Chapter 466: Passport?
Chapter 466 Passport?
The future of the entire crew of the White Oak.
This issue that had been ignored by everyone was now finally brought to the forefront.
There were no impermeable walls in the world, and Frost was even less of a city-state blocked off from the outside world, and the abnormal changes in the White Oak itself-especially its reflection in the sea-certainly couldn’t have been hidden from the eyes of the other captains and ports.
Even without the most special status of “member of the Lost Fleet”, it is now a “ghost ship” haunted by extraordinary powers and in a strange state.
The city states have always adopted the strictest safety standards for ships and people who set foot in the Boundless Sea, and a ship that is briefly lost on the surface of the sea will have to undergo extremely strict quarantine scrutiny when returning to the port, and even the slightest abnormality will be rejected from entering the port, let alone a ship that has already been transformed into a “transcendental object”.
I’m afraid that apart from Prand and Frost, no other city-state would dare to accept the current White Oak.
What’s more, the owner of the Lost Country wouldn’t necessarily allow his “servants” to leave the fleet and continue to move freely in the civilized world – what would the future of the White Oak and its crew look like on this basis?
To live with the anomalies, to live among the visions, to be far from civilization, to roam in the mists, storms, alien realms, and the depths of strange seas, to skim the seas like ghosts during the day, and to sink into the crevices of subspace at night – that’s what the books say about the Lost Country, anyway.
Lawrence looked worried, and having spent most of his life drifting on the infinite sea he didn’t look ready for the transformation.
After all, he is not “Captain Duncan”, who has long been far away from civilization, nor is he a pirate with a fleet of ships like Tirion, who can dominate the sea, but he also has a ship full of seafarers, who have their own families and friends, and they all still have a home to support.
Leaving the legal channel of the infinite sea, he did not know how to feed his ship of sailors, not to mention how to face their friends and relatives – after all, the Lost Country Fleet does not seem to have such a thing as “wages”, not to mention the perfect employee care system! ……
Duncan, after a short period of reflection, broke the silence: “In all fairness, even without the relationship of the Lost Fleet, and without the Black Oak’s mutant reflection, your future business should not be much better, right ……?”
Lawrence didn’t react for a moment, “Huh? Why do you say that?”
Duncan spread his hands, “Think about the previous anomaly 099, then think about the current anomaly 077 ……”
Lawrence’s expression instantly stiffened a bit, and he held his tongue for half a day before he ventured out with an odd expression, “Occasional cargo losses are an unavoidable circumstance, and the White Oak is highly insured, enough to cover employer losses as well as subsequent liquidated damages ……”
“Marine insurance even dares to cover that these days?” Duncan raised his eyebrows, “Then there’s no need to worry about the two shipping losses ……”
At this he paused for a moment and seemed to suddenly think of something, “Wait, how much does that pay for an encounter with a Lost Country ship? What about being transformed into the Lost Country Fleet? How much?”
“This does not pay, belongs to the ‘force majeure’, in fact the previous anomaly 099 out of control incident is also in the scope of the refusal to insure, because the loss of the mannequin casket is related to the Lost Country ship, and then I looked for …… “Lawrence said, his expression was a bit dumbfounded, probably because he did not expect Captain Duncan to come up with such a question out of the blue, but immediately afterward he reacted, “Why do you …… ask that?”
Duncan just heard the other party “this does not pay” after the answer on his face showed disappointment, and then waved his hand: “Nothing, I just ask.”
Lawrence thought about it, his mind popped up seventy or eighty classic cases of insurance fraud, did not dare to speak.
Duncan, on the other hand, was silent for a few seconds, and then his words changed, “Also, you probably don’t have to worry too much about the White Oak’s future-even if you become a member of the Lost Country Fleet, you’re not necessarily far away from the legal shipping lanes and legal ports from now on.”
This time Lawrence was really a bit surprised, he looked at Duncan with dismay, as if he did not understand the intentions of this “Subspace Shadow” for a while.
Duncan looked at him with a smirk, “Do you think the Lost Country will stay away from civilization forever?”
“What you mean is ……”
Duncan smiled: “I have recovered my humanity, you should have heard the rumors about this, both humanity, of course I will be interested in the civilized world again, this period of time, I have been actively in contact with the civilized world’s city states, first is the Prand, and then is the Frost, in the process, I also contacted the Church of the Deep and the Church of the Dead, in all fairness, I think that I have achieved a lot. ”
Lawrence subconsciously recalled all the events surrounding the Lost Country’s “return trip” during this period of time, and his expression gradually became more and more subtle. Duncan noticed the change in the other party’s expression, the corner of his eye twitched slightly, and then tried to control his expression and tone: “Of course, I admit that the movement of these contact processes may be a little bit too big.”
Lawrence:”……”
“That is not important,” Duncan waved his hand, “What is important is that the Lost Country Fleet will be part of civilization again, and you and your crew may be the bridge that allows the Lost Country to be able to further establish communication with civilized city-states.”
Lawrence grasped Duncan’s intent, surprise rising to his eyes – this unfolding didn’t seem quite like the books?
However, he soon snapped out of this brief surprise, and a more realistic question surfaced in his mind, “I see what you mean, you wish to ‘normalize’ relations with the city-states, so the first step is to let us ‘fleet members’ return to the normal course. ‘ to return to the normal shipping lanes, but …… nowadays you have also seen the White Oak, most city-states are afraid that they will not accept a ship infested with transcendent power ……”
“But as far as I know, there are still some ‘mutated’ ships that are exceptions to the rule, and the city-states and legal shipping lanes allow them to dock and pass.”
Lawrence:”…… Huh?”
“The Sea Mist, and the Radiant Star, both of which are almost second only to the Lost Country in terms of transcendental alienation, and while the former has now been re-instated as the general flagship of the Frost Navy, the latter is an honorary member of the Explorer’s Guild, with unlimited rights of passage in the Bordering Vessels,” Duncan spread out his hands, “I’ve also heard of some famous and legendary exploration ships, which have been eroded and modified by transcendent forces and have more or less bizarre and horrifying characteristics, but their captains hold certain special documents and rely on the endorsement of the great powers, so they can still pass through the infinite sea.”
Saying this, Duncan paused for a moment and continued with a serious face, “And strictly speaking, every ‘Church Ark’ of the Church of the Four Gods belongs to a ship that has been eroded and remodeled by transcendental forces, but can it not still sail at will? It has been proven that on the line of ‘Transcendent Alienation’, the standards of both the Church and the city-states are flexible.”
Lawrence was stunned by Duncan’s string of words, almost really wound up, fortunately at the end when he heard the Church of the Four Gods stirred up a moment of sobriety, his face then complex expression: “This …… Church Ark certainly can not be generalized, the gods sheltered, not the same …… But other cases are indeed as you said, there are special cases.”
This old captain said this, licked his somewhat dry lips, and tried to organize his language, “But the reason why the exception is an exception is because it is difficult to reach – your pair of sons and daughters had spent half a century to let the world gradually accept them, and even so, there are still many city states that are still interested in the Sea Mist ship and the Radiant Star with caution and even hostility, and as for the other legendary expedition ships you mentioned ……
“Alas, of course I know of them, such as the ‘Tulip’, which was lost in the Spirit World for twelve years, and the ‘Dust Song’, which crossed the Visionary Seas and survived with all of its crew . …They did return to civilization in the end, but the process of their acceptance was not much easier than that of your pair of sons and daughters.
“Extremely stringent inspections, lengthy surveillance, and the Church’s approval, the Church of the Four Gods has to use the highest safety standards to confirm whether or not a ship that has undergone ‘Transcendent Alienation’ is safe, and the harshness and difficulty of this process is unimaginable- -Even after passing a series of tests, those legendary expedition ships will always be under the Church’s surveillance and will have to be rechecked every once in a while, and the passes in the hands of those legendary captains …… are not that easy to get.”
Lawrence couldn’t help but let out a long sigh at the end of his words, but Duncan revealed a thoughtful look when he heard half of it, and when the other party’s words fell, he asked curiously, “That is to say, it’s enough to have the church as a guarantee? What are the requirements for this pass?”
“In short, the ‘protector god’ behind the power to which the ship belongs must give its approval. The White Oak belongs to the Explorers’ Association, which is under the umbrella of the Church of the Deep, and the Storm Goddess, Gemona, is the protector goddess of the sea explorers- -If the White Oak wishes to legally return to the shipping lanes, there must be at least one deep-sea acolyte willing to swear an oath before the goddess to vouch for this, and personally perform an inspection of the vessel in question with an oracle, and then finally an Inquisitor of the City State to issue a pass.”
Saying this, Lawrence sighed again, “Strictly speaking, that ‘gatekeeper’ Ms. Agatha actually meets the status criteria, she is both a Saint and a ‘gatekeeper’ of the city-state, and because of a series of events she became your emissary, unfortunately …… she is not of the Church of the Deep ……”
Duncan looked at him, “I have saints of the Church of the Deep as well.”
Lawrence:”…… Ah?”
“Saints of the Church of the Deep, huh?” Duncan looks at the worried Lawrence with a serious face, “The Saints are in charge of inspections, and the Inquisitors issue the passes – can the Saints and the Inquisitors be one and the same here?”
Lawrence suddenly felt his head a bit stuck, and just subconsciously answered, “It seems …… there is no restriction in this regard ……”
“Oh, then you go ahead and busy yourself, I’ll go and inquire about the pass for you.”
Lawrence blinked, not responding.
And by the time he wanted to open his mouth to inquire about something, Duncan’s figure had already disappeared from the deck accompanied by an airborne flame.
(End of chapter)