The weather changes on the vast seas are always so unpredictable.

One second the sky was clear, and the next second there were large thunderclouds drifting, and it was not uncommon to set off turbulent waves, not to mention that once there was extreme weather at sea, the severity of it was not comparable on land, and the Tide Stream has encountered this situation now.

Because of Dong Qingyue's reminder, Lu Jing gave up the idea of resting overnight on Huashu Island, and instead chose to go to sea after completing the basic supplies in the afternoon.

In the evening of the next day, it happened to hit a storm!

The jet-black clouds pressed overhead, thunder flickered in them, and from time to time there was a muffled sound of "rumbling~" echoing, and the tide was undulating and shaking in the waves, as if it would be swallowed up by this manic sea in the next second

The bean-sized rain rained down on the wind and crashed down on the Tidecurrent, the waves rolling on both sides of the deck, soaking the thick ropes and other loose debris wrapped around the ship's side and pushing them around the deck.

At the end of the day, the Tide is a small ship that has a limit to what it can withstand.

Fortunately, the two people on the ship at this time are both veteran sailors who have been on the sea for many years, and they can be said to be familiar with this situation.

The gas lamp above the wheelhouse has been turned on, the dark yellow light is the only light source in the surrounding 100-meter sea area, Lu Jing, who is shirtless, strides on the deck, relying on his own strength, first put away the sails, and then grabbed a heavy object on the deck with one hand, and temporarily stacked them in the captain's room to prevent these things from rolling around and damaging the ship's infrastructure, and then bowed down and lifted a wooden board on the foredeck of the wheelhouse, revealing a small operation station underneath.

This is the operating console of the whale oil engines on both sides of the Tideflow, Lu Jing turned over, pressed a few buttons one after another, raised his hand to hold the joystick, turned around and broke another switch, this device is connected to a small gas lamp in the steam room, used as a signal light, in order to show Xu Chu inside that this side is ready to be completed.

Sudden ~ sudden ~ bulging ~

Feeling the vibration of the hull, Lu Jing immediately broke off the joystick in his hand, and with a loud sound, the Tide Current, which had been stationed in the wind and rain, immediately rushed out at a very fast speed!

Lu Jing returned to the deck, closed the wooden lid of the console to prevent too much rain, and returned to the wheelhouse to control the direction.

Xu Chu wandered around the cabin to make sure that the bottom would not be damaged or leak due to accidental collisions.

About 15 minutes later, the rain in front of him gradually decreased, and the sea surface was much calmer, Lu Jing came out of the wheelhouse, looked back at the dark clouds in the distance behind him, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Closing the whale oil displacement ship and putting the contents of the captain's cabin back in place, Xu Chu also re-boarded the deck from the cabin at this time.

"How's it going down there?"

Lu Jing looked at Xu Xu, who was turning his arms to relax his muscles, and asked.

"It's not bad, the bottom layer has withstood the impact of the waves, and there is no worst leakage, but the wear is a little bad...... Looks like things aren't going well on the deck either. ”

As he spoke, Xu Xu's eyes swept around the deck, noticing the gaps and marks caused by the debris bump around the side of the ship, and his hands were crossed on his waist,

"I have to renovate it in Qihuang Island, and in this state, I am trying to make trouble for myself to continue sailing. ”

"I know that in just ten minutes, nearly half of the whale oil has been consumed, and I have to replenish it again...... Look, we're not here. ”

Haruka pointed to the outline of the island that had already appeared in the night ahead, and the steam propeller and the whale oil displacement ship increased the speed of the Tide to an exaggerated degree, invisibly shortening the distance between them and Qihuang Island by a large margin.

......

Due to the fact that it is not far from the storm, this side of Qihuang Island has also been affected, although it will not follow the strong wind and waves, but it is also rainy and continuous.

In the docking office of the port, a kerosene lamp burned quietly in one corner of the table, a plate of cooked beef with only some residue left on the side, a pair of rough and yellowed feet on the top, only a short shirt, and a tuft of black hair on his chest were lying on his back on a bench, and his face was covered with a newspaper.

There is also a mechanical puppet with only the upper body on the side of the chair, holding a puff fan in its hand, constantly fanning him.

Knock knock~

Someone was curling his finger outside the window and tapping on the glass.

The man in the chair tore open the newspaper, withdrew his leg with some impatience on his face, opened the top drawer, took out an account book and a few portraits from it, glanced at the two people standing in the rain with umbrellas in front of the window, and then said: "Half a dollar for a small ship, 1 silver dollar for a medium ship, 3 silver dollars for a large ship, and in addition, you have to make a registration, the number of crew members, the name of the person who landed on the island, the shape of the ship...... What are you doing in a daze, writing. ”

"Why do you have such a rule, in other ports, just pay a fee. ”

Xu Chu handed in half the money from the window, but he didn't rush to write down the information of the two, but asked.

"Not before, but there have been a lot of things on the island recently, and I have also been instructed by my superiors. ”

He held up the newspaper in his hand and pasted it on the window so that the two people outside could see it, and at the same time unfolded the portrait behind the counter, compared the person above with them, and then stuffed the portrait back.

"What are you doing?"

Lu Jing noticed the person's abnormal movements.

"Oh, do you see the guy on this portrait, the wanted warrant recently issued by the Qihuangdao government, that is, the kidnapper mentioned in the newspaper, if you meet it, remember to report it. ”

The portrait depicts a man with his entire face tucked together in a black hood, the only feature of which is that his face looks like a mask made of copper coins, and on the newspaper page, Lu Jing sees a report on the recent serial disappearances in Qihuangdao.

"Now I know why I want to register your information, firstly, to prevent you from doing bad things, and secondly, to make a note in advance, if something really happens at that time, we will have an explanation...... Don't waste time, I'd like to sleep a little more at night!"

Reaching out and patting the account book, he impatiently reminded again.

"Got it, it's not written. ”

Xu Chu glanced back at Lu Jing, who shook his head, took a step forward and picked up the pen, and wrote two temporary names on the book, and the others were also slightly changed, put down the pen and left with Xu Chu.

When they had gone far enough, the man from the management office immediately pulled out the portrait from the drawer again, only this time with two more!

"Hah, we're going to be developed too...... What two guys who are not afraid of death. ”

After saying something in a muffled voice, he turned around and slapped the mechanical puppet next to him, and the fan moved again.