North America 1849, from Gold Rush to Warlord

Chapter 1 I Should Have Strangled You Long Ago!
The sun is scorching and the sea is turbulent.

A twenty-foot-long wooden boat drifted alone in the vast Pacific Ocean.

"You can't do this! You can't do this to him... This is the work of the devil! Stop, Mr. Halley, please stop!"

A-Zu, who was as dry as a stick, was unconscious at the stern of the boat and was awakened by the sound of crying and begging.

A-Zu seems to remember this voice!

Is that Miss Vivian with golden hair?
What followed was heart-wrenching thirst and hunger!

Moreover, it feels like there is a mountain pressing on my chest!

The eyelids have not been cleaned for many days, and the dried eye boogers are like scabs, covering the eyes and making the vision blurry.

In his eyes, which were tearless, he vaguely saw a figure that was bigger than a bear, with its back to the glaring sunlight, riding steadily on his chest.

A pair of big hands, though dry, still strong and powerful, grabbed his neck. With just a little force, he could easily break his fragile neck.

"Yellow-skinned boy, I'm sorry, but only by killing you can we survive!"

"Ahem...!"

His trachea was pinched and A-Zu couldn't help coughing.

The lips had already dried, cracked, and scabbed with blood. As soon as he opened his mouth, the wounds were torn again, and abnormal dark red blood flowed out.

A-Zu rolled his eyes, which rustled like glass balls buried in the desert, and he could barely make out the figure riding on him.

"Ha... Harley Boatswain?" A-Zu struggled to speak, his voice like sandpaper, rubbing his dry throat and causing it to hurt.

"Hmm!...Hmm? Boy, can you speak English?"

The strong boatswain Halley couldn't help but relax his grip slightly when he heard this inconspicuous and thin Chinese worker suddenly speak English before his death.

Barely able to breathe, A Zu ignored the pain all over his body and the piercing hunger and thirst. Like a drowning man struggling to the surface, he greedily took two deep breaths.

"Ahem...Mr. Harley, are you going to kill me?"

A trace of struggle flashed across Harley's face, which was obviously sunburned and had sunken cheeks due to hunger, but it disappeared in an instant.

"Sorry, yellow boy! Everyone is so hungry that they can't even row. If we continue like this, we will never reach the shore and we will all die."

Salt stains covered Harley's tangled black beard, and his voice was as frantic as a hungry wolf's: "Yellow boy, close your eyes. Trust me, it will be healed soon, and I guarantee you won't feel any pain!"

"This is a sacrifice! You sacrificed your flesh and blood to redeem us. Your soul will surely go to heaven!"

In a trance, A Zu remembered everything about this body!
As expected, it was worn out. Now it is the 29th year of Daoguang!
That is...1849!
More than two months ago, at the age of 18, I was "sold as a pig" and boarded the clipper ship "Barbara" in Guangzhou, heading to the other side of the ocean.

The "Barbara" carried more than 30 crew members and passengers, more than 50 Chinese workers who were sold as slaves, and hundreds of tons of tea, silk and other goods, embarking on a long journey across half the world.

More than ten days ago, the "Barbara" ran aground in the North Pacific during a storm. Before sinking to the icy bottom of the sea, I was pulled onto this lifeboat by my fellow countrymen.

The body was originally thin and had been soaked in sea water for a long time before being rescued. It had a high fever for more than ten days. Without medical care or medicine, and lacking water and food, it was gradually dying.

The few supplies on the small lifeboat had been eaten up four days ago.

More than ten people on the boat were almost dying of thirst and hunger, and everyone looked like a big braised pork elbow on a plate!
Especially when I’m dying!

After figuring out the whole story, A Zu said, "Mr. Harley, I'm just skin and bones. How many days can I save you? If you want to eat... If you want to offer sacrifices, you should choose something with more meat!"

A-Zu looked at Harley, who had lost a lot of weight but was still full of flesh, and smiled with his pale lips bleeding: "Mr. Harley, there is no rush even if you have to sacrifice yourself. Perhaps I have a way to give everyone a more decent redemption!!!"

Harley was slightly startled: "Boy, what did you say? Say it again?"

"I said, I have a way to get everyone to shore alive... well, in a more decent way, not in your way that will doom them to hell!"

Harley immediately became angry: "You despicable yellow monkey, you are lying to me! Yes, you damn little liar!"

"Why don't you die yet? I have to do it myself!!!"

"Sacrifice one person to redeem all! My Lord, may you forgive my sins!"

Harley's face became more and more hideous as he became half crazy due to hunger and thirst and almost lost the ability to think.

A Zu racked his brains and struggled to speak: "Whoever sheds man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed!" (See Genesis in the Bible)
"So, I can only strangle you to death!"

Harley's big hands are about to strangle A-Zu's throat again!

"I can find fresh water and food!" A-Zu quickly added, "Give me half a day. If you don't have any fresh water or food by then, you don't have to do anything. I will sacrifice myself. I will redeem you with my own blood and flesh!"

Harley's hand stopped in mid-air and did not pinch for a long time!

"How's that for a deal, Mr. Harley?"

Harley's expression and body were frozen in place.

After not having water or food for too long, the muscles all over the body were burning and all the organs were atrophying. Almost everyone on the boat had lost most of their thinking ability and judgment.

Not to mention the bottom line of humanity!
The scene froze there, with only the scorching sun and the gentle waves around.

"Harley, do as he says!"

The tall figure, kneeling at the bow with his back to the crowd, his hands resting on an inverted rum barrel and his head bowed in prayer, suddenly uttered a muffled sound.

"Yes, Captain!"

Harley reflexively let go of Zu and straightened up.

A-Zu turned sideways with considerable effort and looked at the figure a few meters away.

It's Captain Vic!
The unlucky captain of the "Barbara" has sunk to the bottom of the sea!
Not only A-Zu was released, but also Miss Vivian, whose arms were grabbed!
"How are you, sir?"

A-Zu looked up, and in her hazy vision, she saw a tall figure walking towards her. Under the midday sun, her long golden hair was particularly dazzling!
Moreover, she speaks Cantonese with perfect pronunciation!
"Beautiful Miss Vivian, I'm dying!"

A-Zu replied weakly, "Until I heard your angelic voice and saw your incomparable beauty, I felt alive again!"

"Bah... When did you stop talking nonsense!" Vivian's lips curled up before she said seriously, "Sir, don't forget our situation! Without fresh water and food, we're almost dead!"

"No! Miss Vivian, believe me, even God wouldn't have the heart to let a beautiful angel like you die of thirst and hunger in this vast ocean!"

"Pfft...!" Vivian almost couldn't help laughing out loud.

"gentlemen……!"

Before she could say anything, A Zu interrupted her and said, "I'm not a gentleman. My name is Li Zunian. You can call me A Zu!"

"If I can't find fresh water and food...!" A-Zu turned around and looked around, lowering his voice and saying, "I'm definitely not the only one who will be eaten! Miss Vivian, believe me, your fate may be even worse than mine!!!"

Facing a group of extremely hungry and thirsty people who were about to die, A Zu was quite surprised that a fair and tender lamb like Vivian could still be safe and sound.

Vivian nodded calmly. "As the only woman on this boat, I know exactly what I'm going to face! If I have to face the worst, I'll jump into the sea...even if it means I go to hell!!!"

As the daughter of a missionary, she knew clearly that the soul of a person who committed suicide would never be welcomed into heaven!

A Zu was slightly surprised, his blurred vision unable to make out her features and expressions: "So, we must support each other and cooperate in order to survive!"

Vivian smiled. "I think 'we're in this together' is a more accurate way of putting it. Isn't that right, Mr. Zu?"

This foreign girl! She even knows idioms well. It's hard to fool her!

A'zu's body was still extremely weak: "Vivian, I'm too hungry. I don't have the strength to stand up, and my eyes can't see clearly! Can you please clean my eyes first?" "Of course!"

Vivian lay on the side of the boat and scooped up a handful of sea water with both hands.

The azure multi-layered petticoat outlines a perfect peach buttocks!

At this moment, A-Zu's vision miraculously became a little clearer.

Vivian squatted beside him and carefully washed A-Zu's eyes with sea water.

She leaned close to Azu's ear and whispered, "Actually, Mr. Halley isn't that bad! Captain Vic is an upright man!"

"They did this simply because they were starving! If you can survive, please don't resent them for it!"

A'Zu grinned, "Others may not be sure, but Vivian, you do have a saintly heart of gold!"

Dried eye mucus looks like scabs, and it's a bit disgusting even without thinking about it.

"I'm sorry, Vivian!" A-Zu continued, "I don't need a beautiful and noble lady like you to do such an unclean thing."

While carefully cleaning his eyes, Weiweian whispered, "In Guangzhou, at my father's hospital, I'm a qualified nurse! It's just a small thing, so I can help you!"

"Your father's hospital...?"

As a graduate student in mechanical engineering and a veteran enthusiast of modern history, Azu remembers that in that era, Guangzhou had only one hospital founded by missionaries, which was also the first Western medicine hospital in China - Boji Hospital (the predecessor of Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University)!
Then the identity of this foreign girl is obvious!
What's his father's name?

Peter Parker?

Yes! That’s Peter Parker!

The first medical missionary to come to China, he founded the country's first free Western medicine hospital and saved countless lives. He also treated Lin Zexu's hernia, helped with the anti-smoking campaign, and later served as the U.S. Minister Plenipotentiary to China.

"Your father...is Mr. Peter Parker?" asked A-Zu.

Vivian nodded.

"Why would a distinguished lady like you be on the Barbara?"

Vivian replied, "Although I was born in America, I grew up in China. I speak Cantonese better than English. But... I'm old enough to go back to America to attend college."

Ah Zu understood. Her mother and her entourage were sending her back to China to attend university, so they boarded the Barbara.

Unexpectedly, they encountered a shipwreck, and her mother and followers were buried at the bottom of the sea. Only she was lucky enough to be rescued and brought onto the ship.

After Vivian cleaned his eyes, Zu's vision finally became clear.

Due to severe dehydration and hunger, Vivian looked much more haggard and thinner than she remembered, but her beauty was not diminished!

On the contrary, the haggard and sickly beauty is even more shocking and pitiful!

But compared to the other people on the boat who were emaciated and skinny, Vivian's condition was obviously much better!
In my memory, Vivian was plump and tall, especially her breasts were particularly full and tall, which was spectacular!

"These bulging lumps are all fat, no wonder they can withstand consumption!"

A-Zu glanced at her chest and saw that it was obviously much smaller.

"It's okay! Take care of it, maybe it will grow back."

"What are you talking about? Who are you going to support?" Vivian couldn't help but ask when she heard A-Zu's low crickets.

"I say, we have to quickly get some water and food to feed everyone on the boat!"

A-Zu, who was so weak that he couldn't even stand up, could only order this foreign girl around.

"Vivian, please fill these cans with seawater and place them inside the empty wine barrels."

A-Zu pointed to the empty tin cans scattered all over the deck. These were the supplies rescued onto the lifeboat before the "Barbara" sank.

Canned food, which Napoleon offered a huge reward of 12,000 francs for decades ago, has now become a standard emergency item on many ocean-going sailing ships.

Not only canned food fillings, but also empty cans were used by A-Zu to save lives.

A-Zu pointed to the rum barrel that had long been empty.

"Vivian, please fill those two empty barrels with seawater, just enough so that the water level doesn't exceed the cans."

Rum was also a valuable supply that was urgently rescued onto the small boat before the "Barbara" sank.

When sailing on the vast ocean, fresh water will deteriorate if stored for too long, but rum will not, and it is rich in vitamins to prevent scurvy.

Relying on these rum and canned food, more than a dozen people survived more than ten days of drifting on the sea.

"Filling it with seawater? What the hell?" Vivian asked doubtfully, "Are you teaching me how to do things? Can you read?"

"I was illiterate at first! But when I woke up again, not only did I inexplicably learn to read and speak English, but I also gained a lot of knowledge in my head."

A-Zu pointed to the sky, then to himself: "So, I should be the one sent by Him to save you and their... well, do you believe it?"

I am clearly living well in the afterlife, and I traveled through time and space out of nowhere. This is not nonsense.

As the daughter of a missionary, Vivian is undoubtedly a devout believer.

She looked up at the sky in confusion, then looked down at A-Zu and murmured, "You didn't lie to me? Is this really the case?"

A-Zu is her only hope right now, she has no choice but to believe him!

Vivian chose to do as she was told. The two empty barrels were large enough to fit twelve cans filled with seawater, and she also filled the barrels with an appropriate amount of seawater.

When she was done, A-Zu pointed to a pile of silk randomly stacked together. This was the floating cargo salvaged from the sea after the ship sank.

"Vivian, wrap the barrel tightly with silk. The tighter the better."

Vivian didn't waste any time and wrapped the two large wine barrels tightly with layers of cloth.

Finally, A-Zu pointed to several oilcloth packages stacked on the nail plate and asked, "Mr. Harley, is this saltpeter?"

Harley nodded. "Yes. This time, the tea and silk from Guangzhou didn't fill the cargo hold. When Barbara was resupplying at Yokohama Port, the captain discovered that saltpeter powder was particularly cheap there, so he bought tens of thousands of pounds to fill the cargo hold. When the ship sank, I salvaged a few bags."

A Zu knew this, so he was confident that the fresh water problem could be solved.

A-Zu continued, "Vivian, pour the saltpeter into the wine barrel. Be careful not to pour it into the can."

Vivian was confused, but she didn't ask. She opened the oilcloth and carefully poured the white saltpeter powder inside into the two wine barrels, until the saltpeter was completely saturated and could no longer dissolve.

Finally, following A-Zu's instructions, he closed the wine barrel lid and wrapped it thoroughly with the remaining silk.

After doing all this, A Zu turned his attention to the empty wine barrel that Captain Vic used as a prayer table!
Harley, who was watching from the sidelines, couldn't help but ask, "Yellow boy, what on earth are you doing?"

A Zu didn't even look at him and replied, "Wait!"

"What are you waiting for?"

"freshwater!"

"Fresh water? This can turn sea water into fresh water? Yellow monkey, you are definitely lying to me, right?"

"Damn it! I knew it, I should have strangled you to death!"

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(End of this chapter)