They felt like they weren't sailing a ship, but reciting the alphabet.
But whenever they saw the explorer perform incredibly nimble maneuvers under their commands, the immense pleasure they felt instantly made them forget all their fatigue.
Three days later.
Roger felt that the theory lessons were over, and it was time for a pop quiz.
He cast his gaze towards the sea serpent, which had been sitting in the corner of the bay like a perpetual punching bag.
"Captain Barraba!"
Roger stood at the bow of the explorer, shouting towards the sea serpent through a makeshift tin megaphone.
On the sea serpent, the haggard Barraba and his equally listless cronies poked their heads out lazily.
The past few days had been hellish for them.
Every day, listening to the thunderous cannon fire and fervent cheers from the explorer next door, and smelling the wafting aroma of roasted meat, was an endless torment for them.
"Captain Roger... do you have any orders?"
Barraba spoke weakly.
"Captain Barraba, since we're both idle, why don't we play a game?" Roger's smile seemed harmless.
"How about a race?"
"Starting from here, we'll circle the largest reef outside the bay, and whoever gets back first wins."
"The winner... hmm... gets tonight's whole roasted lamb!"
Whole roasted lamb!
As these three words came out, the pirates on the explorer's eyes glowed green.
And the few men on the sea serpent drooled, their saliva flowing down the corners of their mouths.
"A... a boat race?" Barraba was stunned.
He looked at his own dilapidated sea serpent, with several patches on its canvas and creaking all over when it moved.
Then he looked at the explorer opposite, sleek and black, with smooth lines, fully equipped with brand new sails, clearly having cost a fortune.
This... was there any comparison?
Wasn't this clearly bullying an honest man?
Was there no law anymore?
"What? Captain Barraba, are you scared?"
Roger deliberately raised his voice.
"Who... who said I'm scared!"
Provoked by him, a surge of blood rushed to Barraba's head.
No matter how down and out he was, he was still an old pirate who had been a captain for twenty years!
In terms of sailing skill and experience, he was confident he was second to none on this sea!
It's just a new ship, isn't it?
What's so great about good hardware!
Software is the core competitiveness!
"Race then! Who's afraid of whom!"
Barraba gritted his teeth and accepted the challenge, which was clearly a trap.
"Good! Spirited!" Roger laughed heartily.
"Gibbs! Fire the signal!"
Gibbs lit a flare, and a red flame shot into the sky.
The race officially began!
"Hoist the sails! Full speed ahead!"
Barraba yelled at his few pitiful, makeshift crew members.
The sea serpent slowly hoisted its tattered main sail, like an old man just waking up, beginning to accelerate with difficulty.
On the other hand, the explorer's movements were "swift as lightning"!
"Hoist the main sail! Hoist the studding sails! Fore sail angle thirty! Gaff sails ready!"
At Hanson's shout, over thirty crew members worked like a precisely operating machine, each completing all their tasks at their positions in an instant.
The men on the sea serpent were dumbfounded.
Damn it, they have over thirty people, we have less than ten, how can we compete?
This is pure bullying! A pure dimensionality reduction attack!
the explorer's hull shuddered violently, as if a giant beast awakened from slumber, surging forward at a terrifying speed!
Just in the starting phase, it left the sea serpent far behind.
The sea breeze ruffled Roger's clothes.
He stood at the bow, looking at the sea serpent, which was getting further and further away, eventually becoming as small as a toy, and showed a benevolent, capitalist-like smile.
"My god... this... is this even a ship? It's practically flying!"
On the sea serpent, Barraba's cronies had already given up resistance.
They stared, wide-eyed, at the explorer, which was moving as fast as a ghost.
Barraba's face was pale, and he clutched the helm tightly, his palms slick with cold sweat.
His proud "navigation skills" and rich experience seemed so ridiculous and powerless in the face of the explorer's absolute speed and performance dominance.
After circling the reef and returning.
By the time the explorer's crew had already gathered around the bonfire, carving up the fragrant whole roasted lamb.
The sea serpent slowly sailed back into the bay, like an old man in his twilight years.
Barraba stood at the bow, smelling the rich, enticing aroma of meat in the air, and listening to the joyous laughter coming from the other side, feeling as if his heart was being pricked by ten thousand needles.
He looked at Roger, who was surrounded by everyone, distributing roasted meat and rum to each crew member.
In his eyes, that young man was no longer an object to be schemed against or exploited.
He was too terrifying, so terrifying that Barraba could no longer harbor any thoughts of resistance.
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