Chapter 395 – Encounter in the Mist
Chapter 395 – Encounter in the Mist
“Distracted?” After hearing Agatha’s reply, Bishop Ivan’s tone obviously changed a bit as he stared intently into Agatha’s eyes, “As a saint, being ‘distracted’ is not a good phenomenon …… What happened? When did it start?”
“Right after I came back from that contaminated sewage treatment center,” Agatha didn’t hide it, knowing that the old bishop in front of her was the most trustworthy person in the entire city-state, “I always felt as if I had forgotten something, like… . leaving something behind in that place, but I’ve reviewed what happened there several times and found no violation.”
“That sewage treatment center ……” Bishop Ivan’s voice was low, of course he knew what kind of thing Agatha was talking about, this matter had already been reported to the Cathedral and City Hall in the first place at that time, and the subsequent investigation and decontamination work is still going on intensively even now I’m also concerned about this matter – the surviving manager is still receiving treatment in a psychiatric hospital, the original dozen or so employees of the treatment center are still missing, and judging from the sampling reports from the scene, you should have decontaminated the entire facility at that time! -theoretically there shouldn’t be any hidden dangers left behind.”
“But I still feel uneasy,” Agatha confessed, “There’s no proof, but I must have overlooked something.”
“Has …… checked your mental state? How did the cognitive calibration go?”
“Of course it was checked,” Agatha nodded, “Both self-cognitive calibration and subliminal checks with the aid of a psychiatrist were done, and nothing was found to be wrong.”
Bishop Ivan didn’t say anything for a moment, and it took a few seconds before he broke the silence with a thoughtful note, “Then it’s possible that your own ‘inner self’ is signaling a warning – it could be coming from your subconscious, it could be coming from your psychic vision , or maybe even from your faith.”
“I’ll return there to double-check,” Agatha nodded, “Until then, I’m going to go to the prayer room for a while – may the Lord give me some guidance.”
Bishop Ivan nodded slightly, “Go, and hopefully prayer will ease your distress.”
Agatha hmmm’d and rose to leave the platform where the casket of the spirit was parked, disappearing moments later outside the gates of the Meditation Sanctuary.
The wide sanctuary was quiet for a while, only the mummy-like Bishop Ivan was still sitting on the edge of the spirit coffin, he looked at the direction Agatha left as if he was in deep thought, after an unknown period of time, he sighed softly, and stretched out his hand to outline the triangular emblem of Bartok, the God of Death, on his chest, “May the Lord guide… …”
In the silent sanctuary of meditation, a candlestick set in a niche burned quietly, and as the flame trembled noiselessly, the mirror-like polished black marble floor reflected the light of the candlesticks everywhere, and around those leaping flames, it seemed as if there were many shadows and phantoms flickering away.
……
Outside Frost City, on the borderline of the offshore area, a patrol ship flying the flag of the Frost Navy was patrolling the sea surface according to the prescribed route.
A naval commander came to the bow deck of the ship, frowning as he looked at the sea surface in the distance – the cool light of the World Creation poured down from the sky, causing a hint of pallor in the shimmering waves of the sea surface, and between those waves, one could occasionally see fragments of ice floes of various sizes, which drifted in the distance in a neat direction, vaguely resembling the formation of a large ice floe, which was floating in the distance, and which could not be seen. The fragments of ice floes were floating in a neat direction in the distance, vaguely forming an invisible “border line”.
Of course, the commander knew what those natural-looking “ice floes” were – they were not “ice floes” at all, but part of the Sea Mist Fleet.
Those were the ice floes around the Sea Mist, which would appear around the cursed ghost ship when it appeared on the surface of the sea, symbolizing the pirate captain’s “sphere of influence”, and at the same time, the manifestation of the Sea Mist’s cursed power-anyone who approached the Sea Mist without permission would have a chance to see the ice floes. Any ship that approaches the Sea Mist without permission will first be baptized by those “ice floes”, the lighter ones will be hindered from taking action, and the more serious ones will even be directly frozen on the sea surface, and all the people on the ship will become dead souls in the ice.
The Sea Mist often blocked the shipping lanes in this way, intercepting those merchant ships passing through its sphere of influence and charging the so-called “ice floes disposal service fee” – in most cases, the ship didn’t even need to fire a gun to complete this shameful blackmail behavior.
Of course, now that the Sea Mist Fleet has temporarily lifted the hostile relationship with the Frost Navy, those ice floes will not actively spread to the naval patrol ships, but their very existence is a deterrent attitude, and its meaning is very clear:
Even if this is Frost’s doorstep, further on it is also Sea Mist Fleet’s sphere of influence.
The commander in the Frost Navy uniform sighed through clenched teeth, trying hard to calm his mind.
The greater good was at stake, and soldiers should obey the judgment of their superiors – the city-state needed security, and that security needed the Sea Mist Fleet.
The blockade status of the entire ocean was above all else.
“The sea is fogging up again,” a junior officer grunted as he came on deck and looked off into the distance, “almost every day.”
The commander of the patrol ship looked up at the sea ahead.
As the subordinate said, the sea was fogging up, a veil-like mist was condensing on the sea surface and spreading around the “ice floe border”, the light of the World’s Creation filled in the fog, making the place look white.
“It’s probably the Sea Mist again,” the commander frowned, “wherever that ship goes, the ice floes and fog follow.”
“The Sea Mist isn’t moving from where it is,” the minion said, “Maybe it’s just that ‘pirate general’ trying to show off his presence?” “Whatever he thinks,” the commander shook his head, “let’s stay out of places where the fog is up and there are ice floes – Frost can’t be the first to do something that’s a breach of contract.”
“Aye.”
The commander hmmm’d, then looked back to the layer of fog in the distance with a bit of doubt in his demeanor, “But then again …… isn’t it a bit foggier than usual tonight?”
The ministry followed the chief’s gaze and saw that the fog that filled the area around the ice floe was indeed still expanding and appeared to be even denser than usual, and in the depths of the thickening fog, it vaguely seemed as if something was shaking in general.
“The fog is really getting …… bigger and bigger,” muttered this junior officer, “is there something in the fog?”
“…… Not quite right.”
The patrol ship commander said, suddenly his expression changed slightly, followed by quickly picking up the binoculars and looking in the direction of that thick fog, after a moment of careful discrimination, he finally confirmed that there was indeed something shifting in that thick fog – on a large scale, approaching.
It was a ship!
“It’s a ship, coming through the Sea Mist Fleet’s patrol area,” the commander lowered his binoculars, his words flying, “signal with lights – the Sea Mist Fleet is crossing the border, tell them to stop immediately. ”
“Aye!”
The subordinate officer answered loudly, then darted behind the deck, and after a short while, the large searchlights mounted on the upper decks of the patrol ship lit up and shot out a series of light signals towards the thick fog.
However, the ship’s shadow that was constantly approaching in that thick fog did not show the slightest sign of slowing down.
The commander of the patrol ship stared at the blurred shadow in the fog, watching the other party not only not slow down, but more and more accelerated rushing over, and as the other party approached, even the fog on the surrounding sea surface seemed to be consciously spreading – in just a few moments of work, the surging fog had already filled up to a hundred meters around the patrol ship, and there was even a the tendency to surround the ship from all sides!
“Damn pirates!”
The commander of the patrol ship couldn’t help but curse darkly, and turning around, he darted to the bridge, shouting as he rushed towards the bridge, “Reverse, steer, that thing is crashing straight towards us – has the Sea Mist Fleet responded?”
“No response to light signals! No response to short range calls either!” The soldier in front of the console next to him shouted back, “We’re calling the Sea Mist on the agreed upon frequency, but there’s no response from there yet …… Wait, there’s a response!”
The communication lights on the console suddenly lit up, the automatic recording machine then began to click and clack, a long perforated paper tape was continuously spat out from the mouth of the machine, the communication soldier quickly picked up the paper tape and distinguished the marks on it, but after a moment he looked up blankly, “The Sea Mist fleet said that they didn’t cross the border – -All their ships are in place and haven’t moved.”
“All in place?”
The patrol ship commander’s eyes widened, and immediately afterward he jerked his head up and looked out the porthole – the thick fog had already filled the bow of this patrol ship, and even though the helmsman was already trying to steer, it was obvious that the ship’s movement couldn’t catch up with the spreading of this weird fog, and between the fog that kept coming over, that hazy shadow had been getting closer and closer.
“Steer, left full rudder, steer!”
The patrol ship tilted up violently, the steam core let out a hoarse roar, and the steering rudder and the side booster propellers fired together, driving the ship around in the fog with an intensity that seemed to disintegrate the whole ship, while in a violent rocking and a series of noises, the commander of the patrol ship grasped the railing beside him hard and stared out of the porthole at the scene with wide eyes – –
In the sudden break in the fog, a massive ship nearly grazed the railing of the patrol ship.
It wasn’t a member of the Frost Navy, nor was it a member of the Sea Mist – it was a mottled and rusted old-time battleship, its badly damaged hull paint and outdated, old bow structure seeming to speak without words of the years it had endured.
The patrol ship commander watched dumbfounded as the massive vessel brushed past his own patrol ship, and it was only after several seconds that he suddenly reacted and recalled an illustration and record he had once seen in an old document-
“It’s the ‘Warrior’ that sank forty years ago ……”
(Time to push the book, from “War Lord God Throne” by Yixi Chengdao, opening up the divine realm, operating the divine realm, cultivating dependents, forming armies, conquering the realms, and plundering resources and ancient legacy inheritance.)
(End of chapter)