RNP Chapter 72 Going to Sea
Chapter 72 Going to Sea
notice
1. Maintain order and queue in an orderly manner; 2. Do not spit or urinate/defecate indiscriminately; 3. If you have any problems, please seek assistance from the guards; 4. Under no circumstances should you open the wolffish can!
Inside the ticket hall of a ferry company, Lorne stared at the last rule on the notice board, his brows furrowing involuntarily.
"I understand the rest, but what's this canned wolffish?" Lorne muttered, slightly puzzled.
"You don't know? That's one of the most famous foods at sea."
A rhetorical question came from behind Lorne.
Seeing that someone had taken the initiative to talk to him, Lorne was a little surprised and turned around to look at the person.
He was a slightly aged middle-aged man. His cheeks, palms, and every exposed part of his skin were stained with a deep bronze color and had a rough texture like sandpaper.
He was wearing a faded uniform, and the badge on his chest was blurred—clearly the guard mentioned on the sign.
He looked at Lorne with a big smile and said in a very familiar manner:
"Wolffish canned food is a legend at sea; everyone who goes out to sea knows it."
"But I don't know!" Lorne spread his palms, making a gesture of not understanding.
"So you're obviously a newbie. If you want to make it at sea, you need to know these basic things."
The guard introduced Lorne in a senior-like tone:
"That's a food popular in places like the east coast of Fussac and the Cargas Islands. It's wolffish that's been salted but still has blood in it. It has a very, very, very pungent smell. It's stinky and disgusting."
Lorne suddenly realized that this was the other world version of fermented herring... Hearing the other person's description, he immediately thought of the infamous dark cuisine of his original world.
"Is it really that scary?"
Lorne was somewhat puzzled. Although in the past world, canned herring was known as the smelliest food in the world, that was basically just commercial advertising and a kind of gimmick.
"Terrible? That's not scary, that's a disaster."
"You don't believe me?" the guard asked again when he saw that Lorne had no expression.
"No, I believe it. Since there are explicit regulations, it can only mean that someone has indeed done something similarly stupid."
Lorne understood that every rule was built on blood and tears.
"That's right. The reason for this rule is that more than ten years ago, several shipping companies, in order to grab business, would hire people to open cans of wolffish at their competitors' companies. And as soon as the cans of wolffish were opened, the entire ticket hall would be completely empty..."
"Biological weapons..." Lorne muttered to himself.
"I wonder if Rachel would like this kind of thing. Don't cats all like fish?" Lorne glanced at the handbag, a mischievous thought flashing through his mind.
"By the way, would it work to use canned wolffish to deal with those monsters with a keen sense of smell?"
After all, canned herring can make dogs vomit, so wolffish probably would too...
After exchanging a few more words with the guard, Lorne went to the ticket window to see if there were any suitable flights.
He planned to go to Bayam, the legendary "City of Generosity" and the capital of the Rothschild Islands, a colony of Loen, where he thought there would be more opportunities.
But when Lorne saw the price on the signboard, his face darkened.
That's too expensive! A first-class ticket costs over 30 pounds... Lorne gasped. Looking at those not-so-attractive prices, Lorne suddenly began to doubt whether this trip was worth it.
30 pounds is enough for him to rent a house for 3 years.
"Excuse me, do you still have second-class tickets to Bayam?" After calming himself down, Lorne walked to the ticket window and asked the ticket seller.
Compared to the first-class ticket which costs over £30, the second-class ticket, which costs less than £10, seems much more affordable. As for the third-class ticket, which costs only four or five pounds, Lorne didn't really consider it, because that would probably mean sharing a dormitory with several strangers, which wouldn't be very friendly for Lorne, who had a cat with him.
"Hmm...you're lucky, the Vilan has one last second-class ticket left, 9 pounds."
Luckily, I always seem to have good luck in the little things... Lorne didn't say anything, just smiled and responded to the ticket seller, then took out his wallet, counted out 9 pounds and handed it over.
……
The following evening, the silhouette of the Vilan appeared on the dock. This steam-powered hybrid sailing ship had a long hull and a towering funnel, with dark cannons neatly arranged on both sides of the hull.
These ships, which are considered advanced in this world, have a retro aesthetic in Lorne's eyes.
Many passengers, upon seeing these cannons, showed signs of relief rather than fear.
"The fact that civilian ships in this world can be armed, if simply for self-defense, only proves that the seas are indeed not peaceful!"
Seeing those weapons, Lorne felt an inexplicable sense of unease; this world always managed to amaze him with its subtle details.
Moreover, besides gaining more knowledge of occultism, a large part of his purpose in going to sea was to avoid danger. If the risks at sea were that great, wouldn't that be putting the cart before the horse?
"Oh well, we're already here..."
He didn't hesitate for long, and slowly followed the flow of people to the cabin with his luggage.
Upon arriving on the second floor, he reached room number 201, which he had purchased.
Lorne opened the door, glanced around, and found that the environment was cleaner than he had expected, but the decor was clearly not as good as those hotels on land.
His second-class cabin was a small room of ten square meters, with only a narrow bed and a badly worn desk.
This didn't bother Lorne; he wasn't picky about where he lived.
The only slight dissatisfaction is the lack of a private washroom; if you want to use the toilet, you have to go to the public restroom on the second floor.
But thinking about the crowds in third class, Lorne breathed a sigh of relief.
"Never mind, at least this place offers some privacy compared to third-class tickets."
"Meow~" Laki poked her head out of her bag, curiously looking around at her new surroundings.
……
night,
Lorne tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep; he couldn't stand the rocking of the ship.
After getting up and sitting on the edge of the bed for a while, he put on his clothes and went to the deck to enjoy the sea breeze.
The deck was quiet, except for the sound of the rolling waves all around.
Long-lost tranquility...
Lorne looked up and saw a blood moon hanging high in the sky.
"The pollution in this era is really too serious."
"The moon over the sea is quite different from the moon in the city."
Without the smog obscuring it, the crimson moon was clearer and softer than in the city.
"What a pity. If it were Mingyue, I guess I would recite a few of Li Bai's poems, even though no one would understand them."
Lorne's sigh didn't last long; he suddenly felt that the crimson moonlight seemed to have become brighter, making his eyes feel a little blinded.
The moment he raised his hand to shield himself, a strange sense of unease washed over him.
"That's weird, I feel a bit creepy."