Weather at sea changes in an instant.
One moment, there were just a few inconspicuous dark clouds on the horizon; less than half an hour later, the entire sky was like an overturned ink bottle, rapidly swallowed by dense gray-black.
The sea breeze was no longer the gentle caress with a salty, damp scent from before.
Instead, it became wild and sharp.
The salty wind howled across the deck, making the canvas "whoosh" and flap, as if it could be torn at any moment.
The waves also began to surge, crashing against the hull of the sea serpent one after another, making dull "thump, thump" sounds.
The ship began to rock violently, making it impossible to stand steadily.
"Furl the sails! Furl the sails quickly!"
Gibbs yelled at the top of his lungs on the deck.
A trace of panic finally appeared in his one eye.
The pirates also stopped their earlier laughter, each with a grim expression, scrambling to climb the mast, trying to lower the huge main sail.
Roger had just emerged from the foul-smelling latrine when he was shocked by the scene before him.
He had anticipated a storm, but he hadn't expected it to come so fast and so fiercely!
"No! Don't furl all the sails!"
Roger's heart skipped a beat as he watched their actions, blurting out.
In such strong winds, if all the canvas is furled, the ship will lose power and directional control, only able to spin like a leaf in the raging waves, making it even more dangerous.
The correct approach is to lower the main sail but retain a small foresail, using it to maintain the stability of the bow and help the ship "cut through" the waves, rather than being hit sideways and capsized by them.
This is common knowledge for dealing with storms in modern navigation, and it was also a clear instruction given by the "Basic Seamanship" in his mind.
His shouts were drowned out by the howling wind and the curses of the pirates.
A pirate, who was pulling a rope, heard him and turned to yell back:
"Shut up, what do you know, you rookie!"
"Don't furl the sails and wait for the mast to be blown off?"
Roger was anxious; he rushed to Gibbs's side in a few steps and said loudly:
"Gibbs! Don't furl everything!"
"Leave a bit of the foresail, otherwise, the ship will lose control!"
Gibbs was in a frantic state, directing everyone, and Roger's shouting instantly made him furious.
"Shut your mouth!"
He pushed Roger away.
"It's not your place to speak here!"
"Get back to the cabin and stay there, don't get in the way here!"
Roger stumbled from the push, almost falling.
He looked at Gibbs, then at the crew members who had almost completely furled the main sail, and his heart turned cold.
It's over.
These idiots had no idea what they were doing.
He tried to argue again, but a huge wave slammed against the ship's side, and icy seawater poured over them like a waterfall.
The ship suddenly tilted to one side.
The angle of the tilt was so great that Roger thought the ship was about to capsize.
There were gasps and curses on the deck.
"Hold on! Everyone, hold on tight!"
Gibbs clung desperately to a mast, his face pale.
Roger was knocked to the ground, but fortunately, he managed to grab a bundle of ropes fixed to the deck in time, preventing him from being swept into the sea.
He looked up and saw seawater frantically surging onto the deck.
Just then, the Captain's Cabin door was slammed open with a "bang."
A tall man with a meticulously braided black beard, wearing a rather decent captain's uniform, rushed out.
He was the Captain of this ship, Barbossa.
Roger looked closely.
This Barbossa was not that Barbossa.
He had thought he had encountered a protagonist from Pirates of the Caribbean.
But he was greatly disappointed; this Barbossa had neither a monkey nor was he cursed.
He was just an ordinary pirate Captain.
"What's going on! Gibbs! Why is the ship rocking so violently!"
Captain Barbossa roared.
He was clearly startled by that last jolt.
"Captain! It's a storm!"
Gibbs replied in a disheveled manner.
"The wind came too fast!"
Barbossa glanced at the sky, and his face instantly turned incredibly grim.
He cursed under his breath and immediately began giving orders:
"Everyone move! Secure everything in the cargo hold!"
"Helmsman, steady! Go with the waves, don't fight them!"
His orders were somewhat organized, calming the panicked crew members a little.
But as Roger listened, his heart sank to the bottom.
Go with the waves?
In front of such massive sideways waves, going with the waves meant exposing the ship's most vulnerable side to the sea, which was no different from seeking death!
"Captain!"
Roger struggled to get up, shouting again.
"Don't go with the waves!"
"We need to face the waves head-on! Raise the foresail a bit, we need power!"
His voice sounded somewhat sharp in the strong wind, successfully attracting Captain Barbossa's attention.
Barbossa suddenly turned his head, his gloomy gaze falling on Roger like a knife.
"Who are you?"
"Captain, he's the lad we pulled out of the sea yesterday."
Gibbs quickly explained.
"A drowned rookie, daring to command me here?"
Barbossa's tone was full of disdain and anger.
"Throw him into the cabin and lock him up!"
"If he dares to say another word, I'll throw him back into the sea!"
Two pirates immediately approached Roger with fierce looks.
Roger looked at Barbossa's arrogant and foolish face, and a surge of despair and anger welled up in his heart.
He didn't want to die.
He had just transmigrated, just struggled back from the brink of death; he didn't want to die so inexplicably at the hands of a bunch of medieval idiots!
"You'll kill everyone!"
Roger yelled with all his might.
"This isn't an ordinary storm at all!"
"Look at the waves over there!"
"In a few more hits, this ship will be broken in half!"
He pointed into the distance.
A giant wave, taller than the ship's mast, was surging towards the sea serpent with an unstoppable momentum.
It was a moving wall of water, carrying an aura of destruction!
All the pirates who saw that giant wave, including Captain Barbossa, turned pale, their eyes filled with terror.
There was a deathly silence on the deck, only the howling of the wind and the roar of the waves remained.
Everyone was stunned by the apocalyptic scene.
Captain Barbossa opened his mouth but couldn't utter a single word.
His proud navigation experience seemed so ridiculous and powerless in the face of such destructive natural power.
He subconsciously looked at the young man who had been shouting earlier.
The storm had arrived.
And it was more deadly than anyone had imagined.