Dust to dust, dust to dust.

After executing Thomas, Lorraine let Henna carry her down to the water dungeon, where she stood for half an hour in front of a shattered, silent Lake.

Half an hour later, he walked out of the dungeon, and, with the help of Henna, hoisted the fishing boat onto the frame of the Artis Beauty, packed up all the porcelain and pewter, and opened the barricade of the tank.

It's time to really part ways......

Lorraine smiled as she handed over the deed to the water warehouse, the IOU of Old Barry, and two hundred gold pounds to Henna.

"It's time for me to go, and hopefully I'll have the opportunity to meet in the future."

Henna's eyes were a little confused: "Can you drive this big ship alone?" ”

"It could." Lorraine felt the weakness of his body and couldn't help but smile bitterly, "It may be a little difficult now." ”

"I can help you."

"Huh?" Lorraine raised an eyebrow in surprise, "You can sail too?" ”

Henna shook her head in a straight voice: "No. But I'm learning things very fast and that's not a problem. ”

"If that's not a problem...... Leave the Black Harbor and go to a strange sea......"

"Here...... Not home. Henna's eyes grew brighter as she looked at the blood-stained warehouse, "I hate it, I just can't find a way out." Going to the sea, maybe it's the right direction......"

She turned around and smiled at Lorraine: "And it's fun to be with you, and occasionally you don't have to measure your life with money...... It's also interesting. ”

"Yes...... Lorraine laughed, too, "Henna. Miss Yesla, congratulations, you've been accepted. ”

Smoke rose from the No. 3 water tank.

In the sky-high firelight, a big fat ship sailed out of the water gate crookedly, jerky but determined towards the vast strait, sailing......

……

In order to teach Henna the skills of lookout and steering, the Artis Beauty folded its sails and drifted through the calm Strait for ten full days.

In ten days, Henna, who learned things quickly, barely became a qualified sailor, and Lorraine's injuries were mostly healed.

At the beginning of April, the Artis Beauty returned to Plymouth.

Lorraine registered the ship's cargo with the Soto Port Authority, paid a three-pound escrow fee, and left the ship to ride with Henna in a horse-drawn carriage to the world-famous town of Axminster, famous for its carpet weaving.

It's Lake's hometown.

The carriage stopped in front of a cream-colored two-story building, and Lorraine and Henna jumped out of the car to see a strong boy in a sailor's shirt in the courtyard.

He was a handsome young man, probably eight or nine years old, with flaxen hair and emerald green eyes like Lake, and was using a branch as a sword to attack the trees in the yard in earnest.

This reminded Lorraine of her eight-year-old.

The first time he was eight years old, when he was in the second grade of elementary school, he raised the first baby turtle in his life, and used the girl's pigtails as the only way to express his affection.

The second time, at the age of eight, he vomited on the ship Galen bound for the Indian Ocean because of a sudden storm, and for a time doubted whether he would survive to Calcutta.

Of course, that's not Lorraine yet.

Lorraine chuckled and raised her hand to ring the bell in the doorway.

Jingle bells, jingle bells......

The boy, who was seriously practicing swordsmanship, looked up blankly and saw a man and a woman outside the fence.

Both are young and tall.

The man wore a tuxedo, an umbrella, and a top hat, while the woman wore a wide pure black gown, and even her face was covered with a light veil, revealing only the bridge of her nose and her green eyes like jewels.

A strange combination......

A strange and strange combination.

The boy was very cautious, pinching the branch and approaching the door carefully, and asked through the fence, "Sir, ma'am, are you looking for ......?"

"You're Pierce, right? Pierce. Artis, Lake. Son of Artis. ”

"Yes......"

Lorraine closed her eyes, remembering how broken and desperate Lake looked in the water dungeon.

After a while, he reopened his eyes.

"My name is Lorraine. Arnason. Drake, is a member of Mr. Artis's crew. It is my regret to inform you that your father has passed away. He fell ill with a fever during the voyage...... Died very peacefully. ”

Groov!

Pierce stood there, branch, falling to the ground.

……

"Before he died, Lake entrusted me to be your guardian."

Lorraine and Henna entered Lake's simple and dilapidated ancestral home, sat in the living room, and whispered their next arrangements for Pierce.

"I am going to send you to the Plymouth Naval Academy, where Sir Leighton is my mentor, an upright, rigorous, and faithful nobleman, the finest instructor of the Academy, and the finest officer of the Royal Navy."

"He has no children under his knees, and I will convince him to be your adoptive father, which will help you in the future."

Lorraine crossed her fingers, frowned, and looked at Pierce, who looked unbelievable.

"And the Artis Beauty......"

"It's Lake's ship, and now it's yours, and I hope to buy her."

Henna silently took out a bundle of gold pounds from under her gown, a hundred in all.

Lorraine continued: "The Artis Beauty is a standard Kirk, with a market price of five hundred pounds, and I can't get it out for a while. ”

"Of the hundred pounds, fifty pounds are the proceeds of this trade and are Lake's property. For the other fifty pounds, I wish to hire the Beauty for the time being, and the rent is fifty pounds every two months. I will sign an IOU and settle with you within a year the payment of the ship and the remainder of the hire for a total of seven hundred and fifty pounds. ”

"Of course, if you don't trust me, this IOU can be notarized by a local gentleman, and the cost of notarization will be paid by me."

After saying this, Lorraine took a deep breath: "Pierce, are you willing to accept my arrangement?" ”

Pierce stared at him blankly: "Mr. Drake......"

Lorraine nodded slightly

"My father told me that the Beauty was so old that it could only be sold for two hundred pounds......"

Lorraine smiled disdainfully: "The captain doesn't understand ships, he was deceived." ”

"Old skins don't sell for new skins. Although I haven't studied nitrate skin, I still understand this truth from the fact that I have been in business with my father since I was a child. Pierce glanced at Lorraine gratefully, "You are a good man and think of me wholeheartedly, but I cannot accept your arrangement. ”

"Why?"

"I want to go to sea!" Pierce clenched his small fists and his face was full of determination, "After getting the ship, my father's dream is to become a maritime merchant." I want to carry on his legacy, not inherit a large inheritance, and become a good, but completely different person from him! ”

"You...... Want to go to sea? ”

"I want to go to sea!" Pierce stood up and waved his arms excitedly in front of Lorraine, "Mr. Drake, after my father left, I learned to swim, I learned to fish, and I learned to cook simply!" I...... I am diligent and brave, I can wash the deck on the boat, I can cook, I can keep vigil and move goods......"

"I don't want that boat!" He looked over pleadingly, "Sir, will you take me?" Let me go to sea like my father, okay? ”

Lorraine looked at him steadily: "It will be very hard to be a sailor in a merchant ship, you have to learn a lot of things, and you must know that the sea eats people." ”

"I'm not afraid of death! I'm more afraid of ...... than death I'm afraid that if you send me to Mr. Layton, I'll forget my father...... I don't want to forget him, I don't want to forget ......."

Large tears rolled out of the boy's eyes, but he just kept his eyes open, for fear of missing the one that might be, and nodded slightly.

Lorraine smiled wryly and looked at Henna.

"Henna, you know? My first time I went to sea was eight years old, working as an intern on a relative's merchant ship, and I didn't do anything but cause trouble......"

Henna was quiet, without any expression: "You are the captain, you don't need to ask for my opinion." ”

"You're shirking responsibility......"

"You guessed it."

"That's really ......" the wry smile on Lorraine's face intensified, "Pierce. Artis ......"

The boy snapped and stood up straight: "Yes, Mr. Captain!" ”

"In the near future, I will be forming the Drake Chamber of Commerce. If you bring a ship into the shares, I can consider giving you 10% of the dry shares. ”

Lorraine pondered, "This is likely to be a loss-making transaction, for if the assets of the Chamber of Commerce do not exceed eight thousand pounds, the value of the ten percent of the dry shares will be less than what I had arranged for you." ”

"I don't care about money! Mr! ”

"You have to learn to care, because businessmen are born to deal with money." Lorraine got up and smiled and held out her hand to Pierce, "Welcome, second mate Pierce. Mr. Artis, you have been admitted. ”