Chapter 149 Whale Hunting
On the South China Sea, under the bright sun, a group of fin whales lurked and frolicked, occasionally spouting high columns of water. Completely unaware that three audacious, hungry wolves had their eyes on them.
Fin whales are the second largest animals after blue whales, with a maximum length of 25 meters and a weight of up to 70 tons. They can swim at speeds of up to 20 knots, which is obviously a great challenge for a frigate that is less than 40 meters long.
Fin whales are actually rarely seen in the South China Sea, which is why they caught Qin Mo's attention. Whales that are too slow are not challenging at all, so how can they bring out the students' skills and potential?
The frigates 601 and 602 gradually approached the whale pod, which consisted of two large and two small whales, and looked like a happy family.
The burly captain of 601 never interfered, but silently lit his pipe and let the two trainee helmsmen steer the ship. His eyes were more focused on Han Kun.
The frigate has three mainmasts, and Han Kun is in charge of the largest and tallest one in the middle. From the moment the order to hunt whales was received, the mast that Han Kun was in charge of reacted the fastest, constantly adjusting to the optimal angle as the course changed, and the two mainsails always remained full and never deflated.
Perhaps the commotion caused by the approaching three ships was too great, attracting the attention of the four fin whales. They lazily ended their playful antics, swayed their broad tail fins, and swam southward.
The two helmsmen performed adequately, navigating the standard course and gradually moving towards the left side of the whale. If they disturbed the fin whale, whether it turned around and crashed into the hull or accelerated away, neither of these was what they wanted to see. Quietly approaching and ambushing them with ballistae and ropes was the best option.
"The crossbeam deflects two degrees to the left."
Han Kun watched as the weather vane at the top of the mast shifted slightly in wind direction. He calmly issued the command, and Yakov and Vasily took the lead in quickly adjusting the mooring lines. Meanwhile, the old sailors on the fore and aft masts silently turned the sails two degrees.
Han Kun pretended not to see. At first, he frequently instructed Vasily and Yakov to climb up and down, which made the old sailors on the other two masts feel superfluous. But the experts could see the trick, and after a few times, they began to follow Han Kun's pace. The 601 gradually took the lead over the 602 and approached the fin whale pod.
Specially crafted, large crossbow bolts were mounted on the ballista on the deck and aimed at the adult male fin whale.
"Buzz!"
The archer was highly skilled; the crossbow bolt, attached to a rope, accurately struck the whale's back, causing a large spray of blood. The whale, in pain, plunged headlong into the sea.
The rope was secured to the sturdy hull, and even when pulled taut and creaking, it did not break. The enormous whale, carrying the 601 ship, began to accelerate, zigzagging and swaying across the sea in irregular arcs.
"Buzz buzz buzz," the whale finally surfaced to breathe, and the crossbow bolts, which had been waiting in the wings, were fired again, inflicting another heavy blow on the whale.
The whale pod was startled again, and the female whale quickly fled with one large and two juvenile whales, leaving 602 unable to catch up and helpless.
Fortunately, the male whale gradually lost its strength and was finally dragged over by ship 601. Its bleeding attracted a large number of sharks, and ship 602 began a large-scale shark hunt to vent its anger.
A ship came from the Kai, bringing the prince's gift to the 601 ship, which also silenced everyone on board.
It was a box, simple in design and with no particularly remarkable patterns, but everyone's eyes were fixed on it and they didn't want to look away.
“I reached the Human Realm a long time ago, so I naturally don’t need these rubbings and ‘medicines.’ You can divide them up!” The strong captain spoke first, breaking the silence.
"I'm too old, I don't expect to have the luck to become a monk, haha!" Even the most prestigious old sailor gave up.
The remaining first mate, second mate, and trainee remained silent. They were the ones who needed this opportunity the most. As for why, one only needed to look at the fact that the captains of ships 601 and 602 were both cultivators to understand. The captains of the new warships were always cultivators, which was why Han Kun no longer envied those naval academy cadets. Between a chief boatswain of a capital ship and a captain of a rankless ship, the former was far more attractive to Han Kun.
"I'll offer ten thousand taels for this rubbing of the medicine," Han Kun finally said, stating his terms.
"Hmm? Han family son, what do you mean by that?" The captain looked at Han Kun and said amiably.
"I believe I have made a significant contribution to this whaling expedition, but I cannot ignore the hard work of my fellow brothers. Therefore, I am contributing 10,000 taels to share with my colleagues as compensation."
"Hehe! You're quite generous, but Sister-in-law Han is very capable. Can you really make the decision about such a large sum of money?"
The captain was very satisfied with Han Kun's suggestion. How to divide a rubbing of the medicine was indeed a difficult problem, and Han Kun's solution was already a rare and perfect one.
"Several uncles and elders were very kind and left some money for my family in the Nanyang caravan. My mother staked all her family property on it, and now it has paid off. She can still come up with 10,000 taels."
Han Kun straightened up and answered respectfully. In fact, no matter how gentle the captain was on this ship, his absolute dominance could not be denied. No matter which family's second-generation scion you were, the captain's words could not be disobeyed, and it would be useless to complain to the prince.
"Well, let's leave it at that! Ten thousand taels isn't a small amount; the black market price is less than twenty thousand. We're all brothers, so everyone should be content!"
"Aww!" Nearly two hundred people cheered, overjoyed at this windfall. Many were already thinking about whether to use the money to buy a Korean wife or a Japanese concubine.
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