Two pirates on the side of the ship cooperated, one of whom threw the rope with a piece of wood tied to the tip into the sea, and the other was in charge of timing, and when the time was up, the man who put the rope reached out and grabbed the rope, counted the knots that had been released, and shouted.

"The current speed is 10 knots!"

This is also the method used by most Western ships to measure ship speed in the 18th century, although there will certainly be some error, because the sea itself is also moving, but the impact is not too great, and the method of measuring absolute speed will not appear until the 20th century.

Zhang Heng was dressed in black, standing on the deck, directing the pirates to adjust the sail angle according to the wind direction, the Jackdaw had just raised the top sail on the mainmast and the auxiliary mast, and now it was close to sailing with full sail, the pressure on the mast was very great, several pirates were busy pulling the back rope back and fixing it on the stern, while Zhang Heng was personally at the helm to adjust the draft of the bow.

After a violent jolt, the hull of the ship finally adapted to the current speed, and only when it gradually stabilized did Zhang Heng return the rudder to the previous sailor and instructed the lookout to continue to observe.

Karina stood aside, silently watching it all.

Her heart is not as calm as it seems, when she was on the island before, she had found someone to learn about Zhang Heng, knowing that the latter was only a passenger on a merchant ship a year ago, and later became a member of the Sea Lion with excellent marksmanship, it is said that he was not used to life at sea at that time, and he was very seasick on the way back to Nassau, and almost lost his life.

However, in just one year, he went from being an inconspicuous ordinary sailor on the Sea Lion to a cable captain, then leaving the Sea Lion with a group of old men, and by the time he returned to Nassau, he was already the captain of a pirate ship.

Such a rapid rise makes people wonder if he has enough intelligence and experience to lead his crew, which is why the island generally looks down on the Jackdaw.

Karina had thought of this before, but when the two met for the first time, she changed her mind, and the man in front of her was obviously different from the pirates she had met before, he had a maturity and strange charm far beyond her years, but it was more of a subjective feeling

And this time, when she and Zhang Heng went to sea together, they really saw each other's command and leadership skills at close range.

Zhang Heng's performance is not at all like a rookie captain who has gone to sea for the first time, he is proficient in dealing with various situations and challenges on the ship, and it feels like he has practiced countless times.

However, after these days of getting along, the businesswoman was not as surprised as before, and in her opinion, it was difficult for anyone with such a disciplined lifestyle and an attitude of continuous learning not to succeed.

Karina once saw Zhang Heng and Anne practicing knives on the deck before dawn, and often saw Zhang Heng consulting and discussing various navigation issues with the old sailors on the ship.

The predecessor of the Jackdaw was originally a naval warship, and there were many navy-related tactical classics in it, in addition to some travelogues about various places, especially the latter part is also Zhang Heng's favorite to read.

He knows more about this era from the perspective of a later generation, which can certainly keep him awake, but there are also many things that he cannot understand, these observations and travelogues can help him better integrate into this era, and also let him indirectly understand a lot of customs and anecdotes.

On the other hand, Zhang Heng is also re-evaluating Karina, this woman is more decisive than he imagined, she did not send her subordinates as agreed but chose to deliver the letter herself, in addition to ensuring that nothing goes wrong, but also in this way to show her sincerity of cooperation.

Black marketeers were an important part of Nassau, but unlike pirates, most of them had status and family in a civilized society, and they were usually only responsible for buying and transporting pirates' spoils, and did not really participate in the raiding process.

In this way, in the event of an accident, they can quickly choose themselves from it, and it is very dangerous to board a pirate ship directly like Karina, which is equivalent to completely tying their fate to Zhang Heng, but the latter also has to admit that there is no way to win his trust more than what Karina is doing now.

This woman is a natural gambler, and maybe she can really make her way out of Nassau, which has almost been controlled by the Black Merchants League.

But now Karina didn't think about things so far away, and the anxiety in her expression became more and more obvious as she looked at the empty horizon in the distance.

It is now the thirty-second day after the Jackdaw left the port, most of the water and food on the ship have been consumed, the lemon juice has stopped being supplied, and there are still some dried vegetables and fruits left, but because it is the first time to do this kind of thing, Zhang Heng can't take all the details into account, the humid environment at sea makes those dried vegetables and fruits quickly damp and moldy, so everyone returned to the bitter days of eating biscuits and smoking fish.

Even so, the rest of the food and water would only last another twenty days, in other words, the Jackdaw's return was not far off.

Zhang Heng is also a little helpless, the reality is not to play games, many times even if you are fully prepared and have prepared a lot of backup plans, you may still face all kinds of unexpected situations.

Even the best pirate captain in the entire Caribbean can't pat his chest and say that he returns with a full load every time he goes to sea, but while everyone knows it, he really needs a big win now more than ever.

As time passed, Zhang Heng could feel the changes in the emotions of the people around him, not only the newcomers who had just boarded the ship, but also the old sailors, including Billy and Di Frena, began to become silent, and even Karina had been shaken.

She quietly knocked on the door of the captain's room last night and confessed to Zhang Heng, saying that she suspected that the news of her father had spread throughout the colony, and that his former friends in the customs had betrayed him, and that the so-called spice ship did not exist at all, just a fabricated lie, and may even be a bait thrown by the Naval Intelligence Bureau.

The businesswoman looked around nervously and said in a low voice, "I thought about it again, no matter how outrageous the ship of the Spice Islands is, it is impossible for it to run to the New World, there must be something wrong here, I remember when I was a child, my father seemed to mention that he seemed to have two enemies in Boston." ”

Zhang Heng had to go to the kitchen to get a bottle of rum and let Karina drink it, "You said it yourself, this news is so outrageous, shouldn't it be more reasonable if it's a trap?" ”