Pirate Kingship.

Chapter 355 Broken Isles, Siren Song

Wow
The elegant bow with the figurehead of the South Wind Maiden slowly pushed aside the dark sea that was a little too calm under the fog.

The ship's hull, which seemed to be made of pure gold, brought a touch of vivid color to this quiet place, as if even this dark and desolate sea had become bright.

The white sculpture standing in the center of the golden light is a slender and graceful half-naked girl dancing in the wind, wearing only a thin layer of gauze.

Although it is a hard sculpture, the girl's body movements and the layer of tulle perfectly outline the shape and rhythmic vitality of the wind.

With just a casual glance, you can immediately notice that there is a warm spring breeze blowing around her.

That's exactly what happened.

In the doldrums that span five degrees north and south of the equator, there was clearly no lateral wind parallel to the sea surface, only updrafts, but the sails of the Golden Deer were still almost full.

Thanks to the magical effect of this figurehead:

"Wind conductor. Twist and change the wind direction within a certain range, so that the sea breeze blowing over the warship tends to be the side wind that is most conducive to sailing.

Changing the angle to plus or minus thirty degrees will allow you to easily take advantage of the updraft."

In addition, a [large-scale sea monster, ammonite] Xiao Snail can use animal power to pull, giving the Golden Deer a double insurance for passing through the doldrums.

Byron looked up at the sky:
"It's just five o'clock in the evening now, and the windless zone, which should be directly exposed to the sun, has already become completely dark."

Then he ordered the crew:
"Light up the navigation lights, the first mate repeated the taboos of night navigation."

A whale oil lamp with inferior spice powder added was hung high on the main mast of the Golden Deer.

The bright light with a slight bluish tint sends a signal to other ships on the sea and nearby lighthouses at any time - there is a ship here.

This is common practice when sailing on a fixed route.

Unless you're alone on a boat exploring the open ocean, it's a good idea to prove to others that you're human.

While avoiding collisions, we also avoid misjudgments.

[Iron Wall] Bruch stood on the rear deck, and his voice was clearly heard by everyone:

"Please don't be too long-winded. Now let me repeat the taboos of overseas night navigation:
First, do not call each other by name directly, only nicknames or code names are allowed;
Second, if you hear any unusual noises coming from the sea, do not investigate privately, but report to me or the captain immediately. We will take turns on duty at night.

Third, once you are separated from other crew members during night work, you should immediately verify the password and position of the other party when you meet them again to make sure that the other party is the person you know and not someone else.
Fourth, the danger of the celestial circulation belt is similar to that of the first circulation belt. Do not stare at the sea surface for more than 20 minutes at a time.

If you don't have enough classes and a strong enough [Anchor], you will have the urge to return to the sea and become a fish. The longer the time, the stronger the urge will be.

Now all the crew members on board are on duty in two shifts. One team stays and the other team rests immediately.

As for the Pirate Ten Commandments of the Vanguard Colonial Trading Company, I will not repeat them all.

In a non-wartime state, lights are turned off at 8 p.m. Those who violate this rule will receive ten lashes from a cat-o-nine-tails with bullets tied to it. If no lampshade is used, the punishment will be doubled. "

"Yes, first mate!"

The sailors on the ship were the best crew members in the entire privateering fleet and the Lancaster remnants. After receiving the order, they acted quickly as if they were one.

You know, on an ordinary merchant ship, any extraordinary person is qualified to be the captain, and the proportion of extraordinary people among them is more than half.

The literacy rate has reached an astonishing 100%.

Byron had been preparing for this operation for a long time and had armed the Golden Deer to the teeth from inside to outside, from personnel to equipment.

The farther away from the [Silver Law] and the Old Continent, the more unpredictable the weather will become due to the influence of the source tides.

Although the celestial circulation belt is located at the equator, where the sun is the best in the world, its interior is often filled with fog with extremely low visibility, or even mirages.

This relic battleship moved forward silently in the darkness alone.

Depression, loneliness, and the unknown...all kinds of negative emotions come at once, and every sailor is under a huge psychological test at all times.

Especially at night, all kinds of evil spirits, monsters, demons, and other messy things will emerge.

With only a pair of eyes with limited vision and dim light, it is impossible to defend against the dangers that are everywhere.

"Delia, turn on the Lighthouse Sentinel."

Byron gripped the steering wheel tightly and gave an order to his navigator.

"Yes, Captain."

Delia quickly adapted to her position, agreed crisply, and hung the rare whale oil lantern in her hand on the bracket next to the steering wheel.

She stretched out a slender finger, with a flash of inspiration from her fingertips, and lightly touched the glass shade of the lantern.

The slightly bluish flame exploded into a flower, and then a face belonging to Delia emerged inside.

This is an extraordinary ability unique to a navigator [Lighthouse Sentinel].

Byron's spirit extended upwards, and he suddenly felt a strange wave spreading out from the flame, and then refracted back, and the darkness before his eyes also changed into another appearance.

Even the reefs beneath the dark water surface can be seen clearly.

I couldn't help but praise her:
"Well done, Miss Delia. The navigator is indeed a good helper to the captains."

A compass can work 24/7, but a navigator cannot.

Under normal navigation conditions, a simulated sentry with multiple capabilities can replace your post.

[Navigator] This profession has low combat power but more auxiliary supernatural abilities. Even if it is only low sequence, it can be regarded as the best auxiliary.

The sentinel can indicate obstacles, warn of crises, and detect underwater reefs. It can even connect to nearby lighthouses to provide assisted positioning and course correction services to the helmsman.

When it reaches the middle sequence, there will be no problem even with automatic driving.

Byron knew that there was black magic that could extract the souls of navigators or sailors and create artificial cursed objects to assist in navigation.

Delia smiled:
"Thank you for your compliment, Mr. Captain.

After being verified by the May Wind and the Ocean Throne, this route that can indeed lead to the New World will soon be completely fixed.

Not only will Seagull Messenger 9526 and others be setting up a postal network, but lighthouses along the route will also be built in place one after another under the auspices of the Federation.

The person directly responsible is my father.

By then, the law network will descend upon the Calm Belt to suppress all kinds of evil spirits and monsters, and the entire route will be much safer.

Even if merchant ships and whaling ships do not have the military power of the Golden Deer, they can still travel safely together as long as they abide by the taboos. "

After finishing her work for the day, Delia immediately left with Jacqueline, who had been impatient for a long time.

“My father and mother were very strict at home, and after I started working at the union, I could only wear the standard robe every day, which gave me no freedom at all.

If the congressman hadn't had a good enough reputation, my father wouldn't have agreed to let me get on board.

You can only wear the clothes you like when you go out. Jacqueline, you are such a good person.

Oh, wait a minute, the pendulum shows this side. Ha, this is indeed my room. I didn't get lost this time. I'm really amazing.

I'll bring some spare clothes with me, so we can sleep together tonight.

Just because it can provide unlimited fresh water, the Golden Deer has surpassed 90% of the sailboats. It’s wonderful.”

"OK!

Delia, let me tell you, spider silk worn on your legs can keep you warm in the winter and protect you from the sun in the summer, and it is also very strong.

It feels smoother than silk, and the feel is simply amazing. Touch my thigh to see how it feels. I'm not kidding, am I?
Let me touch it later, too."

"No problem, we are all girls anyway."

Although Byron said he had no idea what they meant by "slippery or not", he had to admit one thing.

Although Jacqueline was a chick herself, she was an expert at picking up girls.

With just a few words, he easily grasped the weakness of a young lady and catered to her preferences, and on the first day of their acquaintance they had progressed to the point of sleeping in the same bed.

Bullshit!
Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Violet, who had been accompanying him as he sailed the boat.

"I should learn from her how to be persistent and proactive.

Even if I include my previous life, I am just an old hand at theory.

Although I have learned a wealth of knowledge from so many teachers, the step of falling in love was omitted in all those learning materials.

I don’t know how to do that at all.”

At this moment, the logbook in the right eye suddenly updated automatically:
“Milestone completed: setting foot in the Southern Hemisphere.”

However, it was the [Golden Deer] that sped all the way, and in the safe waters ahead it occasionally asked the "local snake" Xiao Wo to activate the vortex transmission, and it reached the equator in just one day.

But when they got here, they were in an area that even Xiao Wo was not familiar with, so they did not dare to teleport casually.

Moreover, Byron took out a crystal skull that suddenly dimmed from his pocket.

That is number 12 [North Star God].

Relying on the commanding power of the No. 1 crystal skull on his neck, Byron can exert the power of the thirteen crystal skulls to the limit without chanting.

The ability of this skull is [Real-time Map].

In a large range: it can observe the stars and accurately locate the holder's position, so that he will never get lost (limited to use in the northern hemisphere, the North Star does not reach the southern hemisphere).

They had just crossed the equator and entered the Southern Hemisphere, and this ability instantly became ineffective.

From now on, the only thing we can rely on is human radar like the "Navigator".

In a small range: it can communicate with the spirit of the earth, and produce an accurate real-time map of the terrain and population distribution within a radius of several kilometers and transmit it to the consciousness of the holder.

The closer we are to the Taino people's homeland, the larger the reconnaissance range and the more detailed the information; the farther we are from Yucatan Island, the smaller the reconnaissance range and the more sparse the information.

When you arrive in a completely unfamiliar area, the map range may be reduced to only a few hundred meters.

Once in the Southern Hemisphere, the skull is reduced to half its original capabilities, but is more than powerful enough for many adventures.

The next moment, both the Lighthouse Sentinel and the North Star God gave him a reminder:
"Be careful of the reefs and avoid them."

Soon, as the waves surged ahead, Byron could clearly see white foam connected in strips on the sea in the distance.

This situation means that there are either shallows or reefs there. If you accidentally hit them, the ship will be stranded at best, or even sink in the worst case.

Byron became more cautious as he sailed.

After a while, the ocean landscape changed abruptly, and dark islands appeared at the limit of vision.

Some of them are glittering, some are lifeless, and some are as vibrant as fairyland, but Byron stayed away from all of them.

I have absolutely no interest in getting close to appreciate it.

Violet, who had been accompanying Byron the whole time, saw them and remembered the information she had read in the "Key of Omniscience" at the public library. She blinked her eyes and asked curiously:

"Byron, do you think these islands were once part of the New World?
It is hard to imagine what level of power could tear apart half of the continent."

The naturalists who came here earlier have spent a lot of time exploring repeatedly and published a large number of academic papers to prove their point.

There is a broken continental shelf under the water in this sea area, which is very likely to have once been part of a vast land.

According to the inference of the extraordinary people in the Tower Sequence.

Perhaps one day in the distant past, due to the sudden appearance of a level zero world crack, a powerful source explosion caused part of the continental shelf here to disintegrate.

Not only did it create a huge group of broken islands, it also pushed the entire remaining continental plate southward.

It was precisely because of this discovery, coupled with the direction of ocean currents, that the first group of explorers who arrived at the celestial circulation belt asserted that there must be a vast landmass in the south!

In addition, most of these islands, called the Broken Isles, have spawned many strange and mysterious places rooted in human history and mythology because of that incident.

Each one has specific rules and contains unknown dangers.

There might be treasures, but the greater possibility is something monstrous that devours human lives.

If it were in the Bantaan Islands, every one of them would be a restricted area.

“Perhaps, if we see the New World with our own eyes, these questions may be answered.

But there is no point in exploring these islands when the rewards are unknown.”

The further away from the Old World, the further the ecosystem is from the real world and the closer it is to mythology.

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

Creatures that were said to have become extinct in the Old World long before the Silver Age also appear from time to time:

"The Harpies like to kidnap strong sailors in groups to find breeding partners for themselves and continue their species;
The Mouth of the Abyss, which can create a whirlpool in the seawater and swallow everything by just opening its mouth;
Whale Island is so large that when ships dock, they drag the ships and people into the water.
A beauty that can confuse the crew with its beautiful singing voice and eat their flesh and blood."

Byron had just thought of this, thanks to Violet's topic.

"Ah~ah~ah~"

A faint singing voice suddenly came into his ears.

It is like the beautiful sound of a dolphin. It has no specific lyrics but seems to be able to penetrate people's souls and reach their hearts in an instant.

Then, an island that they had just passed by a few minutes ago appeared in front of them again.

(End of this chapter)