Chapter 205 “Rat Pest”

Clay King accepted the letter of recommendation, "It may take some time to find everyone to vote. It's okay for the others, mainly captains like you. Some of them are not on the island now, but they should be there in another month. When they are all back, you will officially join the parliament at that time."

"Excuse me, Mr. Clay." Zhang Heng said.

The owner of the theater smiled and said, "How about I hold a dinner party to celebrate when you officially join the parliament. The girls here have heard a lot of your stories during this time and are very curious about you. Please invite me when the time comes. Be sure to appreciate it.”

Before he finished speaking, a girl of about seventeen or eighteen years old with a beauty mark on her mouth poked her head out and said curiously, "They said you can summon dolphins during battle. How about riding a dolphin to chase the enemy?" Really?"

"No, the version I heard is that the ropes on their deck are magical and can fly up and trap the enemy. This is what a crew member on his ship told me." Another plump woman said.

"When will you tell us the story of your battle with skeletons? I heard that you encountered a skeleton ship while sailing, with more than three hundred skeletons on it. You and your crew fought off them heroically... …”

The girls chatted all over the place until the madam chased them away.

"I didn't even know I had so many stories," Zhang Heng said.

"Don't mind, every rising captain will be accompanied by a series of legends that even they themselves have never heard of." Clay King put the pipe into his mouth and took two puffs, "When Captain Sam snatched Vader At the time of the trumpet, some people still believed that he was a descendant of King Arthur."

…………

Before going to sea, Zhang Heng went to the second-hand goods trading place to find Karina again, but the businesswoman was not there.

Jim stepped forward immediately. After the suspicion was cleared, Karina gave him a salary increase and made him the head of the trading office. Mr. Bookkeeper was also a blessing in disguise.

After Zhang Heng inquired, he found out how resolute Karina was. The Nassau grocery store she mentioned before had already chosen an address. It was right next to the market. The businesswoman was preparing to open tomorrow. Zhang Heng thought about it. I didn't want to bother her in the end.

On that day when we went to sea, the port was bustling with people.

This is the largest joint hunt in Nassau in recent years. The participating pirate ships are all well-known, let alone the Vader. Since the disappearance of Blackbeard Teach, Black Prince Sam and his men have faintly become the scene of this land. The strongest pirate group in the sea, and the people he hired for this cooperation were also famous pirate groups.

The only ones with relatively junior qualifications are Zhang Heng and his Jackdaw. However, they are now the most popular pirate group in Nassau, and they are also the pirate group that men on the island most want to join. They have brought back huge sums of money from three consecutive trips to sea. trophies, annihilating a pirate group three times his own in one battle. Although the rise of the Jackdaw was short, every step was full of legend.

Even among a group of well-known veteran pirates, no one would ignore their existence. On the contrary, when they saw Zhang Heng coming to the dock, many captains took the initiative to say hello to him.

In addition, Zhang Heng also saw Malcolm. This was the first time he met him after the dinner. The latter's expression didn't look much different from before. Malcolm only stayed at the dock. After a short while, he briefly said a few words to Black Prince Sam, wishing them success in this operation, and then prepared to leave.

But before leaving, he saw Zhang Heng not far away and stopped again, and nodded to Zhang Heng.

Zhang Heng returned the favor politely, and people who didn't know could not see the hostile relationship between the two.

Black Prince Sam looked excited at the six pirate ships of different shapes parked at the port. He couldn't wait. He was very generous and had told the other five ships the sailing route of the Spanish treasure ship as early as last night. The captain of the ship.

There was no need to keep this operation secret in the first place. With the firepower from the opposite side, there was no possibility that someone would secretly regret it and take action alone, because that would be no different from directly committing suicide.

"Let's get started. If we succeed this time, even the Queen in London will know our names. From now on, passing merchant ships will lower their flags when they see our flags."

…………

"A rat was found on the ship?" Zhang Heng put down the Dutch study notes in his hands in the captain's cabin and looked at the quartermaster and cook in front of him.

"Let Mr. Ramsey do the talking," Dufresne said.

"Strictly speaking, I didn't see those little things, but there was indeed a phenomenon of food being lost in the kitchen, and it was getting worse." The chubby chef wiped the sweat from his neck.

Rats are definitely one of the most irritating things on board a ship, as they accelerate the consumption of food and water supplies, and they also chew on cables and planks.

But these are not the most troublesome things. The real danger is that they may also cause plague.

This is a highly contagious disease. It often starts with a headache and fever, but soon you will feel nauseous, and ecchymosis will appear on the skin. Then the lymph nodes will begin to swell, and they will quickly become pus-filled and ulcerated. Within 3 to 5 days, it will be over. Death ultimately results from severe toxemia, pneumonia, or sepsis.

Especially in this era, the only way to control the spread of plague as much as possible is through isolation, and there is almost no effective treatment.

Zhang Heng knew the dangers of the plague better than anyone else. In the 14th century, 25 million people died in Europe due to the Black Death, accounting for about one-third of the total population of the entire European continent at that time. The most recent plague occurred in London more than 40 years ago, which also caused considerable panic. .

"Didn't anyone check before going to sea?"

"It's my fault." Dufresne said, "I checked it the day before we went to sea, but I didn't check it again after the supplies arrived. If there were rats on the ship, they might have been transported with food or wood. .”

"I don't blame you. Time is tight this time. I heard that you were still looking for people to gather around at that time. Fortunately, you found out early now. Let's seize the time to solve this problem." Zhang Heng said.

"I bought a cat when I went ashore last time, just to cope with this situation. Let me search the cabin with it again."

After finishing speaking, Dufresne and the chef left the captain's cabin. However, what he didn't expect was that this time he brought the cat with him, but still couldn't find the mouse that stole the food. So, Zhang Heng had no choice but to mobilize the entire ship. Search every corner.

When the wood storage room was searched, a discovery was finally made.

But the result made Zhang Heng a little bit dumbfounded, especially Annie, whose expression changed immediately after seeing the scene inside.

Sorry, I've been a bit salty lately~I was wrong