Early the next morning, the still-hungover pirates were awakened by a series of urgent knocks.
"Everyone get your asses up! Assemble!"
Billy's booming voice echoed above the deck, louder than a gong.
The pirates grumbled and crawled out from various corners.
They rubbed their sleepy eyes, yawned, and looked utterly unwilling.
After splitting the money and getting thoroughly drunk yesterday, all they wanted now was to hug their gold coins and rum and sleep for three days and three nights.
"What's all the noise about! Can't a man get some sleep this early in the morning?"
"Exactly! Billy, are you itching for a beating again?"
A pirate rubbed his head, complaining discontentedly.
"Everyone shut up!"
Billy glared with bull-like eyes, roaring with full vigor.
"This is the Captain's order! Everyone, immediately assemble on deck!"
As soon as they heard it was Roger's order, half of their drunkenness instantly sobered up.
They dared not voice any more complaints, hastily tidied their clothes, and stood in a wobbly line on the deck.
Roger walked out of the Captain's Cabin with his hands behind his back.
He swept a glance over the group of slouching, swaying men in front of him, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly.
Although much better than before the training, it was still lacking.
He didn't expect these pirates to achieve strict discipline in just a few days.
It seemed that just having skills wasn't enough.
The discipline of these guys still needed a good drill.
"Brothers, I know everyone worked hard yesterday."
Roger began.
"However, our journey has just begun."
"From today onwards, we will conduct an unprecedented upgrade and modification of the explorer!"
"I need every single one of you to be fully alert and strictly follow every one of my orders!"
"Modification? Captain, wasn't our ship just repaired? How else can it be modified?"
Hanson asked, somewhat puzzled.
In his opinion, the current the explorer was already the best ship they had ever seen in their lives.
"Yes, Captain, this ship is fast and its cannons are powerful, isn't that enough?"
Another pirate chimed in.
"Enough?"
Roger sneered.
"My goal isn't to be a small pirate leader who can only lord it over the Caribbean Sea."
"My goal is the sea of stars!"
"I want dominion over the entire world's seas, to turn the ocean into my private property!"
Although the pirates didn't understand what a sea of stars meant, they could feel the immense ambition in Roger's words.
"Therefore, our current ship is far from enough!"
"It's not fast enough! Not tough enough! Not strong enough!"
"I want to turn it into a true sea beast!"
After Roger finished speaking, he directly issued the first command that left everyone dumbfounded.
"Gibbs!"
"Present! Captain!"
"You take half the men and tear down all the inner hull planks we just laid yesterday!"
"What?!"
Gibbs thought he had misheard, his single eye wide.
"Captain... you... you didn't say it wrong, did you? Tear... tear down the planks?"
The deck instantly erupted into chaos.
"Tear down the planks? Is the Captain crazy?"
"We worked so hard for a month to fix this! Just tear it down?"
"Damn it, did I drink too much rum yesterday and haven't sobered up yet?"
The pirates discussed animatedly, everyone looking at Roger with eyes as if he were a madman.
They simply couldn't understand.
Why would you tear down a perfectly good ship?
Wasn't this just asking for trouble?
"Everyone be quiet!" Roger shouted.
The clamor on the deck instantly vanished.
"I don't want to repeat myself."
Roger's gaze swept over everyone.
Every pirate he looked at shivered in unison and lowered their heads.
They recalled the fear of being dominated by the devil's training a few days ago.
"But... Captain, you at least have to tell us why you're doing this, right?"
Gibbs bravely asked, voicing everyone's thoughts.
"If you tear down the planks, won't the ship leak?"
"Good question." Roger nodded.
He walked in front of the crowd, picked up a piece of charcoal, and began drawing on the deck.
He drew a cross-section of a ship's hull.
"You see, this is our current hull structure, only a single layer of planking."
"Now, I want you to dismantle it, and then inside, use stronger wood to build another layer of planking!"
Roger drew another layer on the diagram.
"This is called a double hull!"
"Between the two layers of hull, we will fill it with pitch and oakum!"
"This way, even if the outer layer is penetrated by a cannonball, we still have an inner layer of protection! The ship won't easily leak!"
"Not only that!"
"We also need to use thick planks inside the cabin to partition five, no, six completely independent, watertight compartments!"
"This is called a watertight compartment! Even if our ship's bottom is gashed open by a reef, seawater will only flood one of the compartments, while the others remain intact!"
"Our ship will never sink!"
Double hull?
Watertight compartments?
These concepts surpassed the understanding of these pirates, and coming from Roger's mouth, they left all the pirates present bewildered, like something out of a fairy tale.
They couldn't imagine how a ship with a large hole in it could possibly not sink.
This completely defied all the experience and common sense they had accumulated over decades at sea.
"Captain... what you're saying... can it really work?"
Hanson asked, looking skeptical.
"Yeah, it sounds too fantastical."
"Whether it works isn't said with words, it's done with hands!"
Roger's voice was firm and resolute.
"I ask you, before in the Devil's Triangle, when I said there was a way out, did you believe me?"
"At Razor Reef, when I said we could take down that spanish warship, did you believe me?"
"In Port Royal, when I said we could sneak in without anyone knowing, did you believe me?"
Roger's series of rhetorical questions silenced everyone.
They had to admit.
Every time they thought it was impossible, Roger used the hard truth to slap them in the face.
This man always seemed to be able to create miracles.
"Now, I'll say it again!"
Roger's gaze became incredibly sharp.
"I, Roger, Captain of the explorer, now command you to act immediately!"
"Tear down the inner hull! Build watertight compartments!"
"Anyone who dares to utter another word of nonsense or question my orders will immediately pack their bags and get out!"
Roger's words made everyone instinctively straighten their backs.
"Yes! Captain!"
The pirates no longer hesitated; they grabbed their tools and rushed into the cabin.
Although they still didn't understand why they were doing this.
They still chose to believe.
To believe in this man who had led them to create miracles time and time again!
Meanwhile, in the room next to the Captain's Cabin, Elizabeth, who had heard everything clearly, showed an uncontrollable look of delight.
Tearing down the ship?
This madman!
He really was crazy!
He actually wanted to dismantle a perfectly intact ship himself!
Excellent! The Sea God truly blessed her!
The flame of hope rekindled in Elizabeth's heart.
She felt that this arrogant pirate was about to pay the price for his stupidity and madness.
His ship would fall apart, and his crew would mutiny!
At that time, it would be the perfect opportunity for her to escape!
She peered through the door crack, excitedly watching the bustling scene of the ship being dismantled outside, a gloating smile playing on her lips.
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