Sail Shadows in the Sea of ​​Fog

Chapter 206 Traps and Dials

The sea, shrouded in torrential rain, was unusually calm despite the fact that the wind was gradually weakening and the surface was shattered by the rain.

Because the wind wasn't strong enough, although the sea fog condensed by the Silver Queen was much denser, the Valkyrie, the Thorn, and the ghost ships following behind were all inevitably slowed down considerably.

"Mr. Captain"

After dinner, the Silver Queen reminded everyone, "All those ghost ships behind us have sunk."

“They’re still chasing underwater, but they’re much slower,” Magic Mirror added.

"It seems they're trying to mislead us."

Yun Ji offered her opinion, "If it weren't for the fact that the Magic Mirror Teacher could see through the mirror at the bottom, we might have stopped."

"I am but a humble mirror," the magic mirror said obsequiously, "all thanks to the captain's wise decision."

"Should we stop?" Yun Lan suddenly asked.

"Stopping abruptly would be too fake."

Cheng Lang yawned. "Mrs. Silver Queen, please continue running for a while. If you can shake them off, that would be best. If not, we'll see how things go."

"So you're going to sleep again?"

Yun Lan complained, "These past few days, Miss Yun Ji and I have been busy solving the mystery, but all you've done is sleep."

"I can only sleep for an hour at a time before I have to be woken up."

Cheng Lang yawned and said, "I haven't had a full night's sleep in days."

"Never mind, he can't be of any help here anyway."

Yun Ji said indifferently, clearly knowing that she couldn't expect Cheng Lang to help her with anything regarding the treasure map puzzle.

With Yun Ji's "help," Cheng Lang was able to return to the captain's bedroom. After pointing out the direction to go one last time, he lay down on the soft, wide bed with peace of mind and put on his homemade eye mask.

This time, however, less than an hour had passed, and before Cheng Lang had even fully fallen asleep, the magic mirror had already floated to his window.

"Dear Captain, please wake up."

The magic mirror clasped its hands together in front of its chest, bent over, and spoke softly with a fawning expression.

"Is it time?" Cheng Lang, who had almost fallen asleep, asked, pulling off his eye mask.

It's not time yet.

The magic mirror said obsequiously, "But the storm has intensified again. Also, there's good news: Miss Yun Ji and His Highness Yun Lan have finally discovered a treasure map that perfectly matches our direction of travel."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Lang immediately got up, put on his boots, and ran upstairs.

"Sorry to disturb Captain's rest."

Yun Lan gave an extremely perfunctory bow, lifting the hem of her skirt without any apology. As she released the skirt, a treasure map was projected onto the wall of the conference room.

“This treasure map is very strange,” Yun Ji said before Cheng Lang could speak.

"How is it strange?"

As Cheng Lang spoke, he sat down in the spot closest to the wall.

"It was strange from the very beginning of the puzzle-solving process."

Yun Lan picked up the thread, "We've documented this treasure map; during the day, its riddle is very obscure."

But just now, the riddle has changed.

"It's become much simpler; it's just a matter of time."

Yun Ji continued, "And then we got this strange nautical chart."

Looking again at the enlarged treasure map on the wall, Cheng Lang nodded in agreement; it was indeed a strange nautical chart.

This nautical chart marks a starting point with exceptional precision, but from that starting point onward, the starting time is marked for each segment of the route.

Even more strangely, in the upper right corner of this treasure map, there is a pocket watch without hands.

"Do you know anything about this treasure map?" Cheng Lang asked, turning his head.

"no"

Yun Ji shook her head. "According to the handover record sent by Mr. Senfa, this treasure map was found on a pirate ship that was trying to plunder them."

It was hidden in the lining of the pirate captain's tricorn hat, but unfortunately, the pirate captain had already been shot in two by chain shot.

"tsk"

Cheng Lang clicked his tongue, glanced at the treasure map again, and then asked, "How far are we from the starting point now?"

"If the weather continues like this, we should be able to get there in three days at most."

Yun Lan tapped the floor-to-ceiling window of the conference room with the long thorns that had grown from her hand. "But besides the waves, there are also a lot of ghost ships following us."

"Princess Yunlan is right."

The Magic Mirror added at the opportune moment, "Now many ghost ships have caught up from underwater. They are moving very fast by using the waves. At the current rate, they may catch up with us very soon."

Only a small portion have caught up.

The Silver Queen appeared at the opportune moment to add, "More ghost ships have appeared beyond the fog."

"How many?" Cheng Lang asked.

"There are about six underwater," the magic mirror said first.

"There are now 19 visible beyond the sea fog," the Silver Queen reported, revealing an even more alarming number.

"You really think highly of us," Yun Lan mocked, waving away the thorns that had sprouted from her palm.

"Even if we master the spores, we probably won't be able to fight against so many ghost ships."

Yun Ji cautioned, "This kind of weather is not suitable for using spores in combat."

"Your Highness Yulan"

After a moment's thought, Cheng Lang said, "You immediately command the Thorn to head to the starting point of this treasure map. Shenba will remain on your ship as the helmsman for the time being."

"I haven't given up on them."

"I need you to lead the Thornship there to make preparations in advance."

Before the other person could finish speaking, Cheng Lang interjected, "We must find a way to deal with all the loose ends, otherwise it will be even more troublesome when we find the third heart."

"How do we do it?" Yun Lan asked directly.

"Let Yavso order the Fresh Fruit to impersonate the Thorn, and the Silver Queen will use the mist to cover you up."

Cheng Lang thought for a moment and said, "You set off first. I will tell you the battle plan through the magic mirror before you are ten nautical miles away."

"it is good"

Yun Lan readily agreed, and after another graceful and elegant bow, she quickly walked out of the conference room.

Before Yun Lan could board the Thorn, Cheng Lang grabbed paper and pen, and, pulling the magic mirror along, sketched out the rough plan for the trap. "Your Excellency, esteemed Captain, this is simply genius!"

"Go and inform Yun Lan immediately."

Cheng Lang didn't give the Magic Mirror a chance to flatter him at all. "Silver Queen, cover the Thorn's departure."

"As you wish, Captain."

The Silver Queen also performed a curtsy, and as she straightened up and floated out of the conference room, the Thorn in the distance had already quietly veered off course under the cover of thick fog. On the other hand, the Fresh Fruit, which had been summoned to the surface by Yafuso, was half-hidden in the thick fog and accompanied the Valkyrie on one side.

"Full speed ahead!"

Cheng Lang walked out of the conference room and issued the order. Immediately, the dragonfly fins on both sides of the Valkyrie began to swing rapidly.

Compared to the Valkyrie, which needs to use its dragonfly fins to accelerate, the Fruit, which has no physical form, is much faster. It doesn't even need to run at full speed to easily keep up with the Valkyrie.

Of course, because it has no physical form, its load-bearing capacity is very limited, and at most it can only serve as a letter bearer.

Even so, thanks to the fog, he could easily pass for the real thing.

After successfully deceiving the tail behind them and allowing the Thorn to break free, the Valkyrie and Fresh Fruit remained hidden in the clouds, circling around with the tail trailing behind them.

Meanwhile, the Thorn rushed to the starting point of the newly discovered treasure map at top speed.

In this chase, the sun rises and sets, and gales, waves, and rain appear and disappear, disappear and reappear.

Finally, on the night of the third day, Yun Lan and Ya Fu Suo's images reappeared on the walls of the conference room.

"Is everything ready?" Cheng Lang asked, yawning.

Everything is ready.

Yun Lan responded, "Whether above or below the water."

"Then get ready."

After Cheng Lang finished speaking, he yawned. "Mrs. Silver Queen, please slow down by 30% and be prepared to raise the white flag."

"As you wish"

The Silver Queen responded with a smile and at the same time manipulated the sails slightly to reduce the wind propulsion and decrease the speed.

"Stop where there is a patch of fish oil floating on the sea surface," Yun Lan instructed on the wall of the conference room.

"Ready to raise the white flag at any time"

As Cheng Lang spoke, he deliberately tilted his triangular hat a little to one side, unbuttoned a few buttons on his shirt, and then walked onto the open deck.

"Stop the ship!"

With Yun Lan's reminder in the mirror, the Silver Queen immediately activated her dragonfly fins to swim in the opposite direction, precisely bringing the Valkyrie to a stop on the sea surface, which was rippled with a few colorful oil droplets.

"Dispel the fog"

With Cheng Lang's new order, the fog around the Valkyrie dissipated somewhat, and as the dazzling ship lights came on, a pair of white shorts borrowed from Captain Fujixiao rose again atop the mast.

In just a moment, more than twenty ghost ships that had been following them surrounded them.

"Surrender! We surrender!"

On the open deck, Cheng Lang, holding a tin megaphone, shouted earnestly, "I hope to have fair negotiations with the Ghost Fleet's captain!"

As Cheng Lang shouted, the magic mirror manipulated the mirror at the top of the mast to project flickering light signals.

Amidst repeated surrenders and requests for negotiation, half of the ghost ships sank underwater and continued to approach the Valkyrie, while the other half slowly surrounded it from the surface.

"I am willing to surrender!"

Cheng Lang continued shouting through the tin megaphone, "I'm willing to make the Ghost Fleet's captain my dog! Oh wait! Let's do it!"

With a shout, invisible whips emerged from beneath the sea from all directions, lifting oak barrels and hurling them forcefully towards the ghost ship's deck, which was entangled at the other end of the invisible whips.

Before they even hit the ground, numerous thorns sprouted from the inside of these oak barrels. At the same time, the thorns ignited the gunpowder in the core of the oak barrels by squeezing out the internal gravel.

Amid a series of relatively quiet explosions, glass bottles containing spores, and even glass tubes filled with the liquid inside, shattered one after another.

Also due to the pull of the invisible whip, the glass bottles that were originally hidden on the seabed were raised to the same height as the ghost ship underwater, and were crushed into pieces by the invisible whip.

A few seconds before that action, the gorillas had already thrown lit, waterproof gunpowder barrels into the sea.

In the series of explosions, the shockwaves propelled the seawater, which carried spores and the diluted nutrient solution around them, towards the ghost ship that was closing in from underwater, and then seeped into every crevice of the ghost ship.

Almost simultaneously, the Valkyrie also sank rapidly, its hull shielding it as it descended to the seabed, using the surface for protection and dodging the barrage of bullets fired hastily from all sides.

"It's my turn!"

Outside the encirclement, atop the canopy mast of the Thorn, Yavso, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately steered the equally surrounded undead ship, Fresh Fruit, into a deadly charge.

This undead ship, which has no physical form, has a pitifully small carrying capacity, so small that it cannot even support the weight of Princess Mist Shadow.

But a single large bottle of spores is still fine—even though it was hung on top of the mast early on.

"Boom!"

With a soft sound muffled by the sea breeze, a small thorn pierced through the glass bottle stopper at the highest point of the ghost ship, which had become indistinct due to the attack.

Before the cork could fall onto the deck, a large number of spores, carried by the ship's rapid movement, sowed a seed of love around the encircling enemy ghost ship.

In the blink of an eye, the mist rose again, easily concealing the ghost ship that was beginning to sprout mushrooms on the sea surface.

Meanwhile, beneath the surface of the sea, after waiting for a moment, the Valkyrie slowly approached the first ghost ship that had sprouted a large number of mushrooms beneath the surface.

With a flick of the whip in his hand, the clam named Abyss Nightmare crashed into the ghost ship's cabin like a vicious dog pouncing on excrement.

"Yafso, won't mushrooms grow on the Valkyrie?" On the Thorn, outside the thick fog, Yun Lan asked in a low voice as she fastened the mirror.

"I guarantee it won't."

Yavso said in a low voice, "Actually, I don't know why either, but these mushrooms don't seem to be interested in normal ship cores."

"So it's actually a scavenging mushroom?" Yun Lan asked in a low voice.

"Maybe so."

Yavso gave an extremely irresponsible, ambiguous answer, and then fantasized, "If only I had enough spores and nutrient solution, then we could just pour all the spores and nutrient solution into the Star Sea and definitely wipe out all the ghost ships at once."

While the little girl was dreaming with her eyes open, Cheng Lang was already cracking his whip, as if walking a dog, and had Yuan Yan take care of the core of the last ghost ship underwater.

During communication with the ship's core, the Valkyrie surfaced under the cover of thick fog, and was then completely obscured by a giant jellyfish before slowly approaching the nearest ship on the surface of the water.

"Snapped"

With a crisp slapping sound, the Abyss, now the size of Shenba's fist, easily smashed open the ghost ship's hull and charged almost recklessly into the ship's center chamber.

Under this almost crushing and unequal harvest, the ghost ships on the sea surface, shrouded in thick fog, disintegrated one after another due to their hearts stopping beating, and then slowly sank into the sea.

Just as the last ghost ship was being dealt with, Yun Ji discovered that the hands on the dial drawn in the upper right corner of the treasure map they had deciphered had begun to slowly jump.

(End of this chapter)