But... she couldn't refuse.
"If... if I learn," Elizabeth's voice was a little hesitant, "will you let me go?"
She still held onto a last glimmer of hope, trying to secure a visible future for herself.
"Let you go?"
Roger almost snorted with laughter when he heard that question.
He straightened up, looking at her as if she were an idiot.
"Miss Swann, have you forgotten that I'm a pirate?"
"What is a pirate's virtue?"
"It's being untrustworthy, going back on your word, and being treacherous!"
"Why would I release a hostage I captured with my own skill?"
"I've taken the money, and I'm keeping the person too. That's our pirate's professional integrity, understand?"
Roger's words completely shattered Elizabeth's last vestiges of innocence.
She felt like a clown, still trying to bargain with a devil.
"However..." Roger's tone shifted.
"If you can truly learn, and have the ability to snatch the ship from me and sail away yourself."
"Then not only will I not stop you, I'll even applaud you."
"Because that would prove that my investment was successful."
Elizabeth stared blankly at Roger.
She realized she couldn't keep up with this man's thought process at all.
Was he cultivating an assistant, or was he cultivating a future enemy?
"Alright, stop wasting time."
Seeing her looking like her CPU was about to burn out, Roger waved his hand impatiently.
"Come here, our first lesson starts now."
He grabbed Elizabeth's wrist, and regardless of her willingness, dragged her directly into the Captain's Cabin.
With a 'bang', the door closed.
Inside the Captain's Cabin, a sea chart of the Caribbean Sea, drawn by Roger himself based on [Precise Cartography], hung on the wall.
The level of detail on this chart far surpassed any official sea chart Elizabeth had ever seen.
It not only marked every island and every reef, but also used different colored lines to indicate ocean currents and water depths.
"First lesson, understanding sea charts."
Roger pointed to the chart on the wall, getting straight to the point.
"See these grids? These are latitude and longitude. The horizontal ones are latitude, and the vertical ones are longitude. They are fundamental for our positioning on the open sea."
"And these numbers represent water depth. These arrows represent ocean currents."
"Learn to read them, and you'll know where you can go and where the dead ends are."
Roger gave her no time to react, immediately launching into a cramming session.
He spoke incredibly fast, from how to use dividers to measure distance, to how to use parallel rulers to plot a course, and then to how to plan the optimal route based on wind direction and ocean currents.
Countless unfamiliar terms and complex knowledge flooded Elizabeth's brain.
Her head spun.
She felt like she wasn't attending a lecture, but rather being repeatedly beaten by a thick encyclopedia of navigation.
"Understand?"
Roger finished his lecture, took a swig of rum, and asked.
"I..."
Elizabeth opened her mouth, unable to utter a single word.
She understood nothing!
"Sigh."
Roger sighed heavily, looking like he was disappointed in her.
"I told you, you can't have too high expectations for the intelligence of a canary like you."
"Never mind, let's start from the very basics."
He picked up a finely crafted brass instrument from the table.
"This, a sextant, do you recognize it?"
"I... I recognize it."
Elizabeth said defiantly.
"Oh? Then tell me, how do you use it?"
Roger handed her the sextant.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes, then took the heavy instrument, held it up to her eyes like Roger had done earlier, and gestured towards the window for a long time, but couldn't even figure out how to focus it.
Her clumsy movements almost made Roger laugh out loud.
"Watch closely, I'll only teach this once."
Roger took the sextant from her hand.
"Hold it here, see this small mirror? You need to let the light from the sun or stars pass through it, reflect onto the other mirror, and then align with the horizon."
"See the scale here? Read this angle, then compare it with the nautical almanac, and after a small formula calculation, you can determine our current latitude."
Roger spoke while skillfully operating the instrument.
Elizabeth watched him blankly.
She looked at Roger's serious profile, at his eyes that shone with confident light when explaining technical knowledge.
She suddenly realized that this man, besides being a scoundrel, a rogue, a devil...
He was also a terrifyingly powerful navigator.
The 'power' he spoke of was not some vague boast, but real, profound knowledge.
At this moment, the intense dislike and hatred in her heart seemed... to quietly fade a little.
In its place was a complex emotion she couldn't quite articulate, mixed with awe and curiosity.
"Alright, that's enough for today."
Roger placed the sextant on the table.
"This piece of paper contains the homework I've given you."
He handed Elizabeth a piece of paper.
"Based on our current position, calculate the sun's altitude angle at noon tomorrow."
"If you can't figure it out, no food tomorrow."
With that, Roger turned and walked out of the Captain's Cabin, leaving Elizabeth alone, facing the scrap paper covered in indecipherable scribbles and the sextant that filled her with despair.
She looked at the 'homework' on the table, then at Roger's retreating back, and for the first time, she wasn't thinking about how to escape.
Instead, she was thinking about how high the sun would be at noon tomorrow.
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