Chapter 130

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Chapter 130: Dead Man

In the beginning days, The Great Palatine Conqueror sailed on the sea not far from the coast. Every morning, when Jesse got up and left his cabin to go to the window, he could see a faint green hue on the distant sea surface.

To Jesse’s surprise, the passengers and sailors on the ship were not as fierce and wicked as he had imagined. There were merchants, workers, many craftsmen and hunters from Stranglethorn, and even a few minor nobles.

From their conversations, Jesse learned that humans had some settlements in Stranglethorn, with small villages and camps. After the Gurubashi Empire suffered a disastrous defeat in the war against the Kingdom of Stormwind, the trolls rarely ventured beyond the city limits, so there was no conflict with them.

Overall, they were mostly normal people. They socialized, laughed, drank together, shared rations, and got to know each other simply, temporarily erasing regional and cultural differences.

That morning, Jesse woke up to find that the distant green hue had disappeared. The various seabirds that had been flying alongside the ship were also gone, making the deck unusually quiet.

Jesse saw an old veteran staring blankly at the sea, and he went up to him and asked, "Sir, are we sailing towards the sea?"

"Yes," the soldier replied. "We may be nearing Menethil Bay, and next, we will head northwest towards Southshore."

"Are we not stopping at the harbor?"

"Probably, to save time," said the soldier. "But the Palatine Bay is always rough, I have a bad feeling about this."

And soon enough, a bearded passenger muttered to his friend that they might run into a storm.

At noon, the goblins in the corridor were discussing whether to dock at Menethil Harbor, but Senior First Officer Jazik said the captain wanted to reach Southshore quickly and didn’t want to waste time in Khaz Modan.

By evening, Jesse could see from the bow of the ship that the Great Palatine Conqueror was heading towards darkness.

He asked the Goblin Sailor, "Are we really sailing into the storm?"

"Well, what else can we do," the Goblin Sailor replied. "Turn around now and get caught by the storm later? It’ll be fine, human, don’t worry. Just go back to your cabin now and everything will be okay by tomorrow."

Sailors always knew more about sailing than he did. Jesse went back to his cabin, checked his belongings to make sure nothing would be lost in the storm.

Remembering storm scenes from movies, he wrapped his Warlock Pack and staff around him, making sure nothing valuable would fall, then lay on the bed waiting for the storm to hit the ship.

Jesse had gotten used to life on the ship, but recently the rocking became more irregular, making him feel nauseous again.

He got up from bed, planning to walk in the corridor to distract himself before going to get some fresh air at the deck. But the footsteps echoing above his head and the commotion in the corridor made him feel even more anxious.

Looking out of the nearest window at the sea, Jesse saw black waves rolling by, accompanied by thunderous skies, which was frightening. Surprisingly, the ship remained calm in comparison.

"By all that is holy…"

A pale-faced man stumbled towards the stern of the ship, and Jesse, usually composed, felt a hint of panic watching him rush past.

With a loud crash, a wave hit the ship, spraying white water through the window onto Jesse. He tightened his cloak, shielded his Warlock Pack beneath it, and pulled on his hood as he made his way to the deck.

Just as he was about to step outside, a strong wind howled, making it hard for him to keep his eyes open.

His face was grazed by cold water drops, whether from rain or sea spray, he couldn’t tell.

"Should we raise the dinghy, Razvi?!" someone shouted loudly from outside.

"If you can raise it now, go ahead and do it, why do you need to ask me?"

"Trujil, go check the situation at the back of the ship, hurry!" Jesse noticed that the sails had been taken down, and the thick mast wrapped in canvas was swaying with the ship under the dark clouds.

"Go back to the cabin! There’s nothing interesting here, humans!" shouted the high goblin.

Jesse turned and descended into the cabin. As he stepped down the stairs, the ship suddenly jolted violently, and he heard a clattering sound beneath his feet, as if something had fallen.

In the blink of an eye, a large spray of water suddenly gushed in from the cabin behind him. Jesse even thought that seawater was pouring in again, but it was just splashing in continuously. It was starting to rain.

"How is it outside? The people inside are getting really scared."

Greed suddenly appeared beside him, it seemed like he also wanted to go up and have a look.

Jesse said, "It seems fine outside, those goblins told us to stay inside."

Just as he finished speaking, Jazik suddenly jumped down from above and shouted at someone as he hurriedly walked, "Hurry, Norville, check the cargo hold! Did someone not secure something properly? If I find out who didn’t secure those crates, I’ll…"

He shouted as he ran down the hallway until his figure and voice disappeared at the end. Greed said, "From my experience, this storm isn’t that big, so it should be fine."

"Maybe the big one is still ahead," Jesse said.

"Don’t let the sailors hear that," Greed said with a smile. "Otherwise, they’ll tie you up and hang you at the bow to calm the sea god’s anger." Before Greed could finish laughing, the ship suddenly shook violently and then rose sharply. He frantically tried to grab onto anything nearby, eventually clinging to a door frame. Jesse, on the other hand, was not so lucky. He was hit on the shoulder, grabbed onto the other side of the door frame, grimacing in pain.

Before the two could steady themselves, the ship began to tilt severely. There were creaking noises all over the ship, clattering sounds coming from everywhere, along with screams and roars… until the two were heavily thrown onto the floor.

"How big is this wave?!" Greed asked as he got up.

A flash of lightning from outside lit up the hallway, making the two’s faces suddenly pale. There was suddenly a hysterical roar from beneath the ship, almost competing with the muffled thunder.

"Did you hear that?" Jesse asked.

"I heard it," Greed confirmed.

"What did he say?"

"It looks like… someone’s dead."

The two of them nodded at the same time, then looked together towards the corridor leading to the lower deck, where Jazik had disappeared.