The artillery fire roared, the hot shells roared and fell from the sky, and huge water columns rose one after another inside and outside the port. Some of the water columns almost rubbed against the side of the White Oak. The sea surface was churning and surging, and the entire ship was shaken by the impact. It shook and made an unsettling, creaking sound.
Lawrence and first mate Gus led twelve sailors to climb the rope ladder and returned to the deck of the White Oak without any danger. Behind them, Dagger Island was still shrouded in thick fog, and suddenly there was a sudden change in the deserted port. There was a chaotic wind, and the mist swirled and rolled in the wind, as if full of malice, as if it was angered by an uninvited guest.
The boatswain hurried over. This tall sailor had a nervous face and a rifle in his hand (although it was of no use in a naval battle). He came to Lawrence and quickly checked the captain's status. , then he breathed a sigh of relief: "Great! You are finally back - we heard a sound like thunder coming from the island before, but you never came back. The second officer thought something happened to you...
The scene at the dock square flashed through Lawrence's mind. He thought of the four extra sailors and the sudden appearance of green flames, and a complicated expression appeared on his face.
Something did happen, and it was not a big deal-
But now is clearly not the time for explanations.
"Let's not talk about this for now," he shook his head, "How is the situation now? Where is Jason?"
"The second officer is directing the battle on the bridge. We are fighting a battleship of unknown origin," the boatswain said quickly. "The ship opened fire on us as soon as it appeared in the distance, and it has been approaching here - —The stern of the ship was hit by a shot just now. Fortunately, the damage was not serious, but we must leave quickly. The White Oak cannot be a match for the battleship."
"Get out of here, now." Lawrence said quickly.
The steam core made a low roar, and the boiling gold catalyst began to release surging energy. The powerful power mechanism drove the propeller, causing the White Oak to accelerate away from this strange port. Among the water columns of cannonballs that continued to fall nearby, this An advanced cargo expedition ship with a pure white hull continued to accelerate, leaving Dagger Island in a thick fog.
But the attackers were in hot pursuit.
Lawrence came to the bridge and observed the situation on the sea through the large window behind the bridge. At the end of the vast sea, he could clearly see the silhouette of the attacker - a ship that was not too big. The large warship was chasing this side while firing continuously with the main gun on the bow. Bright flashes of light pierced the dark sky covering the entire sea area again and again.
Fortunately, it was a small ship and not a battleship with fierce gunfire, otherwise the White Oak would not have been able to persist in this attack until now.
Unfortunately, the ship was extremely fast. Even if the White Oak's speed increased again and again, Lawrence still judged that the ship would catch up sooner or later.
The ship was even accelerating.
"We can't get rid of it," the first mate said in a desperate tone, "It's too fast... but our firepower can't be a match for a warship!"
Lawrence didn't say anything, just thinking quickly.
From a classification point of view, the White Oak is indeed a civilian ship, but this does not mean that it is a lamb to be slaughtered - as a special ship that can sail on the boundless sea for a long time and can transport sealed items between city-states The expedition ship has a military-grade steam core and anti-sinking structure, and its keel, waterline hull and superstructure have also been specially reinforced. It can be said that in terms of hull strength alone, this ship is not weaker than the same level. battleship.
What's bad about it is its firepower - after all, as a civilian ship, it can only install a few small-caliber cannons for fighting against small groups of pirates or monsters in the sea. That thing is simply incapable of fighting against warships.
Looking at the current situation, the White Oak will be overtaken sooner or later - when the distance between the two ships is closer, the opponent's gunfire hit rate will not be so low.
No matter how strong the hull structure is, it cannot last long if it is used as a target.
A sharp whistling sound suddenly came from far away, followed by a loud bang that interrupted Lawrence's thinking. He felt a buzzing in his ears.
The ground shook beneath his feet, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw a fireball suddenly rise from the side of the White Oak, with broken metal fragments and deck structures scattered in all directions.
The boatswain yelled: "Shot in the broadside...
Go put out the fire! "
Lawrence stabilized his body amid the violent shaking, and the expression on his face changed rapidly, as if he had suddenly made a decision.
"Cargo list," he raised his head and looked at the first officer who was maintaining order on the bridge, "Bring me the cargo list!"
"Cargo list?" The first mate was stunned for a moment, and then he understood the captain's intention. His expression became particularly conflicted and solemn, but he immediately followed the order and sent a record book to Lawrence.
Lawrence opened the record book and scanned it quickly, finally stopping on one of the lines.
"Open the No. 2 seal room and bring the sealed object 'Anomaly 077' to the bridge." He raised his head and quickly ordered to the first mate, "Prepare a clean shroud and a new noose, and be ready at any time. Second seal."
The first mate's face was tense. Even though he had already expected such a situation, he still seemed particularly hesitant: "Captain, this..."
"The situation is urgent, so this is the only way," Lawrence looked serious. "There is a precedent for unsealing the sealed objects on the ship to solve the crisis under special circumstances. If the church wants to pursue the case later, I will explain to them."
The first mate seemed to want to say something else, but facing the serious gaze of the old captain, he swallowed back everything he wanted to say, and finally nodded vigorously: "Yes, Captain!"
The order was quickly implemented. Several sailors who were responsible for handling sealed objects rushed to the special area on the lower deck, opened the No. 2 sealing room, and released the sealing state of the room in accordance with the containment rules of Anomaly 077.
A moment later, amid the roar of gunfire, several sailors brought Anomaly 077 to the bridge and placed what the captain wanted in front of Lawrence.
Lawrence lowered his head and looked at the "abnormal objects" that the sailors brought out from the seal room with a particularly solemn expression.
It was a mummy wrapped tightly in a shroud.
Anomaly 077 - Sailor.
Lawrence knew the information about every piece of cargo on his ship, including this anomaly.
Anomaly 077 first appeared on an expedition ship that had been mysteriously missing for three years, and was considered to be the culprit that caused the crash of the expedition ship. This anomaly looked like a mummy, about 1.7 meters tall. When unsealed, it will exhibit the characteristics of a "living creature" and can even talk and think with people, and its power is highly consistent with its "identity".
As a sailor, it will try to influence the ship closest to itself, and ignore any restrictions on environmental conditions, ship types, and control technology, and take over all functions of the ship in a short period of time. Once the takeover is completed, it will This will cause the ship to be randomly teleported - the whole process only takes a few minutes, and a ship of any size will be sent to a random corner of the boundless sea under the influence of "Sailor".
But this kind of teleportation is not a smooth journey. A ship teleported away by Anomaly 077 will definitely appear in the center of a big storm.
No one knows whether Anomaly 077 specifically chose a storm as the landing point for the teleportation, or whether it created a storm specifically for this teleportation. The only thing that is certain is that among the large number of teleportation events that have been recorded, only a small number of ships can Safely sail away from the storm at the "drop point".
More ships and hundreds of unfortunate people fell victim to Anomaly 077.
However, according to the information obtained by Lawrence, Anomaly 077 itself is not difficult to deal with - although before the transmission is completed, the escaped Anomaly 077 will unconditionally take effect on its abilities, but as long as the transmission is completed, it can be easily re-sealed. Put a new noose around its neck, and it will immediately stop moving, and then wrap it in a shroud, and it will return to sleep - this mummy has no superhuman strength, and its combat effectiveness is not powerful.
Until then, all the crew of the White Oak needs to do is find a way to fight a storm - and Lauren
Si and his sailors have fought countless storms.
Lawrence bent down and slowly placed his hand on Anomaly 077's shroud.
The crew on the bridge watched this scene nervously.
Lawrence took a deep breath and unzipped the shroud.
A slight sound of inhalation reached his ears almost instantly.
The sound came from the wrapped mummy.
The shroud came loose, as if an invisible force had untied all the rope buttons in an instant, and the true appearance of Anomaly 077 was exposed to everyone's gaze - a man wearing an old-era sailor's blouse, with sparse and falling hair, and a shriveled up body that was almost like a skeleton. The mummified body lay quietly on the floor.
The mummy's chest was rising and falling slightly, and the rising and falling became more and more obvious. In the end, Lawrence even felt that he could hear the other person's heartbeat and breathing.
Anomaly 077 is out of trouble - the sailor wakes up from the seal.
The mummy slowly opened its eyes and sat up stiffly, its joints crackling.
"You are at the helm of this ship for the time being," Lawrence gritted his teeth and said with a complicated expression, "Take us out of here."
Anomaly 077 sat up straight, looked around slowly, and finally landed on Lawrence.
For some reason, Lawrence suddenly felt as if he saw a trace of panic on that withered and terrifying face.
Then he saw that the mummy was really shivering. The shriveled and almost skeleton mummy was lying quietly on the floor.
The mummy's chest was rising and falling slightly, and the rising and falling became more and more obvious. In the end, Lawrence even felt that he could hear the other person's heartbeat and breathing.
Anomaly 077 is out of trouble - the sailor wakes up from the seal.
The mummy slowly opened its eyes and sat up stiffly, its joints crackling.
"You are at the helm of this ship for the time being," Lawrence gritted his teeth and said with a complicated expression, "Take us out of here."
Anomaly 077 sat up straight, looked around slowly, and finally landed on Lawrence.
For some reason, Lawrence suddenly felt as if he saw a trace of panic on that withered and terrifying face.
Then he really trembled when he saw the mummy.
"Don't... don't make trouble!"
A hoarse and frightened exclamation came from the mummy's mouth. The next second he closed his eyes in full view of the crowd and lay down directly to pretend to be dead.
It even reached out and tugged at the shroud scattered beside it, as if it wanted to secretly wrap the cloth around itself again.
Lawrence: "...?"
Sailors: "...?"
