Chapter 695, God’s Creation

Translator: Silavin

 

*Splash…*

 

The ship remained steady on the river’s surface, perfectly stable without the slightest rocking motion.

 

Yu Ying remained quite nervous, staying close beside Su Bai, not daring to wander away for even a moment.

 

Even though they were now inside the ship’s cabin, Yu Ying was still worried whether the ship might sink beneath them.

 

Beyond this concern, she also fretted about potential attacks from Ferocious Beasts. In short, she harboured all manner of anxieties.

 

“Stop worrying. I’m here.” Su Bai grasped her hand firmly.

 

Previously he had simply allowed Yu Ying to clutch at his clothing, but now he wanted to provide her with greater reassurance.

 

She was naturally quite timid to begin with, and now on the river’s surface, her fear was entirely understandable.

 

“Yes, Shaman.” Yu Ying immediately felt considerably more at ease.

 

Her pink fox tail, which had been drooping downwards, gradually returned to its normal position, no longer displaying that timid demeanour.

 

“Shaman, the interior here looks truly beautiful. It’s my first time seeing this style of decoration.” Yan Hua remarked with admiration.

 

Yan Hua was exceptionally excited, constantly running about within the ship’s cabin, observing the surrounding environment from every angle.

 

“I’m glad you appreciate it. Next time we journey to the Sea Fish Tribe, we can travel aboard this ship.” Su Bai said warmly.

 

“Shaman, might I accompany this ship on a test voyage to gauge the time taken?” Yan Hua blinked her red eyes continuously.

 

Yan Hua appeared most hopeful, as though her eyes were gleaming with anticipation.

 

“Haha…” Su Bai laughed heartily, sensing that her eyes were practically sparkling with light, and continued. “You’re really excited, huh?”

 

“Yeah… Of course, I will arrange my tasks properly before accompanying this ship.” Yan Hua spoke earnestly.

 

Though she could join the expedition, the work that needed completing must still be done properly.

 

“In that case, you can go.” Su Bai said warmly.

 

Sha Lan observed those tables and chairs with wonder. “Shaman, these tables and chairs appear quite small, yet they’re lengthy enough to seat many people.”

 

“Precisely. This allows the ship to carry numerous passengers.” Su Bai nodded in agreement.

 

This was indeed the ship’s particular feature. It was primarily designed for transporting people. If a pure cargo transport were required, specialised cargo ships would need to be constructed separately.

 

Creating cargo ships was considerably simpler than constructing passenger ships, and having succeeded once already, subsequent construction would not be too difficult.

 

“I see. Amazing.” Sha Lan couldn’t help but exclaim.

 

“Shaman, how does this ship move forward? Does it just drift across the river’s surface?” Yu Ying asked with puzzlement.

 

Yu Ying had become somewhat more composed, though her hand still gripped Su Bai’s tightly.

 

“Ah, how did I not consider this? If the ship only drifts by itself, wouldn’t that be really slow?” Yan Hua quickly realised the same concern.

 

“It does rely on drifting, there’s also a rudder to control direction, but most importantly, there are sails.” Su Bai paused briefly, then continued. “You will understand once you see how the sails work. It will move very fast with the sails.”

 

This was the ship’s maiden voyage, and they had yet to raise the sails, which explained everyone’s confusion.

 

“Shaman, what are sails?” Yu Ying’s soft voice enquired.

 

“There, they are the large pieces of Animal Hide erected in the ship’s centre. When wind blows across them, these sails form a bowl-like shape, catching all the wind that passes over them.” Su Bai glanced at the river’s surface and continued. “Since the sails are positioned at the ship’s centre, and the ship floats on the river, the ship will get carried along by the wind.”

 

This was because ships needed to harness the forces generated by each surface of the sail to move in the direction of the prevailing wind. The thrust on the windward side and the pull on the leeward side combined to create the resultant force.

 

“I understand now, but I wonder what they look like.” Yu Ying curiously stated.

 

“Shaman, could you show us the sails?” Yan Hua enquired with interest.

 

Listening to the explanation had already captivated her. She found the ship to be too magical.

 

“Of course. After we’ve finished examining the interior, we’ll go outside to see the sails and take a short voyage to test it out.” Su Bai nodded.

 

Though the ship had no significant problems and could remain stable on the river’s surface, he also wanted to see how it performed while moving. This would provide a more direct view of whether the ship had any other hidden issues, allowing them to identify and resolve problems quickly before a true voyage.

 

*Step step step…*

 

Su Bai and the others spent considerable time within the ship’s cabin, examining the seating and storage.

 

They also inspected the rudder for steering the ship, the anchor hanging from the ship’s side, and various equipment.

 

For those rescue implementations, they were constructed quite simply. They were merely blocks of wood tied to the ship’s sides. Should anyone fall into the water, these vine-bound wooden blocks would be thrown down to them.

 

“Have the crew raise the sails and move the ship forward.” Su Bai instructed.

 

“Yes!” Long immediately directed the apprentices to comply.

 

These apprentices had been studying alongside him raising the sails with no great difficulty.

 

After some manoeuvring, the sails were erected by several people.

 

They had used Animal Hide for the sail because it provided greater durability, and would remain intact even when encountering severe storms.

 

“So these are the sails? They’re enormous once exposed!” Yu Ying looked up in amazement.

 

It resembled a massive horn floating on the river’s surface, with this great expanse of Animal Hide mounted above it.

 

“The larger the sail, the greater the surface area for catching wind, which makes the ship move faster.” Su Bai explained.

 

“How amazing. It is both enormous and beautiful.” Yan Hua also exclaimed.

 

Yan Hua had been completely won over by this thirty-metre ship. She adored it beyond measure.

 

“Shaman, you’re truly brilliant. We could never come up with such things.” Sha Lan said in awe.

 

Sha Lan admiration heightened, she was sure that ships were the creation of gods. After all, how could ordinary people possibly imagine such things, let alone consider every aspect so thoroughly?

 

Every detail, large and small, had been perfectly executed. What level of wisdom was required to achieve this?

 

“Such things would require an extremely long period of development. In a way, our Tribe could be said to have advanced far ahead of all other Tribes.” Su Bai smiled.

 

The development of ships was a lengthy historical process back on Earth. It was certainly impossible to build during the Primitive Era.

 

At most, wooden rafts might appear, requiring gradual evolution over several millennia to reach maturity.

 

After all, ships with sail that utilised the power of the wind were ancient water transport ships that followed ships and rafts, with over 5000 years of history on Earth.