Chapter 33:Whimpers of a Departed Spirit
Translated by: Chua
Edited by: I and Elkassar
“Oh?” Sheyan relaxed himself as he raised his head to admire the vast dark sky, a warm breeze gently blew across his cheeks. Sheyan couldn’t help but sigh, he felt that the seabreeze contained a tinge of moist and wildness. This feeling was familiar to Sheyan who had worked on board a ship for over 7-8 years, this was an indication of an incoming hurricane. Yet this Herb Island’s surroundings contained no such ports to shelter from it!
Naturally, Sheyan was not the only one who could sensed this inevitable hurricane. In a matter of seconds, the anchored pirate ships all sounded off their unique horns, a deep resounding mournful shrills carrying the urgent message for the pirates on shore to hurry and return. Following Sheyan’s experience, there was still roughly half an hour before the hurricane reaches here. There would be no problem in utilizing the huge winds now to push off the sails and get the ships back to the first-rate sheltering Tortuga port. However, if one were to delay here for over ten minutes, it would be extremely easy for the hurricane to chase up and decimate and massacre the entire ship.
Sheyan exhaled a huge long breath. The traders sent from Tortuga port should have already discovered that Madam Lord Fokke was missing, but they probably had not found her corpse yet. If not they wouldn’t be so peaceful now, they would surely raised their blood flags, sounding off their cannons in search for the culprit. Instead, this extremely coincidental hurricane left them with no choice but to cut short their search and return back to Tortuga port! If they didn’t do so, the goods they purchased would certainly be lost to the sea. To the Fokke family, whose position was currently shaky, this would pose a problem to the family’s foundation, thus no one would dare to bear this responsibility.
If so, then the search party for Madam Lord Fokke could only be temporarily suspended, until the hurricane dies down and the winds turn clam before they can resume it. This was a matter that would be delayed for 2-3 days. This was extremely splendid and favourable news to Sheyan, he believed that whatever missed out traces he left would be wiped clean by the insane Caribbean sea hurricane. Furthermore, the necklace given by Jack Sparrow would not vanish suddenly in just a short time span, this itself was enough.
When a person was merry, his mind would be absent. When Sheyan hurried back to the Bell and Mug, the drunken pirates were like headless flies on the ship, aimlessly knocking wherever they go. Because on board, the core members like Scarface Harry, Xiaer and even Ammand had probably drank much in celebration during the pirates high authorities meet, hence they were dead drunk and had knocked out in their cabins. Snoring so loudly that even if the heavens shook they wouldn’t be able to hear it. Although vice officer Robben was sober, he was a mediocre man and did not have much prestige, shouting loudly in vain as his voice turned hoarse, the more he helped the worst it got. A group of drunk pirates even circled him and started dancing.
Upon witnessing this unfold, Sheyan’s expression sunk as he took large strides across the deck. Anyone who dared to block him or wildly drunk individuals were all lifted up and thrown or kicked into the sea. Of course water was a pirate’s dry land, and thus they would not drown, still they had to choked on a few mouthful of seawater and troubled themselves greatly to return to the ship. A few grumpy pirates even cursed out loud whilst in the water, loudly shouting profanities and threatening to toy with the person’s (the one that threw them overboard) female family members private parts or rape them. However when they realized the person they were scolding was Sheyan, they immediately awkwardly shut their mouths in obedience. Even those pirates who weren’t on good terms with Sheyan could only mumbled to themselves and cursed silently.
Very quickly, the order of the ship was restored. Sheyan paced around on deck, shouting and ordering these merciless pirates as he delegated their work. Occasionally he would even help out in areas that required manpower, occasionally shouting out encouragements to people managing the sails, and occasionally he would nudge or kick a few pirates and cursed at them. What was strange was, those pirates that were kicked overboard although they had a belly of bad air, they still consented to Sheyan’s action. The effectiveness and efficiency of their work soared, and after not even 10 minutes, the Bell and Mug was the first to raise its sails.
Presently, the imminent hurricane was widely showing its signs. Thunderous booming traversed from the distance. If it was day time, then surely a pressuring image of massive black clouds would fill the sky. After the sails of the main mast were raised and joined the rest, the sails of the Bell and Mug looked gravely swollen from the raging winds. Generating adequate force, this skinny and long sailboard took off with frightening speed, it was like a graceful flying fish elegantly gliding towards Tortuga port. Such nimble speed, even the king of speed within the Caribbean sea, Black Pearl, had to acknowledge it.
“When did Ammand find such a good navigator?” Several pirate captains gazed upon the sailing figure of the Bell and Mug and exclaimed.
Not even half an hour later, the outline of a majestic cliff that looked like a giant arm appeared in a distance from Tortuga port facing the front. The guiding rays of the lighthouse was too dim, like a candle about to be extinguished by the wind. Within the turbulent sea, one could clearly see and feel that the entire Caribbean sea was like a giant ripple, brimming with an irresistible dignity. In the absence of a guiding navigator, Sheyan skillfully shouted and scolded at his crew to hold the rudder and successfully anchor into the safety of the port. No doubt, this once again raised the admiration of these pirates and they felt that Sheyan was truly mysterious.
Regarding these savage pirates, being able to navigate and steer the ship to successfully enter and anchor in the darkness was a secret passed on privately to navigators. Yet they had no clue that in Sheyan’s present world, this sort of fundamentals of piloting a ship could be easily learned and grasped. To the ambitious vice captain of his previous ship he worked on, this was essentially a required course that Sheyan had to go through.
Following the subsequent pirate ships consecutively entering the port, the hurricane had started to brew in, raising towering waves as tall as 7-8 meters thrusting fear into the watchful spectators. Although the ships were resting inside the safe haven of this port, in addition to the anchors set at the bow and tail of the ship, they could still feel the furious storm as though it was about to envelop the entire Tortuga port. At this moment, a Beihai 3-mast huge ship unwillingly sailed shakingly into the port, it was the ship that Tortuga port sent out for purchasing dirty goods. However, its condition was not spared, its main mast had been chopped down by the billowing winds, the nearby sails on the other two mast had been ripped apart, wildly flapping in mid air. Looking at such a miserable state, it looked as if it would sink at any second.
Sheyan stood at the bow of the ship, signalling to Robben with his hands.
“Prepare a sampan (Small boat), I want to go ashore.”
The shocked Robben replied:
“Crew head, the bars are probably closed ah.”
Sheyan gently replied.
“Can’t I force open the door? Also, I do not fancy staying and sleeping on this ship amidst this storm.”
Robben shrugged his shoulders.
“Your command will be immediately carried out.”
Sheyan nodded, returning to his cabin to grab a few things. After several minutes, he was standing on the pier of Tortuga port. Even though the hurricane was billowing causing huge chaos, following the pirate’s return, a few bars had decided to open their doors to welcome them in. The yellowish pale lights struggled out within the cracks of the door entrance. Seyan was not in a rush to enter a bar, he glanced at the time and made his way to the seashore.
The sea was rolling aggressively, the massive dark blue waves crashed heavily against the thick breakwaters and then bursting into thousands of water droplets. Even the ashen colored bricks beneath his feet was distinctly vibrating. This sort of scenario would cause a dryland native to tremble in fear, but this was a common occurrence to Sheyan. He folded his arms against his chest, peacefully waiting atop the breakwater.
Before leaving the port, Sheyan had previously acquired a hidden mission from Chris, this mission’s follow-up was obtained from Mole Waller from the grocery store. Although Sheyan was fiercely taken advantage of by that old man, he still gained the benefits of a few mugs of golden rum. At the end, that old man gave him a crystal ball fragment, upon placing it in the water he received the following pointer:
“When the midnight bell sounds, whimpers of the departed spirits would be restored into truth, history’s dust would be wiped away, the truth will finally be revealed.”
Currently the seashore Sheyan had stopped over was coincidentally the same place where he previously placed the crystal ball fragment in the water during the day time. Following midnight, the surface of the water was sparkling with bits of silverish brilliance, as though the bright moon was illuminating the area. However, that brilliance gave one a serene yet ice-cold feeling, it was like sucking out the breath of a living person. The areas that were sparkling with this silver brilliance were strangely tranquil, only rippling slightly. Moreover the raging sea seemed to be suppressed by an invisible layer, unable to churn up any billowing waves.