Chapter 452: Storm Descends

On a visual level, the speed at which that gloomy lead-gray spread at the edge of the distant horizon was not fast, and the distance was incomparably far.

Many times, the rumbling thunder would only arrive belatedly after seeing the lightning flashing deep within the clouds for a long time.

But this did not mean the Oath-Breaker could sit back and relax.

Because anyone with even a little bit of sailing experience should know what it means to be able to capture the clear spreading traces of leaden clouds with the naked eye on the open sea, based on such a long distance between the storm and the wooden ship.

It was just like an airplane flying across the sky in Xia Nan's past life; looking up, it was only the size of a fingernail, and its speed didn't even seem as fast as a bird in the near sky, but in reality, it was a behemoth carrying hundreds of guests, shuttling through the clouds at an exaggerated speed of several hundred kilometers per hour.

The distant storm also looked slow and leisurely, just a small mass of gray-black on the horizon, but the actual speed of its spread was already something the Oath-Breaker couldn't catch up with using any means.

How much preparation time did they have?

5 minutes? 10 minutes?

At this moment, no one had the energy to answer such a question.

Because the moment the storm was discovered to be approaching, the entire crew of the Oath-Breaker, including the professionals who were the core of the team, were mobilized.

Boom—

The extremely fast footsteps almost merged into one, and the cabin door was pushed open violently from the inside!

Her red, long, curly hair, like flames, swayed on her shoulders, and she even had a thin, long cigarette she had just lit in her mouth.

Ash fell sporadically, and the exaggerated speed endowed by her professional-level body allowed Luo Lin, who had rushed from the captain's cabin to the deck immediately after hearing the news of the storm's arrival, to have several circles of tobacco white mist lingering around her body that were dissipating rapidly.

"Lower the sails, clear the deck, seal the cabin doors!"

Her status and majesty as captain were vividly reflected at this moment.

The deck, which had been slightly chaotic due to the distant storm, became orderly after Luo Lin appeared.

Clearly, there had long been a contingency plan, and this wasn't the first time they had dealt with such a sudden situation, so there was no need for detailed command. With just a few words from this highly aggressive female captain, the crew members prepared busily.

And Luo Lin herself, after controlling the scene on the deck, rushed straight toward the direction of the Oath-Breaker's helm.

As the captain of this ship, facing the impending storm, she would personally take the helm and control the balance of the entire ship.

Adjusting the ship's posture in the storm was the prerequisite for everything.

It was best to ensure that the ship formed a slightly skewed angle with the sea waves, letting the bow cut through the wave wall like a curved blade.

If the entire side were exposed to the oncoming surging sea waves, the Oath-Breaker would probably capsize with just one wave.

And in a fierce storm, if a sea ship capsized, it was almost a death sentence for all ordinary crew members; even for professionals, if their luck was a bit worse, they wouldn't necessarily be able to survive safely.

Adventurers might be able to rely on their own martial force to show off in towns, treating ordinary civilians as tools and stepping stones to show off their own strength and status, riding recklessly on the heads of ordinary people.

But facing this level of terrifying natural disaster, unless they possessed some corresponding ability to deal with it, or their own strength broke through to a certain limit.

Otherwise, adventurers and ordinary crew members were almost indistinguishable.

They were equally powerless to resist.

The brave sailors climbed the masts without protection and skillfully bundled up the main sail, leaving only a small piece of necessary canvas to borrow the wind to control the ship's body.

When the storm arrived, facing the terrifying wind force that seemed to be able to blow people off the deck, if the canvas was open, it would easily blow the mast and the sail together, or even affect the ship's balance, assisting the oncoming sea waves to flip the entire ship over.

This was because they discovered it in time and had enough preparation time.

In extreme situations, if there was no time to take down the sails, cutting the ropes directly to let the canvas fall, or even cutting down the masts themselves, was a common occurrence for sailors on the sea.

The miscellaneous items that were half-packed on the deck were quickly cleared; wooden barrels, ropes, cleaning tools... those that could be packed in time were hurriedly moved into the cabin and fixed and tied with hemp ropes, and those that were too heavy and difficult to move were thrown into the sea without hesitation.

The cabin doors were sealed with waterproof cloth and wooden boards to ensure that those waves and rainwater would not be rolled into the cabin by the strong wind, protecting the supplies and survival materials inside, and avoiding the awkward situation of a sinking ship as much as possible.

On the deck, the crew members shuttled back and forth nervously, and even the originally refreshing air seemed to become scorching in the messy footsteps and urgent low shouts, forming a sharp contrast with the calm sea surface and warm sunlight surrounding the ship, which was in the last tranquility before the storm.

Without experience in dealing with storms, and having only joined the ship team for a short time, they hadn't really meshed well.

Xia Nan, at this moment, was like an outsider, and no one came to direct him to do anything.

Of course, he couldn't just stand by and watch. Since he had already become a part of this team, facing this impending crisis, he also thought about contributing his own strength.

Lacking sailing experience and having never received specialized training in dealing with storms, he was worried that his rash actions would add trouble to the crew, so he picked a job that was necessary and basically impossible to get wrong: helping the sailors move and fix the materials.

Also benefiting from his professional-level comprehensive physical fitness, his efficiency was much higher than that of ordinary sailors. Even though he was limited by the cramped environment of the cabin and couldn't exert his full strength, one person could almost top five or six crew members, greatly relieving the pressure on the entire team.

"Bang!"

Moving a freshwater barrel that normally required two or three sailors to move together steadily to the depths of the cabin and tying it firmly with a rope, all by himself.

Xia Nan breathed a sigh of relief; it was just simple moving work, so of course, it wouldn't consume much of his physical strength.

He quickened his pace and turned to walk out of the cabin door.

The cold sea breeze, which was obviously more humid and stronger than before, blew past both sides of his cheeks, and he subconsciously turned his head to look at the front side of the ship.

There, the leaden clouds that were only lingering at the end of the horizon a while ago had now swallowed half of the sky.

Rain curtains fell, and the interval between lightning and thunder shortened significantly.

The storm was approaching.

It must be admitted that although everyone on the Oath-Breaker was performing very professionally at this moment, looking like they had dealt with many storms, and he was also trying his best to do some work within his power.

But out of caution and preparation for the worst-case scenario, Xia Nan was already pondering in his heart what he should do if the ship really capsized.

With his current skill level of 【Gravity Control】, it was not enough to support his flight or short gliding, and he had no ability to breathe underwater.

【Fang Hunting】 was very fast, but even if he used the deck as a runway for acceleration right now, his speed on the water surface was far from the expansion of the storm, and he would be caught up in a while. Of course, with his personality, he would absolutely not abandon his teammates at such a critical moment.

Synthesizing all this, if the ship really capsized, Xia Nan seemed to be able to only rely on his physical fitness to hold on in the water... which made his heart sink. ===== CHAPTER 453 =====