"What? Give me a new boat? Let me pick it up? What kind of boat? Alchemy boat? Just like the boat that towed us back and forth? I won't do it. Although that boat is not afraid of headwinds, it is not built well.
It's so rocky that it's almost drowning in the water! Besides, is there any better boat in the world than my precious Kolo?"
"I can't promise to be better than it!"
Facing the Magic Tower steward who came to persuade him, Richard raised his head and downed a glass of wine.
"Isn't it great that the alchemy ship tows me back and forth to transport goods? Why do I have to change a ship? I don't have to pay for it?"
He hesitated, but after considering the long and painful running-in period with the new ship, he still chose to refuse!
"You don't have to spend the money on a new ship. As long as you install an alchemy ship or something like a real steam engine for me, I can still run!"
He has spent 10 years on this ship, and he is familiar with every corner of this ship. When he stands on the slipway of this ship, and cooperates with all the familiar sailors on the ship, the whole ship can completely follow him.
Action from the mind - this is an effect that takes a long time to achieve.
However, the continuous rejections made the Magic Tower Affairs Officer a little impatient, and his tone became stiff: "The Star Island Council is very dissatisfied with the tight cargo transportation capacity during the headwind season. You know that the mages are almost omnipotent.
If you still want to rely on this route to support your family, instead of letting the mages solve this problem once and for all, you should reconsider my proposal!"
The anger in Richard's heart suddenly rose. People who make a living at sea are not cowards! He grabbed the cup and was about to throw the wine into the steward's face. He raised the cup halfway, but it slowed down!
He suddenly thought of his two daughters at home.
He persuaded himself in his heart:
"I'm happy, and I might be able to run away, but my daughter, what should I do with my daughter? After all, it's just a change of boat, and it doesn't cost money, so I might as well endure it."
He gritted his teeth and swallowed the anger. He just raised his head and slapped the glass of wine into his throat again!
The steward's tone softened at this time: "Don't worry, this ship is funded by the council, you only need to drive it. You can still keep the Kono. And the speed of this ship is much faster than you think.
, if you accept it, you will spend more time at home."
"Not necessarily. I don't think the boat towing us is that fast."
But at least it's faster than the Kono.
This point finally impressed him, and coupled with the vague threat from the affairs officer, he gritted his teeth and accepted the job.
With reluctance to part with the Kono, he held the wooden wine glass and turned it over and over against the light, as if this was the Kono he was about to lose. He poured himself another glass and murmured
.
"You don't understand. Boats are just like people. Once they stop moving, they will soon break down."
"You go back and prepare, inform your crew, and see you at the dock the day after tomorrow morning."
Thinking of this, he raised his head and took another sip of wine. It was so hot that it stung his throat, just like his heart that was about to be separated!
On the morning of the third day, although Richard had a bad face, he still showed up at the dock as promised.
There is no doubt that there is a reason for the steward to choose Captain Richard to take over this job. That is, he is different from other captains who will invest their time and money in the gold-selling cave after landing.
It's for a wife and children, and it's also very family-oriented - no one wants a newly built ship to be driven by an unreliable captain.
The sailors looked happy:
For them, it doesn't matter which ship they work on.
Since the captain is still Richard, although I am a bit reluctant to change to another boat, I don't have any resistance - especially since I heard that this boat is quite big.
A larger boat means safer, more spacious accommodation, more fresh water, and less bumpy conditions.
"Richard is one of the captains who delivers goods to Xingdao. He has followed his father back and forth on this route since he was in his early 10s. He has been running for 20 years and is familiar with everything on this route. We
I am relatively familiar with his details, and his crew is basically fixed, and most of them are locals."
The steward was on the small gunboat introducing the person who was about to accept this mission to Hippolyte.
"The only one on this route with a wife and daughter?"
The young alchemist apprentice laughed.
"It seems you have heard about it too."
The clerk also showed a knowing smile.
"That's why we chose him."
"We feel more at ease with such people. Should we take them away directly or drag them over by boat?"
"Only bring people."
Hippolyte carried a heavy burden for Ta Island. While he was drafting the manuscript in Polu, he took a boatload of attendants who yearned for a life on the sea. They have been running around on the sea for a long time. They now look much more mature, with a cold expression on their faces.
The imprint of the passing sea breeze.
When it came to business, he regained his serious look: "I understand, I will take him to Ta Island right now."
The space inside the small gunboat is actually very narrow. After all, most of the space is allocated to the ammunition depot. The newly boarded sailors can either stay in the corridor or stand on the deck to blow the wind.
A safe space?
That's impossible.
Only Richard got the chance to enter the bridge - because he was needed to lead the way, and at this time he was gesticulating at Pollecht's course mark: "You can't go like this, it won't follow the ocean current!"
"Just tell me which direction Ta Island is facing!"
Although he has been towed back and forth several times, identifying directions on the sea is still not Polehit's specialty - and neither is Polu. Moreover, he has been assigned a navigator on the ship many times, and he has not been back to the tower recently.
Island, I really don’t know the way home.
"You can't go straight! The ocean current! It's very difficult! You have to go in a circle!"
Richard still reiterated his opinion.
But Pauleicht did the same: "Tell me the straight line!"
After all, he was on someone else's boat, so Richard naturally seemed weak. He took out an instrument in a box, looked at the stars in the sky, and pointed in one direction: "Over there. Diagonally.
Don’t blame me for not warning you if you have trouble walking against the ocean current.”
Pauleicht thought to himself: "How fast can the ocean currents go?"
He curled his lips.
Recently, he has been performing the task of towing wooden boats. These wooden boats have never considered the problem of being towed. They rely entirely on the rope piles on the bow and the tether plates installed on both sides. How strong can this thing be?
The linear shape of the wooden boat was not smooth enough, and he was afraid that if one moved forward, the other two parts would be torn off both parts from the bow!
So much so that the small gunboat was moving at a speed that was too slow for it!
Now that the sea is calm and there is no wooden boat towed, it is natural to move forward at full speed!
He pushed the magic valve to the second to last position for a long time, started to increase the steam pressure, turned to Richard and said:
"I used to take you at a low speed and couldn't run. Now let me show you why we are not afraid of ocean currents!"
"It's still blowing. If your boat encounters some wind and waves, it will sway more than my Kono. The entire deck is covered by the waves. If your deck cover hadn't been done well, it would have gone into the water long ago!"
"We can improve this problem when we go back!"
Pauleicht noticed that the steam pressure was sufficient. He began to ring the ship's bell and confidently shouted to the microphone next to the steering wheel: "Advance three! Target! Tower Island!"
A confused voice came back from the microphone: "Forward three? That's right? Don't we only use forward one recently?"
In order not to damage the towing vessel, the steam valve in the engine room has been closed to the forward gear. This can avoid a momentary mistake. At least the operation on the magic throttle valve will not tear off the bow. Now it needs to be cancelled.
Only by removing this artificial current limit can the bridge's speed regulation method of controlling steam pressure based on magic input be restored.
"Yes, advance three! We are going home!"
Shouts of joy came from the microphone, but Pauleicht sighed.
I have been working as a transport team too much recently, and the attendants have almost forgotten what orders are.
The small gunboat accelerated violently, causing Richard to sway and couldn't help but reach out and grab the handrail beside him! He quickly turned his head and looked out the window.
"So it's really possible to drive so fast?"
He watched the waves passing by, thinking to himself, and stretched out his hand to knock on the windshield.
"Alchemists are quite extravagant. They actually use crystals as windows, but they are really clear and windproof."
"Although this little gunboat shakes a lot, it drives really fast!"