Haidu: Top of the Tower

Chapter 9

Before boarding the ship, Milady had inquired and collected information about the "Red Velvet Ship" in many ways, and also imagined many dangers she might encounter in her heart: wind and waves, illness, fatigue, lack of nutrition... She also tried her best to do everything The preparations that can be made, even if some are only psychological.

She just never expected that after a month on board, the first troublesome thing she got involved in was a duel.

Milady was naturally on the side of the duel.

On the other side, there is a strong man with a height of two meters and a round waist. Whenever he stomps his feet, the ground will tremble; his name is Dao Mingke.

"It's going to be a duel! At eleven o'clock in the morning," a crew member ran over the ship and shouted to everyone he saw: "Tomorrow at eleven o'clock, everyone, don't forget, come to the second deck Gather to watch the duel!"

...how did things get to this point?
Milady, who was sitting on the second deck, let out a long breath as she watched him run past below.

The red velvet ship she boarded was called the Night Castle.

Regardless of the loud name, it is actually just a medium-sized adventure ship with a battle platform added.Half of its bilge has been converted into a cargo hold, filled with many special metals, parts, and chemical raw materials from Haidu, ready to be unloaded at the port on the way out; there is less space for the crew to live, and it also needs to save manpower money. , As a result, the crew configuration is far from sufficient, and the entire ship has less than 40 people.

Milady had no doubts at all that the reason why she was able to get on board at the last moment was mainly because she voluntarily refused to pay her wages, apart from the fact that it was difficult to refuse the request made by the Gauta family.

Due to insufficient manpower on board, every crew member had to wear several hats.Even if the physical strength of the female crew members is slightly weaker, they have to make up for it in other aspects: the navigator can speak several languages ​​fluently, so he also serves as a translator; All kinds of organs to deal with various situations including battles; the cook is both a nutritionist and a ship doctor, which is convenient. People who go around the chicken coop on the ship and are beaten by her because they want to steal eggs will be killed immediately. You can take medicine.

Another thing that Milady didn't expect was that after boarding the Night Castle, she felt "I can't do it" for the first time in 17 years.

Compared with other experienced and mathematically skilled crew members, she is very unfamiliar with everything on board; she thought she had at least mastered the basic common sense of sailing, but after actually boarding the ship, she found that she was almost like a I am using a handkerchief as a tablecloth, no matter how stretched it is, it is not enough, and there are dead corners, limitations and gaps in knowledge everywhere.

Milady hated being a burden to others.Ever since she once had the experience of standing blankly on the side, waiting for someone to clean up the mess for herself, she swore to herself that she would never allow herself to fall into that situation again—in the first two weeks on board, she felt that I couldn't sleep well, and even in my dreams, I was thinking about the waterline, ruler, wind direction, vacuum and so on.

However, she was not the only one who noticed that her level was not up to standard; when she was learning sailing skills behind several old crew members, the contempt, rejection and hostility towards her also gradually formed among other part of the crew .

Most of the time, this hostility takes the form of one person—Dawmink.

"This kind of pampered brat in a privileged family can't go anywhere to try something new. Why do you have to waste food on our ship?" Once, when Milady passed by Dao Mingke and a group of crew members, his The sound suddenly amplified. "If you need strength but no strength, if you need skills but no skills, what are we doing raising her? It's not as useful as a chicken."

The crew members around Dao Mingke suddenly burst into laughter, as if there was something they knew each other well, and they had already said it through this circle of laughter.

Milady held back at that time, and silently remembered it.

Before earning a place on the boat with her own strength, she knew that no matter what she said or did, she would not have enough confidence.On an adventurous ship far away from sea capital and civilization, where survival and profit are the absolute truth, no one will uphold justice for a crying child, and no one will think that Dao Mingke is "not kind enough" to her.

In the family, Milady has often dealt with the cynicism of several cousins, and most of the time she doesn't take it to heart.But at sea, she had to be vigilant: if there was a chance, the crew headed by Dao Mingke would really throw her on a remote wild island as they said, Continue to set sail?

In order to ensure that the next year is as stable as possible, she must first earn a place on the ship.

"There are bullies everywhere, and they just scare you." Sein Feiya, one of the mechanism engineers on the ship she studied with, persuaded: "When you become a mechanism engineer in your own right, Dao Mingke can still fight against you." say what?"

What she said seemed to be right, but Milady found out after a month that things in the world seemed not so simple and reasonable.

As Milady learned more and more about the mechanism on board and mastered more and more techniques, the hostility she faced became more and more intense; her forbearance and silence were like hot oil, fueling the fire to grow stronger .

"She knows what she is, so she dare not speak out."

No need for Milady to guess the reason, Dao Mingke will tell her loudly. "What kind of tower, it's a fart on the sea. The expressionless self-importance every day is disgusting to see. With the name of the family, I slowly started to fiddle with the mechanism after boarding the boat. Can enjoy the privilege?"

No one is born in the sea, everyone has a first time - but Milady knew very well that reasoning would not help.

When she is free this day, she sits on the deck, playing with a small piece of mechanical raw material in her hand, letting its touch and temperature penetrate into the texture of her skin; this is a habit she has developed when thinking about it recently.Following the unconscious movements, her thoughts slowly sank, focusing on Dao Mingke.

When she was really angry, Milady was very calm and restrained, even a little gentle.

What's more, what she wants is far from being as simple as letting out a sigh of relief.She needs to establish her own status; she needs to be noticed when she speaks, responded to when she does something, and still exists in the minds of everyone when she is not present-maybe she should thank Dao Minke, with him, Milady has Opportunity, use him to raise his own flag at sea.

No matter what she does, she likes to be fully prepared.It is the most ideal state of attack for her to calculate with her heart and not mind; it is like this when sending a letter, and it is also like this when resisting.

On the day Milady had been on the ship for a month, the opportunity came.

In order to celebrate Milady's progress, Seinfeld specially asked the cook to make a small cake with several other old crew members, and brought it to the small dining hall where the crew members ate.At sea, eggs are a very precious food resource, and each person can only get one every four days. This palm-sized cake costs several people's share of eggs.

After it is carefully divided into several portions, each person gets a bite-size portion.Just this one bite, Milady hadn’t eaten yet—she was reluctant to eat it for a while, and put the cake on the table; when the sisters were about to go back to work, she specially sent a few of them out, and within a few minutes, When I came back, the cake on the table was turned into a ball of mud on the ground.

There were also two crew members who happened to be resting in shifts in the dining room, and they were a little embarrassed at this time.

"Milady," one of them, who was a bit older, whispered, "we persuaded her too, but..."

Milady looked at the lump of mud, and at the few people gathered in the corner of the restaurant.At this time, it happened to be when Dao Minke and the others were having lunch, and it was probably when she came in when she went out just now; when they half turned their bodies and glanced over Milady, it seemed that she didn't exist at all, or just The other table was still chatting and laughing on its own, as if nothing had happened.

When she walked in front of Dao Minke, she found that there was still a bit of cake crumbs on the toes of his leather boots.The few people nearby who had a good relationship with him saw her coming, and they all held back their smiles, as if nothing had happened.

When Milady spoke, she did not ask a word about the cake, as if she had forgotten it.

"Dao Mingke, let me ask you something. What are you doing on the boat?" She smiled and said, "I see you are idle and doing nothing all day long. I really don't see what you are useful for."

The smiles of the few people on the opposite side were frozen in their flesh, and they were all stunned.

Dao Mingke stood up slowly and took a step forward, the shadow cast by the hill-like body enveloped Milady's whole body.He lowered his head, gritted his teeth thickly, and even the muscles on his neck protruded.

"What did you say?"

They are also human beings; but when standing in front of Dao Minke, Milady felt that she was made of gingerbread, which was loose and crisp, while Dao Minke's muscles, bones and muscles were all heavy solidified iron.

The two crew members at the other end of the restaurant hurriedly pushed away the chairs and stretched their necks here, not knowing what to do for a while.Milady was only a few paces away from him, and she would have been hit in the temple with one punch from Domink; judging by his size and his fist, she might not be able to hold her own if he did. consciousness.

"Don't you know it yourself?" Milady didn't let the slightest bit of fear and worry flow out, she tilted her head and asked, "Did you fall asleep today?"

"I think you've bumped your head today." The flesh on Dao Minke's cheeks was twitching, and he said, "You want to know what I do? Just talk, I'm afraid you won't understand. When Lao Tzu's mercenary boots are broken by your ribs, you will definitely know what I do."

Milady clapped her hands. "Ah, yes," she said with a smile, "I remember, it is said that when we encounter pirates or barbarians, we have to rely on your protection, right?"

Without waiting for Dao Mingke to respond, she immediately continued: "But because you are so bad, if you are really in danger, I don't think many people can go back to Haidu."

Milady was already mentally prepared when she spoke. As soon as she spoke, she stepped back cleverly and lowered her waist, narrowly avoiding the wind of fists whizzing past in front of her.Dao Mingke's punch probably didn't hide nearly a hundred catties of strength, and when the punch passed by violently, it even made her face ache faintly on the tip of her nose—even Milady, who has always been calm and calm, had pain on her back. A layer of sweat broke out in an instant.

She is not stupid, she knows how big the difference in force is between herself and a professional combat mercenary like Dao Minke.

After all, before today, she had already inquired about the other party carefully.

"Don't do anything," the two crew members at the far end of the restaurant were also anxious, they stood up one after another, and persuaded them from a distance: "What are you fussing about with a little girl like her?"

One of the older crew members, after yelling "Calm down" to Milady, quickly whispered to another young man: "Go and call the captain!"

"You should really be thankful you're a woman."

Dao Mingke took another step forward, at least he didn't throw any more punches.He stared at Milady with a pair of yellow eyes, and said: "Otherwise, with your mouth, you will never be able to go back to Haidu. I haven't killed anyone from the Sea Wave Concerto family yet, so I don't mind trying." Give it a try."

Milady managed to catch her breath at this moment, her breastbone ached from the pounding of her heart.But only two or three points of it are fear, and the remaining seven or eight points are emotions that she doesn't know how to describe and define: like a young lion being chased by a rhino at the moment, but at the same time consciously and excitedly. It turns out that the opponent is nothing more than this, and he will take the grassland step by step.

"Kill to death? If you talk about hand-to-hand combat with fists, then I admit that I am no match for you."

She still maintained her smile and said: "But if we use mechanisms to duel...it's useless to have three more, it doesn't matter who kills the other. Do you hate me? What, I'll give you a duel with me The opportunity, will you take it?"

Dao Minke looked at her as if she spoke another language.

"Duel? Just you?"

Milady smiled and nodded, knowing in her heart that he would not refuse.If he really refused, she also had the confidence to further irritate him until he accepted; besides, it was very difficult to get Dao Minke to be honest, but it couldn't be easier to get him to use force.

"What's the good thing, you called me here?"

When this lazy voice sounded from the door of the restaurant, both confronting parties couldn't help but turn their heads.

Why did the captain come so fast?
Milady thought she still had time. Generally speaking, it would take 10 minutes to come from the captain's cabin; maybe the captain happened to be nearby just now, and at this moment, a tall and narrow shadow has emerged from the backlight of the door. .The shadow walked into the restaurant with slack and lazy steps, and when he threw himself into the table and chair beside the two of them, he asked, "What are you two doing?"

Ever since Milady boarded the ship, she discovered that the captain of the Nightcastle seemed different from ordinary captains.

Not only because he is only 25 years old, he already owns an adventure ship; he obviously looks like he will sleep until the afternoon before getting up, but the crew seems to regard him as the backbone.

But no matter how different the captain is, I am afraid that the crew will not allow the crew to engage in life-and-death duels during the voyage... She looked at the strangely young captain, walked behind his shoulder, and said with a smile on purpose: "I invited this captain The pork in the nostrils duels with me. Use the mechanism."

At the same time that Dao Mingke's face was flushed with purple blood, the captain Lu Ranzhou couldn't hold back, and burst out laughing.

He seemed completely unaware of Dao Mingke's anger, and quickly waved his hands, saying, "I'm sorry, I suddenly thought of a joke...I'm not laughing at you. What's going on? Why are you fighting?"

Even if there was still some possibility of being stopped just now, after being laughed at as a piece of pork, it is impossible for Dao Mingke not to fight now.After Lu Ranzhou listened to the explanation of the situation from the crew next to him, he looked at the mud-like cake with his own eyes, sat back in the chair, and said to Dao Mingke as if to comfort him: "Ah, I understand, yes, you Her honor and her cake are very important. If you insist on a duel, I will not stop it, but for the safety of everyone on board... how do you duel, I have to ask."

Milady had already thought about this.

"Comparing strength, I admit that I can't compete," she always stood a little behind Lu Ranzhou, in case Dao Mingke lost control, at least there would be a barrier between the two. "So I want to propose a special duel rule. I request that he cannot have physical contact with me."

"Then how about a duel?" Dao Mingke sneered.

"You can only shake your fists, so you have the nerve to call yourself a combat mercenary?" Milady answered immediately, "Except for physical contact, it's fine for you to attack me with any mechanism. But you have your own force mechanism, and I But no, it’s not fair. How about this, we take out all the organs on the ship, we choose, and I’ll see what you, a gorilla, can do to me.”

Although the provocative method is a little old, it cannot hold back its effectiveness.Dao Mingke's face was trembling from the impact of anger, as if it would burst open at any time, revealing his fangs: "Do you think I can't use mechanisms? Do you think that combat power only includes strength? It's the first time I've seen such a thing. Anxious to seek their own death."

"Then you won't object?" After Milady finished speaking, she quickly added to Lu Ranzhou: "If it's broken, I'll fix it."

Lu Ranzhou didn't seem to care about this. "Where to fight? How to win?"

Milady seemed to be thinking about it temporarily, frowned and hesitated for a few seconds, and said: "How about this, whoever throws the other party into the sea first will win... and it will be set on the first deck of the bow." ? There is a large area, and it is not easy to damage the facilities on the ship."

The elderly crew member next to him was stunned and said, "But the railing on the deck is so high—"

"Okay, it's settled." Dao Mingke interrupted him, as if he didn't want him to continue talking, and laughed grimly. "However, I have two requirements. One is that one party must either fall into the sea or die before the duel is over, and begging for mercy is not acceptable. The other is that even if someone falls into the sea, the boat must never stop."

If he was trying to intimidate Milady, she would have disappointed Dao Mingke.She nodded with a normal expression, and said to Lu Ranzhou: "I'm fine. I have to rest and get ready. The duel will be at eleven o'clock tomorrow morning."

"I don't care what time it is," Dao Minke said. "You'd better say goodbye to this ship tonight. It's useless to call your father after you fall into the water."

"Eleven o'clock in the morning?" Lu Ranzhou glanced at Milady and remembered something, with a smile on the corner of his mouth.

"No problem?" Milady asked cautiously.

She always felt that Lu Ranzhou knew more than he said; could he have found out?

"No problem, then it's settled." He slapped the table and stood up, his face suddenly brightened, and said to the other two crew members: "You ask someone to inform everyone that the two of them will duel tomorrow morning. The rule that no gambling is allowed on the Castle is temporarily revoked for one day, if anyone wants to place a bet, tell them that the odds are with me.”

Why is there such a captain?I thought he would stop the duel, but I was worried for nothing.

Milady thought almost dumbfounded.

That night, she heard that the odds of her winning were twenty to one.

(End of this chapter)