The encounter with the Japanese warship passed without danger, and the frightened people continued on their way. In the meantime, some people once again raised the question of whether to adopt the method of night sailing, and find an uninhabited island to hide during the day. But the reality of the lack of modern means of navigation forced them to continue sailing during the day. Except for the one that crossed the Surigao Strait.

It was a night with a small half of the moon, because of the importance of Surigao, and in a few years, a final showdown between battleships would break out here. Of course, at this time, people didn't know this. And no one will think about it. Japan also has a strict patrol in this area. Therefore, everyone can only choose such a night to cross the strait. Crossing the strait at night without the help of a navigation system is difficult for a small boat that simply does not have the ability to sail far. Fortunately, there is a bit of moonlight, and you can still see the dark shadows of the surrounding islands. The boat sails from the shadow of one island to the shadow of another. And so it passed through the most dangerous straits. On the way, they encountered a Japanese warship again, and at that time, the boat was hiding in the shadow of the island, and a Japanese destroyer passed not far away. In the faint moonlight, a black silhouette and a long trail with a faint glow were left behind - the light of some plankton living in the waters churned by propellers.

All the people on the boat held their breath (although it didn't mean much), but the Japanese did not notice them. In fact, they don't have to be so nervous, because they hide in the shadows because they read the novel, and because the decks of Japanese warships are much higher than small boats, and from the Japanese point of view, the small fishing boats seem to have completely melted into this dark and dreary sea. But, perhaps because from their point of view, the silhouette of the Japanese warship was so clear against the backdrop of a sky brighter than the sea, which made them worry that the Japanese would look at them the same way. So everyone was still scared half to death. (In fact, German submarines often took advantage of this perspective at night to surface to attack the American and British merchant fleets)

The days that followed were much safer, and there were no more Japanese warships along the way. But soon after, something even more terrible happened—for several days there was not a trace of wind on the sails. Unbeknownst to those who did not know much about navigation, they had entered the forbidden land of sailing ships, the equatorial windless zone.

Near the equator, due to the long-term direct sunlight, the atmosphere is mainly vertical, and there is very little horizontal atmospheric movement, which means that there is almost no wind in this area. This is an insurmountable obstacle for sailboats that rely on wind power.

Now, the sailboat floats motionless on the surface of the ocean like a dead fish. The tropical sun was shining down and baking the planks of the ship, and the cabin was stuffy like a big oven. The entire cabin was filled with sweat and the smell of stinking from something else. In order to avoid heat stroke, everyone hid in the cabin and did not move. In the first day or two, there were still people praying to God - give me some wind. But now, all of them seem to have lost interest in prayer. Once, there were once a gust or two of the wind blowing, but none of them lasted more than a cigarette. Fortunately, there is a lot of rain in the windless zone, and it is very punctual. Almost every day around 4 p.m., thick clouds will appear in the sky on time, and half an hour later, a downpour will arrive. It doesn't rain until about six o'clock, when the rain ends on time, and the sunset reflects a rainbow in the sky.

This punctual rain provided the most important material for the people on board - fresh water. And they were given the opportunity to take a bath. At this time, a group of people would strip naked and wash off the salt of the white flowers left over from sweating too much in the heavy rain. At the same time, they are showing off their muscles to each other, and even boring enough to compare the size of something. In this way, the worries of being trapped in this boundless ocean are relieved.

In the blink of an eye, a week passed like this. During the week, the whole world was as lively as a pot of boiling water, but the boat seemed to be completely detached from this noisy world. For a week, they didn't encounter a single boat, not a single plane, not even a single seabird. Three days ago, the ship's radio broke down, and the whole world was gone with it, and the people on the ship were now barely clothed and full of beards, so that Ron even had the illusion that he might have traveled again, and to primitive times. For others, hesitation, fear, and remorse grew more evident as the captivity continued. A week later, the noise in the rain was replaced by a terrible silence.

On the afternoon of the twelfth day of the windless area, after the heavy rain that came as scheduled, the conflict finally broke out.

Just as the rain was coming to an end, Pato saw Marcos scrubbing his body with coconut oil soap and said, "Don't waste soap, no matter how much you wash it, it won't be much whiter than a chimpanzee!" ”

Marcos only looked up at Pato and went on to take a shower, apparently accustomed to this kind of racist language.

Maybe it was because he felt that he was being ignored, or because he had just drunk a little wine and was already holding back his anger, Marcos's behavior made Pato inexplicably angry. He stepped forward and slapped the soap off Marcos' hand, "Damn it! Didn't you hear me talking to you! You brown-skinned monkey! ”

Marcos looked up and looked at the furious Pato in confusion. He saw that Pato's face, tanned by the scorching equatorial sun these days, was flushing red, and his two round eyes were full of anger.

"Sir...... I was just...... You ......," Marcos stumbled.

"What, me, me, you, haven't you evolved enough to use human language?" Pato suddenly seemed triumphant.

"Shut up!" Ron, who was about to enter the cabin, couldn't help it, not only because as a later generation, a young man of the new century who had studied "I Have a Dream" in English class had an instinctive aversion to racial discrimination, and not only because he was also full of frustration and needed to vent, but also because Marcos was his orderly, his person! He must defend him! In his previous life, he was taught by the experience of a mid-level that in such a situation, the group can easily collapse due to mutual distrust and complaining to each other, and any action that may cause the team to collapse must be stopped immediately. Even if you can't stop it, even if everything on this ship will collapse, then you want to be a Lord of the Flies here, (Of course, this novel doesn't seem to have been written at the time.) You have to make sure that someone is going to be on your side. Marcos is the easiest person to rally to his side, and his actions will affect his younger brother. And they who can drive the fishing boat and catch fish are the real and most indispensable people on this boat now.

Ron shielded the bewildered Marcos behind him and stared viciously into Pato's eyes, "Enough, Pato!" You're so unreasonable! Marcos is our comrade-in-arms, our brother! You have to apologize to him! Moreover, it's his credit that you can have fish to eat every day! Without him, without Cordis, we'll die! ”

Pato was a little stunned by Ron's roar, but in a blink of an eye, a sense of shame made him even angrier: "What are you waiting for!" Aren't you waiting to die now! If it's not you! Not you! How did we end up like this! ”

"Do you want to line up and go to the Japanese prisoner of war camp?!"

"Even a Japanese prisoner of war camp can't get worse than this! If you hadn't been alarmist......"

"Shut up!" This time it was Tom who spoke, and apparently he was aware of the consequences of allowing this argument to go, "Pato, you voted for this action too!" And you said that you might as well be Robinson rather than lose your freedom! But now, I'm ashamed of you! ”

"Tom, I'm ......" Pato turned his head and looked at Tom, seeming to hesitate. Obviously, he was a little overwhelmed by Tom, who was almost 20 years older than him.

Ron knew that now was a good time to temporarily resolve the looming conflict, which allowed the live-action Lord of the Flies to be postponed on this small boat.

"Pato, I know you're under a lot of pressure, and so are we, in fact, we're all under a lot of pressure." Ron relaxed his tone, "I know, some people regret it a little, to be honest, I was also thinking, going to the Japanese prisoner camp to try my luck, maybe not bad." But now we still think it's useless, we have to hold on. ”

"I miss Mom, and my Amy!" Pato suddenly crouched down and choked, "I don't think I'll ever see them again......"

Listening to Pato's words, Ron suddenly felt his nose sour, if Pato just might never see his relatives again, Ron was losing a whole world. Tears welled up in his eyes unconsciously, but fortunately, it was still raining, and everyone couldn't see it.

Stabilizing his emotions, Ron reached out and patted Pato on the shoulder, crouching down beside him.

"We're not at the end of our rope," Ron said, "we're not worried about fresh water right now, we're not worried about food, we're getting enough vitamins and medications." Pato, we're in a much better situation than Robinson, aren't we? Don't be discouraged, tomorrow, maybe tomorrow, there will be a lovely gust of wind. ”

"What if there is no tomorrow, what if there is no at all?"

"Don't worry, now we are in the equatorial countercurrent, and with the ocean current, we will also drift to the United States." Ron reassured, but he also knew that it was just a reassurance, because it would take years to drift that far.

"Really?"

"Really, I dare to swear by my geography teacher's beautiful daughter." Ron said, "Besides, maybe you'll run into an American ship." ”

"I'm afraid that the American ship won't meet it, but it will run into a Japanese ship." I don't know who said it in the back.

"The sea is so big, where is it so ......," Ron said disapprovingly, looking up at the place. Suddenly, he froze.

"Damn it! There really is a ship coming! Oh my God! Jesus! It must be our boat! ”

By this time, the rain had gradually stopped, and the setting sun shone a golden-red light on the sea through the fading clouds. The sea is also reflected in a golden red. Right there, a boat was heading this way at high speed. Through the telescope, Ron could clearly see that a sixteen Radiant Sun Banner was proudly waving in the wind.