Chapter 913: Chapter 456: The Storm Descends

In terms of visual perception, the spread of that ominous leaden gray on the distant horizon isn’t particularly fast, and the distance is incredibly far.

Most of the time, often long after seeing the lightning flicker deep in the clouds, the rumbling thunder would finally arrive, slow and delayed.

But this doesn’t mean the Vengeance Blade can rest easy.

Because anyone with even a little sailing experience should know, on the open sea, when you can see the clear traces of leaden clouds spreading from a storm so far away with the naked eye, it really signifies something important.

It’s like an airplane in Xia Nan’s previous life, flying across the sky. When looking up, it seems no bigger than a fingernail and appears to move slower than birds in close range, yet in reality, it’s a giant vessel with hundreds of passengers hurtling through clouds at hundreds of kilometers per hour.

The distant storm might appear to move slowly, just a small gray-black patch on the horizon, but the speed at which it spreads is already beyond what any measure the Vengeance Blade can catch up with.

How much preparation time do they have?

minutes? 10 minutes?

No one has time to answer such questions right now.

Because the moment they realized the storm was approaching, the entire crew of the Vengeance Blade, including the professionals at the core of the team, were mobilized.

Thud—

The rapid footsteps almost melded into one, and the cabin door was pushed open forcefully from the inside!

Fiery red long curls swayed on the shoulders, with a freshly lit white cigarette stuck between the lips.

Ash scattered sparsely as the exaggerated speed granted by the professional-level physique sent Lorin, upon hearing of the approaching storm, dashing from the captain’s cabin to the deck, with wisps of quickly dissipating smoke circling around her.

"Lower the sails, clear the deck, seal the hatch!"

Her status and authority as captain were fully displayed at this moment.

The deck, which was slightly chaotic due to the distant storm, immediately became orderly upon Lorin’s arrival.

It was clear there was already a plan in place; it wasn’t their first time dealing with such sudden situations. Detailed instructions weren’t needed, just a couple of the aggressive female captain’s words, and the crew was already busily preparing. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

After maintaining control over the deck, Lorin charged directly towards the Vengeance Blade’s helm.

As the captain of this ship, she would personally steer in the face of the impending storm, keeping the entire ship balanced.

Adjusting the ship’s posture in the storm is the first priority of everything.

It’s best to ensure that the ship forms a slight angle with the waves, so the bow cuts through the wave wall like a scimitar.

If the entire side of the ship is exposed to the oncoming waves, one wave could threaten to overturn the Vengeance Blade.

And in a violent storm, should the sea vessel capsize, it would almost spell a death sentence for all ordinary sailors. Even for professionals, if luck is not on their side, they might not come through safely.

Adventurers may usually rely on their own strength to flaunt their power in towns, using ordinary civilians as tools or stepping stones to showcase their own status, recklessly riding on the heads of ordinary people.

But against such a level of horrific natural disaster, unless they possess some suitable countermeasure ability or have personally reached certain limits of strength.

Otherwise, adventurers and ordinary sailors aren’t much different.

They’re equally powerless to resist.

The brave sailors, without any protection, skillfully climbed up the mast to wrap up the main sail, leaving only a small piece of necessary canvas to take advantage of the wind and steer the ship.

When the storm hits, faced with wind force so terrifying it seems it could blow a person off the deck, if the canvas is left wide open, it would easily snap the mast with sails in half, jeopardizing the ship’s balance and aiding the incoming waves in flipping the entire ship.

Luckily, they detected the storm promptly and still had reasonably adequate response time.

In extreme cases, if there’s no time to retract the sails, sailors often cut the rope to let the canvas fall down, or even sever the mast themselves.

The half-cleared items on deck were quickly tidied up, barrels, ropes, cleaning tools—anything that could be gathered in haste was quickly moved into the cabin, tied and secured with hemp rope, and anything too heavy to move willingly was discarded into the sea.

The hatches were sealed with waterproof cloth and planks to ensure that the waves and rain wouldn’t be blown into the cabin by fierce winds, protecting the supplies and survival materials inside, and doing their best to avoid the predicament of sinking.

On the deck, the crew moved around with tense expressions, even the originally fresh air seemed to turn hot amidst the chaotic footsteps and urgent low shouts, yet it stood in stark contrast to the calm sea surface and warm sunlight surrounding the ship, experiencing its final serenity before the storm.

Not having storm response experience, and having just recently joined the crew without much coordination yet.

At this moment, Xia Nan felt like an outsider, without anyone instructing him on what to do.

Of course, it wasn’t possible to just stand by and watch; having become a part of this team, facing the imminent crisis, he also wanted to contribute his own strength.

Lacking in sailing experience and without specialized storm response training, fearing that his rash actions might disrupt the crew, he chose a necessary task that couldn’t possibly go wrong: helping the sailors move and secure supplies.