Chapter 181: “The Bait”

While “Redhead” Ichabod rushed with his new hand’s treasure to a meeting point somewhere over the sea, the so-called “bait” floated aimlessly, looking like a drunkard, drifting toward Morbihan Port with the waves.

As Ichabod once said, the large cargo ship “Mephistopheles Beauty,” being a big ship of the first class, gave people a round and chubby feeling. It was developed from a galley of the Northern Lands, a round ship called a “Ferret” that used sails as its main power . Its shape was short and wide with a sturdy structure, and its cargo capacity was satisfactory for its tonnage. However, it also brought drawbacks like a deep draft, a high stern and low bow, slow movement, and clumsy turning. As for the serious lack of side freeboard, which was not good for ramming tactics, it was still a matter of debate whether this was good or bad.

“It’s too slow, what are these lazy bones doing!” Cadwallader, rubbing his solid belly, looked at the sail that was always blown full by the wind and cursed through his thick yellow teeth, “Old drunkard, I’ll leave you here for now, I’m going down to the bow…”

Before the other could answer, the round Cadwallader quickly walked down the wheelhouse on the stern deck and rushed angrily toward the front. Soon, those lazy scoundrels who put in no effort appeared before his eyes, ‘A bunch of lowlives who should be hanged on the city gate, daring to be lazy right under my nose, they really are too tired of living.’

“Pull harder, you useless wastes who only know how to eat flatbread!” Cadwallader kicked the butt of one of them and roared, ‘By the way, that coward who peed himself yesterday. I don’t care about his butt, why is he acting so timid?’

“Use all your strength, you lazy ghosts, scum, and trash who deserve to go to Hell and turn into worms!” The nine-tailed cat whip drew dark red marks on their lazy bodies, using painful stimulation to make them full of energy.

At this time, Worthworth walked up with a shameless face and said, “Captain, everyone is doing this for the first time, so they feel a bit uneasy inside…”

“Shut up, I didn’t ask you to speak, so you have no right to interrupt!” Cadwallader cut off the other’s words without any mercy. In Cadwallader’s eyes, this scheming bastard was trying to use the trick of gossiping to curry favor with these scum.

Cadwallader glared fiercely at the other: “Worthworth, since you have time to waste words for these trash, get out and check the tools for tonight’s activity. If anything goes wrong, come and take ten lashes from the nine-tailed cat whip yourself.”

A layer of ashamed and angry brown-red appeared on Worthworth’s face, but in the end, he chose to obey the order and ran to check some special items on the ship.

Cadwallader’s round figure, his fat head and big ears, and his eyes that often narrowed into a line usually showed him as a cunning merchant. But if you looked down on this guy, the dark and cold depths of the sea would be your final destination. In fact, no one who could control a ship of their own on the sea was simple.

Navigation in this era was somewhat similar to the Age of Discovery before crossing over. Most merchant ships would not mind playing the role of pirates when necessary. As long as it did not become the norm, it was rare for them to appear on wanted lists like full-time pirates. The spells of the Divination School were not omnipotent, let alone the vast and unknown sea.

Of course, the original reason why Cadwallader dared to take his “Mephistopheles Beauty” to Morbihan Port as a spy was that he and his crew had never engaged in robbing passing ships since they came to this ship. Cadwallader played the role of a middleman in the huge pirate fence chain.

He was not a middleman or a broker. Cadwallader, known as the “oil pig,” had no channel to wash his goods. Except for real money, pirates usually looted hard goods like cotton cloth, wood, and iron ingots that could not be exchanged for food to fill their bellies. Cadwallader acquired these goods from the pirates at less than one-tenth of the market price and then resold them to real middlemen and brokers at less than one-fifth of the market price.

Although it seemed that there was a profit of over one hundred percent, considering the risks and losses, it could only be considered earning hard money. This might be the reason that prompted him to participate in this operation.

“Damn you whores, did I tell you to stop? Use all your strength, you all worked so hard last night licking those rotten white butts, why don’t you have the strength to pull the ropes now! If you drag your feet again, I will cut off his third dog leg directly and let you never have to itch down there for that bitch again!” Cadwallader turned around and cursed freely, walking back and forth around those scum, like the most cruel lion on the wild. He absolutely would not admit that his treasure “Mephistopheles Beauty” should have had a major repair long ago. At the very least, the winch and pulleys on the ropes needed to be replaced.

This set of wind sail operating equipment, which was once considered new, had always been Cadwallader’s pride. It allowed the crew of “Mephistopheles Beauty” to adjust the sails without climbing the mast in most cases, saving a lot of time. But today, this equipment seemed to be working against its master.

“Pull hard, use all the strength you usually use to screw those sows!” Cadwallader kept roaring.

“I will break your bones, pull out your stinking intestines, and put them on this winch for that group of dirty ship slaves to eat bite by bite!” Yes, this was intimidation, cursing, and a curse with no mercy.

Their muscles and strength, stimulated by fear, turned the winch quickly, while others skillfully pulled the well-trained pulley blocks. Unfortunately, the little guys who were originally obedient seemed not to be helpful today!

“Pull hard! You dirty pigs…” Heavy breathing sounded in the cabin.

“Hurry up! You dung-eating idiots…” The scum bit their teeth, but accidents happened from time to time due to the rush.

“Don’t mess up the pulleys! You lowlives who love eating pig food…” Finally, the main sail that was originally blown full by the sea wind was finally rolled up.

“Hard to port.” Cadwallader, back on the stern deck, held the wheel and turned his head to say to the first mate Ives.

“Hard to port! Boys, be careful not to fall off the ship!” Old George shouted to the beasts on the lower deck with his loud and rough voice. Soon, under Cadwallader’s control, the ship’s rudder, fixed with a brass frame, began to turn. Under the power provided by the upper sail, “Mephistopheles Beauty” began to turn, and the hull tilted a bit.

When the ship became steady, Cadwallader issued the second order again. “Tie the main sail tight, raise the after staysail!”

The sailors immediately climbed the rope ladder to the main mast yardarm and quickly untied the tight canvas according to the captain’s order. The heavy and sturdy canvas quickly stretched its body under the gentle caress of the sea breeze. The sailors below quickly climbed the net hammock, grabbed the hanging end of the sail foot, tied them tightly with rough hemp ropes, and fixed them to the side holes on the ship’s side through the pulley rigging.

“Tie the sail foot tight, you bunch of foodies!” Cadwallader scolded loudly. The thick canvas flying in the hurricane was enough to break people’s bones and tendons, so tying them tight was extremely important.

But for the crew of “Mephistopheles Beauty,” they were already very lucky. Because they did not have to struggle with full sails like the sailors on other ships. Of course, the special situation they encountered today and the convenience it brought were really just a drop in the bucket!

Almost at the same time, the released after staysail was also slowly pulled up to the gaff through the rigging pulleys and then fixed to the lower yard with a reef knot.

“Secure the gaff, direction four o’clock on the port side!” This was my third order.

The turning gaff was quickly fixed with knots through multiple side holes. The sea wind, which was nearly noon, came from the southeast, blowing the thick canvas lady into a beautiful arc. Soon, the wind drove the huge object of “Mephistopheles Beauty,” weighing hundreds of tons, to break through the seawater and glide slowly toward the northwest, and the speed gradually slowed down.

“Worthworth!” Cadwallader shouted loudly, calling the name of the crew member he had just scolded.

“Yes, Captain! I follow your orders.” He raised his head and deliberately made a gesture of brushing his chest and bowing. Good, this bastard has learned to put on airs, becoming smarter and smarter.

“There is a big deal tonight, leave one-third of the people to guard, and the rest of you roll to the forecastle to catch some sleep. Change shifts in 3 hours…” Obviously too lazy to deal with these guys, Cadwallader shouted directly at the sailors on the deck, intentionally letting this pretentious little man handle the issue of who sleeps first. “Remember this, anyone who touches those plague chickens will not get up alive. I will leave a noose on the main mast to hang him.”

Suddenly, Old George hurriedly came to Cadwallader.

“What’s the matter?” Cadwallader let go of the wheel, lightly waved his arm, and cast his gaze at the somewhat confused Old George.

“The lookout sailor has already seen the lighthouse of the harbor.” After spitting a mouthful of black saliva out of the ship, George turned back to explain to Cadwallader.

Cadwallader also spat a mouthful of saliva out of the ship: “It looks like we have arrived. Let’s act according to the plan! I hope nothing goes wrong with this trade this time.”