When the bright sunshine in the morning and the sea breeze woke up the whaler Nagatsuka Maru parked on the dock, Wei Ran and his party were also joined by a shirtless sailor in his thirties, wearing wooden clogs and large pants.
Under the guidance, we walked into the renovated cabin, climbed the stairs, and finally met the captain of the ship.
"Welcome to Nagatsuka Maru"
The captain, who looked to be in his forties, took the initiative to shake hands with Wei Ran and others one by one and introduced in English with no Sakura accent, "I am Nagatsuka Joeji, the captain of this ship. Of course, this name is right for me."
It may be very difficult to pronounce for you, so you can call me by my English name Fernando, or Captain Fernando. Frankly speaking, I like the title Captain Fernando very much."
"Mr. Nagatsuka, are you the recruiter?" Wei Ran suddenly asked in Japanese, which surprised Hugo and others.
"Do you speak Japanese?"
Nagatsuka Joji raised his eyebrows in surprise, and there was a flash of panic on his face. Then without waiting for Wei Ran's answer, he smiled and waved his hand, leading Wei Ran and others to visit this place.
The whaler explained in Japanese, "I am a Brazilian immigrant of Japanese origin. I grew up in Brazil. Although I have a Japanese name, I have never actually been to the recruitment center."
This coin is lying!
Wei Ran muttered in his heart, with a hint of deliberate surprise in his sincerity, and explained in Japanese, "I have a good friend who is a Japanese-Palauan immigrant. He is also a sailor. His name is
Kano Akira, of course, he also has an English name, Akira."
"Which ship is he on?" Nagatsuka Joeji asked with a smile, "If he is willing to change his job, he can come to work on our ship."
"It's a pity" Wei Ran spread his hands pretending to be sad, "He died in an accident a few years ago."
“What a shame”
"yes"
Wei Ran switched back to English, "Mr. Nagatsuka, no, Captain Fernando, let us communicate in English, otherwise it would be too rude, wouldn't it?"
"you're right"
"Captain Fernando" laughed and nodded, switching to English and responded, "Let me show you around in person."
As he spoke, he led everyone to the highest point of the ship, pointed to the bow and stern and said in English, "Our ship was originally a British warship. After World War II, she was sold to South America.
My friends in Brazil and I bought the boat and converted it into a large whaler.
Not only is it much cheaper than buying a second-hand whaler, it is also larger, can carry more supplies, and has a larger refrigerated warehouse."
"Captain Fernando" Hugo asked, leaning on the railing and pointing to the chimney not far away, "How fast can this boat go?"
"I just said she was originally a warship."
Captain Fernando repeated it emphatically, seeming to attach great importance to this point, "Moreover, it is a late-production Flower-class submarine destroyer. Her original maximum speed is 16 knots. After removing the heavy weapons and equipment, even if it is installed
Even the whaling equipment and so on are still much lighter than before.
So if it is running at full power, it may be able to run as fast as 20 knots when the sea conditions are good. Of course, this speed cannot last for a long time. She is very old after all."
After some explanation, Captain Fernando personally took the four of them to visit their respective working places and introduced their respective jobs in detail.
Through chatting along the way, the four Weirans also learned that the reason why this whaling ship hired a few of them was mainly because the sailors on this ship were all Japanese-Brazilian immigrants.
It is conceivable that for such a ship to dock at various ports in Australia where the White Australia Policy is still implemented, it would undoubtedly be much more convenient if there was an apparently white first mate.
Because of this, at the end of the visit, Hugo became Captain Fernando's assistant and the first mate who only took up the post when docking and undergoing inspection.
Karan, who was bruised and swollen, became the nominal boatswain. Of course, he still had to go to the kitchen with Valoro to help cook.
As for Wei Ran, as Hugo said before boarding the ship, he was responsible for the entry and exit registration of the warehouse, and also obtained two warehouse keys.
However, these two warehouses contain basically all kinds of supplies for food and drink, various materials, etc. Of course, there are still two guards at the door of these two warehouses, but he does not have the key to the warehouse.
That’s all.
It can be seen from this small detail that the captain does not seem to trust his crew 100%, otherwise he would not let an "outsider" like Wei Ran take charge of the warehouse key.
And this small detail made Wei Ran couldn't help but wonder if there was anything in these two warehouses that shouldn't be on the ship.
After suppressing their doubts, the group of four people took a tour of the whaling ship under the leadership of the captain, and were finally taken to the cabin door closest to the cabin door leading to the deck.
"This cabin is yours."
Captain Fernando reminded again, "In normal whaling work, you only need to do what you can, but docking and inspections are all up to you."
"Do not worry"
As he spoke, Hugo took out an old-fashioned key as long as a tachyon from his pocket and handed it to Valoro. While the other party was opening the cabin, he asked, "When will we set sail?"
"soon"
Fernando pointed to the outside of the cabin, "We still have a few sailors who have not returned. After they come back, we will make the last supply and we will set sail immediately. You will also start working by then, so you can take a rest before that."
After sending off the somewhat hands-on captain with a false politeness, Valoro had already opened the cabin.
Apart from being a little stuffy, this cabin was surprisingly clean. Unlike the previous ship, the cabins used were not iron beds, but canvas hammocks that were very traditional to the British and Japanese navies.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! In addition to the four sailor bags hanging against the wall like punching bags, there is another one fixed to the wall under the only porthole in this cabin.
There is a long solid wood table and four chairs fixed to the ground with screws, plus two oscillating electric fans fixed to the wall.
On one side of the entrance, there are two iron cabinets welded to the wall, and on the other side, there are two long, solid wooden boxes fixed with iron ties.
Hugo just kicked the two stacked crates with the toe of his shoe, and Wei Ran already realized that they probably contained the corpses of the two old Brazilians.
"We'll find a chance to throw them into the sea tonight."
Hugo waited for Valoro to close the door and whispered, "In addition to the corpses, there are some rocks in the box, which are enough for them to sink to the bottom of the sea. We will be safe by then."
After saying that, Hugo looked at Wei Ran and asked curiously, "Victor, why didn't I know you knew Japanese? What did you just say?"
“I learned it myself after the war.”
Wei Ran gave a random explanation, then recited the conversation between him and the Japanese captain whose alias was Fernando, and finally gave a subtle reminder, "I always feel that the captain is hiding something, so we should all be careful."
“Really need to be cautious”
Hugo nodded, "You two haven't seen those sailors. Valoro and I noticed it when we came over last night. Those sailors are very disciplined, just like..."
"Like an invader on the Kokoda Trail" was an appropriate description given by Warolo, who usually doesn't talk much.
“You’re right”
Hugo nodded in agreement, "So everyone should be careful, especially stay awake and don't let yourself drink too much."
"I will definitely not drink a sip of wine," Karan, who had just gotten into a big trouble yesterday, immediately promised.
Seeing this, Hugo said nothing more, and Wei Ran and Wei Ran opened the portholes, the two electric fans, and the hatch respectively.
Taking advantage of the cool sea breeze to take away the sweltering heat in the cabin, Hugo and the other three also untied the sailor bags against the wall and hung the hammocks on the iron rings on the bulkheads at both ends. As for the sanitary ignition, he naturally
I changed into the hammock I brought in my sailor bag.
They had just tidied up the cabin for rest, and the ship was also starting with roars and tremors.
Seeing this, Wei Ran was the first to leave the cabin, went down the stairs diagonally across from the cabin to the cargo hold, and began the check-in and check-out work that he was responsible for.
This job is quite simple. It just records what and how much supplies are delivered to the warehouse, and the supplies are basically all kinds of food and drink.
After he completed the registration and locked the warehouse door himself, the whaling ship slowly left the port with a low and melodious whistle.
Without rushing back to the cabin, Wei Ran took a leisurely tour of the whaling ship.
The biggest features of this so-called whaling ship are the whaling cannon on the bow and the upper deck used to slaughter whales. On the lower deck, there are even simple processing equipment.
Relying on the convenience of speaking Japanese, Weiran not only successfully found the engine that he needed to blow up, but also learned from the casual chat with the sailors he met that the ship had been whaling for nearly four months since June.
In that time, they only captured five whales and a dozen dolphins.
At best, such catches can only break even the expenses. In other words, they have not made any real profit for nearly four months. If they cannot make a profit this month, these sailors are ready to leave the ship and return.
It’s like recruiting people from my hometown.
After a few hours of idle chatting, Wei Ran returned to the cabin before the sun reached its highest point. He lay in his own hammock and blew in the sea breeze from the porthole, secretly looking forward to the killing moment.
Compared with the relaxed and leisurely atmosphere on his side, Valoro and Karan, who were busy in the kitchen at this time, were extremely busy.
There can be a total of more than thirty people on this ship, but apart from the two of them, there are only three other Japanese sailors who can't even speak English. Not only that, because they have never cooked Japanese meals,
The two of them could only do the basic work of peeling vegetables and washing dishes.
Hugo, on the other hand, not only followed the Japanese captain, but also got dressed in a serious crew uniform.
In the midst of their own leisure and busyness, the whaling ship was getting farther and farther away from Sydney Harbor, and there were fewer and fewer ships sailing around it. In the end, only the vast sea with no visible edges around it was left.
Towards evening, when the sun was less than two fingers' width from the sea level, a hurried Japanese call came from the loudspeakers all over the ship - "Whales spotted at 10 o'clock!"
On the sea under the setting sun, the Nagatsuka Maru whaling ship began to be busy with the good news from the watchtower.
Soon, the speed of the whaling ship suddenly increased and it began to turn slightly. A large number of Japanese sailors also rushed to their respective posts.
Soon, with the sound of "pass!", a whaling cannon fired first, and then came the Japanese words on the deck that made Wei Ran subconsciously want to take out the anti-Japanese sword and get ready to stab him.
Soon, the second and third gunshots were heard one after another, and cheers were heard one after another. In the viewfinder of Weiran's camera that had been raised, he could also see the sea surface stained red by blood and the sunset and the group of people.
The huge figures rolling in the red sea water heard the occasional last screams of the hunted giant creatures.
After an unknown amount of time, the ship's speed gradually slowed down, and the sky gradually became darker. But under the guidance of the dazzling searchlight on the top of the whaling ship's mast, huge whales with blood splashing on their heads were winched up from the stern of the ship.
The brightly lit deck.
Under the gaze of pressing the shutter again and again, the sailors holding long-handled blades, with the help of brand-new machinery, efficiently peeled off the whale skin, divided large pieces of fish meat, and collected any body parts that could be exchanged for money.
.
Soon, when Wei Ran finished shooting the second box of film, the four whales captured this time were also cut up and sent into the refrigerated cargo hold without his supervision in the vast darkness, and the blood accumulated on the upper deck of the stern was also washed away
It was clean, as if nothing happened just now.
But at this time, the whole ship was filled with the laughter of the sailors. Wei Ran was also called into the cabin by a guard responsible for guarding the warehouse, opened the warehouse, and signed by the real first mate of the ship, took away two large boxes.
Recruiting locally produced sake and five cases of Australian produced beer.
By the time he re-locked the warehouse door and returned to the upper deck, the aroma of food and Japanese music were already wafting into the brightly lit restaurant, and even Japanese whaling songs were being sung along with the music.
Is it this night?
When Wei Ran couldn't wait to return to the cabin, he found that Valoro and Karan, who had been helping in the kitchen all day, had returned. At this time, there was a full table on the long table against the wall of the room.
There was a small wooden basin filled with rice, some curry-like things, a few Japanese side dishes, a bowl of vegetable salad, and some fruits. In addition, there were four bottles of cold beer.
Almost immediately, Hugo returned to the cabin and kicked the two wooden boxes with the toes of his shoes again.
There was no communication at all. The four people worked in pairs and worked together to lift the two heavy wooden boxes. While the rest of the sailors were busy celebrating the catch, they carried them to the deck and pushed them outside the guardrail.
, pushing forward into the dark sea.
"Now we are safe," Hugo clapped his hands and said, "Okay, it's time for us to celebrate."
