"What’s wrong?" Alka asked curiously.
A lodious song gently wafted over. After hearing it, Alka understood the intended aning and nodded.
"So it’s already that ti. Speaking of which, you really did take quite a beating yesterday."
He then turned his head to look inside the dining room, seeing Pororo and Jason still eating. Alka said, "Stop dawdling. It’s maintenance ti today, and the Sound of Dawn is already urging us."
"It’s that ti already?" Jason said, quickly eating the food in his hands.
Pororo simply stuffed all the surrounding food into his mouth, stood up, patted his hands, and walked towards Alka.
Jason followed closely, still holding so uneaten food.
Seeing their actions and hearing what Alka had just said, Simon curiously joined them.
"Mind if I help out? How about it? I’m very curious about the ship’s structure, and the holes we repaired yesterday also need a thorough inspection. Frankly, I’ve never seen another Ghost Ship," Simon said as he walked up.
"Another Ghost Ship? You’ve seen others before?" Pororo asked casually.
Hearing this, Jason scoffed. "Are you stupid? The captain of the ship he once sailed on possessed a Treasure, didn’t he? Of course, that iron ship was also a Ghost Ship."
Simon smiled and nodded in response to Jason’s words.
It was just as Jason had said.
Alka nodded, granting Simon’s request.
After all, it was just routine maintenance and wouldn’t involve the core areas, only oiling and inspecting exterior sections like the decks, sails, and masts. Besides, Simon had helped repair the spots damaged by yesterday’s lightning strikes. After a day, it was indeed ti to check if there were any problems with yesterday’s repairs.
Fortunately, these patches didn’t make the ship look ugly; after all, she was a beautiful lady. And this was a Ghost Ship, a vessel with life. These patches would rge with the ship like flesh and blood, achieving a perfect repair. This was knowledge Simon had shared with him while they were making repairs the previous day.
After gathering their tools, everyone split up to begin the maintenance.
Simon followed Alka.
Ideally, ship maintenance should be done onshore, but that was too difficult in these waters. They had traveled such a long distance, and Alka’s group had only encountered two islands. This was thanks to Alka discovering the Dream Realm of terrestrial creatures in his dreams. If it weren’t for this, they might have drifted the entire way without seeing a single island. So, they had to make do.
The sails were lowered, and the ship moved with the current. Its speed was only slightly reduced, with no other changes.
They ticulously inspected the sails, primarily checking the extent of material corrosion and looking for any damage to the Spells that needed repair.
"These Spells are arranged so neatly, and their distribution is perfect!" Simon couldn’t help but exclaim, looking at the layout of Spells on the sails.
"Do you know shipbuilding?" Alka asked, inspecting the sails without lifting his head.
"I learned about it during my ti at the Church and even participated a few tis, though always in an assisting role," Simon replied.
Hearing this, Alka nodded.
The maintenance work wasn’t difficult.
They didn’t take long to finish everything.
At this point, a ringing sound ca from the lookout room. This indicated a situation nearby.
Chadite’s voice ca from above. "Is there sothing behind us?"
Upon hearing this, everyone moved to the stern.
After a while, an object could be seen traveling swiftly on the sea surface. It wasn’t directly behind them but rather diagonally astern, a considerable distance away. Even as it got closer, it seed bound to pass alongside them, showing no intention of approaching.
As the object’s speed increased, everyone finally saw its true form.
"A fish?" Jason uttered, looking at the object through his telescope.
It looked like a sea fish, but this fish was gigantic, roughly 90 to 100 ters long. It was entirely pale blue, making it difficult to spot from afar if not for its rapid movent.
"No, that’s a ship!" Alka, now in the form of a crocodile frog, said, his large eyes fixed on the fish-like creature.
"A ship?" Julia’s voice carried surprise as she looked at Alka. "But it’s a gigantic fish-like Sea Beast, isn’t it?"
Julia could clearly sense that the massive sea creature was alive, not a fish-like ship. She could definitely tell whether sothing was a living being or not.
While they conversed, the giant sea fish had already drawn near their side. It then quickly sped forward, passing them at a distance of about five to six hundred ters. It didn’t pause for even a mont, consistently maintaining this safe distance from Alka and his group.
At this mont, everyone clearly saw patterns like writing etched onto the fish’s body, and there was a flag on its back. Visible on the fish’s body were so strange, man-made structures, with people moving about on them.
It felt as if they were treating the fish like a horse, fitting it with a saddle and building room after room upon it.
User Comments
0 comments from readers