Chapter 1318: Speculative Voyage

Cai He yawned. Although there was sunlight in the cabin, the room was too big, so he still lit the oil lamp. He listened to Duran and recorded his work every day, but sometimes he was too sleepy and could only wait until the next day to do this work. Anyway, he was not busy every day.

It can be said that it is extremely boring on the sea. Every day, he processes the information from various ships and determines the location of the fleet. In addition, it is a long wait.

"... Yesterday I saw a big fish on the sea. Its back was like a small island and it could spray water. I thought it was a big fish that could swallow a small boat. I don’t know its name or its full appearance. I will ask the teacher to name it when I return to Daqin." They saw a whale, but the ships of the fleet were no smaller than whales, so there was no accident. It was just that some crew members thought it was the Dragon King in the sea and said that they had angered the Dragon King. Cai He finally calmed down this feudal superstition and locked up the person who spread the rumor for two days.

"...We have been sailing eastward for thirteen days. We use the star compass to locate ourselves every day, and use the sea map to control the sea wind. We dare not slack off. Since we met the island for supplies ten days ago, we have not seen land for ten days. The sea is really terrible." If Cai He had not had 100% confidence in Duran, he would have doubted whether they could not go home.

As the time without seeing land became longer and longer, the crew became more and more uneasy. They did not know what was waiting for them.

This fleet consists of three huge ships, sixty small supply boats, and twenty cargo ships. Including three thousand elite infantrymen of the Qin State, three thousand crew members, one thousand merchants, and thousands of animals: horses, poultry, cattle and sheep.

This is definitely the largest ocean-going fleet in the world. In this era, neither Rome nor Macedonia has such a plug-in as Duran.

This is an era when all civilizations on Earth are in their own closed circles, especially the Mayan civilization in South America, which is isolated overseas and far away from other civilizations.

"My lord, there are a lot of dark clouds ahead. I am afraid there will be a storm." This is not the first time they have encountered a storm. It can be said that the weather on the sea is more unpredictable.

Cai He stood up and walked outside. He was on the second floor of the ship. Below him was a wide deck where many sailors were cleaning the deck.

Picking up Duran's "magic weapon" - the telescope, Cai He saw the sea water surging in front of him, and the dark clouds and the sea water were connected together. He knew that this was not a good phenomenon. Although the ships of the fleet were very strong, they would be powerless if they were overturned by the waves.

"Send the order down, fix all the items, and then all the ships keep their distance to prevent uncontrolled collisions." "Order the captains of each ship to take care of the crew. We have to go through the storm." You can't hide, you can only go through it.

Cai He smiled when he saw the messenger faithfully convey his orders to other ships with flags. At least he didn't disappoint his master.

On the top of the flagship, there is the largest flag device in the fleet. As long as it moves, the lookouts of the entire fleet can see it. Although there is no pinyin in this era and syllables cannot be transmitted, it can still be used to separate navigation terms. Other complex commands still need to be delivered by pigeons or directly rowing.

In short, it is very convenient to use flags for simple commands.

Everyone took action immediately. Facing the storm, Cai He was also very nervous. The strong wind and waves were enough to overturn the entire fleet. It was sunny just now, but it was dark in an instant. Cai He asked people to light up the lanterns in every corner of the building ship to guide the direction of other ships. However, the lanterns were easily extinguished by the sea water, and everyone could only judge the distance between themselves and the surrounding ships based on the vague outline.

This storm was several times stronger than the previous one. This was the temper of the sea.

Cai He couldn't help but worry. In such weather, they would definitely deviate from the course. In addition to the loss of the fleet, getting lost was even more terrible.

It was the first time to sail without anyone to guide him. Cai He was under great pressure. He didn't want to delay his master's mission. As the building ship rose and fell, the guards' faces changed. They heard the sound of the ship breaking, but Cai He's face remained normal, which made people admire him.

At first, they looked down on Cai He, the young eunuch, but his demeanor of not changing his face when facing a collapse of Mount Tai still won the respect of the fleet.

For example, Cai He is now concentrating on the nautical chart, calculating the direction and distance they may deviate from.

Cai He did not sleep all night. The storm lasted for a day and a night. The sea calmed down on the second day.

In a big storm, three material ships and two cargo ships were missing, probably sunk. Several other ships were damaged by the waves, and two of them were seriously damaged and could no longer move.

Cai He made a prompt decision, ignoring the lost materials and crew, and first transported the people and things on the ship that lost power to the building ship. The entire fleet calculated the losses as soon as possible, and the injured were treated immediately; the ships that were not seriously injured were repaired while walking, and they still had a long way to go.

Cai He went back to the deck. There was still a vast sea outside. Many crew members knelt on the deck to thank God for sparing their lives. The scene was very funny. Cai He did not stop this time. There were still countless difficulties ahead. A storm caused them to lose seven ships. I am afraid that when they return to Daqin, it would be good to leave three building ships.

You know, the other ships were not small either. Although they were small compared to the 200-meter-long, 30-meter-wide, and 15-meter-high building ship, this small ship was also 70 to 80 meters long, which was also a huge ship in this era.

All were ready. Cai He looked at the sun, determined the direction, and set sail again.

So Cai He said something that obviously shouldn't belong to this world: "All ships turn on the power mechanism, six scales to the left, all ships follow."

At the bottom of the cabin, two crew members rotated a huge mechanism that looked like a millstone. Once it was turned on, the ship would get power. They had no idea what the principle was, but it could make the ship move forward quickly.

It was obviously a great ancient voyage, but the appearance of this power mechanism made it less magnificent, and instead a little more opportunistic.

But the person involved, Cai He, said it didn't matter. The important thing was to complete Duran's mission, find a new continent and then circle the earth. What he saw and encountered along the way was still full of infinite unknowns.

"...On the 30th day after going to sea, a crew member saw an unknown flying bird, and I knew we were close to land." Cai He's logbook for another day. The 30-day voyage had made him fully mature. After the storm, he encountered many things. A group of people wanted to rebel and rob the ship and return to the voyage but were suppressed. Cai He showed his supreme martial arts, jumping from the building ship to the cargo ship where the rebellion occurred a hundred meters away, beheading the initiator and shocking everyone with force.

There was also an epidemic, but fortunately Cai He had medicine to suppress the outbreak. This journey was not easy. The most serious was the rebellion and the epidemic, which almost shook the entire fleet.

But today a flying bird made everyone excited, because birds always have to land, which means they are very close to the land.

"Report--" An excited long whistle made Cai He stand up.

"Report, it's land..."

Cai He didn't wait for the guard to finish speaking, and walked a few steps outside. There was an undulating black shadow in the distant sky. Yes, it was land, absolutely not wrong.

Finally arrived, Cai He, who was only ten years old, couldn't help but shed tears. He had shouldered too much on his thin shoulders along the way and resisted too many doubts about the great master. Now he finally arrived on the mainland, he could announce to everyone that his master was not wrong, there was another continent on the other side of the sea, and the great master would never brag.

Thinking of this, Cai He turned around and bowed in the opposite direction of the mainland to express his unwavering trust in Duran and his joy that he had fulfilled his mission.