Extraordinary Voyage - Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Conflict

In the somewhat apprehensive waiting of a group of new recruits, the day to board the ship finally arrived.

There was no grand ceremony as one might expect, for all the ships that needed to be replenished actually had their own tasks. Moreover, the oceans in the world were vast, so a single trip out in the ocean could last for months, making it impossible to gather everyone together and hold a grand ceremony.

However, apart from Eugene, the Third Fleet had sent a civilian lieutenant colonel to take care of getting each batch of recruits aboard the ship as a sign of importance.

The boarding plan had priorities. The ships which had yet to return to the port would continue with their training. In reality, most of these enlisted recruits started with a small, sixth-class warship like a single mast longitudinal sail warship, unless they performed exceptionally well during the recruit training period.

Of course, it would be a different story if they were sons of nobility or graduates from the Royal Naval Academy.

It was not until a week after the boarding had begun that Alvin was awarded the rank of Warrant Officer (Alternate Officer) thanks to his achievement of the highest overall training score among the new recruits. He managed to board the Silver Wing.

Alvin also knew that without the Viscount’s letter of recommendation, things would not have been so simple. That was because most of the alternate officers on the ship came from backgrounds of influence or were college graduates. Ordinary villagers would have to spend at least two years in training before they could attain the position.

Unlike the sixth-class communication ship which most sailors boarded, the Silver Wing belonged to the fifth-class naval fleet. The hull was 45 meters long, had 40 guns, and was one of the main battleships of the Privateer Fleet. She had a crew limit of 250, but the current number was less than 200.

Amongst the six classes, the first four classes were battleships, with the official term being “main combat ship”. They belonged to the main combat unit, which was qualified to participate in large-scale fleet naval battles.

Although the Silver Wing was not up to the level of a battleship, it could only be below a battleship. However, since Eugene said that he was in charge of the arrangements, the special characteristics of this battleship were definitely more than that of a battleship. Moreover, Gull, the captain of the Silver Wing, was more capable than expected.

Colonel Gull was highly capable. Not only was he a powerful veteran knight, but also a former captain of a class four battleship. He was using a fifth-class ship only because his original battleship was severely damaged during a battle (this was the official statement since the real reason could not be disclosed) and it had to be repaired in the factory, but the Third Naval Fleet did not have a temporary replacement for the fourth-class battleship.

Otherwise, it would not have been so easy to send Alvin onto a class four battleship as an alternate officer.

Moreover, although Alvin was familiar with Colonel Gull when Eugene mentioned him. He did not think much of it because there were a lot of people with the same name in the world.

When Alvin carried his backpack and boarded the Silver Wing with Gary, he found out that among the 30 members of the Silver Wing, only he and Gary were new recruits. The other 28 were veterans who had been transferred from a sixth-class communication ship.

Although they were veterans, the oldest might only be 20 years old. However, they looked a lot older than their actual ages after they spent a long time at sea.

This group of veterans looked at Alvin and Gary cautiously and did not dare to do anything much. However, Alvin and Gary were excluded from the large team. There was a tradition of veterans bullying new recruits in every world. Moreover, the veterans felt unhappy by the fact that the two newcomers had easily obtained the same opportunity they had earned after years of service.

Nevertheless, the two of them were not afraid at all. Alvin, the best apprentice knight, and Gary, a rookie who had just begun his journey to attain extraordinary fame, could easily beat the veterans.

Since Captain Gull had gone to the naval base for debriefing after the ship docked, the new recruits did not have the chance to pay their respects to the Captain. Therefore, after a brief handover by Eugene, the recruits were led by the veteran crew members to their respective cabins to settle in first.

Alvin’s cabin was in the front part of the ship and was a separate single room with much better conditions than the public cabins where the crew was crammed into the lower staterooms.

Although Alvin was not someone who could not take hardships, the thought of dozens or hundreds of grown men who probably would not shower for months huddled together made him extremely grateful to Viscount Andrea and Major Eugene’s arrangement.

However, Alvin was obviously happy too soon. He was happy with the arrangement on his side, but that was not the case on Gary’s side.

Truth be told, Alvin had expected this situation, but he did not expect the conflict to come so soon!

Major Eugene had sent Gary with Alvin because he was talented. However, he was not able to give him a similar single room. Therefore, Gary went to the same room as the “veterans”.

The reason for this was not important. As long as one wanted to pick a fight, even a good-tempered man like Gary could be provoked.

“Beat him up, and let this brat know who’s in charge on the ship from now on.”

“Don’t you dare disobey us, or you’ll be sleeping in the toilet from now on!”

“You are just a newbie. When we were fighting pirates, you were still a nobody!”

It was normal for veterans to bully new recruits, and usually recruits, as the weaker party, tended to suffer. However, it was different in this world—the veterans had chosen the wrong target to bully!

As a group of people pushed each other up onto the deck, Alvin, who heard the noise, came out as well. However, instead of going straight up to Gary to back him up, he leaned against the aisle door to see the results of Gary’s training.

Most of the crew had already disembarked in the busy downtown area of Gabred to relax, and the sailors who had stayed behind had come together in groups to watch the scene unfold instead of stopping it.

Gary looked at the group of veterans who surrounded him and smirked. “Cut the crap, let’s fight! I’ll listen to you guys if I lose, but you’ll have to listen to me when I win.”

Alvin’s “coaching” not only included sword techniques, but also character and ideology. Gary, who was more confident now, was not afraid of anyone of the same age other than Alvin.

“Hahaha, has this new recruit lost his mind? Think you’re invincible just because you have a bigger build and had a few days of training?”

“Let him have a good taste of our years of experience.”

“Yes, yes, yes, he should thank us for suffering now instead of later when he faces real pirates.”

This group of veterans had evidently split into several small groups and did not have a unified leader. However, all of them had agreed to make things difficult for this brat.

A stout young man stepped forward and tossed his saber to his companion. “Let me.” After boarding the ship, the weapons in everyone’s hands were all real weapons. Although they were prepared to fight, no one had the guts to use their swords.

After saying that, he took a stance and ran straight towards Gary. The group of veterans stepped back, ready to watch the new recruit suffer.

“Ha! Take my punch!”

Bamp!

However, this man’s fist was stopped by Gary’s kick and he fell back into the crowd.

“Ah! Are you okay, Jason?”

As his friend helped him up, someone else had rushed forward.

“I’ll teach him a lesson.”

Bamp!

Another kick.

“…”

Before Gary was trained by the Knight’s Breath method, he already had a constitution of 0.7. How could ordinary people with a constitution of only 0.5 beat him?

Remember how undefeatable Kruger, the first mate of the Blood Anchor, was with a constitution of 0.6 and agility of 0.7? Gary was nowhere worse than him.

“Let’s all go together!” someone shouted in the crowd as everyone dashed forward.

“Jealousy really is one of the original sins!” Seeing this, Alvin sighed as he removed his sword and dashed forward as well.