santa Clara Lighthouse at the southernmost tip of Yucatan Island.

This is the end point of the land area of ​​the Bantaan Islands and the boundary limit of the Taya Empire's living area for thousands of years.

Going further south, you will penetrate deep into the vast and deep sapphire sea and reach the boundary of the "celestial circulation".

There are no indigenous city-states or outsider towns in Santa Clara, only a towering lighthouse standing on a huge reef.

The lighthouse is managed by a lighthouse keeper all year round to light a way home for all the brave explorers who head out to sea.

Byron looked at the tall lighthouse moving farther and farther away behind him, and the dark blue water getting deeper and deeper under the ship, and he let out a sigh:

“We have arrived at a truly unexplored and wild place overseas.”

The last page of the logbook in the right eye also changed.

[Secret: Prophecy, Kingship, and the prophecy of racial revival by the god of the Wild Hunt, Woden, historical influence 69] The decoding density jumped from 20% to 22%.

The logbook also began to automatically record a new adventure map, marking the route taken by Byron and the Golden Hind as well as the hydrological conditions along the way.

The last time the density of this secret was increased due to a long voyage was when he had just set foot on the first circulation belt of the "Echidna Triangle".

Dare to be the first, explore the unknown, and practice the motto: I am a pioneer, which is what this [Storm Knight] should do.

Seizing territory, recruiting soldiers, industrial construction, serving as confidant for others, etc. are just side jobs.

"Order! From now on, the Golden Deer will enter level 3 combat readiness.

Crew members at each post are divided into three groups for rotation, and the warning taboos are the same as those in the first circulation zone.

We set sail from Iron Anchor Bay in the Old World last year. Today, as long as we cross the sapphire sea ahead, we will catch up with the exploration progress of our predecessors who have been pioneering for nearly a hundred years. "

Listening to Byron's voice clearly transmitted to their ears by the sea breeze, every crew member, regardless of their profession, became excited.

"Roar--!"

Especially the extraordinary people who have the support of the sea of ​​human collective subconsciousness can clearly feel the infinite excitement surging from the bottom of their hearts.

That is the sense of mission and epicness of participating in expanding the entire known world of mankind!

The Age of Discovery is no longer an illusory concept.

At this moment, it is not in historical materials or textbooks, but in the steering wheels, ropes, sails in their hands, and of course in the barrels of flintlock rifles!

"Don't worry, Captain. The 120 best sailors out of the nearly people in the entire Vanguard Navigation Colonial Trading Company are all here.

We are fearless! "

"All of you guys, get moving."

Daily voyages did not require Byron's personal command, so naturally the first mate Bruch would do it. The guardian knight held the steering wheel tightly and led the singing of the pirate song:
"Riding the wind and waves, ten cannons; not sailing, but flying.

Terror is the name, pirate is the surname; within a hundred miles, who wouldn’t be frightened?

[Singer] Jacqueline got a cocked hat and a black eye mask from somewhere, and followed the lead in a strange way, singing more vigorously than all the pirates:
"My brave warriors, sail forward; there are no enemy ships, and the sea is calm.

Selfless and fearless, invincible. Twenty slave girls, serve me."

"Hahaha"

When the word slave girl was heard, all the outlaws on the ship laughed wildly and joined in the song while they worked:
"One hundred nations, pay homage to me. Warships are my treasure, freedom is my heaven, force is my law, and the sea is my home."

Byron was also infected by the atmosphere on the ship, and he drew out his rare sword [White Frost], played the sword and sang:

“In the ocean, I am the only one.

There are no laws, no borders, no flags, only us.

Those who follow me will prosper, those who go against me will perish!

The king of the sea is here to cruise. All the prey will be distributed by me. The money will be distributed equally, and the beauty will be left behind."

A "Pirate Song" composed by the Castilians, the maritime overlords, unexpectedly fits the identity and state of mind of everyone on the Golden Deer.

Nearby, Violet had no extra thoughts about Byron singing "Stay Beautiful."

Even her father, the whale hunter Jack Harold, who was usually so serious and busy, had so many lovers besides her mother that one could not count them on one hand.

What’s more, he is the last Lancaster?

If the Red Rose Family had not encountered such a disaster, Byron would probably have been arranged to get married by the royal family right after his coming-of-age ceremony.

It is impossible for him to go on an adventure at sea without having offspring.

The girl just looked quietly at the domineering young pirate captain with a slightly blurred look in her eyes.

He firmly believed in his heart that he was destined to become the Pirate King.

"As for my ideal? Well, I want to follow in the footsteps of my father, the Whale Hunter, and become the first female Pirate King."

Of course, after singing, we won’t forget the important things.

For this team whose average age is only in their early twenties, although they are young and energetic, they also have to be vigilant.

There is a principle that all sailors know: "Clear water is shallow, deep water is green, wide water is blue, and deep water is black."

The Sea of ​​Monsters in the neighboring Echidna Triangle is pitch black all year round, just as deep as the Sea of ​​​​Source on the edge of the collective subconscious of mankind, like a bottomless abyss.

For people who suffer from thalassophobia, they might be scared to death just by looking at it.

Although the Sapphire Sea here is not as dangerous as the Sea of ​​Monsters to the point where there is almost no return, it is not a place that ordinary merchant ships with weak firepower dare to set foot on.

At least not until the exploration ship established a new colony and explored a relatively safe sea route.

However, if they could discover specialties in the New World that were comparable to or more valuable than spices, then any obstacles would no longer be an obstacle.

Even if fireballs and knives rained down from the sky, they could not stop the colonists from coming one after another.

"Look, there's a really big whale over there, and there are marks of suction cups on its body.

A single suction cup is larger than a carriage. What kind of deep-sea monster could have left such a mark? The reality is even more amazing than the limits of my imagination. "

"There's also a moving island there. No, it's a giant clam covered with barnacles and algae."

"."

After going deeper into the Sapphire Sea, the further south you go, the more active the source tides become. Various kinds of monsters and sea monsters frequently appear in the deep sea, and the danger level rises sharply.

Moreover, this place is already on the edge of the "World Serpent - Celestial Circulation". If the navigator is not professional, it is very easy to get lost in it.

As we all know, the farther away from the Old World, the further the ecological system is from the real world and the closer it is to mythology.

According to those adventurers who were shot in the knee by an arrow while in the celestial current and had to retreat back to the Bantaan Islands.

The creatures active there are infinitely close to the legendary mythological era.

Creatures that had long been extinct in the Old World before the Silver Age also occasionally appear:
The beautiful [Siren] who can confuse the crew with her beautiful singing and eat their flesh;
The Harpies like to kidnap strong sailors in groups to find breeding partners for themselves and continue their species;
Just open your mouth and you can create a whirlpool in the seawater and swallow everything.
Some even claim to have seen a dragon standing on top of the mythical creature!

The big turtles, big crabs and big starfish that can be seen everywhere in the Taiman Islands are not even worthy of carrying shoes compared to them.

However, the most dangerous are not these extraordinary creatures that can be seen and touched.

After going deeper into the Sapphire Sea and getting closer and closer to the place where the "celestial current" and Treasure Island appeared, Byron routinely summoned the reserve officers he was responsible for teaching and began classes.

“Everyone knows that it was the Castilians who first opened the Age of Exploration.

But the name "World Serpent·Celestial Circulation" comes from us, the people of Beidiwan, and is derived from the giant earthly python that circles the world.

Strangely, no naturalist or historian can tell the name of the original namer.

Let’s not dwell on this issue today.

I want to ask you, besides those monsters and evil spirits, what is the greatest danger near the celestial circulation? "

"Is it a ghost ship that transports the dead to another world?"

"wrong."

“Is it the mysterious blue hole?”

"That's not right either."

"Ghost King Tide? Headless Wave?"

"Still wrong."

While a group of young candidate officers were still pondering, nature had already answered the question for them.

The northeast wind that had prevailed in this sea area all year round suddenly disappeared without a trace.

The Golden Deer, which was sailing at full speed, had to gradually stop after losing wind.

"what happened?"

The crew members were confused and leaned on the sidewalls to look around at the sea, but they found nothing.

Only Byron, who possessed the [Weather Intuition], had anticipated this, clapped his hands, and revealed the answer to them very straightforwardly:
"This is the most dangerous thing in the celestial circulation - the doldrums!"

The reserve officers chewed on the word:
"A windless zone?"

Comparing it with the scene that just happened around me, I immediately understood the horror behind it.

“It’s the doldrums.

Within 5° north and south of the equator in the center of celestial circulation, there is an 'absolute calm belt', which is the grave of all wind-powered sailing ships.

There, no one can get any help from you, and once you mistakenly enter it, you can only wait for death.

Unless you can fly."

Captain Byron, who could really fly at this moment, showed no sign of nervousness at all.

The [Meteorologist] who transformed into a high tower sequence, smiled and explained in detail the principle of the formation of the doldrums to the crew members who were almost scared to death.

“The doldrums refers to the narrow strip of land between 5° north and south latitude near the equator, which coincides with the celestial circulation and circles the world.

Because the sun shines almost directly here all year round, this is the area with the highest average annual temperature on the surface of the entire spherical world beneath my feet.

The horizontal temperature distribution is too uniform and the horizontal pressure gradient is very small, so the east-west, south-north, and north-south winds necessary for navigation will not form.

Instead, it is dominated by updrafts, so it is called the doldrums. "

In fact, according to meteorologists, there is a calm zone within 30 degrees above and below 5 degrees, whether in the south or north latitude.

It is also known as the "horse latitude" or more figuratively the "dead horse latitude".

This is because the earliest adventurers felt that the Bantaan Islands were too inconvenient without large livestock, so they always carried large livestock such as cattle and horses on every voyage.

But if there is no wind on the way, it doesn't matter for other goods, but the cattle and horses that consume huge amounts of feed can't stand it and die in large numbers.

Because the cattle and horses in this place died of old age, it got such a strange name.

It was not until they discovered the "First Gyre" that they were able to use this major sea transportation artery and the impact of wind was no longer so terrifying.

The name "Dead Horse Latitude" was gradually forgotten by sailors.

But no one can avoid the equatorial doldrums.

“The equatorial doldrums are probably one of the most active places in the world for source tides.

Affected by this, this doldrums not only exists absolutely without any gaps or spaces, but it also expands suddenly in certain areas from time to time, reaching as high as 15° north latitude.

Fortunately, this expansion lasts only a very short time and will return to its original state after just an hour or two.

This time it should only last half an hour.”

There is not completely no wind at sea now, but there is a large-scale updraft.

This is what Byron is least afraid of. As long as he turns on [Son of the Storm] to offset gravity, he can ride the updraft straight up to the sea of ​​clouds and stand shoulder to shoulder with the sun.

As for other sailing ships that dare to go deep into the doldrums and try to cross the "celestial current", they will find a way to encounter a sea monster no matter what.

When there is no wind, you can let the sea monster pull you away so you won’t be trapped to death in the sea.

The location where Treasure Island is scheduled to appear is at the edge of the "celestial circulation", so the risk is still within the controllable range.

However, just as the crew was infected by Byron's calmness and prepared to wait for half an hour, they saw their captain's face suddenly change and he solemnly ordered:
"First level combat readiness, everyone enter combat position, each battery is reloaded, and deep sea jump is initiated!"

(End of this chapter)