Many people find the sailing experience exciting and novel.
This was indeed the case during the first few days on board. Whether it was the surging waves, the blue sky, or the seagulls soaring alongside the ship's side, they all gave people a vast feeling that all creatures in the frosty sky were competing for freedom.
But when the voyage is halfway through, facing the world where the sea and sky are one color and there are only endless waves, even the most curious people will feel bored.
Not to mention that the food reserves on the ship are limited. In order to extend the use time of resources as much as possible, the sailors will most likely catch fish for dinner.
Eating one or two meals of freshly caught sea fish is a pleasure, but after eating it for a period of time, coupled with the poor seasoning of the current island, it will become torture.
Lu Ban has even brewed his own soy sauce and developed a way to eat the fish raw, which is better than wasting the fish with all kinds of seasonings.
It was only then that Lu Ban realized that the reason some places eat raw food was not because they were barbaric, but probably simply because there were no great chefs in those places. With the survival of the fittest and everyone’s freedom of choice, the tradition of eating raw food was eventually formed.
Anyway, his stomach was not afraid of any parasites, so even if there were dark yellow worms wriggling on the fish's bodies, he could eat them without batting an eyelid.
Compared to wheat and bread, the advantage of rice is that it is easy to store, and when you want to eat it, you just need to add water and heat it up and cook it.
It is even convenient to throw it into fish soup and mix it with rice when you are lazy.
Lu Ban sat on the deck and ate two large bowls of rice with soy sauce and sashimi.
"The weather is not very good. It will soon be a doldrums. There seems to be a storm."
Scholar A Xiang looked at the gloomy sky ahead and said.
“Will there be storms in the doldrums?”
Lu Ban couldn't help but ask back.
He didn't know much about the doldrums, and he wasn't sure whether the doldrums of this era and the future were the same thing. But since they were all called doldrums, wasn't it a bit unscientific to also talk about atmospheric movements like storms?
Well, many things in foreign lands are not very scientific.
"Actually, the doldrums are a good thing for us because we can travel a long way in the doldrums if the winds are blowing in the right direction."
A Xiang did not look very nervous, but rather seemed somewhat relaxed.
"I remember that if there is a storm, we have to fold the sails."
Xia glanced at the white sail on the mainmast that was fluttering in the wind.
If the sails are not folded in strong winds, the ship will soon be capsized by the air currents, or the mast will break because of the strong winds.
Most of the typhoons perceived by humans have been weakened after a long journey and on land. Real typhoons can only be seen on the sea.
Under the influence of sea water, the air pressure in the center of these typhoons is extremely low, which will exceed the limits of human cognition.
For example, the one in front of Lu Ban.
In the doldrums, huge clouds began to condense over the past two days, now forming a dark layer of clouds that blocked off the sky.
The sea was choppy, making the ship's navigation unstable.
Looking forward, you can see the pure black clouds with countless lightning flashing. Huge and thick lightning strikes the sea, spreading a stream of fire and silver flowers in the dark sea water, illuminating the dark deep sea.
After Lu Ban finished eating, he came to the bow of the ship and looked forward.
You can see a very clear boundary in the sea.
Here, beyond the boundaries, the waves surge, riding the wind.
Within the boundaries, the sea is calm, without any waves, like a mirror.
Even the lightning and thunder that fell into the boundary seemed pale and powerless. It seemed as if it possessed some extraordinary power that resolved all conflicts and contradictions and reduced everything to nothingness.
Boom——
As the thunders came one after another, Lu Ban saw that the lightning that tried to break the silence within the boundary began to slow down after entering the field. The original speed disappeared, leaving only the slow electric current gradually building up in the air, and finally falling into the sea, spreading like fireworks and disappearing into the invisible.
It seems that the doldrums are more than just the absence of wind.
It seems that this place completely violates the laws of science, and can cause everything that enters the doldrums to stagnate and become still.
"I'll try."
Xia came to Lu Ban, condensed an invisible magic power in her hand, and an arrow flew towards the border of the calm belt.
A moment later, the invisible arrow entered the doldrums. It moved forward tenaciously, but eventually it attenuated and disappeared a few hundred meters after entering the doldrums.
"It's not just the wind that's stopped, it's all movement that's coming to a grinding halt, as a result of the pollution."
Shia murmured.
If there is no ability to resist pollution, then after entering the doldrums, the air flow will stagnate first, then the ship will be unable to move, and finally the human body's functions will fail, and even the growth and reproduction of bacteria will stagnate.
This is the space of true stagnation.
For Xia and Lu Ban, these pollutions should not be a problem.
But it was a bit troublesome for the people on the boat.
Shia glanced at the sailors, then spoke to Nagamasa.
"Captain, let's wait until night before entering the doldrums."
"At night? Why?"
Nagamasa didn't quite understand. The storm was about to spread. If he wanted to rely on the wind to enter the calm zone, now was the best time. If he waited until night, he might miss it.
Typhoons at sea move very fast and are fleeting. It is still noon now, and we have to wait until after midnight before the typhoon may really leave them.
But since it was Xia who said it, Nagamasa didn't dare to ask more.
He had never actually been to the Doldrums, but had only heard about it from his predecessors. Now he was still a little excited.
"Take up the sails and pull down everything on deck."
Captain Nagamasa commanded.
The sailors got busy.
Lu Ban knew very well that Xia should wait until after midnight to pray for a suitable spell to resist the pollution of the doldrums. Although this matter could actually be handed over to Baobao, it always felt wrong to let an incarnation of an outer god protect humans.
As the sailors cleared the decks and returned to the cabins one after another, it began to rain.
At first it was just a drizzle, but soon the rain became heavier, with lightning and thunder, accompanied by waves.
If the ship were to drop anchor at this time, it would most likely not be able to withstand the pull and would break directly, and it would have to drift with the current, relying on its own weight and stability to fight the storm.
"Let the storm come harder!"
Captain Nagamasa stood next to the steering wheel. He relied on his own steering to control the direction of the ship, so that the bow faced the direction of the waves. Because if the hull was flush with the waves, it would easily aggravate the capsizing and cause the ship to capsize.
Now without the power of sails, only Nagamasa's rudder can determine the fate of the ship.
The wind was howling, and lightning was winding like a long snake in the clouds. The sailors sat in their cabins, closed their eyes, and prayed to the gods who were unknown where they were.
At the bottom of the cabin, Xia also had her eyes closed, but she was waiting.
At midnight, the ship was caught in the storm and had reached the edge of the doldrums and normal sea areas, and was about to rush into the doldrums.
Captain Nagamasa was soaked to the skin. He saw a quiet world ahead. In that silence, madness and terror were brewing.
There was no room for resistance and the entire ship rushed into the doldrums.
At the same time, in the cabin, Xia opened her eyes.