The ship, amidst violent rocking, gradually moved towards the huge black ship in the storm, by adjusting the sails and the helmsman's strenuous turning of the rudder.
The sky, as dark as night, and the howling wind made it impossible for them to see the flag on the mast. As they got closer, their attention drifted further from the mast.
All they knew was that it was an enormous ship, large enough to hold a thousand people.
"Quick, quick, quick, bring all the supplies on board, forget about this ship!"
Seeing that half of their ship's mast had been burned away and the broken pieces were crashing onto another mast, setting it aflame and threatening to spread over the whole ship, the merchant dared not delay and ordered the crew to move urgent supplies across the gangway being set up.
This black ship is still sailing; they must speed up. If their ship is burned too much to sail, they would be doomed.
Luckily, their fortune was good. A thousand people, with the help of the gangway and ropes, boarded the massive deck without deviating. Once everyone was on board and vital supplies were moved to the giant deck, the black ship finally passed by their own ship.
At the same time, the mast of that ship caught fire completely, collapsing and engulfing half the ship in flames. A crashing wave overturned it, leaving residual flames on the ocean surface.
The merchant wiped the sweat from his forehead, sighing in relief, and laughed like a survivor, "Great, we made it on board!"
"It seems there's no one on the ship..."
A fierce-looking man with a pirate's demeanor scanned the surroundings but saw no one on this deck, shocked, "An empty ship?"
"Did they die from an epidemic?"
A man, dressed as a standard bounty hunter with twin guns and a cowboy hat, hesitated for a moment and said, "If that's the case, we need to be careful not to get infected."
There have been such cases at sea, where you encounter ships in endless navigation, only to board and find it full of corpses.
It's not a ghost ship. This is the New World. They've encountered all kinds of beautiful and terrifying scenes, but all are explainable.
No such thing as ghost ships exists. Either the entire crew is killed by strong enemies, or they succumb to an epidemic and die.
Usually, those lucky enough to board such an ship can make a fortune; an unattended ship must have treasures left behind.
This empty ship might just be like that.
"Isn't an empty ship even better? We'll sail to our destination on this one!" The merchant was excited, "We're so lucky, in this storm, to have come across such a ship. Feel it closely, this ship doesn't sway!"
In such a powerful storm, any ship would be violently rocking, but on this one, he had a sensation of being on solid ground.
Even in normal weather, a sailing ship navigating with waves and wind direction would sway.
But not this ship.
A fine ship indeed!
The merchant stretched out his hand to the crowd and announced, "I declare, this ship is ours now, and it's being renamed..."
Crash!
Suddenly, thunderbolts erupted from the sky, striking directly at the outstretched merchant, charring him to a blackened state, and dropping him to the deck.
"Wha, what?!"
The pirate-dressed man was just exclaiming when the lightning turned into silver flashes, striking directly at the black ship, also hitting the unlucky ones on the deck.
Lightning?!
Why?!
The man was bewildered, entirely unable to understand why this was happening.
"No, don't!"
Some people panicked and carelessly scrambled to jump off the ship amidst this relentless lightning assault.
"Stop!"
The pirate-clad man tried to stop them, but it was too late; he could only watch as they leaped into the waves below, easily engulfing them, leaving no sign.
"Everyone head to the cabin and buildings, don't run around!"
The man shouted, "Let's avoid the lightning first!"
It was at this moment people realized and started to rush toward the cabins at the front of the deck and the surrounding buildings.
There wasn't just one building; besides the huge two-story building level with the rear deck, there were also two smaller buildings at the front and rear decks. The rear deck was too far, but they had a chance at the front deck.
But just as they were moving, their steps halted abruptly. Their bodies burst with blood, scrubbed clean by the storm, sprawling lifeless on the deck.
Before the horrified people could react, in the storming fury, the killer... a few strands of flowing straw shined through.
A blonde man slowly walked out from a building on the left side of the front deck. After glancing at them, he muttered, "Strange, people still break in here?"
In his hand, he grasped a sword blade, transformed into straw.
A human!
As long as it's human, it can be handled!
"Kill him!"
The pirate-dressed man brandished his blade, making everyone on the deck charge toward the blonde man.
Crash!
Another lightning strike descended, hitting the blonde man, who smiled with delight.
He, too, was struck by lightning. This is truly...
Before even finishing the thought, as the lightning struck, one person in the crowd turned pitch black, spewing black smoke, and fell to the ground.