Deep Sea Embers

The White Oak is back - after a long period of disconnection and course deviation, this advanced steamship belonging to the Explorers' Association has finally returned to the city-state of Perand.

Many people are waiting for the ship to return, and countless pairs of eyes are staring nervously at the silhouette that is approaching on the sea.

Inquisitor Vanna saw that at the same time as the whistle of the White Oak sounded, the people on the dock immediately acted:

The staff who guided the ship to the shore had arrived at the location and began to signal the White Oak with lights and flags. The guardians of the church went to activate the deep-sea relics that had been placed all over Pier 1 last night: the It is a large number of "boundary monuments" cast in bronze. The name of the storm goddess Gormona is inscribed on its base, and the grooves on the top are filled with sacred oils and spices. When these boundary monuments are activated, the White Oak will dock. The area will be blocked and become a "sanctuary" watched by the goddess.

In a further place, there are sheriffs sent by the city hall. These ordinary people are not good at dealing with extraordinary things, so their main job is to block all intersections with heavy firepower - ordinary guns are difficult to deal with strange and invisible curses , but if it's the corporeal polluter running off the White Oak, then the 8mm bullet and the four-pounder will do a lot.

Sometimes Fanna can't help but thank the progress of science and technology. The crystallization of these engineering gives weak and weak ordinary people a certain strength to intervene in such extraordinary events, although the results of technological progress are good and certain. Bad, but at least... The support of machine guns and artillery has indeed greatly reduced the casualties of the church compatriots over the years.

Fanna's eyes crossed the pier and looked at the sea in the distance.

The White Oak issued a second whistle, and guided by the light signal from the shore, the ship began to slow down slowly, and came to a stop some distance from the dock.

A priest standing beside Fanna was slightly relieved and whispered: "The White Oak has executed the order, and it seems that at least the ship is still under the control of 'Humans'."

"It cannot be asserted for the time being that many people affected by anomalies or visions will appear to be no different from ordinary people until the mutation occurs," Fanna shook her head, "send a second set of signals, dispatch inspection boats, and make coastal defense artillery ready at any time. Be prepared to fire if there is any movement on the ship..."

The order from the Inquisitor was quickly communicated, and because the White Oak's communications equipment had been damaged, those on shore could only communicate with the ship using lights and flags. After a complex set of lights and flags, the White Oak's Three lights flashed on the bow, and then the rope ladder on its side was lowered.

A speedboat was released from the dock, and driven by a small steam engine, it quickly sailed towards the White Oak.

On the speedboat was an entire squad of guardians, including eight combatants, a commander, and a deep-sea priest. These loyal clerics burned incense on the boat and chanted the goddess of the storm. Holy Name, they did not board the ship immediately after they approached the White Oak, but first circled the large ship in a full circle, and sprinkled holy oil mixed with seaweed extract in the nearby seawater.

Immediately after these oils fell into the sea water, they emitted a slight glow, and gradually joined together, eventually forming a ring that completely surrounded the White Oak.

After all this was done, the clerics on the speedboat actually approached the White Oak and boarded the ship along the rope ladder.

All this fell into the eyes of Fanna on the observation deck.

It is extremely dangerous to let a ship that has lost contact at sea "go home", especially if it is an ocean-going ship that was responsible for transporting abnormal objects - the White Oak cannot directly dock, it first needs to be at a safe distance. After the initial confirmation that there is no sign of the corruption of the evil **** on the ship, they can approach the pier of Pland, but after that, the personnel on the ship still cannot disembark, and they also need to accept the second round of inspection by the clergy. At the same time The entire ship will also undergo a more rigorous and comprehensive search and purification. After that, all personnel on the ship will also be observed in the church at the dock for a few days to several weeks, and the entire ship will also be incense. Purify for at least a week.

Only when all of these processes are completed without incident will the civilized world dare to admit those who have been lost at sea back home - and if any part of the process fails, the White Oak and her crew will have to die sea.

The storm goddess will receive the souls of these poor people.

This cruel and even cruel law is not caused by anyone's malice, but the "way of survival" that human society has explored so far.

Of course, there are also city-states that are unwilling or unable to enforce these strict rules. Most of these city-states are now concentrated in the first two units of the second volume of the middle school history class, which are compulsory at the end of the term.

Time passed by every minute and every second, and everyone was waiting for the signal sent by the guard team who was boarding the ship, and there were only two possible signals - if all was well, the team would use special psionic communication to send back the signal. Shore application, if the ship is already contaminated, the team will fight to the last man and try to detonate the nitroglycerin on the boat before all are killed.

If an ocean-going ship of the size of White Oak is really deeply polluted by the warp or something, it is impossible for the few people who boarded and inspected to come back alive.

Fanna crossed her chest with her hands and tapped the metal on the gauntlet lightly.

Suddenly, a bell rang from the chapel on the dock, and the steam relief pipes on both sides of the bell tower rang three long chimes.

The priest in the church received the secret message from the inspection team, and the church bells and whistles were announcing all the teams on the pier:

The ship is safe, the White Oak applies for docking, and reports on special circumstances.

Vanna breathed a sigh of relief.

That ship, at least for now, appears to be doing fine, which is the greatest good news.

As for reports of special circumstances... She was not surprised.

It's no wonder that a strangely lost ship has re-done in port, and there are no special circumstances to report.

The White Oak slowly docked, and the ocean-going ship that had experienced many twists and turns finally returned to the dock in the civilized world. Although the people on board had not been allowed to land, they must have been able to relax a lot.

More church guards began to board the ship in an orderly manner, preparing to conduct a thorough inspection and inquiries. Fanna also left the observation deck and brought a team of priests to the pier in person. She walked over the long springboard and finally set foot on the pier. The deck of the White Oak, and saw the grey-haired, burly captain on the foredeck.

The old captain looked a little haggard, obviously working under high tension for too long, but after seeing the church judge approaching, the old man immediately cheered up and took the initiative to come to Fanna.

"Hello, I'm Fanna, Captain Lawrence, the judge of the Deep Sea Church of the Prand City-state," Fanna didn't like redundant etiquette, she chose to say hello straight to the point, "Let's avoid introducing ourselves - first of all I'm sorry, I hope you and your crew can understand the strict inspection by the city-state authorities and the church."

"Of course, Your Excellency Judge," Lawrence nodded immediately, he wanted to say "Miss Judge", after all, the other party looked almost the same age as his own daughter, but when the time came, he changed it to a more respectful title, " I expected that, after all... we've been out of touch for so long."

Fanna nodded: "Simply tell me what happened to the White Oak. Why did you lose contact? Why did it suddenly appear on an unreported route? What about the abnormal 099 situation of the cargo you escorted?"

As soon as these words came out, the expression on Lawrence's face was suddenly full of frustration and tension. He sighed, first subconsciously looked around quickly, and then slowly said: "You may not believe me when I say it, we... The legendary Lost Homes..."

In front of him, the lady judge with a serious expression suddenly froze on the spot like a petrification, with a strange expression on her face.

He couldn't tell what the expression meant, but it looked the same after he was hit by the Lost Lands the other day.

"Inquisitor... Your Excellency?" Lawrence asked cautiously, "You..."

"Captain Lawrence," Fanna seemed to wake up suddenly, staring at the captain in front of her, "Do you say it again?"

"You may not believe me when I say it..."

"I'll say the second half."

"We came across the legendary Lost Homes..."

"I believe."

Lawrence was stunned: "Then..."

"You may need to stay on the dock for a few more days, Captain," Fanna said with a serious face, "this matter is serious, very serious, you... wait, you encountered the Homeless, but all the crew Survive?"

The expression on Miss Inquisitor's face suddenly changed slightly, and there was a hint of doubt in her eyes. Seeing this, Lawrence hurriedly opened his hand: "We are all right, but Homeless took away Abnormal 099, which is the doll's coffin. I suspect that The ghost ship came for the doll's coffin."

"Homeless took the anomalous 099?" Fanna frowned, and then asked again, "And after that? Did it let you go?"

"Yes...Yes," Lawrence also became nervous, and vaguely realized something, "Your Majesty Judge, has the city been recently..."

"...It's okay to tell you, after all, it seems that your 'contact' may be more serious than ours," Fanna sighed, looking at the old captain in front of her, "Captain Lawrence, you may not be the only one who has lost his homeland recently. Someone I've dealt with. Let's find a quiet place, I need to know more."