Second World

The Grey Jewel sailed at a fast speed. Joe was indeed not kidding about his ship being speedy.

Despite its large frame, the strong waves of the sea still caused the ship to rock. Some players who were not used to sea travel were sitting on the floor of the deck with pale faces. They were getting seasick.

"What a bunch of landlubbers," Joe laughed.

"Can't blame them. There are not many places in this country where we can experience sea travel," John said.

Bowler, who had gone down below deck to explore the inside of the ship, came out and said to Joe, "Why are there no cannon at all?"

After seeing the numerous gunports at the sides of the ship's hull, he imagined many large cannons were fixed behind those gunports. He was disappointed to find that it was not so after going down exploring.

"Um, I lost those cannons from gambling long ago," Joe replied.

"You really need to work on that gambling issue of yours then, dude," Jet said. "If you keep on losing in gambling, might as well quit it altogether."

"Don't say it like that. I do win from time to time," Joe said.

"Really? What did you win?" Jet asked.

"Dolly here," Joe pointed at the parrot on his shoulder.

"Me Dolly! Me Dolly!" The parrot echoed.

"A parrot against a ship and its cannons. I don't know, dude. I still think it's better that you quit gambling," Jet said.

They continued to travel for a few hours until Will, who was on the crow's nest atop the main mast, yelled to them that they were getting close to their destination.

"All hands on deck! It's going to get rough!" Joe called.

"All hands on deck? Do we need to help? John asked.

"No, just grab something to keep yourself steady. Or better yet, lay down on the floor. Leave everything to me," Joe uttered.

Not long after, everyone on the ship could see the turbulent water in the distance. Many whirlpools were seen ahead. It was a long strip packed with whirlpools, separating the sea into two halves. Each whirlpool was separated from the other whirlpools only by a narrow part of water, but even these parts had extremely rocky waves as they were the meeting points of the force from multiple whirlpools.

"Are you really sure you can steer this ship through that mess?" Bowler asked worriedly.

"Definitely!" Joe replied. Dolly echoed his response. "It's a good thing that the weather is clear, it's the same as the last time when I braved through those whirlpools," he added.

"Uh… I saw some black clouds over there," Bowler pointed at the distance beyond the whirlpools.

"Nah, that's nothing. Don't worry about it," Joe assured him.

"Joe, I see a halo around the sun. Perhaps we should wait until later before going in," Billy said.

"You people worry too much. Just sit tight and leave everything to me," Joe responded.

Everyone looked at each other and shrugged. They couldn't be sure if this native was just being cocky or was truly confident. Will, who knew Joe the best, was still up there in the crow's nest. They decided to just hold onto something and trust Joe. Since they had asked him to take them to the destination, they supposed they should trust him.

The turbulence water was getting near. They could see the nearest whirlpool clearly now. Joe was still steering their ship at top speed, and they were heading straight into one of the whirlpools!

"Hey, man! Are you sure you don't want to turn?" Bowler called anxiously.

Joe just laughed at his words. He didn't change direction.

"Dude! This is no time for a joke! We will go straight into that whirlpool!" Bowler shouted.

Joe continued to laugh.

"Man, you're crazy! AAHHH…!!!" Bowler screamed as he saw that they were about to dive bow-first into the whirlpool. In fact, not only him. Everyone else on the ship was screaming. Only Joe was laughing.

"Hahaha! Grab tight, you landlubbers…!!" Joe exclaimed and spun the steering wheel at high speed. The ship turned sharply, aided by the centripetal force of the whirlpool. The ship's speed increased in speed due to the same force.

Grey Jewel trekked along the edge of the whirlpool with incredible speed. It soon came into the part where it was sandwiched by another whirlpool. Joe worked his steering wheel to make use of the force from this other whirlpool to balance his ship so it didn't get sucked into either of the whirlpools.

Using the same trick, he continued to propel his ship in curving zig-zag treks between the whirlpools, utilizing the whirlpools' force while keeping enough relative velocity for the ship to avoid going into any of those whirlpools.

"Crazy piece of work! Only a lunatic can think of navigating this whirlpools-filled water in such a way!" Bowler yelled.

Joe just laughed harder at the comment.

"Haha, don't worry. As long as there is no storm. This is a walk in the park!" Joe uttered.

Then they heard the sound of thunder. Black clouds were above them. The winds also picked up in speed.

"Oh, didn't see those before," Joe said, looking up.

"Didn't I already point out those clouds to you before?!!" Bowler screamed. He felt the urge to stand up and kick that native on the ship's helm. But he was grabbing the railing so tight. He was afraid he would get thrown out of the ship if he let go.

"Do not worry! It's just a little wind. You and you! Go undo all the sails and put on the storm sail!" Joe ordered Billy and Rough Criminal.

The two were grumbling. They had given the warning, but this cocky native just won't listen.

The ship rocked heavily through the path between the whirlpools, but Billy and Rough Criminal had been on ships many times before, so they had no problem keeping their balance. They were also sailors in real life so it took them no time to carry out Joe's instructions.

With the sails undid. They slowed down a bit. They relied on the momentum and the whirlpools' force to keep going.

"How long will this take?" Jet asked. He felt like they had been going in circles for a while.

"We need to go through a predetermined path. Otherwise, I can't get the right balance to keep this ship out of the whirlpools. That means going in and out a few times. Sometimes even passing through the paths we have passed before. We can't go in a straight line!" Joe explained.

The wind was getting stronger. The rain started falling.

"Hey, can you still control the ship?" Bowler asked.

"Sure, no problem. There is absolutely nothing to worry about!" Joe exclaimed.

"No worry! No worry!" Dolly shouted. The parrot was miraculously unaffected by the wind. It continued to cling to Joe's shoulder.

Even though Joe said what he said, his facial expression and the way his arms were shaking trying to hold the steer from turning wildly didn't exactly inspire confidence.

"Everyone, wear your Amulet of Rebirth!" John issued the order. It's time to face the possibility of failure.

A bolt of lightning struck next to them followed by very loud thunder, the ship rocked heavily. Every player aboard the ship thought, 'This is it. We are going to crash.'

They were all lamenting the thought of losing an Amulet of Rebirth. Some of them had died throughout the course of the two wars, a few times. So, the cost of the amulet was getting increasingly more out of their reach.

They continued to wait and pray. Waiting for the crash that they thought was an inevitability, while simultaneously praying for a miracle that this crazy sailor sailing the ship could somehow navigate through this impossible water and unfriendly weather.

They just sat or lay on the deck floor while holding tightly onto something, all the while the ship continued to rock heavily. Water splashed into the ship. Every time it happened. They thought the ship had sunk already. The rain was getting heavier, and so was the wind. Lightning struck more frequently. The thunder seemed non-stop by now.

They didn't know how long all this lasted. But all of a sudden, the rocking stopped abruptly. The rain and wind also started to die down. They remained still though. They somehow couldn't believe everything was over. They looked at each other with questioning glances.

One of them finally drew enough courage to stand back up and look.

"We… We've passed the whirlpool zone…," that player said. The others started to stand and look back at the turbulent water behind them. They were now back on calm sea again.

"Hahaha, did you ever doubt my words?" Joe exclaimed. Yet, those who stood nearby the helm could see his pale face doing a stiff laugh. His body was also trembling.

"Please tell me we don't have to go through that again on the way back," Jet said to John.

"Don't worry, we will just use the Town Return Scroll. Let this crazy maniac go back through this water by himself," John replied.

"Demon Tooth Rock ahead!" They heard Will's voice from above.

They wondered how that guy managed to stay up there throughout all that.