Chapter 208 Empty Ship
The carriage arrived at the Chamber of Commerce. Vesdon got off the carriage and entered the headquarters.
Both the guards and the businessmen who came to do business saluted him respectfully.
Having no time to pay attention to them, when they came upstairs, Vesdon opened the door and walked into the study.
Denise was hunched over the desk handling official duties. Before Vesdon could speak, she said, "Sit down first. If you have anything else to do, wait until I finish my work."
Weston sat down obediently.
Time passed minute by minute, and seeing that Denise had no intention of stopping, Vesdon finally couldn't bear it anymore: "Mother..."
"Mother!"
Denise stopped and put the pen aside, feeling a little helpless. Authentic: "You kid, you have no patience at all."
"If you are patient anymore, I will become a joke to the whole city!" Vesdon said dissatisfied: "My elder brother canonized four people in one breath Knights, even old Gordon has a share, but not me!”
"I'm his younger brother!"
I think Denise would be as surprised as Weston when she heard the news.
However, Denise acted very indifferently: "Well, I heard about it."
Then she lowered her head and started writing.
“Mom!” Vesdon started his coquettish offensive and rushed to Denise’s table: “What is more important than my knighthood?”
"If you ask me, you must have been away from the Eagle Territory for too long, and my brother was stunned by Fiona and forgot about you, so he gave old Gordon the title that should have been given to me!"
"You might as well find an excuse to go back and dress up nicely..."
Pa!
The quill was slammed on the table, ink splashed, Denise's chest heaved, and she stared at Vesdon with anger.
What does he think of himself! ?
It is true that the relationship between her and Raven is complicated, but this does not mean that she has gained her current status by relying on her beauty.
Being able to serve as the president of Meng'en City Chamber of Commerce and secure this position is because she has this ability!
She unified the businessmen in the lower city of Meng En City, provided the Eagle Territory with a large number of cost-effective raw materials, and opened up the sales of the Angel series products. Now every month she can bring at least 100,000 to Raven. Profit of 3000 gold coins.
In addition, many nobles also have more relationships with the Griffith family because of her good dancing skills. If not for this, Raven's business alliance would not develop so smoothly.
As a single woman, Denise paid great attention to her reputation. Even so, there were still rumors that she relied on her beauty to achieve success.
It’s okay to let others talk about it, but I didn’t expect that my own son would have the same idea!
Denise pressed her palms on the table, her knuckles turning white: "Vesdon, is this how you view your mother?"
Vesdon shuddered, knowing that he I said something wrong, so I quickly admitted my mistake: "Mother, no, I really didn't!"
"I just feel that I also fought in the bloody highlands. After all, I should be considered a knight!"
"I'm pretty motivated." Denise glanced coldly. He glanced at him and asked in a cold voice: "Then what do you want the knighthood for?"
"This, I..." Vesdon was speechless for a moment.
There was a trace of disappointment in Denise's eyes. She knew that apart from showing off in front of those businessmen's children, Vesdon had no excuse at all!
In fact, Raven wrote to Denise about this issue long before he was officially canonized as a knight. When mentioning the specific candidates, he also explained clearly the reasons for not canonizing Vesdon.
As a member of the Griffith family, Vesdon will definitely have a political marriage in the future.
He does not have the blood of the Griffith family, which is a big flaw. It is difficult to marry a well-matched noble lady.
Knights are like little kings in their own territory, able to get whatever they want.
But Vesdon is a dandy. With Denise watching over him, he still knows how to restrain himself. Once he is canonized as a knight and returns to the fiefdom, God knows what will happen to him.
If you make someone else pregnant and give birth to an illegitimate child before getting married, that will really end the marriage.
And Denise also knows that it is impossible for Vesdon to inherit the baronetcy of the Griffith family, so marrying a powerful nobleman and becoming a link between the two families is his best way out.
Having a strong wife to support Vesdon’s future is much more important than a knighthood.
At this time, Vesdon finally found a suitable reason: "I am already 16 years old! When other nobles were as old as me, they had already started learning how to govern their territories and manage their subordinates. Do you want me to stay in school all the time? Go down?”
“I am not one of those common people’s children who rely on knowledge to improve their status!”
Hearing this, Denise took out a document from the drawer and threw it to Vesdon. before.
Visidon asked: "This is...?"
"The property contract of the car rental company." Denise said lightly: "This car rental company has 168 carriages, and the grooms There are 5 people and 67 drivers. The boss mortgaged it to the Chamber of Commerce and was unable to redeem it. Now it is managed by the Chamber of Commerce and has been in a state of loss."
Vesdon just wanted the title of knight, not to find a job for himself, so he immediately hesitated after hearing this.
Denise deliberately wanted to put more pressure on him: "The number of people and property managed by this car rental company is no less than that of a knight."
"Within one year, if you are If you can turn it around, I'll agree to help you. Ask for a knighthood from Raven!"
Hearing this, Vesdon's eyes suddenly lit up: "Okay, mother, please don't break your promise!"
< br>After saying that, Vesdon picked up the paperwork, turned around and left.
Seeing him like this, Denise sighed in disappointment.
If Vesdon had asked her after getting the paperwork, who is the current manager of this car dealership, where is its geographical location, what are its strengths and weaknesses, and why it is losing money, Denise would still be interested in it. He was a little confident. Now...
He lowered his head and continued to deal with official duties. He had a casual lunch at noon and took a short rest.
Just after three o'clock in the afternoon, Denise took a quick shower and was about to continue handling her affairs when she saw her personal maid, Angel, walking over in panic. She couldn't help but ask: "What happened?" ?”
“Madam.” An Qi whispered: “The ship from Slaver’s Bay is empty.”
When Denise arrived at the pier, the big ship with three masts had already docked on the shore. The security forces formed a human wall, but they still could not resist the enthusiasm of the local residents to watch the excitement.
Separate the crowd and walk into the inner circle. The boss, Weber, who once had a bloody harpoon, was talking to a priest. When they saw Denise arriving, they all turned around and saluted.
After returning the gift, Denise went straight to the topic: "How is the situation?"
"This ship has been cursed by the devil!" The priest's face was very ugly, and he drew "Lord of Light" on his chest. Holy Emblem: "It's terrible... It's terrible!"
Denise turned to Weber: "Is there really no one alive?"
"... To be precise, it has not been found yet." Weber's face was not good-looking: "This ship was discovered by my soldiers when they were patrolling the river. It was floating on the river at the time, and it didn't respond to calls or flags."
“After the soldiers boarded the ship, they found that there was no one on the deck, and no one responded to their calls. At that time, they did not dare to investigate deeply, so they towed the ship back to the dock.”
“ Bishop Byron and I just went down to take a look, and we didn’t find anything. No trace of any living person was found."
After hearing this, Denise nodded silently and thought for a moment: "Then, please, please go down with me and take a look."
Webber was lucky, but the face of the bishop named Byron suddenly changed: "Mrs. Denise, you have such a precious identity, it's better not to take risks easily." Denise said quietly: "You don't If you are willing to go down, just pray for me here.”
There are 47 crew members and 600 slaves. These are the property of the Chamber of Commerce. Denise cannot let them disappear without a trace.
While talking, Angel had already lit the torch. Denise took it, opened the hatch on the deck and walked into the cabin.
Webber also lit a torch and turned to look at Byron: "Your Majesty, Bishop, do you want to continue standing here?"
Webber's soldiers were surrounded by many civilians. Onlookers thought that if Byron left like this, he would be known as a coward, which would be a huge blow to Byron who still wanted to make progress.
Therefore, even if he was reluctant, he could only mutter a few words and follow.
In the dim cabin, Denise covered her nose gently, swept the torch high and low, and walked slowly.
Under the light of the torch, the dark cabin was illuminated bit by bit.
The wooden barrels used as tables and chairs are arranged in an orderly manner. There are traces of being smoked by torches on the pillars. Cables soaked and blackened by sweat are piled in the corner, still waiting for someone to hang them on the mast.
The water in the bucket is still clear, and the cloth bag still contains large pieces of bread, potatoes, radishes, and a lot of bacon. There is plenty of food and water, and there is no need to abandon ship.
Continuing inside, the sailor's cabin is also full of the breath of life. Some beds and quilts are stacked neatly, and some quilts are recessed into human shapes, as if they have just gotten up.
In the restaurant, wooden tableware is placed on the table, with some rotten food residue still remaining on it; kitchen knives hang on the bulkhead, and there is a half-cut potato on the chopping board that has become oxidized and blackened. .
There is no trace of a fight.
Everything is normal, but there is only one person missing.
It was as if everyone on the ship disappeared collectively at a certain moment!
Walking to the innermost room and pushing open the door to the captain's cabin, the smell of corpses hit his face. Weber immediately pulled out his sword and protected Denise behind him.
The torch shined forward, and a corpse appeared in front of everyone. An Qi, who was following at the end, screamed suddenly, and the torch in his hand rolled to the ground.
Denise did not blame her, because her face was also pale.
The corpse was sitting on a chair, wearing a classic tweed captain's suit.
It is not rotten, or rotten is hard to describe the current state of the body.
The neck was crooked, and the skin on the cheeks pulled out strands of flesh. The gray beard and hair flowed from the bones along with the shriveled flesh, sticking together with the clothes on the body, like a melted wax statue!
The brutal sight symbolizes good news - at least, they saw a corpse, and corpses always bring clues.
Priest Byron recited the prayer of the Lord of Light in a low voice. Weber stepped forward cautiously, but perhaps it was the footsteps that caused the vibration. There was only a thud, and the head of the corpse was not very secure. Falling to the ground with a thud, Gululu rolled to the feet of Priest Byron.
He quickly jumped up and jumped to the side, shouting at the same time: "...Mr. Weber, please hurry up, the evil here is about to swallow me up!"
Byron is a third-level person. The four-star magician is not weak in strength, but the problem is that, like most priests, he has almost no experience in fighting or fighting with others, and his courage is extremely small.
Weber ignored him, pried a notebook from the corpse and handed it to Denise.
The thick tanned cowhide cover originally had the smell of salt from the sea, but now it is full of rancid odor and is stained with disgusting rotten skin.
This is a logbook. Many of the front parts have been soaked in corpse liquid and stuck together, and the words have been blurred and completely unclear; only the last few pages can barely read the content.
"X month Patrolling in a group, did the name Stormfjord come from for nothing?
Some people said they saw strange figures - ha, what a good excuse, I'll kill all these idiot sailors when I get back! "
"X month, X day, the 13th day of return voyage.
Something is wrong. Two more people disappeared last night. There are only 37 sailors left under my command.
And during the inventory, it was found that six prisoners were dead and they all stank. This is not a good sign. Could there be a plague?
I ordered the bodies to be thrown into the sea. I hope no more people will die. This was all paid for with gold coins. ”
"X month, X day, the 16th day of the return voyage.
All the rats on this ship are gone, not even one! This is so abnormal!
Five more crew members are missing ...Well, I also vaguely saw the ghost they were talking about, and damn, since there are no mice, What is the noise I hear every night?
I decided that in the next few days, all the sailors would gather on the deck for the night - if there were no more people, the ship would not be able to sail. ."
"X month, X day, the 20th day of return.
Slaves died miserably every day, as if they were mummified corpses.
They shouted "curses" and "devils", launched a riot, killed the sailors who went to deliver food, and tried to rush out, but we blocked them back.
Bosun died in battle.
I had to order to lock the door to the bottom cabin - anyway, we only have seven or eight days left to reach the shore. If there is water, a few people will not starve to death.
Losing a few gold coins is better than dying. ”
"X month, X day, the 22nd day of return.
...We all slept on the deck, but 6 more people disappeared last night, including the navigator."
, the 24th day of return.
Nabal confessed, admitting that he pushed the pilot into the sea. He said that the pilot deliberately brought us into the curse, and in order to protect himself, he took the lead in killing people.
He is really crazy. !
Although he was pushed into the sea by me, those words planted the seeds of uneasiness in everyone's heart, and everyone was afraid of becoming someone else's prey.
I had no choice but to give the order and everyone returned to their cabins to live.
I hope I can make it to the shore.
The cries and curses of those slaves are really disgusting!
If I could ever set foot on land again, I swear I would never get on a ship again!
There was another noise on the deck, and the sound of grinding teeth. I went to see what it was. ”
The content of the log ended abruptly.
It is conceivable what happened next. The captain found the culprit and died unexpectedly.
But in the end, because What made him the only corpse left on the ship?
The torch illuminated everyone's faces.
At this moment, there was a rustling sound, as if a mouse was moving between the floors.
There are no rats on the ship.
A shadow quietly emerged behind Byron.
……
(End of this chapter)