Extraordinary Voyage - Chapter 25

Chapter 25: The Journey Begins

Alvin was not a pure idealist, and the spirit of his family’s ancestors in exploring the unknown world was worthy of recognition, but it would be too illusory to invest in ideals when one was poor.

However, when he had truly mastered the power to control his own destiny, Alvin would probably follow the footsteps of his Garriott ancestors and choose to see the vast world himself!

“Erm, Alternate Officer Alvin. Prepare yourself, I’ll be very strict!”

“Thank you, Captain! I’ll do my best!”

After the short conversation, the two of them laughed at the same time. The unfamiliarity of not seeing each other for five years gradually dissipated, and they began to get close.

They enjoyed themselves with the wines and rare delicacies on the table and talked until midnight.

However, there was another minor episode the next day.

Early in the morning, Gull dragged Alvin back onshore to meet Alvin’s trainer, Major Eugene.

“Morning, Sir Gull!”

Seeing Gull enter through the door, Major Eugene, who was handling the documents, immediately stood up and saluted. It was a Colonel who had walked into the room, so of course he had to show some respect, not to mention his other status as a Knight and a captain of the main battleship.

Then he noticed that Alvin was behind the Colonel. Alvin was looking down at the ground and did not dare to meet his eyes. Eugene thought that Alvin had caused trouble on the ship.

“Alvin! What have you done now? You barely boarded the ship! Sir, leave him to me, I’ll handle him.”

That being said, Major Eugene secretly winked at Alvin. It was clear that he was trying to protect Alvin.

“Haha! Relax, Major Eugene. Alvin did not cause me any trouble. In fact, I have to thank you for sending him to my boat!

“C’mon. Let’s go to the pub and talk. Alvin and I have to give you a toast!”

Even though it was still breakfast time, Gull insisted on getting a drink. He had to thank Major Eugene for bringing Alvin to him. He finally had a chance to repay his friend’s kindness after a few years.

Soon, the three of them were seated in a pub. Gull had already explained to Eugene what had happened.

“This child was a rebel. He ran away on his own without telling his family. I’m glad that you sent him to my ship,” Gull said sincerely.

“Sir Gull, I’m just doing my job. I didn’t think much at that point in time. I simply did not want Alvin to waste his life on that communication ship.

“He’s a fine young man. He would be much better off if he stayed on your boat, Sir!”

Eugene was very humble. Not only did he not take credit for what he had done, he even flattered his guests. This made Gull rather happy.

While the two adults were having a good time, Alvin was feeling very awkward on the side.

He was now a “problematic child that ran away from home”. He had to raise his glass to Eugene several times as a form of apology.

In Eugene’s mind, Alvin’s image had also changed from a lonely stranger to a rebellious young master of a noble family. Eugene no longer felt sympathy for Alvin. He would even kick his ass if Gull was not around.

Hmph! I spent such a huge effort to give you a brighter future. It turned out that the captain of the ship is your relative? Are you kidding me?

However, Eugene was not really angry. He understood the youngsters’ thinking nowadays. They wanted to prove themselves and become independent from their families. That was perfectly justified.

However, most of them would soon see the reality of the world and be defeated by it. Although they would eventually grow up from the experience, it would have cost their precious time.

Thus, it seemed that Eugene had actually made the right decision without knowing. He had taken a liking to Alvin. With the help of his uncle, Colonel Gull, his life in the navy would be much easier.

Eugene was actually happy for him!

…

The Silver Wing would be staying on shore for two more days for maintenance and resupply. It would be deployed for missions in the Third Naval Fleet’s jurisdiction.

Considering Colonel Gull’s outstanding ability, their missions would be more dangerous than common quests.

However, the sailors were used to that kind of lifestyle. Higher risks came with higher returns. Just like Gull had once said, “A sailor should not think about having a normal, comfortable life”.

Many of the sailors were reckless men. They would even visit places like the notorious Bay of Sunken Ships if they were offered decent rewards.

Alvin was off for his first journey as a navy soldier.

Splash—

Splash—

Alvin was walking up and down on the deck. Looking at the vast ocean, he felt different from the time he left Leopold.

It was truly a new beginning for him.

Gull had briefed Alvin about the matters on the ship, hoping that he could integrate into the crew smoothly during the two days of resupply at the shore.

Most of the old crew members had come from the class four battleship with Gull.

No one knew what had happened to them before. Some of the appointments were left unmanned since then. Gull had slowly filled up these slots with the officers he appointed. Soon, their sailing master, coxswain, boatswain, first mate, second mate, third mate, and artillery captain were appointed.

He was the only Alternate Officer here.

After boarding the ship, Captain Gull assigned him to the tentative position of a messenger. He was responsible for conveying some of the captain’s orders, and could also observe and learn from other positions. It was the most conducive position to let the Alternate Officer grow.

Indeed, this was the benefit of knowing some higher-ups!

If not, Alvin might have stayed at a random position in the ship with poor living conditions and would not learn anything at all.

Although the rest of the officers were unsure why the captain cared so much about this newbie, they convinced themselves that the captain just wanted to help this young man learn faster.

This was Alvin’s request. Although he had not asked Gull to treat him equally as the rest, he decided to conceal their relationship for the time being as he believed that it would help Alvin integrate into the group. Even if he might be exposed in the future, the crew members wouldn’t distance themselves from Alvin, since they already knew one another. Knowing a higher-up might seem glamorous, but normal people would still feel uncomfortable about it.

The only one who knew something about this was Sailing Master Chris. After all, Gull trusted him, and he would help him manage the crew too. Sooner or later, Gull would find an opportunity to tell him everything. At least he would be taking care of Alvin during a sea battle.

“Wo…!”

The Silver Wing had left the naval base and entered the open ocean. The wind got stronger and the sailors had to readjust the sails with the pulleys in order to sail in the right direction effectively.

“Huff—Huff—”

There were a dozen men under each mast working on the sail while singing their work song.

“Lord Jeb, can I help you with this?” Alvin asked after observing for a while.

After three months of recruit training, Alvin had gathered tons of knowledge from what was taught and what he had read in the library.

Although he had trained on a small boat before, it was his first time on a real battleship. He was not sure if the boatswain would allow him to try it.

The boatswain looked at Alvin and agreed without much hesitation. They had just left the shore, and it was a good time for a newbie to have some hands-on experience now as there wasn’t any danger.

“Sure, go ahead. You don’t have to pull the pulley with the rest of them. Just stay here and watch me. I’ll explain to you how to do it and why you have to do it.” The boatswain was friendly. He had made his orders clear too.

Alvin knew that the boatswain was not worried that he might ruin the equipment. Knowing how and when to control the sail was much more important than actually doing it, as the latter only required brute force.

“Thank you, Lord Jeb!”

Alvin paid close attention while Jeb was teaching him. He was slowly connecting the dots of what he had learned previously.

The sail was the most difficult piece of equipment to handle on the ship. It was the only source of energy for most ships. It was as important as a power generator in the modern world. It was like the heart of the ship, just that this heart was growing on the outside.

The movable pulley on the battleship was white in color, while the fixed pulley was black. When controlling the sails, black pulleys were the main ones to adjust. For someone who had never actually controlled a ship before, they would be dazzled by the large amount of pulleys present.

However, these tiny pulleys were very important in controlling the ship properly and sailing to the desired locations.

Below was the list of pulleys present on the ship.

To control the boom, there were lifting pulleys, halyard pulleys, and turning pulleys; to control the sail, there were foot pulleys, forefoot pulleys, and spread-sail pulleys; to retract the sail, there were foot pulleys, bottom pulleys, and side pulleys.

For a square-rigged ship, there were three masts. The foremast had four sails, the mainmast had four, and the mizzenmast had three. Thus, these pulley systems would be repeated 11 times, with a total of 99 pulleys involved. This number excluded the extra pulleys they had for extra load-bearing.

Although the pulleys looked very messy on the ship, they were arranged in a specific way. Any experienced sailor could easily access any pulley in any weather.

Even when the ship was balanced, they did not even need the rudder to keep the ship going straight. All they needed to do was adjust the sails!

Thus, the sailors in-charge of the sails on the three masts were very important technicians on the ship.

Alvin still had a long way to go before he could become an experienced boatswain.