After resolving their supply and ship-repair problems in the Spice Islands, also known as the Java Islands, the Bear-Head No-Name Community set sail once more after only a brief rest, heading straight south into the Pacific Ocean to begin their long expedition.
As everyone knew, sailing ships depended on the weather. Ocean currents and wind direction played crucial roles in navigation, and in the age of sail, anyone who tried to cross the Pacific without relying on the currents generally met a grim fate.
So Annie, Black Rabbit, and the others naturally came to the same conclusion as many of the other competitors. They took advantage of the South Pacific Gyre, then used the westerlies and the cold current off South America. After countless hardships, nearly two months at sea, "borrowing" supplies from several ships along the way, and sinking a few competitors who didn't know when to quit, they finally managed to reach Cayenne Port in South America—and at last arrived in the Caribbean Sea.
The European colonial "NPCs" here, such as the Spanish and the Dutch, didn't impose the same strict requirements and restrictions on the competitors' armaments as the Ming Empire Navy had back in the Java Islands. Once Annie and the others saw that they could dock, resupply, and move about freely just by paying a certain port fee, they happily put in, restocked and made repairs, then hurried off again.
They didn't linger. Cayenne Port was less than ten days' sailing from their destination, Veracruz Port. Black Rabbit, who was eager to reach their destination and secure victory and advancement, certainly wouldn't let Annie or Izayoi waste any more time.
Of course!
Although the destination was now less than ten days away, the Bear-Head No-Name Community had still received some bad news at the port.