Chapter 777: Oyster Meal
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The semi-sunken s.h.i.+p was located in the southeast corner of Seagull Island, but the place where they had camped was in the northwest corner. There was a seasonal southeast wind blowing, and they had to avoid it.
Unlike in the northern hemisphere, the wind in Australia did not come from the northwest. It came from the southeast because Antarctica was off of Australia"s southern tip.
To be sure, they had not paid much attention to the southeastern sea previously.
However, when they got to the island, they took a boat and sailed around the island. They had not spotted the s.h.i.+p, because it wasn"t there at that time.
The semi-sunken s.h.i.+p"s appearance was a little strange. It was clear that the s.h.i.+p had just emerged.
Leaving Lu Guan to take care of their settlement, the other four went to the wreck by speedboat.
Hans stood in the bow of the boat and looked at the semi-sunken wreck through binoculars, muttering, "We won"t meet a ghost s.h.i.+p, will we? It"s a weird s.h.i.+p."
Brother Wolf conjured a pistol from the back of his waist and said calmly, "If there are ghosts, then I"ll shoot them!"
"Where did you get the gun?!" Li Du exclaimed.
"On Tasmania," Brother Wolf said. "When I bought gunpowder, I bought a gun."
While he spoke, he opened a storage box with the store"s name on it. There were also two shotguns in it.
Li du gaped. "You just bought them?"
Brother Wolf nodded with a relaxed expression. It was obviously not a big deal to him.
"How did you get these guns in such a short time? Surely not through the regular gun shop?" Li Du was still stunned.
"Everywhere, local gangs and gun dealers leave secret messages. If you have the information, you know who to look for," Brother Wolf said.
Anyway, they had guns in their hands, and when they saw the shotguns and pistols, Hans became much braver.
The speedboat quickly sailed near the half-sunken s.h.i.+p. It was half submerged and half floating on the sea, slowly drifting with the waves.
The half-sunken s.h.i.+p was small. Like their yacht, it was a wooden s.h.i.+p. It was a single-mast wooden transport s.h.i.+p, popularly used in the middle ages.
Li Du and the others had only seen those types of s.h.i.+ps on television. They had a long history and a glorious past. They could still be found in the ocean museum in modern times, which was rare in reality.
As was shown on TV, the s.h.i.+p was made of wood, and the hull had expanded and cracked after a long period of exposure to the wind and waves.
Li Du and others carefully examined it and then saw that the bow of the s.h.i.+p was carved with jumbled lines on its side.
The s.h.i.+p"s bow went deep into the water, and Li Du sent out the little bug to check it out. He saw a collision angle hanging from the bow.
Brother Wolf put on scuba gear and jumped into the water. He swam around the semi-sunken s.h.i.+p and then returned to the speedboat and said, "There"s good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?"
Li Du and Hans spoke almost at the same time.
"Bad news first," Li Du said.
"Good news first!" Hans said.
"The bad news is that there are no valuable relics on board. The good news is the boat is an ancient s.h.i.+p. The family crest hanging on its bow suggests a Spanish wreck," Brother Wolf explained.
"Is there any danger down there?" asked Hans.
Brother Wolf shook his head.
Hearing this, he also jumped into the water and took a look around the wreck.
When he returned to the speedboat, Hans was not happy. He had gone into the water just to find something of value. However, he had not found anything.
Li Du decided to drag the wreck to their camp and take a closer look at it. Even if there was nothing of value, the planks of the boat could be torn down and dried out for firewood.
Hearing this, Brother Wolf said, "With our speedboat"s power, I"m afraid it will be hard to drag it."
Although he said this, he faithfully carried out Li Du"s order and connected the s.h.i.+p and the speedboat with a cable.
The speedboat started, and they managed to drag half the wreck. It was indeed hard in terms of the speedboat"s low horsepower, but the speedboat was able to pull the wreck.
Brother Wolf frowned and said, "It shouldn"t be."
As they dragged the wreck to the beach, Lu Guan was excited and said, "Hey, guys, what"s the big discovery? Is there any treasure in it? Or porcelain? Or gold and silver and jewels?"
"You can see for yourself."
The speedboat could reach the sh.o.r.e so the s.h.i.+p was towed to the sh.o.r.e. Everyone gathered around it to take a look.
It was hard to see at sea, but everything became clear on sh.o.r.e.
Several people stood on the beach and looked at the s.h.i.+p"s bow. A wooden plate was hanging from the top of the corner in front of them. This was the family crest Brother Wolf had told them about.
Lu Guan looked at it and wondered, "What family is so humble? Shouldn"t the crest be made of copper? Why is it carved in wood? Isn"t that disgraceful?"
Brother Wolf went up and tried to hit the edge with his hand and frowned again. "It"s weird. It"s made from sycamore. It"s not strong, just good looking, but not practical."
There were a lot of things wrong with the s.h.i.+p, and when they went inside the wreck, they found that the hull was just a wooden frame, and that the wood was not strong enough to float on the sea.
There was also a problem with the rudder"s position in the bow. There was no linkage, which meant the rudder could not be used.
"This is not a medieval s.h.i.+p," someone said after much discussion. "It"s a prop. There must have been a movie company out there. The s.h.i.+p was dumped after being used."
Hans was very angry.
G.o.dzilla shook his head sadly. "Too bad. It"s a waste of diesel."
"No, it"s not a pity. We didn"t waste our energy," Li Du said while patting the s.h.i.+p.
"Why? Do you think it"s worth something?" asked Hans.
Li Du pointed to the bottom of the boat and showed them. "Look here, at least we have several meals to eat."
The bottom of the boat was covered with large and small sh.e.l.lfish. They had stone sh.e.l.ls, and they were pale, rough, and ugly.
Li Du knew they were ugly but delicious. They were oysters.
The s.h.i.+p had been abandoned years ago and was expected to float in the sea for some time because of its material. Some oysters attached themselves to it, and the bottom of the boat eventually became as they had found it.
G.o.dzilla pried open one of the oysters. It was fat and alive, and moved when it was poked with a finger.
The men gathered a huge pile of oysters by hand and carried them in their s.h.i.+rts to the yacht.
As Sophie, Big Quinn, and others had traveled to Tasmania, the yacht became empty enough to hold the five of them plus Ivana.
The oysters had to be made on the yacht, and Li Du had to use a lot of seasoning. He put everything in the black hole and then had to find a place to get it out when he needed it.