Chapter 4424 — Swift Elimination
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
Yet once they were truly and fully into the unfamiliar new sea route, the gap between them all at once stood out starkly.
Beneath the shroud of sea fog that filled the sky, visibility had imperceptibly dropped to under twenty meters; among the thirty-two ships, each could still hear the others cleaving wind and wave, but their outlines could no longer be made out—some had even lost all shape.
Visibility is the single most critical and important factor for every seafarer. Once it falls, it means there is no way to observe the environment ahead and avert danger. When the eyes cease to serve—especially on so utterly strange and new a sea route—the deadliness of it needs no elaboration: whether one lives or dies comes down entirely to luck.
Even the most seasoned old hand, rich as his experience might be, would quail at heart in such a situation. Yet Wei Zhao—this fellow who plainly had little experience, whose knowledge of sailing was limited to the most basic handling of a ship, who could not even handle that with ease—wore a face of utter certainty and confidence.
Bang! A tremendous crash erupted from not far off to one side, and on its heels came the sound of seawater raging into a hull, accompanied by hoarse, desperate shouts for help—only for that voice to be swallowed in an instant by the towering waves.
Beyond question, the ship not far to one side had struck a hidden reef, meeting the fate of a wrecked vessel and a lost crew. But there was nothing to be done about it—at such visibility one could not even make out a ship twenty meters away, let alone the reefs hidden beneath the surface.
The noise on this side had scarcely faded when suddenly, from the other side, came another resounding bang—the outcome identical to this one. Another reef.
They had barely set out, and in the blink of an eye the ships to left and right had both gone under, one after the other. As for the farther reaches, many more had likely met the same end—only drowned out by the surrounding wind and waves, beyond Wei Zhao's hearing.
Faced with all this, any normal person would tremble with fear, tread as though on thin ice, and might even be unable to keep from entertaining thoughts of flight. Especially in Wei Zhao's position—Qi Wenmo had said long ago that so long as he returned safely, even turning back halfway would be fine. Anyone else would by now have turned the ship around without a second thought.
But Wei Zhao had not the slightest notion of doing so. Even though he too could not make out what lay ahead, whether he would at any moment follow the other ships into a reef and a wrecked hull with all hands lost, he remained utterly composed—one might even say abnormally certain.
There was no other reason: Wei Zhao possessed absolute assurance. His own senses alone could not fully judge the situation ahead, but he must not forget the jade pendant on his person, which by its very nature carried a warning function. One hundred percent accurate!
This occasion, this predicament, was precisely the moment to bring the jade pendant's warning function to its fullest use.
Not knowing where the reefs were—no matter. Not knowing whether whirlpools lay ahead—no matter. Not knowing where the fixed-position pirates lurked—no matter. So long as the jade pendant sounded its warning, he would promptly alter course and adjust to a heading that triggered no warning; then all would naturally be well, and he could lightly and easily evade every imperceptible risk.
This warning ability of the jade pendant was as though tailored to the present environment. With so extraordinary and heaven-defying a cheat assisting him, Wei Zhao sailed with genuine ease and delight.