It has been several days since we sailed from Basra, and it seems that this voyage is not going to go smoothly. Captain Matt Ibn Sultan is standing on the bow of the ship irritably, thinking about something. He has sailed to Zanzibar countless times before.

route, only this time I felt something was wrong.

"Captain, it seems the weather is not very good." A crew member came over to report.

"Where are we now?" Ibn Sultan asked.

"We just passed Muscat, Captain." The crew member looked at him doubtfully. Wasn't he buying wine there just now?

"There may be a storm tonight. Send a signal to other ships. There is no sheltered port near us. Lower the sails." Ibn Sultan said in a daze.

"Is this necessary? Captain?" the crew member asked: "It's just a storm. It's not like we haven't encountered it before."

"It's different this time. We formed a defensive formation and let the two ships carrying those things hide in the middle." He said worriedly.

Obviously, this appearance had frightened the crew member, so he jogged all the way to communicate with the commander on the mast. Soon, other ships followed Ibn Sultan’s request and other captains also came over on planks, wanting to know what was going on.

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In the dim cabin, a dozen unshaven men were drinking wine in silence.

One person couldn't help but asked: "Swear to Allah, I, Abu, have encountered storms like this not 20 times but 15 times. It will definitely not have any impact on us. I don't know about Captain Ibn Sultan."

What do you mean by doing this?"

This was a fleet of twelve large merchant ships, commissioned by the Caliph at the time to transport some mysterious treasures to Zanzibar. But among all the people here, he was the only one who knew this secret, and the others only

Knowing that those two ships were filled with gold coins, a hundred barrels, this was the money they used to buy black slaves in East and Central Africa.

Ibn Sultan sighed and said: "Abu, I believe you. But there is no loss for us in doing this, right? In this vast sea, we don't know what danger we will encounter next time, right?

?”

"This is an insult to me. My crew will ridicule me for not being able to cope with an ordinary storm." Abu still said angrily.

"Let them speak. Only those who have truly survived the danger have the right to speak. The dead will not complain." He said lightly. These stubborn guys must be persuaded, otherwise the rest of the way will be difficult.

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"But dear Captain Ibn Sultan, although the Caliph ordered us to listen to you, do you need to tell me the reason for this decision first?" Another captain said, and other captains also agreed, thinking that the question was reasonable.

"It's not that I don't want to tell you, it's just a feeling that I really can't express. Based on the honor of my family, Matt Ibn Sultan, I swear in front of Allah, I hope you can believe me." He said solemnly.

In the Islamic world, swearing to Allah is already worthy of others' belief, let alone risking the honor of one's own family. Everyone knows that Said Ibn Sultan, the grandfather of Mat Ibn Sultan, was the first to open up the Arab countries.

The prelude to the voyage is a family that the current Caliph has great trust in. It seems that this time, their burden is not light. Although none of the captains present received a satisfactory answer, no one asked any more questions.

"The wind is getting stronger, captain." At this moment, a crew member shouted from the hatch of the ship.

"Are you going back to your ship, my dear friends?" Ibn Sultan asked gently.

"Okay, after this voyage is completed, you have to tell us everything." Abu said.

"Of course, my dear friend." A happy smile appeared on his face, and it seemed that he had passed the test this time.

The sea wind outside was getting stronger and stronger, and Ibn Sultan's more than thirty years of sailing experience told him that the wind must be abnormal. In other words, the things the Caliph asked him to transport must also be abnormal.

He was thinking, wondering if he could see the sun tomorrow.

At the same time, another group of people was also hurriedly preparing to deal with the coming storm.

The pirate Tippi Tip has been following them quietly since they set sail. The experienced pirates know that it is not the time to take action yet. They will wait until the ship sails to East Africa, which is their home base. More

The ships and manpower will increase the success rate. Now they are just disguised as a cargo ship and quietly follow the fleet.

But the coming storm made him a little at a loss. His ship was much smaller than the fleet in front, and its ability to resist various dangers was naturally much weaker. Therefore, he did not have the same tone as Captain Abu. Seeing the fleet in front

They also felt that the storm was unusual and they had made a good defense. Their ship even started to rock.

Tippi roared angrily: "You damn losers, please work harder to stabilize the boat."

That being said, any resistance is powerless in the face of such harsh natural weather.

"Dear Captain Tippi, our ship alone cannot resist the wrath of Allah. Do you want to consider asking the caravan in front to help?" another pirate said.

Tippi thought about it, he had no intention of taking action now, and there was no way to tell that he was a pirate. This was a good idea.

So he smiled and said: "This is a good idea. When we succeed this time, we will give you a bucket of gold." It seems that the news of this hundred buckets of gold has been leaked by someone long ago.

At this time, the wind was so strong that it was unimaginable. Tippi's boat sailed in the direction of the fleet with great difficulty. Now it was traveling against the wind, so it did not dare to hang up the sails and relied entirely on human oars. But at this moment

The waves were getting higher and higher, and the boat seemed to be unwilling to retreat.

"Curse you damn people, my roasted lamb and flatbread are better than feeding the dogs. If we don't move forward, I will kill you one by one and throw you into the sea to feed the fish." The angry Tippi shouted wildly.

With.

"Captain, the waves outside are too big. We can't row even though we try our best." The crew members replied helplessly.

"Pa!" Tippi whipped him without saying a word: "What I want is progress, not excuses. If you don't obey again, I will use a knife to speak next time."

The crew member lowered his head in fear and remained silent. This is how it is in this era. Strength speaks for itself. Human life is not valuable at all. A cruel pirate like Tippi kills many people a year.

Although he had just taught the subordinate a lesson, Tippi still had two skills to keep him alive as a pirate captain for so many years. He carefully considered the current situation and realized that he might not be able to move forward with manpower alone.

Then you need to consider using external forces to move forward.

In fact, the external forces in this era are nothing more than the wind and the ocean currents of the sea. It is obvious that the wind is not cooperating now, and the ocean currents are powerless in the face of the waves blown by the strong wind. Could it be that he usually does too many evil things, and Allah is going to punish him today?

?

When Tippi was worried, the think tank just now appeared in time: "Captain, we have cannons on our ship. Put all the cannons at the stern and fire backwards. This will push us forward."

Tippi's eyes lit up, this guy is quite smart and has a lot of ideas.

Another crew member saw that the captain admired this man, so he came up to him and said, "Captain, let me throw all the baggage on the ship overboard. This way the ship will be lighter and our oarsmen will be more relaxed, right?"

?”

Before he finished speaking, Tippi slapped you: "Allah will punish you. You are trying to kill us, you know? If we lose all the baggage, the strong wind will blow us to an island with monsters."

And without food and water we will all die."

The crew member lowered his head in shame and remained silent.

The think tank happily said to Tippi: "Captain, without further ado, I will make arrangements right away."

Tippi nodded and yelled at the crew member: "What are you doing standing there? Hurry up and get to work." After that, he followed up with a whip.

The guy immediately ran out without thinking. Tippi gritted his teeth and said: "I took a big risk this time for these one hundred barrels of gold. I must win it and never miss it."

The think tank commander pushed all the cannons to the stern of the ship, and then surrounded the cannons with many thick cables, so that the recoil from the cannons could push the ship forward. Soon, everything was ready, Tippi said

With the order, all the artillery lines were lit.

With the sound of cannons, the ship began to slowly approach Ibn Sultan's fleet. The think tank asked Tippi with a smile: "Dear captain, I wonder if I can add another bucket of gold coins to my gold coins after the event is completed?"

Tippi laughed happily: "My cunning friend, I will give you two more barrels, by Allah."

The wise man also laughed in agreement.

Looking at Ibn Sultan, they vaguely heard the sound of cannons, and they all went to the deck to wait and see what happened. Even if pirates attacked, they would not choose such a bad time. Is this pirate crazy?

They saw a ship rowing from the direction of the cannon sound. Although it was very slow, it was moving forward. The ship looked like a merchant ship, but why did the merchant ship have so many cannons?

There were two types of seafaring ships at that time, one was a merchant ship for transportation, and the other was a warship. Merchant ships needed more space to ship goods and make more money. So they didn’t have too many cannons and ammunition, and

Warships, on the other hand, do not occupy much space for supplies.

Judging from the sound of the cannons, this ship seemed to have a lot more equipment than ordinary merchant ships.

Ibn Sultan was shocked, so he ignored it for now. The Caliphate's mission was the most important, and he didn't care about anything else.

So with an order, all the ships were put on alert, and the cannons were loaded and ready to fire. People on the deck became nervous and took out their weapons, ready to go into battle at any time.
Chapter completed!