Sail Shadows in the Sea of ​​Fog

Chapter 52: Clippers Battle and Tofu

In the darkness of night, the Honest Man, with its hull covered with colorful ship lights, sailed back and forth on the sea, drawing a zigzag track, as if afraid that the surrounding pirate ships would not notice it.

Less than a nautical mile behind the Honest Man, the Valkyrie hid in the darkness, slowly moving forward in the dark guided by the ship's lights in front of it, while also hoping that some short-sighted pirate ship would target the Honest Man.

Unfortunately, perhaps the pirate brothers' anglerfish trapping trick was too straightforward, or perhaps there were too few merchant ships on the route to the Despair Trade Winds, so there were not many pirate ships either.

Whatever the reason, the two ships ran from dusk to dawn, until the Valkyrie's tattered sails were restored to new shape, and not a single ship light or sail that did not belong to these two ships was seen around.

Before the morning sun completely jumped out of the horizon, Yafuso and Yunji, who had gotten up early, had already walked into the kitchen together to prepare breakfast for everyone. Gerta, who had also gotten up, was exercising and busy taking care of the vegetables planted all over the ship.

As for the captain, he probably won't be willing to get up until the food is on the table.

On the same sunny morning, far behind the two ships, the first mate with the missing gold tooth was finally rescued by a pirate ship passing by and heading to the pirate city after swimming all night.

When the sun completely jumped out of the sea level, Cheng Lang also got up sleepily and walked into the meeting room.

A little later, the Candide, with all its lights extinguished, slowed down and approached the Valkyrie, taking the hearty breakfast swung over by the gorillas on a hanging frame.

"How far are we from the Despair Trade Winds?" Cheng Lang asked while shoveling fish fillet rice into his mouth.

"If we continue running in this direction for about three more days, we will be able to enter the sea of ​​despair trade winds." Yun Ji answered this question.

"Why are there no other ships on this route?" Shenba asked his curious question.

“Normally, few ships use this route.”

Yun Ji had obviously done her homework in advance. "If we weren't going to rendezvous with the Honest Man, riding the Tricorne Current would be the most convenient."

“We still have plenty of time.”

Cheng Langman said casually that if he hadn't been seduced by that "fellow villager" and if he hadn't wanted the Valkyrie to go faster, he would actually want to stay in the Pirate City for a longer time.

"Speaking of this, shouldn't we consider how to impress the boatman who can help us increase the speed of the boat?" Yun Ji raised a question worthy of discussion.

“I bought a lot of cookbooks!”

Yafuso was the first to speak, "Didn't you say that Mr. Wilton is a gourmet? I'm sure I can make many dishes that he likes!"

"The dragonfish is a sea monster that swims faster than a swordfish."

Yun Ji said, "It's very difficult to catch dragonfish. Just relying on some delicious food may not be enough."

"Is the dragonfly fish a sea monster?" Cheng Lang looked up at the other party curiously.

"A sea monster whose individual combat power is not very high, but appears in groups."

This time it was Shenba who came up with the explanation, "When they appear in groups, they can even create whirlpools on the sea that can swallow sailboats. They can even jump out of the sea in groups for a short flight."

"And their fins are as sharp as scimitars, which can easily cut through sails, cables and even masts."

Yun Ji added, "Fortunately, dragonflies mostly live near Dragonfly Island. They rarely appear in other waters. Otherwise, it would definitely be a disaster for all ships at sea."

"What does a dragonfly fish look like?" Yafuso asked the same question that Cheng Lang was curious about.

"Adult dragonfish are about two meters long," Yun Ji explained, "but their pectoral fins are over ten meters long."

"When schools of dragonflies flap their pectoral fins together, a large number of white bubbles emerge from the sea water. If a boat happens to be on top of those bubbles, it may even sink."

Shenba added, "Sailors who fall into the water will be cut into mud by the sharp fins in an instant, and then eaten by them in the blink of an eye."

"Gudong"

Yafuso swallowed hard, looked down at the meat pie she had worked so hard to cook that morning, then covered her mouth and ran out.

"Um, did I scare Yafuso?" Shenba asked belatedly.

"It seems so." Yun Ji shrugged, picked up the remaining half of the meat pie and put it into her mouth.

"So have you ever seen dragonfish fins?" Cheng Lang asked as he picked up a piece of fried bean sprouts with chopsticks and put it into his mouth.

"Never seen it," the dark elf brother and sister shook their heads in unison.

"But there are many legends about dragonfish in Pirate Town."

Shenba said excitedly, "It is said that dragonfish are very difficult to catch, and transplanting dragonfish fins onto a boat requires special skills. There are very few boatmen who know this technique now."

"It's rare now?" Cheng Lang asked curiously, "So it was a lot before?"

“There were indeed a lot in the past.”

Yun Ji explained, “But about 100 years ago, all the dragonflies on Dragonfly Island suddenly disappeared overnight. Even the sirens living on the island didn’t know where the dragonflies went.

By the time they reappeared, it was 40 years later, but by then people had discovered that almost all the boatmen who could transplant dragonfly fins had died, and most of the boats that had transplanted dragonfly fins had been sunk.

"And those boatmen were killed," Shenba added. "Many people speculate that Gotland was responsible."

"Why?" Cheng Lang asked.

"Gottland has mastered the most advanced shipbuilding technology in the Star Sea."

Shenba continued, "But the dragonfly fins allowed the pirates' ships to run faster than those built by Gotland. In those years, the merchant ships of the various countries in the Star Sea Continent were almost devastated."

"Then suddenly one day, the dragonfly disappeared."

Yun Ji took over the topic, "Except for the Elf Principality, the other countries in the Xinghai Continent began to unite to suppress the pirates. The battle lasted for a full 17 years."

"Also known as the Battle of the Clippers"

Shenba continued, "After that 17-year war, the balance between pirates and merchants was restored, and maritime trade gradually resumed its prosperity."

"But I think it might not be Gotland who caused the disappearance of those dragonfish."

Yun Ji expressed her guess, "Gottland doesn't have that ability. If they could make the dragonfly disappear, they could just transplant the dragonfly fins onto their ships instead of launching a 17-year-long Clipper War."

"So who do you think is the culprit?" Cheng Lang asked subconsciously.

"The only one who can command the dragonfly fish." Yun Ji picked up the juice and took a sip, "Perhaps only Lord Panini."

"It can't be Panini-sama."

Shenba disagreed with his sister's guess, "He is the patron saint of pirates, how could he..."

"In my hometown, there's a story about wolves and antelopes," Cheng Lang said before Yun Ji started talking. "Would you like to hear it?"

"What are you talking about?" Shenba's attention was immediately attracted. At the same time, Yafuso also walked into the meeting room again.

"Legend has it that there once was a... uh... castle. Yes, that's right, there was a castle."

Cheng Lang said, "The owner of the castle has a large territory with many antelopes and a wolf pack. The wolf pack often hunts antelopes."

"And then?" Yafuso asked.

"The lord is a very kind, er, but also very stingy person."

Cheng Lang took a sip of the juice. "He believed that wolves were very evil animals. They hunted antelopes, causing great losses to the lord, so he ordered his people to kill all the wolves."

"This is a good thing," Shenba said subconsciously, "There will be more and more antelopes in the territory."

“That’s how it started.”

Cheng Lang smiled. "But as the number of antelopes increased, the grass in the territory was eaten up, and an epidemic broke out among the antelopes. In the end, the number of antelopes in the territory was even smaller than at the beginning, and most of them were very weak."

"What happened next?" Yun Ji also asked.

"Later, a minister suggested raising a wolf pack in the territory again, and the lord adopted his suggestion."

Cheng Lang said, "Since the wolves appeared in the territory again, the sick antelopes have been eaten. The remaining antelopes have become healthier due to the frequent running, and their numbers have returned to their previous level."

"You mean"

"Pirates may not be considered antelopes"

Cheng Lang said, "But if all the antelopes in that lord's territory were killed, the wolf pack would grow stronger and stronger and run out of food, and then they would all starve to death."

"Lord Panini is controlling the wolf pack. No, I mean, Lord Panini is controlling the number of pirates?" Yun Ji asked subconsciously.

"If pirates gain an absolute advantage over merchant ships at sea, then no merchant ships will be willing to go out to sea in the future. Who will the pirates rob then?" Cheng Lang asked in return.

"We can go plunder the Star Sea Continent together!" Shenba said immediately.

"Then what?" Cheng Lang asked back.

"Then."

Shenba thought for a moment and said, "Of course, we should occupy the Xinghai Continent! And then..."

“And then there will be war”

Yun Ji sighed, "The pirates who come ashore might try to cultivate the land, but not all pirates are willing to be farmers. If that happens, a war and chaos even longer than the Battle of the Clippers will surely break out, and many people will die."

"While pirates are busy fighting for the continent," Cheng Lang said, "the Sirens may once again become the masters of the ocean, and perhaps a new Poseidon will emerge."

Hearing this, the three dark elves in the conference room all shuddered in unison. The reappearance of Poseidon would definitely be the nightmare of all living beings.

"So it's really Panini-sama?"

Shenba asked in disbelief, "Then do we still need to go to Dragonfly Island?"

“Of course I want to go”

Cheng Lang said as a matter of course, "There can be a few wolves in a pack that are fast enough to catch up with any antelope, but not every wolf can run faster than the antelope. That would be a disaster for both the antelope and the pack."

"The news about Dragonfish Island came from a wandering circus."

Yun Ji suddenly said, "Could it be their ship?"

"Hard to say"

Cheng Lang took the last bite of his breakfast and said, "I guess it won't be easy to get the dragonfish fin. We might have to pay a huge price. Even the boatman might not be that easy to find."

"But we still have to go?" Shenba asked.

“Go and have a look”

Cheng Lang stood up and said as he walked out, "What if I'm lucky?"

"Will luck be on our side?" Yafuso asked involuntarily.

"We have to at least get to Dragonfly Island to give Luck a chance."

Before he finished speaking, Cheng Lang had already left the meeting room. "Yafuso, come to the kitchen to help."

"coming!"

Yafuso drank her glass of juice and ran out of the meeting room.

"Our captain told a very interesting story," Yun Ji said. "He might have the talent to become a bard."

"I think our captain might have more talent to be a chef than a captain or a bard."

As Shenba spoke, he had already put the remaining half plate of stir-fried bean sprouts on the table into his mouth.

This time, Shenba wasn't wrong. Having already had enough of bean sprouts and mushrooms, Cheng Lang actually planned to come up with some "hometown dishes."

Taking Yafuso, who was asking questions all the way, to the kitchen, Cheng Lang opened an oak barrel and fished out a plump bean from it.

Yafuso had arranged for these beans to soak in oak barrels after they left the Pirate City. The water for these beans had to be changed every few hours. Now, after a night of soaking, these beans have become round and full, and can be broken into small pieces with a light pinch of the hand.

"Put an apron and gloves on Vine Goblin," Cheng Lang said, and then took out the small millstone he bought in Pirate City.

"Captain, what are we going to do?" Yafuso asked as she helped Vinego put on an apron and gloves.

“You’ll know soon.”

Cheng Lang said, "Teng Xiao, shake the millstone. You are responsible for using a spoon to fill it with beans and water. Grind all the beans. The finer the better."

Although the captain did not explain, Yafuso and the vine goblin, who had also put on aprons, immediately threw themselves into the work assigned to them with great interest.

I have to praise the Fujiman again, they are indeed the best sailors. As their long arms swung back and forth, the millstone with a diameter of less than half a meter also turned rapidly, easily crushing spoonfuls of soaked beans, allowing the raw soy milk to flow continuously into another oak barrel.

At the same time, Cheng Lang had already left the kitchen, used a whip to roll up an oak barrel to draw up half a bucket of sea water, poured it into the pot and started to boil.

When salt grains began to precipitate from the bottom of the pot, he immediately poured out the saturated brine from the pot and set it aside.

“I don’t know if it will work.”

Cheng Lang muttered to himself as he loosely wrapped two layers of white coarse cloth around the mouth of an oak barrel, then scooped up the ground soy milk and poured it in.

After being filtered through these two layers of coarse cloth, the bean dregs were left on top, while the raw soy milk, as thick as milk, flowed into the oak barrel.

After all the beans had been turned into soy milk and filtered three times, Cheng Lang directed Teng Xiao and Yafusuo to help set up the largest soup bucket, and then poured both large buckets of soy milk into it.

As he waited patiently, the full bucket of soy milk boiled for a long time as Yafuso stirred it repeatedly with a long-handled spoon. Only then, at his command, did the two vine goblins lift it to the side.

"Try it"

As Cheng Lang spoke, he had already filled a bowl for Yafuso and also added a full spoonful of sugar to the bowl for the little girl.

After trying a sip, Yafuso frowned and said, "It tastes weird, but it's not bad."

As she spoke, she took another sip and said, "It seems not bad. It tastes completely different from goat milk."

If it's a flavor, I'm afraid I'd have to add some Poseidon's blood to it.
Cheng Lang muttered to himself as he recalled the time a long time ago when he helped his mother try to make tofu at home and luckily succeeded.

After waiting for ten minutes, he scooped up the homemade brine with a spoon and carefully sprinkled some into the soup bucket, while also stirring it slowly with the spoon.

Under Yafuso's astonished gaze, the full bucket of soy milk began to form flocs unexpectedly smoothly.

Seeing this, Cheng Lang immediately threw the brine spoon aside and continued to let Yafuso help stir it slowly. He took out an oak barrel with countless holes drilled in it and squatted in a large wooden basin. He put a coarse cloth bag that had been washed in advance into the oak barrel, and then asked Tengxiao to help lift the soup bucket and slowly pour the tofu inside into it.

As the clear soup flowed out through the holes around the oak barrel, the canvas bag was gradually filled with tofu containing water.

Did that fellow villager Qin Jinyan do something similar before? Cheng Lang wondered inexplicably.

Probably not.
Otherwise, why had he never seen tofu in Pirate City?
If I have the chance in the future, I will also research soy sauce. Maybe I can start with oyster sauce, which is easier.
Cheng Lang secretly made up his mind, tied the cloth bag tightly, and pressed a wooden stake prepared in advance on it.

“This doesn’t taste good.”

Yafuso scooped a spoonful of "clear soup" from the wooden basin with a spoon, took a sip, frowned and said, "It's too hard to drink."

"Let's feed these and the bean dregs we just filtered out to the goats," Cheng Lang said with a smile.

"what?"

Yafuso threw away the spoon in her hand and said, "Why didn't you say so earlier?"

"I'll treat you to something delicious tonight."

Cheng Lang walked out while giving orders, "Wukong, take your men into the water and get some oysters or something edible from the bottom of the boat."

"Whoa whoa!"

Wukong, the captain of the long-armed vine goblins, responded immediately, and then took his men, each grabbing a vine with one hand and holding a basket in their mouths, and jumped down, skillfully collecting the shellfish attached to the hull.

This was not the first time they had done this. At the beginning, the captain was the only one on the ship, and they had to help collect these shellfish as food for the captain every now and then.

"What is this for?" Yafuso asked curiously.

"You'll know soon." Cheng Lang still didn't explain. There was no way to explain this thing clearly.

Soon, the goblins climbed back to the deck and carried the baskets of oysters they had collected to the kitchen as if they were familiar with the place.

The next task could not be done by these literally clumsy gorillas. Cheng Lang, who only wanted to eat, called Yun Ji to help without hesitation. He took out all the oysters and threw them into the pot and started the long cooking.

The idle Captain Cheng Lang spent almost the entire day in the kitchen, but he managed to make a can of thick oyster sauce and a full bucket of tofu.

That night, the tables of the Valkyrie and the Honest Man had a new dish of sea fish stewed with tofu and egg tofu soup, as well as a plate of fried bean curd. Even the stir-fried meat with bean sprouts and mushrooms became much more delicious with the addition of oyster sauce.

"These dishes will definitely conquer that boatman!" said Yun Ji confidently at the conference table after she had eaten her fill.

"Captain, should we paint tofu on our pirate flag?"

Yafuso, who was also already full, asked as she scooped up a piece of tofu with a spoon and put it into her mouth without waiting for an answer. Tofu, this was a word they learned from the captain.

"Whatever," Cheng Lang waved his hand nonchalantly. He was also full.

That night, the food on the tables of the two busy boats was much richer and more delicious.

It was also on this night that First Mate Gold Fang finally returned to the Pirate City and successfully found the members of the Demon Hunting Group.

"You mean, you found the ship using the vine goblins?"

"That's right! I swear on my mother!"

First Mate Gold Tooth said, "I can't be wrong. I saw it with my own eyes! And I know which direction they went!"

"Tell me what chips you want"

"A ship! I want to be the captain of a ship, and I need enough sailors!" First Mate Gold Tooth said immediately.

"Will you take us to find that boat?"

"That's right! I'll take you there!"

“You will get what you want”

"I will also help you find that ship!" said the First Mate Gold Teeth excitedly. He knew that he was going to become the captain.

(End of this chapter)