Sail Shadows in the Sea of ​​Fog

Chapter 1 Where is this special code?

Sunshine, white sand, coconut trees, and crabs crawling all over the ground.

The above are the first things Cheng Lang saw when he woke up.

What about before the coma?
Cheng Lang lay on the damp beach, letting the playful waves lick the soles of his feet, but his thoughts were pulled back to the scene before he fell into a coma as his whole body trembled uncontrollably.

He clearly remembered that he had just jumped into the sea from his own fishing boat, and was stung by a jellyfish just after entering the water. When he emerged from the sea in panic due to the sting, everything had changed.

no, wrong
Cheng Lang looked around blankly again, and he began to doubt whether his experience before the coma was real.

Enduring the pain all over his body as if he had been beaten, he sat up with difficulty, and then he realized belatedly that he was naked, with only a pendant hanging around his neck with a leather rope.

Where are my clothes?

Cheng Lang was very surprised. Were the clothes still there when he came ashore last night? Why did his memory of last night become so fuzzy?
Subconsciously, he picked up the pendant hanging around his neck and looked at it in front of his eyes.

The pendant was the size of a broad bean, round, warm and transparent, with a jellyfish with a red heart in the middle. It was hung around his neck by a black leather rope, which was not known whether it was made of crystal or jade. He tried to turn it around, but he couldn't find the end of the rope.

Is this mine? When did I get a pendant like this? Cheng Lang held the small pendant in his hand and looked at it over and over again.

"Splash" another wave came up and easily submerged his legs.

The tide is coming in
Cheng Lang touched his forehead with his left hand to make sure he didn't have a fever, then he stumbled to his feet and let go of the pendant that had appeared for no apparent reason, letting it continue to hang around his neck.

Looking around, the beach is only about a hundred meters wide. In the distance, apart from coconut trees, there are dense tropical rainforests and layers of low mountains.

He looked at the coastline washed by the tide again without giving up, but he couldn't help feeling panic. He had never seen such a beach before him.

There was no glass-type Yanjing green that was polished by sand and looked like beautiful seed jade, no plastic bottles, glass bottles, or tin buckets of various colors, and no tattered fishing nets, broken cables, or foam buoys of various shapes.

This is a pure land that has never been polluted by humans.

Am I still on Earth?
Cheng Lang couldn't help but shiver under the blowing sea breeze. What's this special code?

"Wow--"

Another wave of waves came over, and he subconsciously took a step back. No matter where he was, the tide was rising. If he didn't want to be frozen to death by the cold night wind, he'd better get some warm clothes to wear quickly.

Looking up and squinting his eyes to see the still dazzling sunlight, Cheng Lang, naked, covered his crotch with one hand and his butt crack with the other, and walked aimlessly along the coastline, hoping to see even a piece of rag.

But within his field of vision, he saw nothing except the beautiful but desolate white-sand coastline on his right and the dense tropical jungle on his left.

After some hesitation, he walked to the edge of the jungle, to the side of a banana tree, tore off a large leaf and tied it around his waist. He also picked a small bunch of bananas, opened one and took a bite.

What breed is this?
Cheng Lang looked at the not-so-big banana in his hand. It had a stronger fragrance than the most expensive bananas in the supermarket, and it didn't have as many seeds as wild bananas.

This. Is this still on Earth?
Suppressing the surprise and absurd guesses in his heart, Cheng Lang picked up a handful of bananas and continued walking forward.

This coastline looked only about a kilometer or two long, and it began to curve a bit further away. Clearly, the island wasn't very big.

In that case, let’s take a look around first, what if there is anyone there?
With this wonderful idea in mind, Cheng Lang quickened his pace, using the banana in his hand to fill his hungry stomach while also paying more attention to the surrounding environment.

In less than half an hour, the beautiful golden beach turned into black reefs and crashing waves.

Right between these reefs, there is a small river only one meter wide that winds its way from the heart of the island to the sea.

But compared to these, as far as the eye can see, there are some white human bones scattered on the beach and piles of campfire ashes left and right.

Further away, there was actually a large black wooden sailing ship stranded!
After a moment's hesitation, he stepped around the scary bones, jumped over the stream, and ran quickly towards the big sailboat.

As he got closer, he was more and more surprised. This wooden sailboat was about fifty or sixty meters long, with a circle of rusty cannons distributed along its waistline. There was a lighthouse and a two-story external terrace extending from both sides of the stern.

Almost subconsciously, he thought of the flying Henan Fellow in those pirate movies.

So I wore it?

But is this the Caribbean world or the world of Robinson Crusoe?
This can't be Luffy's world, right?
Ha. Hahaha impossible. How is that possible.

Cheng Lang couldn't help but murmur in his heart, and at the same time he raised his head and continued to look at the big ship.

Compared to the rather beautiful hull design, there was a damage on one side of the bow, as big as the front of a truck. He could easily see the rusted iron ingots and shellfish-covered rocks used as ballast in the waterlogged bottom layer, as well as the various dilapidated, rotten, and blackened cargo boxes piled on the second floor, and even the rickety artillery on the third floor.

Not only that, the only thing left of the ship's anchor was the anchor chain, and two of the three masts on the upper part of the hull were broken. Even the only remaining one was extremely messy and looked pitch black, as if it had been struck by lightning.

The main mast that was broken forward and the watchtower on top were both stuck on the beach, so that he could clearly see a rusty European one-handed sword sticking out of it.

But all of the above appear to be extremely old, with black mildew all over the hull, the upper half of the anchor chain covered in rust, and a large number of shellfish growing on the lower half.

This can't be a ghost ship.
Cheng Lang stood beside the broken mast and wondered if this was the world he was familiar with, or if this ship was the filming location for a movie.

The cool sea breeze blowing from the sea brought back his wandering thoughts, and made him shiver involuntarily, with goose bumps all over his body.

After a moment, he carefully pushed the collapsed thick mast, and after making sure it was stable enough, he climbed up to the open deck of the ship using his hands and feet.

As for the damaged lower cabin, he was not planning to go in. It was dark inside and he was barefoot. He couldn't see any danger. Even if he stepped on a rusty nail, it would be enough to cost him his life.

After successfully climbing onto the open deck, Cheng Lang squatted down against the side of the ship and continued to observe the large sailing ship.

This is a three-masted sailing ship. There is a forecastle at the bow that is higher than the open deck. Behind the second open deck at the stern, there is an even higher poop. Facing the bow of the poop is a floor-to-ceiling window with most of the glass broken.

Although he was far away, he could still see that behind the broken floor-to-ceiling window was the indoor driving platform, and directly above it was the open-air driving platform.

Leaning forward, he looked through the deck ventilation grille not far away, and could still see the rusty muzzle-loading guns on the gun deck below.

Whether this is true or not, at least I have to find some clothes to wear.
Having made up his mind, Cheng Lang bent over and walked carefully towards the wooden door leading to the stern deck, stepping on the deck that was cracked from the sun and not sure if it would break.

As we walked along, the wooden floor was damp and slippery, with hermit crabs crawling around from time to time, but every room we passed looked like it had been washed by pirates. We didn't find a single piece of clothing that was not rotten or any fabric that looked wearable.

Walk all the way to the end of this passage, and you will reach the horizontal and vertical intersection of this T-shaped corridor.

There is a pillar here with a diameter of half a meter, which is covered with small mirrors and reaches the ceiling above.

On either side of the pillar, against the wall, there were two staircases leading upstairs and downstairs, each of which was also heavily damaged. Behind the pillar, there was a double door.

These two doors are in a really bad state. The one on the left has an old knife mark nearly one meter long, and the one on the right has a hole the size of a watermelon that was smashed by something heavy.

Looking at the other two single-leaf doors against the wall on both sides of this door, they had all been smashed open.

Cheng Lang swallowed his saliva and forced himself to calm down, almost giving up. He walked to the double door closest to him, gently turned the doorknob, and opened the door easily.

this.
Is the person who knocked on the door a fool?
Reacting immediately, he slipped through the door, closed it silently and locked it.

On the left side of the wall behind me and the door, there is a wooden staircase leading downstairs.

Looking to the right, there is a weapon rack against the wall, on which are scattered a rusty flintlock rifle and several swords.

On the left and right sides of the room, there is a display cabinet as big as the wall.

But these two display cabinets looked like they had been looted. All the cabinet doors with glass windows were torn off, and no one knew where the things in the display cabinets had gone.

Directly opposite the gate is a floor-to-ceiling window facing the stern, through which you can clearly see the sea.

But even this floor-to-ceiling window was in tatters, and the carpet next to it was covered with black mold.

Between the huge floor-to-ceiling window and the door is a wooden table with intricate carvings that can almost be used as a single bed, and a high-backed wooden chair.

Without exception, they were all covered in black mold, and the room also housed many hermit crabs and even nesting seabirds.

Carefully walking to the broken floor-to-ceiling window and looking out, Cheng Lang hesitated for a moment, then walked down the stairs on the left side of the door and came down slowly and quietly.

This is a room that is twice the size of the one upstairs and can be described as luxurious.

There are broken floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides, and outside the windows there is a balcony with wooden railings. There are even many flower pots left on the balcony.

Standing in the center of the room and looking around, he found that there was a locked room right below the stairs he had just come down. There seemed to be an equal-sized compartment on the right corresponding to the position of the stairs. Between the two was a smashed wooden door.

The adjacent left and right corners of the wall each separated a large bathroom and an equally large kitchen. They also had beautiful but broken floor-to-ceiling windows. Undoubtedly, everything in the room was in tatters.

In the remaining space, a large bed that is three meters wide and four meters long looks particularly exaggerated, and there is a piano and a set of sofas not far away.

It’s a pity that these furniture, which were once so luxurious, have now all become moldy.

After stepping on the carpet covered with mildew, bird droppings and sea sand, Cheng Lang tiptoed carefully to the door of the compartment on the right side of the gate.

Gently turning the door handle, the single door was opened easily.

This was a long room with a waist-high window at the end, which allowed the sunlight from outside to pour in. It also allowed him to clearly see that there were dozens of sets of clothing of various styles, as well as various styles of boots, belts and even tricorn hats of various colors and styles hanging here.

Fortunately, perhaps because the window of this room was not broken and the door was closed well, most of the clothes in the room were still in good condition, except for those next to the window that had faded due to the sun.

Just looking at those clothes that seemed to be still wearable, he couldn't help but once again have suppressed doubts: what era is this? Or, where is this?
After much thought without any results, Cheng Lang grabbed a silk scarf and used it as a towel to wipe off the sand and remaining sea water on his body and the stains on his feet.

Then he picked out a set of white silk shirt and trousers, a pair of trousers made of a canvas-like material, a brown leather vest and a thick belt.

After putting all of these on, he finally found a pair of thick wool socks and a pair of boots almost identical to Captain Jack's from the drawer and put them on his feet.

After putting on this outfit, Cheng Lang stood in front of the mirror hanging on the wall at the entrance, wiped off the dust on the mirror with the silk scarf, and looked at himself in a trance.

The person in the mirror is still myself, with wheat-colored skin tanned from years of exposure to the seaside, muscles developed from working hard on the family fishing boat during my internship in my senior year, and a tall stature that was fostered by adequate nutrition since childhood.

Of course, there was also his black hair, which had grown almost twice as long as before he "woke up" and was now shoulder-length, and his face was covered with stubble.

"Don't look at me, sir. I guarantee you're the most handsome man on this ship!"

Just when Cheng Lang was stunned, the dressing mirror in front of him actually started talking!

"Fuck!"

Startled, Cheng Lang couldn't help but utter a curse in Chinese. He took a step back and sat down on the ground, looking at the dressing mirror in front of him in horror.

This mirror fixed on the wall has a standard "oval face", which is just over one meter long from top to bottom and more than half a meter wide at its widest point. The dark gold frame is engraved with intricate and mysterious patterns, and the lines and grooves of those patterns are intertwined with blood-red and sea-blue lines.

But compared to these, the strangest thing was the thick fog that emerged in the mirror at this moment, and the shriveled and green face hidden in the fog.

Is this a fucking monitor?

Cheng Lang, having calmed down, breathed a sigh of relief. He thought he had found a loophole in this "setup." But he soon realized something was wrong. The other person wasn't speaking Chinese, nor was it any other language or dialect he had ever heard. Yet, he could understand every word.

He was even convinced that he could speak the language as fluently as a native speaker!
"Sorry, it seems I scared you."

The shriveled green face in the mirror was accompanied by a flattering smile that could be described as "cunning and vulgar".

"Who are you?" Cheng Lang asked trying to use this new language.

"Me? I am the all-knowing and all-powerful Saint Barbaya Magic Mirror."

The mirror proudly introduced itself, "I am also a spy on this ship, the recorder of the logbook, and the captain's most loyal lackey."

"What is the Saint Barbaya Magic Mirror?"

"Why don't you know anything?"

The magic mirror couldn't help but ask, and then saw Cheng Lang picked up a pointed boot cautiously like a hammer, looking at him with extreme caution, as if he would throw the boot at him if they disagreed.

"Please put down the weapon in your hand. Even if it's just a boot, it's enough to smash me to pieces. I will answer all your questions."

The magic mirror immediately put on another flattering smile and explained, "Saint Barbaya was the greatest astrologer of the Poseidon era. 300 years ago, after the Valkyrie killed Poseidon, Saint Barbaya used a piece of Poseidon's armor and nine cups of Poseidon's blood to create this all-knowing and omnipotent magic mirror as a small gift for a captain she loved."

"Poseidon? Valkyrie?"

Cheng Lang muttered something but did not continue to ask about these two key words. Instead, he asked, "Where are the people on this boat?"

“It’s a long story.”

"Let's make it short and talk about the important things." Cheng Lang suggested, clenching the boots in his hand.

"Please wait a moment, let me look through our sailing diary. Oh--! Valkyrie! Saint Barbaya! How long have I slept! How did 100 years pass in a flash!" The magic mirror seemed even more surprised and unbelievable than Cheng Lang.

"What did you say?" Cheng Lang was also stunned.

"What I am going to talk about next is what happened 100 years ago."

Magic Mirror said in a panic, "The previous captain of the Valkyrie led his temporary sailors and sailed for two months to arrive here under the guidance of a treasure map. Their goal was to find the vine mandrill.

But unfortunately, the previous captain underestimated the fighting power of the savages on this island.

As you can see, all the people were captured, and the savages used their captive crocodiles to destroy the boat."

The magic mirror's explanation included many terms he had never heard of before, and the mirror also showed the conditions of various parts of the ship.

There were cracked and leaking cabins, collapsed masts, knife marks and damage everywhere, and of course, black mold all over the place.

"Then what?" Cheng Lang asked subconsciously.

“And then they never came back.”

Another picture appeared in the magic mirror. It was a group of savages who were about two meters tall, wearing grass skirts around their waists and covered with black hair all over their bodies.

They boarded the ship under cover of darkness, killed and took away all the crew members, and stole almost everything.

What was even more terrifying was that he saw a crocodile in the mirror that was as big as two cars connected end to end.

It bit through the bow in just a few bites, then jumped out of the water when the bow sank, rushed onto the deck and bit off the thick main mast in one bite!

In the bloody scene that followed, the sailors who besieged the crocodiles were killed one after another. The savages lit bonfires on the beach, impaled the sailors who were killed by them, no, by them, and even the sailors who were still alive, on thick wooden sticks, and began to roast and eat them over the bonfires.

Even the huge crocodile opened its mouth wide and ate the human heads and bones thrown into it by the savages.

Then the scene changed, and in the night, a black-haired man with a broken arm struggled into the cabin, holding a black stone in one hand.

He buried the stone in his hand under the ballast stone under the mainmast, picked up an axe and was about to smash the wooden barrel beside him.

However, before he could succeed, a smaller crocodile emerged from the flooded cabin, bit his waist and began a death roll.

Seeing that Cheng Lang was about to vomit, the magic mirror stopped "replaying" in time, and the miserable but much more pleasing face reappeared in the mirror.

“This is what’s been happening for 100 years.”

The Magic Mirror said sadly, "The man in the last picture was the last captain of the Valkyrie. He brought back the vine goblins, but died on the beach before they could hatch, tragically becoming food for those savages.

I am just a magic mirror after all. After a long wait, I can only fall into a deep sleep."

At this point, the Magic Mirror's voice changed from sorrow to passion, "Valkyrie bless you, after 100 years, I finally have a new captain!
Captain, please lead me and the Valkyrie away from this wild island!"

"Wait, what did you just say?"

Cheng Lang looked at the magic mirror in surprise, "Captain? Are you saying I'm the captain?"

"Of course, otherwise it would be me?"

The magic mirror asked self-deprecatingly, "Even though you blocked it with your clothes, I still clearly saw the captain's token hanging around your neck.

I saw the connection between it and the heart of the Valkyrie, and I'm sure of it! You can't hide this from the all-seeing and all-powerful Saint Barbaya Mirror. It can't be helped, because I'm a mirror."

"What is the captain's token?" Cheng Lang subconsciously pulled out the pendant hanging around his neck and asked.

"How come you don't know anything?" The Magic Mirror's tone was filled with undisguised disdain.

"Do you believe that I can give you an extra clone?"

Cheng Lang, eager to get more information, knocked on the mirror with the boot in his hand, making a crisp clanging sound.

"Please be careful! There's no other armor like mine in this world! You should take good care of me, not threaten me with force like a crude primitive!"

Seeing the boot about to touch him again, the magic mirror immediately changed its tone and explained in a flattering manner, "The Captain's Token is of course the only medium through which the ship's heart grants the captain power, and it is also the only proof that the captain can mobilize the ship's heart."

"What is the heart of the ship?" Cheng Lang asked, following the topic.

"The heart of the ship, of course!"

The magic mirror replied as a matter of course, "Ships without a hearth cannot sail the oceans. They are only worthy of being called floating wood."

"What is the function of the ship's heart?"

"effect?"

The magic mirror reacted, "Of course, it's to repair the damage to the ship, and also to provide strength to the captain."

"Provide power? What power?" When Cheng Lang asked this question, he even subconsciously clenched his fists.

"This is a secret known only to the captain."

The magic mirror said with a slightly helpless tone, "Even if I were the all-knowing and all-powerful Saint Barbaya Magic Mirror, I would not be able to know what abilities the ship's heart has given the captain."

"Okay, how does the ship's hearth repair damage to the ship?" Cheng Lang asked a new question.

"There are still enough iron-rubber blood cores preserved in the secret room. They are enough to repair all the damage to the ship."

The magic mirror replied, "But only you, honorable Captain, can command the ship's heart to repair the damage to this ship.

The reason those savages were able to capture the ship 100 years ago was because the captain was not there. Otherwise, those brave temporary sailors would have been able to defeat the beasts.

But I also want to remind you that it is not enough to just repair the damage to the ship.

If you want to leave this wild island, you will need at least two months of food reserves and enough sailors to keep the ship moving."

As if noticing Cheng Lang's hesitation and helplessness, a dark gorilla statue appeared on the magic mirror's screen, and it said in an instigating tone, "This is Tengxiao, and it's also the reason why the previous captain came here.

It's still in the flooded bottom hold, and if you can find this thing and get it to hatch successfully, you'll have the best sailor ever."

"What is a vine goblin?"

Cheng Lang couldn't help but follow the topic and asked, while also observing the statue in the mirror.

This dark gorilla statue was holding a dark red vine in its arms, and a blood-red fruit was hanging on the vine.

"It is a treasure that every ocean captain dreams of. According to legend, if you bury it at the base of the mainmast and water it with enough fragrant fruit wine, the Sea-Watching Vine will grow. The Sea-Watching Vine will climb up the mainmast and replace the entire ship's cables with its vines.

When the Sea-Watching Vine bears its first batch of fruits, the Vine Goblin will wake up and help the captain control the sails.

The vine goblin feeds on the fruit and wine of the sea-viewing vine, and will guard the ships where the sea-viewing vine is parasitic for its entire life and will never go ashore.

Until the heart of the ship is destroyed or dug out again by the captain, they will transform into statues again and wait for their new friends. "

Putting aside the question of how he became the captain of this wrecked ship, Cheng Lang calmly analyzed the situation and asked, "In other words, assuming that what you said is true, as long as I find the gorilla sculpture and have the boat repair the ship, we can temporarily leave here?"

"That's the theory, and what I said is absolutely true. I can swear to the Valkyrie and Saint Barbaya!"

The magic mirror rubbed its hands and flatteredly reminded, "But you'll also need a large amount of fruit wine. This is probably the most troublesome thing. The savages on this island don't know how to make wine."

This is the beginning of hell.
Cheng Lang swallowed hard, thought for a moment, and asked, "You just said that the ship's heart can provide power to the captain? How do I use this power? Also, how do I get the ship's heart to repair this ship?"

"Every ship's heart gives the captain different powers, which is why everyone dreams of becoming a captain."

The magic mirror explained, "However, I don't know how to mobilize these powers, nor do I know how the captain communicates with the heart of the ship, but I am sure it has something to do with the captain's token."

"How did the previous captain use these powers?" Cheng Lang asked patiently, "and what was his captain's token?"

"His token was a conch shell"

The magic mirror answered without hesitation, "He just blew the conch, that's enough. I guess his conch seems to be able to command the wind, which is almost the most coveted ability of every captain. It is also his greatest reliance in leading this ship through the Sea of ​​Despair and here."

Blow the conch?

Cheng Lang once again blocked out the terms he had never heard of in the other person's words, took off the pendant hanging around his neck and looked at it, "But this is a jellyfish. Could it be..."

Before he could react, the pendant in his hand disappeared, and a black whip appeared in his hand.

But immediately afterwards, he spat out a mouthful of blood with a "puff" sound, and then his legs went weak and he fell to the floor of the cloakroom, twitching uncontrollably.

(End of this chapter)