Deep Sea Ember

Chapter 64 Duncan's White Oak

The White Oak is back - after a long period of communication interruptions and course deviations, this advanced steamship belonging to the Explorers Association has finally returned to the city-state of Prade.

Many people are thereWaiting for the ship to return, countless pairs of eyes were nervously watching the silhouette that was gradually approaching on the sea.

Inquisitor Vanna saw that as soon as the White Oak whistle sounded, the people on the dock immediately took action:

The staff guiding the ship to dock had arrived at the location and began to signal the White Oak with lights and flags, while the guards under the church went to activate the deep-sea relics placed throughout Pier 1 last night: it was a large number of "boundary markers" cast in bronze, the name of the storm goddess Germona was engraved on its pedestal, and the grooves at the top were filled with sacred oils and spices.

Further afield, there were the sheriffs sent by the town hall, ordinary people who were not good at dealing with the otherworld, so their main job was to block all intersections with heavy fire—ordinary guns were hard to deal with eerie and invisible curses, but if it was a physical polluter that came out of the White Oak, then eight-millimeter bullets and four-pounders would go a long way.

Sometimes Vanna can't help but be grateful for the progress of science and technology, these engineering crystallizations have given weak ordinary people a certain amount of strength to intervene in this kind of extraordinary event, although the results brought about by technological progress are good and bad, but at least ...... The support of machine guns and artillery has greatly reduced the casualties of fellow church members over the years.

Vanna's gaze crossed the dock and looked at the sea in the distance.

The White Oak made a second whistle, and under the guidance of the light signals on the shore, the ship began to slow down slowly, and stopped some distance from the pier.

A priest standing beside Vanna breathed a sigh of relief when he saw this, and said in a low voice: "The White Oak has carried out the order, and it seems that at least that ship is still controlled by 'humans'."

"For the time being, it cannot be asserted that many people affected by anomalies or anomalies will appear to be no different from ordinary people until mutations occur," Vanna shook her head, "Send out the second set of signals, send out inspection boats, and let the coastal defense guns be ready at any time, once there is a change on the ship...... Just open fire. The

order from the Inquisitor was quickly conveyed, and since the White Oak's communication device was damaged, the people on the shore could only communicate with the ship with lights and flags, and after a complex set of lights and flags, three lights were lit on the bow of the White Oak, and then the rope ladder on its side was lowered.

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

On board the speedboat was a whole squad of Guardians, including eight combatants, a commander, and a deep-sea priest, these loyal priests, who lit incense on the boat and chanted the name of the Goddess of Storms, did not board the ship immediately after approaching the White Oak, but first circled around the large ship, and sprinkled holy oil mixed with seaweed extract in the nearby seawater.

As soon as these greases fell into the seawater, they emitted a faint glow, and gradually joined together, eventually forming a ring that completely surrounded the White Oak.

After

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

All this fell into Vanna's eyes on the lookout.

It is extremely dangerous to let a ship that has been lost at sea "go home", especially since it is still an ocean-going ship that was once responsible for transporting anomalous objects - the White Oak cannot dock directly, it first needs to be checked by the speedboat at a safe distance, and after preliminary confirmation that there is no sign of evil god corruption on the ship, it can approach Plande's dock, but after that, the personnel on board still cannot disembark, and they also need to undergo a second round of inspection by the clergy. At the same time, the entire ship must also undergo a stricter comprehensive search and purification, and then all personnel on board will be observed in the church at the pier for at least a few days or at most several weeks, and the entire ship will be purified by incense for at least a week.

Only when all these processes are completed and there are no accidents will the civilized world dare to re-admit these people who have lost their way at sea to their homes—and if any of them go wrong, the White Oak and its crew will have to be buried at sea.

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

This cold and even somewhat cruel law is not from anyone's malice, but the "way to survive" that has been explored by the development of human society so far.

Of course, there are also city-states that are unwilling or unable to implement these strict rules, and 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 semester.

Time passed minute by minute, and everyone was waiting for the Guardian squad to board the ship to send back a signal, and there were only two possible signals - if everything was safe, the squad would send a special psionic communication back to the docking application, and if the ship was already contaminated, the squad would fight to the last man and try to detonate the nitroglycerin on the dinghy before everyone was killed.

If an ocean-going ship of the size of White Oak was really deeply polluted by subspace or something, it would be impossible for the few people who boarded the ship to come back alive.

Vanna clasped her hands on her chest and gently tapped the metal on her arm armor.

Bells suddenly rang from the chapel on the pier, and the steam relief pipes on both sides of the bell tower rang three long rings.

The priest in the church received a message from the inspection team, and the church bells and whistles were to inform all the groups on the dock:

the ship was safe, the White Oak applied to dock, and special circumstances were reported.

Vanna breathed a sigh of relief.

The ship seemed to be working properly, at least for now, which was the best news.

As for special circumstances reporting...... She was not surprised.

A strange and lost ship re-docked, and it would be strange if there were no special circumstances to report.

The White Oak slowly docked, and the ocean-going ship that had gone through some twists and turns finally returned to the dock of the civilized world, although the personnel on board had not yet been allowed to land, so they must be able to relax a lot.

More church guards began to board the ship in an orderly manner, ready for a thorough inspection and inquiry, and Vanna also left the lookout and personally brought a team of priests to the dock, she walked the long springboard and finally stepped onto the deck of the White Oak, and met the gray-haired, burly captain on the foredeck.

The old captain's expression looked a little haggard, obviously working in a highly tense state for too long, but after seeing the church inquisitor approaching, the old man immediately cheered up and took the initiative to come to Vanna.

"Hello, I'm Vanna, Captain Lawrence, the Inquisitor of the Deep Sea Church in the city-state of Prade," Vanna didn't like redundant etiquette, she chose to greet straight to the point, "Let's skip the introduction of ourselves - first of all, I apologize to you and your crew for understanding the strict inspection of the city-state authorities and the church.

"Of course, Your Excellency Inquisitor," Lawrence nodded immediately, he wanted to say "Miss Inquisitor", after all, the other party looked almost the same age as his daughter, but at the end of the conversation, he changed his title to a more respectful title, "I expected it, after all...... We have lost contact for so long.

Vanna nodded: "Briefly tell me what happened to the White Oak, why did you lose contact?" Why did it suddenly appear on the unreported route after that? What is the situation of the goods you escorted, abnormal 099?

As soon as

these words came out, the expression on Lawrence's face was suddenly full of frustration and nervousness, he sighed, first subconsciously looked around quickly, and then slowly spoke: "You may not believe what I say, we ...... I met the legendary lost hometown ......"

In front of his eyes, the judge lady with a serious expression suddenly froze on the spot, with a strange expression on her face.

He couldn't figure out what this expression meant, but it looked the same as after he was hit by the Lost Homeland a few days ago.

"Judge...... Your Excellency? Lawrence asked cautiously, "...... you"

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

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

"I said the second half of the sentence."

"We met the legendary lost home......"

"I believe it."

Lawrence was stunned: "Then ......"

"You may need to stay on the dock for a few more days, captain," Vanna said with a serious face, "This matter is serious, very serious, you guys...... Wait, you have suffered a loss of home, but all of you survived?

The expression on the

Inquisitor's face suddenly changed slightly, and there was a hint of doubt in her eyes, and Lawrence hurriedly opened his hand when he saw this: "We are fine, but the Lost Homeland took away the abnormal 099, which is the puppet coffin." I suspect that the ghost ship came for the doll's coffin.

"The lost hometown took away the anomaly 099?" Vanna frowned, and then asked, "What about after that?" It just let you go?

"Yes...... Yes," Lawrence also became nervous, and vaguely realized something, "Your Excellency, has there been a ...... in the city lately?"

"...... It doesn't hurt to tell you, after all, it seems that your 'contact' may be more serious than ours now," Vanna sighed and looked at the old captain in front of her, "Captain Lawrence, you may not be the only one who has dealt with the Lost Homeland recently." Let's find a quiet place, I need to know more.