Chapter 361.
Chapter 361 – Docking
Captains who sailed on the boundless sea, especially those who used modern technology for navigation, were of course no strangers to the “stars” – the vast starry sky stagnant between the deep sea and the spirit world could provide extremely accurate navigation for ships, and even guide the right course even when the ship was caught in an abnormal sea. The vast starry sky between the deep sea and the spiritual world can provide extremely accurate navigation for ships, and can guide them to the right direction even when they are plunged into abnormal waters, and can even guide those who are lost in certain “visions” to get out of danger and return to reality.
Of course, there are other professions that deal with the “stars”, scholars who study them in order to decipher the deeper mysteries of the world, soothsayers who observe them in order to speculate on the destiny of all earthly creatures, and certain secret societies that even see the stars as a source of knowledge and revelation, and who use dangerous methods that stray from the edge of sanity in order to peek into the sky without falling into the shadowy realms of the universe. They would use dangerous methods that stray from the edge of sanity to peer into the starry sky in order to control the secrets of the demons without falling into the abyss – these dangerous associations often end up as food for the demons of the abyss or become potential “allies” of the Annihilationists, and as such, they are often the main targets of crackdowns by the churches and authorities of the city-states. Therefore, these secret societies are often the key targets of the churches and authorities of the city-states – but in any case, the profession that has the closest relationship with the “starry sky” and most frequently uses all kinds of spiritual lenses is still the captains of the infinite sea.
Lawrence has been drifting in this malicious sea for half of his life, of course, he knows a lot of things related to the starry sky, that is, including the method of observing the starry sky, including the dangers to be faced.
He buried his head deep into the recessed area of the Spiritual Lens – it was common sense to look down at the stars, of course – and then began to whisper the name of the god he believed in, letting it resonate with the blessing that the priest had just inflicted upon him.
As the mysterious power gradually pervaded, and his own spirituality and faith gradually rose, he first heard a subtle sound, as if water was gathering in a basin and approaching him – he smelled the slightly fishy and salty scent of seawater, and in the next moment he felt that his entire face had been submerged in the water.
Newbie navigators who observe the stars for the first time can easily panic at such times, the illusion of “suffocating in the water” will make their hearts and minds falter, and then let unwanted shadows enter their minds, so newcomers must be assisted at their first stargazing session, and the main task of the assistants is to remove them from the spirit of the newbie navigators before they mutate into a pile of writhing flesh! The primary task of the aide is to drag the new navigator away from the Spiritual Lens before he or she mutates into a writhing pile of flesh, a process of “acclimatization” that often lasts several weeks.
But that was no problem for Lawrence.
He knew that the “seawater” that had submerged him was the power of the storm goddess, Gemona – a god who would not harm her followers, and now he could open his eyes.
Lawrence slowly opened his eyes.
The starry sky and the endless darkness filled his eyes at the same time.
He looked down and saw the darkness was infinite, the deep, deep dark space was boundless, and at the edge of the space there were chaotic waves of light surging, that was the slight projection of the spirit world in the deeper layers of the world, and between that darkness were countless constant and dense dots of light, which converged into large and small clusters or flocculent structures, some of which imitated clouds, some imitated whirlpools, and some imitated rivers, and this endless dots of light spectacularly covered the The old captain s vision, outlining a certain …… mysterious picture that has not yet been recognized by mortals.
And in the depths of the starry sky like a magnificent curtain, in the gap between some of the light points “group system”, and can faintly see some of the darkness of the chaotic shadows, they seem to float in the depths of the starlight, radial distribution of the broken land, and each other across the pale “river”, just look at it! “Just one look at them can make one dizzy and frightened.
That is the “depths” that are deeper than the spirit world, and it is the horrifying homeland of the Profound Demon, the Profound Sea.
The starry sky is a curtain that floats between the abyssal sea and the spirit world.
Lawrence carefully controlled his sight, not letting himself gaze too much into the Profound Depths to prevent attracting the attention of those chaotic and unintelligent demons, and at the same time focused his mind and began to search for his position in the starry sky.
He found it, a dim projection, as if a wandering soul, floating somewhere in the middle of the stars.
Lawrence gazed at the projection, carefully screening it for a long time, and suddenly couldn’t help but frown.
The location of the self …… is just offshore of Frost?
The old captain’s heart stared, began to fumble to move his hands, he touched the control lever on the side of the lens device, carefully adjusted the machine, many small lenses on the side of the cylindrical machine immediately operated, began to adjust the angle of Lawrence’s field of view of the “starry sky” observation.
After double-checking, he realized that he was indeed offshore of Frost – long before he could see Frost Island.
At that moment, Lawrence felt a blur before his eyes.
The starry sky picture filled with countless dots of light shimmered for a moment, suddenly became pitch black, and then returned to normal immediately afterward.
Lawrence was taken aback and instinctively tried to adjust the control stick again to reset the view, but years of experience made him stop this instinct hard and jerk his head up.
The flickering of the starry sky picture could be a malfunction of the Spirit World lens – and whatever the cause, it was important to disengage from the gaze as soon as anything out of the ordinary occurred during stargazing.
This was a safety system that countless forefathers had summarized with their lives.
Lawrence rubbed his brow and raised his hand to glance at his wrist watch, realizing that a few minutes had just passed.
He began to check the entire lens setup, ready to make another observation after troubleshooting and making sure it was safe.
But just as he was about to dismantle the machine’s casing, a knock on the door suddenly interrupted his movements.
“Captain!” The first mate’s voice came through the door, “Have you finished your observations, Captain? We’re receiving a signal!”
Lawrence frowned slightly, and after a slight hesitation, he put down the work at hand and quickly walked to the door, and after opening the door, he saw that the first mate was standing in the doorway.
“We received a reply from Frost,” the first mate first glanced at the situation inside the stargazing room, roughly confirming that there was no abnormality in the room before settling his gaze on Lawrence, “The offshore passage permit and the harbor entry permit have been issued.”
Lawrence frowned slightly, his heart somehow flooded with some strangeness, associating it with the violation he had just discovered in the stargazing room, he asked with a serious expression, “Have you seen Frost Main Island?” “It’s been visually confirmed,” the first officer nodded, “The fog lifted off the sea, and our course was slightly offset, very slightly – but it’s been recalibrated.”
Lawrence glanced back at the stargazing room, his expression looking a little grave.
“Captain?” The first mate finally noticed the difference in the old captain’s demeanor, and his expression followed with a tense one, “Have you found anything?”
“There is something wrong with the stargazing room just now …… And according to the observation results, we should have arrived at the Frost near the sea long ago, there is no situation where we can’t see the Frost because of the interference by the fog or the course deviation,” Lawrence said in a low voice, “You arrange for a mechanic to check the Spirit World lens set to see if there’s a problem with the equipment, and I’ll go up and see what’s going on.”
“Aye, Captain.”
Lawrence darted out of the bilge and made his way down the stairs and corridors all the way through the tiers of the White Oak’s compartments, soon arriving on the upper decks.
Instead of returning to the bridge, he stood directly on the bow deck and watched the situation in the distance.
A large city-state, right in front of the White Oak, the coastal buildings and harbor facilities of the city-state were clearly visible, the fog had lifted, gentle waves were slowly undulating on the sea, the sky was floating with thick and light clouds, the sky light sprinkled down from the clouds, illuminating the sea and the city-state in the distance.
It did look frosty, nothing out of the ordinary.
Lawrence frowned and looked up at the sky again.
There was nothing out of the ordinary either, except for the fact that there were more clouds.
After a few moments, he left the deck and returned to the bridge, while at the same time, the sailors guarding the telegraphs were just in time to receive yet another welcoming message from Frost Harbor.
Lawrence looked at the note that the sailor had recorded-
“Port open, welcome to Frost.”
Lawrence blinked, suddenly thinking that he might have been a little too nervous – the glitch in the Spirit Lens combined with the fog that had coiled around the sea earlier had amplified his nervousness, when in fact everything was apparently fine here.
“We’re docking.”
“Aye, Captain.”
……
Duncan and his party left the Second Waterway and said goodbye to Nemo in the secret passageway that connected it to the Second Waterway.
They had searched the collapsed and blocked corridor for a long time, but had found no clues, neither more mud, nor any holes or traces of mud seeping into the corridor.
Of course, also did not find the “crow” had lost their way into the mysterious place.
The trail seemed to be broken.
“The Old Ghost and I will give Raven a proper burial, and please tell Captain Tirian that Raven died like a true warrior – he was a proud member of the Sea Mist Fleet.”
In the secret passage, Nemo said as he removed the hat from his head and bent slightly before Duncan.
“I’ll tell him,” Duncan said in a particularly solemn tone as he looked at Mr. Informant in front of him, “Besides, the investigation into this matter is not over.”
Nemo looked up and met Duncan’s gaze.
“Raven left very important information, he has definitely been somewhere, and that ‘fake’ couldn’t have appeared out of nowhere in the Second Waterway,” Duncan said slowly, “I will investigate, if necessary –I’ll look into every brick, tile, and blade of grass in this city-state.”
(End of chapter)