357 Chapter 357 - First-time Arrivals (1/2)

More and more players gathered by the coastline and each of them stared at the dhow sailing nearer and nearer. If they knew that the player steering the ship had not found any means to stop it, they would surely regret their decision to welcome its arrival.

Reality was indeed cruel. Gu Fei never found any gear that worked like brakes in the cabin. Naturally, he got no answer when he asked the two ladies. Helpless, Gu Fei could only turn the dhow as much as he could toward one direction in order to avoid grounding the ship right on to the coast where many players were standing. Xi Xiaotian and Vast Lushness also tried to help; standing on the crow's nest, the two kept signaling the spectators by waving their arms about as they called out, ”Make way! Make way!”

The crowd that had gathered by the coast was boisterous. Adding in the sound of the crashing waves and the strong breeze, no one could make out what the two ladies were shouting about. Still, their act of waving drew quite the attention from the crowd, with the Sharpshooters among them using Eagle Eye to look at the two ladies before excitedly announcing, ”Babes!”

”Two babes!” someone added.

”What's going on!” everyone asked pressingly.

The crowd's curiosity only made them more excited, and no one moved to leave. In fact, many of them stepped closer to the shore as some fearlessly stepped into the water. These players became anxiously when they saw the dhow turning away from their location!

”The ship's trying to escape!” They pointed at the ship as they raced toward where Gu Fei was steering it to avoid running aground.

This was precisely what was meant from the old saying: 'A punishment from the heavens can be avoided, but there is no salvation for those who provoke the disaster onto themselves.'

Gu Fei was already turning the ship's wheel as much as he could, and any more would send them back into the waters they just left. Seeing how passionate these players were, he felt that they would be far more disappointed if he turned back out at this point, so he let nature took its course, shouting to the two ladies as he exited the cabin, ”Hey, come down and get ready to run. We are sure to be surrounded once we land!”

Gu Fei had plenty of experience being surrounded and scrutinized; that was why he had such a great understanding of this matter. Seeing this scene before him, there was no doubt in his mind that the ship would quickly be swarmed and surrounded by the crowd present.

”Coming!” Xi Xiaotian was the first to climb down.

”Hey!” He hurried Vast Lushness when he did not see her follow along. It seemed she was busy with something on the crow's nest.

”I'll be right there!” Vast Lushness answered. He saw her suddenly jerk her arm forcefully before she leaped off the crow's nest.

He heard the peng sound and saw Vast Lushness land jaw-first before she cast Heal on herself. Seeing that she was now holding something in her left hand, he was speechless. This lady had apparently broken off the spyglass that was originally fixed on the crow's nest.

”Quickly flee!” Xi Xiaotian had climbed down to the deck by now. The two ladies began to run toward the ship's stern. After running for several steps, they realized that Gu Fei was still standing where he was.

”Quickly jump and we'll swim ashore! Do you really wish to be surrounded!” The two beckoned him.

”No, no, no!” It was rare for Gu Fei to be anxious. ”I don't know how to swim.”

”But I have Blink,” he calmly added, ”so you two should make your move first!”

The two ladies did not dawdle and quickly dashed toward the stern. By now, they could already feel that they were reaching shallow waters as the ship was no longer as buoyant as before. It even started to grind against the seashore's sand. Leaping any later might cause them to eat a mouthful of turgid sand, instead.

Although Gu Fei did not intend to jump into the water, he also made his way toward the stern of the dhow just as the ladies dived into the water to the left and right respectively.

Water splashed as they plunged into it. Moments later, their heads surfaced and they waved their hands to him.

By now, the dhow was already shaking violently. The dhow became a lot less stable once it got closer to land. He had his one hand on the handrail as his other waved back toward the ladies. He then watched the two swim toward the shore.

Gu Fei was on the deck holding on to the hand railing for dear life as the ship violently rocked. The players below did not see him – partly because they were busy discussing just what could have prompted the two beautiful ladies to jump down from the crow's nest. What kind of situation would cause one to climb down and the other to leap off like that?

Among the players awaiting the ship's arrival, some realized that something was not right. How would such a large ship like this stop? While Gu Fei and the ladies were unable to think of how, plenty of players in the crowd knew.

How could one stop the ship? With an anchor, of course.

The astute Sharpshooters among the crowd already realized that the anchor of the ship was still hanging by its side, completely without any signs of being dropped despite the closeness of the dhow to the coast. Those experienced sailors could tell that the ship was already considered as beached and that only inertia was causing it to move forward still.

No one knew who it was that screamed, but the crowd began to flee from the area upon hearing it. Nevertheless, a few slow-witted players continued to look at the crow's nest, trying to make sense of the two ladies' actions. What were the two ladies trying to say when one of them jumped off while another climbed down?

It was these players that were hit the worst when the ship came crashing in.

Those who had been knocked over were considered rather lucky; the ones who had it worse were those that got pinned down under the dhow. This was only possible thanks to the soft sand found on the beach. At first, some did not realize this as they crowded around the grounded ship and sighed in awe. Only when some players among the crowd rushed out and cried out for help to break the hull, did the others realize that some people must have gotten stuck underneath the dhow. These pinned-down players crazily fired off messages asking for aid to their friends.

”Whoa! They aren't dead yet?” Everyone exclaimed in shock.