Chapter 147: Switching Targets

The Hunter’s Blessing differed from the Lucky’s Rabbit’s Foot by having a more unusual function, which was why Zhang Heng didn’t get a chance to use it yet.

It wasn’t before the fourth quest, entering the pirate world and bringing the Jackdaw to begin his own hunting journey that he had any use for this item again.

The necklace was useful to him now, increasing their chances of encountering a target every time they got out to sea. On top of that, the Lucky Rabbit’s Foot should also be able to enhance the necklace’s effect. However, probability-based game props such as these generally took effect only after some time.

In fact, in the past ten days, the Jackdaw did not encounter any prey worth capturing, and the Spanish merchant ship that Billy talked about did not appear.

The morale on the ship had diminished to a new low, compared to when they first left the dock. Although the crew continued to carry out their duties each day, they were not as enthusiastic as before. There was even some slacking amongst the men. Nevertheless, as long as everything was kept in check, Billy and the crew said nothing. No matter how outstanding the helmsman or captain was, it was impossible to keep the crew at an excited state forever; unless they had some sort of driving force such as Kidd’s treasure.

On top of that, the newly recruited cook and carpenter seemed a little unreliable, where the chef’s unimaginative cooking caused a lack of appetite among the sailors. Fortunately, the batch of dried vegetables and fruits that Zhang Heng prepared came in handy. The pirates knew how rare those things were out at sea, and the lemonade was a source of relief that greatly subdued the complaints on the ship.

There were also many problems with the resident carpenter. Here was a guy that claimed a flawless resume and excellent theoretical knowledge, but after boarding the ship, he could not even do the simplest of repairs on a barrel. His skills were far from what he had described during the interview.

Of course, Zhang Heng was mentally prepared for this. There were bound to be all kinds of problems with the new recruits. However, having older men from the Sea Lion was much better than building the team up from nothing. In fact, just two days ago, Billy worked with Zhang Heng to disperse a fight among the crew. Because the experienced seamen quickly found out about the brawl, it was resolved before things got worse. Neither party in the dispute used weapons, and thankfully, the damage it incurred was minimum. In the end, they were only punished to two weeks of deck cleaning.

In general, the atmosphere on the ship was manageable, but on the eleventh day, Billy knocked on the door of the captain’s cabin.

“It looks like we’ll need to change targets.”

The helmsman appeared a little troubled. Situations like this were not uncommon. Most of the information about merchant ships came from the island’s information dealers, who collected their intelligence mainly from the boats docked in Nassau. Along the lines of transmission, packets of information would be either lost or mistranslated. To make matters worse, last-minute route changes often occurred. Thus, obtaining information did not necessarily mean that they would surely find the target.

To be able to survive the high seas, neither merchants nor pirates had a definite route. Every so often, when the captains found out that their travel plans were disclosed, they would immediately set up a backup plan and divert course.

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“I have one more lead. It’s the Duffy, a tobacco carrier. But then again, tobacco is everywhere in the New World; it’s price can’t match up to perfume. There’s good news, though. The Duffy is also on this route, so we won’t have to change course. We just need to continue chasing.” Billy paused for a moment, attempting to avoid adding more pressure on Zhang Heng. He tried to encourage his captain, adding, “We have only been at sea for ten days. We still have time. Our food and water on board are enough to last us for a month and a half. We will definitely return fully loaded.”

Still, perhaps it was due to the helmsman’s recent raising of the flag that the Jackdaw’s gains in the following week were few and far between. They did not even catch a glimpse of the Duffy’s shadow. They did, however, come across two other merchant ships that didn’t even put up a fight. The moment they caught sight of the Jackdaw’s black flag, they immediately surrendered.

The pirates’ excitement were short-lived, though. The ships turned out to be transporting a less than lucrative cargo. One carried potatoes while the other hauled copper ore. There was plenty of it, but they were worth very little even in the colony. Also, if they moved those things back to the Jackdaw, her speed would be significantly reduced. As a result, the heavy vessel might fail to catch up to her main target.

After much deliberation, the crew decided to give up robbing the two ships. Unfortunately, the failure to plunder anything had turned the seamen anxious. Billy, the representative of the crew, felt it the most and started to blame himself.

He had purchased the two pieces of information from dealers that he was familiar with. He was also the one who recommended this route to Zhang Heng. Ultimately, this caused them to be in the predicament that they were in now. The Jackdaw had powerful guns, but she couldn’t find a target worthy of her firepower. Factoring in the time it would take for them to return, they were desperately running out of time to hunt.

So, on the nineteenth day, Billy went to meet Zhang Heng. “This is all my mistake. We shouldn’t have chosen this unpopular route. You reminded me of the risks, but I let that perfume ship get to my head. If we had chosen a more popular route from the beginning, we would’ve made a lot of money by now.”

“Billy, this is not your fault. We discussed this together and even had the crew’s consent. You’re not responsible for our situation right now,” Zhang Heng said. “Anyone getting such information back on the island would surely give it a try.”

“But this is our maiden voyage; that’s the problem,” lamented the helmsman who smiled bitterly. “Right now, we don’t have a lot of room to make mistakes. I thought the intelligence was good since there is little pirate activity in the vicinity. I really don’t know why we still haven’t seen the two ships–which is why I’m suggesting that we change course immediately and try our luck on a more popular route. The nearest one from here only takes about five days. If we are lucky, we can still hunt for about a week.”

“But that route is also frequented by pirate hunters and the navy,” Zhang Heng said. “If you had told me that you wanted to go there when we left port, I wouldn’t have said anything against it. But with the low morale on the ship right now, what do you think our chances of winning are?”

Billy fell silent. He knew what Zhang Heng said was true. The helmsman sighed, “We should have taken that copper ship. At least, we could hand out some money to everyone.”

Zhang Heng shook his head. “Those things are useless. We are a warship, and our cargo hold is limited. If we want to take anything, it would have to be valuable. Besides, this is our first voyage. Only a big win can boost our reputation.”

Billy looked a little confused. Naturally, Zhang Heng, the captain, should have been most anxious. If they returned from their first voyage empty-handed, it would mean that the captain would likely be removed from his position. Right now, however, Zhang Heng did not seem worried at all.

Zhang Heng pointed to a small island on the map. “Based on our course and speed, we should arrive at this spot tonight.”