The Witcher: Son of the Planes.

Wake up? Nothing to do? Get up, the deck needs to be brushed three times today." Before I could chat with John for a few words, the evil Captain Barto came over.

"Yes, yes, yes, we'll get to work right away. But, Captain, Colin hasn't eaten for a day and a night. Should we let him eat something first?" John said, looking at Barto.

"Well, all right, you go get him a piece of black bread, and start working right after you finish eating. Don't let me see you all trying to be lazy, or I'll throw you into the sea to feed the fish." Barto said after a fierce look. Seeing that everyone was working with their heads down, he turned back to the captain's room.

"Here, eat something. You'll have strength after eating." At the same time, John handed Colin a glass of water.

Colin moved his body and found no external injuries. He had been awake for some time and was indeed hungry. However, looking at the black bread handed to him by John, it was hard to consider it as food. He wondered how the Colin from a few days ago had swallowed it.

Seeing Colin was a little dazed, John hurriedly said, "Eat quickly, with water. You still have work to do later. Otherwise, if you don't complete the task, you won't get dinner."

First, drink some water to moisten his throat. Colin took a bite of the black bread helplessly. Tsk, this hardness is comparable to stone, and it is comparable to dried lotus beans. After all, you have to survive before you can think about other things. Well, eat it.

After some self-consolation, Colin finally started to eat. Seeing Colin start to eat, John stopped talking and continued to brush the deck. After all, there were still three more rounds of work to do, so he needed to speed up the progress.

Colin ate and looked around. He saw many sailors standing on both sides of the deck, wearing hard leather vests and with knives on their waists. He counted them and found that there were about 40 on the deck. Looking around, there were about 20 slaves working on the deck like him. Everyone had their own work to do, and they were all busy in silence.

Looking at the hull of this ship, it is mainly made of wood, and looks like it is from medieval Europe. The deck guns on both sides have not been seen yet, but from the conspicuous bow gun, it can be seen that it should have passed the gunpowder era. There may not be steel, but the iron must be 100 times of forging iron, otherwise the gun barrel would not last long.

Colin recalled the first day when he was driven into the bottom warehouse. It was so crowded and there were all kinds of sour and refreshing feelings. It was really indescribable.

There were about 300 slaves, both men and women, and about 20 men were selected from the bottom hold to work on the deck, including Colin and John.

I thought it would be nice to enjoy the sea breeze and sunshine during my free time. But who would have thought that Colin would fall into the water a few days later, and nothing happened afterwards.

By the way, this kid Colin is not even 15 years old yet. I estimated that he is as tall as I was in my previous life, probably about 175cm. He is in good physical condition, with brown hair and fair skin with a hint of light red.

I couldn't tell what it looked like yet, but when I touched it, I found some hair on its face. Oh, it was still a child, fighting in wars and being a slave. How pitiful.

I don't know how my lame father is doing, or how my mother and sister are doing. I don't know where Colin's emotions come from. I feel very involved, but they come and go quickly. I don't know what I'm thinking about anymore.

People in this world have really good physical fitness. I've been on the ship for so many days, and it seems that I haven't eaten anything like bean sprouts. Won't I get sepsis?

"Oh, the bread is finished. We can't dawdle any longer. Let's get to work." Colin stuffed the last piece of brown bread into his mouth, picked up the brush and joined John's work.

……

The afterglow of the setting sun sprinkled on the sea like broken gold, and the deck seemed to be coated with a layer of dazzling gold. Groups of sailors stood everywhere on the deck, chatting and laughing, telling some confusing jokes. The sea in the distance was sparkling in the afterglow, like a dream.

After brushing the deck three times, Colin and Old John leaned against the mast, continuing to gnaw on black bread and chat while eating.

"Hey, what are you going to do?" Colin asked in a low voice.

"What plans do I have? Nothing. Just enough to fill my stomach." John replied helplessly.

"There's nothing we can do. Being a slave is not a good status." Colin whispered in John's ear.

"No, just accept your fate. It's good enough to have enough food to eat. Don't think about those unrealistic things." Hearing this, Colin remembered a famous saying in his previous life: "Humans without dreams are no different from salted fish."

"Is there really no way? Think about it again." Colin asked unwillingly.

"Well... it's not completely without a chance. As long as you have made achievements and make the masters happy, it is not impossible to free you from your slavery." John said after thinking for a while.

"How can I make a contribution? There is no chance in this vast ocean." Colin looked worried.

"Hey, don't think about it. Go back to the cabin and sleep. We still have work to do tomorrow morning." After saying that, John turned and walked towards the cabin.

Looking at John's back, Colin, who was leaning against the main mast, was not sleepy. This was his first day in this world. He had only played at the beach before and had never been out to sea by boat. At this moment, he stared at the afterglow on the sea gradually dissipating, and the surrounding sea water showed a mysterious black and blue hue. He felt the gentle sea breeze, as if immersed in a wonderful dream. At this moment, he forgot the hesitation of crossing and the identity of a slave. He only remembered the beauty and charm of nature and felt the coolness and tranquility of this moment.

……

Time flows like water, and ten days later, the sea route gradually narrows, and the ship follows the water to the Holz Strait. The sailors around are solemn, and the tense atmosphere spreads like a plague. The slaves on the deck are like frightened birds, and they are more cautious, fearing that they will anger Captain Barto and bring bad luck to themselves.

"What's going on? It feels like something bad is going to happen!" Colin touched John's shoulder and asked in confusion. "I don't know, maybe there are pirates ahead." John looked solemn.

"How can we live like this? Is there anything more terrible than being a slave?" Colin lamented.

"Let's look around to see if there are any tools that can be used. If there is real danger, it will be too late." John looked around.

"What? Even if there is, they won't give it to us. If nothing else happens, Barto is just afraid that we will cause trouble!" Colin looked at the wooden brush in his hand and responded helplessly.

"No, let's go back to the cabin and hide. If something really happens, Barto will deal with it, and the sailors on the ship will not stand idly by." John suggested.

"No, we can't move now. We'd better stay on the deck and work. If we go down so early, we'll get whipped." Colin shook his head.

……

"Captain, we can confirm that the big ship with a black flag ahead should be the infamous Black Skull, and the man with a sinister face standing on the bow must be the legendary Captain Jack. According to the information we got before, although this guy is cruel and ruthless, he is not particularly greedy. If you can give him a little money, you should be able to send him away." First Mate Bob reported his observations to Barto with a serious expression.

Barto frowned after hearing this. "Damn it! A shipload of slaves doesn't sell for much anyway. We went out to sea this time just to make some extra money on the way back, but we didn't expect to run into these damn pirates! It must be that when we were selling goods at the Port of Oakland, we were accidentally targeted by someone. What bad luck!"

Bob quickly comforted him, "Captain, please don't be angry. The most important thing now is to find a way to solve the problem at hand. We must not let this little thing affect the safety of our entire fleet. After all, there is always hope."

Barto took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down: "Well, you are right, Bob. So in your opinion, what should we do next?"

Bob suggested, "Captain, I think it's better to make a plan early to avoid being caught off guard. How about this, I'll arrange a faster boat to go over and contact them in advance, and by the way, find out how much ransom they want. What do you think?"

Barto thought about it, nodded and agreed: "Okay, then do as you say. But remember, you must be careful and don't anger those pirates, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous."

Bob quickly responded, "Don't worry, Captain, I know what to do." After that, he turned around to convey the order and prepared to send someone to negotiate with the Black Skull.