This encounter with the Japanese warship passed without incident, and the frightened people continued on their way. During this period, someone once again asked whether to use night sailing and find an uninhabited island to hide during the day. But there was a lack of modernity.

The reality of navigation means forced them to continue sailing during the day, except for the time they crossed the Surigao Strait.

It was a night with a small half moon, because Surigao had an important position. A few years later, a final showdown between battleships would take place here. Of course, people didn't know this yet. So no one would do anything about it.

This is a nostalgic reflection. Japanese patrols in this area are relatively strict. Therefore, everyone can only choose such a night to cross the strait. Without the help of the navigation system, crossing the strait at night is very important.

It was very difficult for a small boat that had no ability to sail far. Fortunately, there was some moonlight, and we could still see the dark shadows of the surrounding islands. The small boat sailed from the shadow of one island to the shadow of another island. It just passed through.

The most dangerous strait. On the way, they encountered a Japanese warship again. At that time, the small boat was hiding in the shadow of the island, and a Japanese destroyer passed by not far away. Under the faint moonlight, leaving a

A black silhouette and a long trail of faint light - this is the light emitted by some plankton living in the sea water stirred by the propellers.

All the people on the boat held their breath (although this does not mean much), but the Japanese did not notice them. In fact, they did not need to be so nervous, because firstly they were hiding in the shadows, and secondly because the Japanese

The deck of the warship is much higher than that of the small boat. From the Japanese perspective, the small fishing boat seems to have completely melted into the dark sea. However, perhaps it is because from their perspective, the silhouette of the Japanese warship is smaller than the sea surface.

It was so clear against the brighter sky that they worried that the Japanese would see them the same way. So everyone was still scared to death. (In fact, German submarines often took advantage of this perspective to surface at night.

to attack the American and British merchant fleets)

The days after that were much safer, and no Japanese warships were encountered along the way. But not long after, something more terrifying happened - for several days, there was not a trace of wind on the sails.

These guys who didn't know much about sailing didn't know that they had entered the forbidden area of ​​sailing ships - the equatorial windless zone.

Near the equator, due to the long-term direct solar radiation, the atmosphere mainly moves vertically, and there is little horizontal atmospheric movement. In other words, there is almost no wind in this area. This is very important for sailing ships that rely on wind power for sailing.

is an insurmountable obstacle.

Now, the sailboat floats motionless on the ocean like a dead fish. The tropical sun shines down, scorching the deck of the ship, and the cabin is as stuffy as a big oven. The entire cabin is full of sweat and other things.

The things gave off a stinking smell. In order to avoid heat stroke, everyone hid in the cabin and stayed motionless. In the first day or two, some people were praying to God for some wind. But now, everyone seems to be

I lost interest in praying. Once upon a time, there were one or two gusts of wind, but they never lasted longer than a cigarette. Fortunately, there was a lot of rain in the windless zone, and it came on time. Almost every day around four o'clock in the afternoon, the sky

Thick clouds will appear on time, and half an hour later, a downpour will arrive as promised. It will continue to rain until about six o'clock, and the rain will end on time, and the setting sun will be reflected in the sky on time.

A rainbow appears.

This kind of timely rain provides the people on the boat with the most important material - fresh water. It also provides them with the opportunity to take a bath. At this time, a group of people will take off their clothes and wash off their body parts due to exposure in the heavy rain.

A layer of white salt left over from sweating too much. At the same time, they had fun showing off their muscles to each other, and even compared the size of something out of boredom. In this way, they relieved the tension of being trapped in this boundless ocean.

concern.

In the blink of an eye, a week passed like this. During this week, the whole world was as lively as a pot of boiling water, but this ship seemed to be completely separated from this noisy world. During the week, they did not encounter any

I didn't see any ship, plane, or even a seabird. Three days ago, the radio on the ship broke, and the whole world suddenly disappeared. In addition, the people on the ship were barely wearing any clothes.

Clothes and a full beard, Ron even had the fantasy that maybe he had traveled through time again, and to the primitive era. In other people's case, hesitation, fear, and regret were all accompanied by imprisonment.

It became more and more obvious as time went on. A week later, the original noise in the heavy rain was gradually replaced by terrible silence.

On the afternoon of the twelfth day after being trapped in the windless zone, after the expected heavy rain, the conflict finally broke out.

Just when the heavy rain was about to end, Pato saw Marcos scrubbing his body with coconut oil soap and said: "Don't waste soap, no matter how you wash, you will not be much whiter than a chimpanzee!"

Marcos only looked up at Pato and continued to take a shower. Obviously, he had long been accustomed to such racially charged language.

Perhaps because he felt ignored, or because he had just drank some wine and was holding back his anger, Marcos' behavior made Pato inexplicably angry. He stepped forward and slapped him away.

Soap in Marcos' hand, "Damn it! Didn't you hear me talking to you? You brown-skinned monkey!"

Marcos raised his head and looked at the furious Pato at a loss. He saw that Pato's face, which had been tanned by the scorching sun at the equator these days, was turning red.

Full of anger.

"Sir...I just...you..." Marcos stumbled and said.

"What are you, me, me, you, you, haven't you evolved to use human language?" Pato suddenly seemed proud.

"Shut up!" Ron, who was about to enter the cabin, couldn't help it. This was not only because as a person from later generations, a new century youth who had studied "I Have a Dream" in English class had an instinct for racial discrimination.

His disgust is not only because he is also full of depression and needs to vent, but also because Marcos is his orderly and his person! He must protect him! His experience as a middle-level manager in his previous life told him: In this situation

Under this situation, the group can easily collapse due to mutual distrust and mutual complaints. At this time, any actions that may lead to the collapse of the team must be stopped immediately. Even if it cannot be stopped, even if all order on this ship will collapse, then if you want to be the leader here,

A Lord of the Flies (of course, this novel seems not to have been written yet.) must also ensure that someone will stand firmly on his side. Marcos is the easiest person to unite to his side, and his actions will affect

To his younger brother. Those who can drive a fishing boat and catch fish are the most indispensable people on this boat now.

Ron protected the overwhelmed Marcos behind him and stared fiercely into Pato's eyes: "That's enough, Pato! You are so outrageous! Marcos is our comrade-in-arms and our brother! You must show your respect to

He apologized! Besides, it’s all thanks to him that you have fish to eat every day! Without him, without Cordis, we would be waiting to die!”

Pato was a little shocked by Ron's roar, but in the blink of an eye, a sense of shame and anger made him even more angry: "What are you waiting for to die! Aren't you waiting to die now! If it weren't for you! Not for you! How could we end up here?

To this point!"

"Do you want to line up and walk to the Japanese prisoner of war camp?!"

"Even the Japanese prisoner-of-war camp wouldn't be worse than this! If you hadn't been so alarmist..."

"Shut up!" It was Tom who spoke this time. He was obviously aware of the consequences of letting this argument go unchecked, "Pato, you also voted in favor of this action! And you also said that instead of losing your freedom,

You, you might as well be Robinson! But now, I am really ashamed of you!"

"Tom, I..." Pato turned his head and looked at Tom, seemingly hesitant. It was obvious that he was at a loss when facing Tom, who was almost 20 years older than him.

Ron knew that now was a good time. As long as he seized this opportunity, he could temporarily resolve the imminent conflict and postpone the live-action version of "Lord of the Flies" on this small boat.

"Pato, I know you are under a lot of pressure, and so are we. In fact, we are all under a lot of pressure." Ron relaxed his tone, "I know that some people have some regrets. To be honest, I am also thinking,

It might not be bad to try our luck in the Japanese prison camp. But it is useless for us to think about it now, we must hold on."

"I miss my mother and my Amy!" Pato suddenly squatted down and choked, "I think I will never see them again..."

Listening to Pato's words, Ron suddenly felt that his nose was sore. If Pato might never see his relatives again, Ron had lost a whole world. Tears fell from his eyes unknowingly.

The water gushed out, but fortunately it was still raining, so no one could see it.

After calming down his emotions, Ron reached out his hand, patted Pato on the shoulder, and squatted down next to him.

"We haven't reached a desperate situation yet," Ron said. "We don't worry about fresh water now, we don't worry about food, we have enough vitamins and medicines. Pato, our situation is much better than Robinson, isn't it? Don't

Don’t be discouraged, tomorrow, maybe tomorrow, a lovely wind will blow.”

"What if it doesn't happen tomorrow? What if it doesn't happen forever?"

"Don't worry, now we are in the equatorial countercurrent. As the ocean currents drift, we will also drift to the United States." Ron comforted, but he also knew that this was just a comfort, because it would take several days to really drift that far.

years of time.

"Really?"

"Really, I swear on my geography teacher's beautiful daughter." Ron said, "Besides, we might encounter an American ship."

"I'm afraid that instead of encountering the American ship, we'll encounter a Japanese ship." I don't know who said behind.

"The sea is so big, how can it be so..." Ron said disapprovingly, while raising his head and looking around. Suddenly, he was stunned.

"Damn! There is really a boat coming! God! Jesus! It must be our boat!"

The rain at this time has gradually stopped, and the setting sun shines a golden red light on the sea through the gradually dispersing clouds. The sea is also reflected in a golden red. There, there is a boat heading towards this place at high speed.
Chapter completed!