The low and majestic whistle reverberated on the sea surface, and the sacred steam spewed out from the core cabin of the ship, vibrating the Sea Mist's towering chimney and every intricate pipe inside. In this whistle like a war horn, In the roar, all the sailors took action.
The elevator creaked and operated, sending propellant packages and heavy artillery shells into the combat ammunition depot under the fort. The steam pipes roared endlessly, sending holy gas into various key institutions and blessing areas. Sailors walked between the decks and corridors, Each enters a combat position.
When the whistle sounded for the second time, the copper bell rang in the chapel at the stern of the Seamist. The bell that symbolized the blessing of the Storm Goddess rang, so that the gift of Gemona came to this ship, which was regarded as a "curse" by the world. ” on the terrifying battleship.
On the other main battleships of the Sea Fog Fleet, similar bells and whistles also sounded - the bells of the shipboard churches echoed in the fog, vaguely seeming to have a mysterious resonance, in unison. The ringing of the bells even began to interfere with reality, causing the dense fog on the sea to show signs of lightening and dissipating.
At the same time, along with the actions of the Sea Fog Fleet, the Frost Navy patrolling the nearby patrol waters also responded - the flag was raised, the lights flashed, the whistle and the bells of the ship's church were reflected in the fog. Echo!
At this moment, half a century of entanglement and hostility between the two fleets finally gave in to this vision that descended on everyone. Under the strange and dangerous fog blockade, the navy built by the living and the fleet dominated by the undead It has become the only force that can still rely on each other.
No one knows when and in what form the enemy will appear, but everyone knows that every strange ship that appears on this sea next is an enemy.
Even every "friendly ship" that refuses to respond to communications is also an enemy.
The enemy is the sea itself.
Everyone's nerves are tense, waiting for changes in the fog, waiting for new news from Frost Island, or any other possible intelligence and instructions, and this depressing wait does not last indefinitely. After a while, Tirian, who was taking command on the Sea Mist, suddenly had a strange feeling.
He seemed to feel a gaze, but this gaze did not come from any specific direction - it was like a gaze that spanned time rather than space, cast from the long past, and falling quietly on him.
He raised his head in astonishment and subconsciously looked around the bridge of the Sea Mist.
First mate Aiden is communicating with the boatswain, and the correspondent is communicating with the Frost Navy about the coordinates of their respective ships. The old black-robed priest has rushed from the chapel and is praying with his eyes closed next to the gunnery chief's seat - thick The fog blocks the view of the sea, and the spiritual guidance of the priest will be the warship's greatest reliance when fighting the enemy in the fog.
Farther away, a figure was standing quietly by the porthole.
In a daze, Tirian recalled a scene half a century ago - in that already yellowed memory, Her Majesty the Queen had personally boarded the battleship. At that time, the Sea Mist had not experienced the growth of the past fifty years. , it still has another older and more vicissitudes of appearance, and the queen stands in that position, staring at the distant sea for a long time.
From that position, she issued the order to keep the Sea Mist Fleet away from Frost in three days.
Now, the figure slowly turned his head and gave another order.
"Tyrion, defend Frost."
After half a century, the second order finally arrived.
Tirian woke up suddenly, feeling his heart pounding, his eyes burning and stinging as if he had looked directly at some knowledge close to the "truth", and the noise in his mind was also roaring and vibrating, and before he could think carefully about what he just saw, Was that scene an illusion or something else? The urgent alarm bell suddenly sounded on the bridge, interrupting all his thoughts.
While the ringing was ringing loudly, he could already see the scene on the sea in the distance from the corner of his eye - in the mist, a huge ship silhouette was emerging from the thick fog, as if the sea itself was rising upwards, shaping a past. ghost.
The mast of the "Ghost" is towering, and the old chimney structure is like the coral growing on the back of a sea beast. It is slowly adjusting its direction and moving towards the flank of the Sea Mist Fleet.
So close that spiritual guidance from a priest is not even needed.
"Visual unit appears! Silhouette identification, third-party ship!" the observer shouted loudly.
"Fire," Tirian stepped back to his captain's seat, his voice as majestic and cold as an iceberg, "Except for the ships already on the identification list, everything that appears on this sea is an enemy."
In an instant, artillery roared and thunder exploded!
On the Sea Fog, the three main turrets at the best shooting angles launched bombardments one after another. The heavy armor-piercing shells that had been ready for launch flew out of the gun barrels amidst the thunder and turned into a raging fire falling from the sky in the thick fog. The meteor hit the ship shadow that appeared in the fog in the distance!
And almost at the same time that the Sea Fog launched its attack, the roar of artillery one after another came from the fog - it sounded like distant thunder. In a series of flashes of fire, lines of fire cut through the fog, heading towards The sea area where the Sea Fog was located was falling sharply.
Tirui sat quietly on the captain's seat, squinting his eyes slightly, listening to the distant roar, and calculating the flight of the cannonballs.
It's an old-fashioned 356mm main gun with four triple mounts... Which old friend is it?
The "Duke of Loon" that once performed the Queen's escort mission? Or the "Knight" that sank heroically against the Children of the Deep in the storm? Or... the "Warrior"?
The whistling sound was like the wail of a banshee. The thunder falling from the sky shattered the remaining calm on the sea. The huge explosion stirred up water columns dozens of stories high. Even the thick fog lingering on the sea was torn to pieces in the shock wave. , turned into countless pale turbulence.
None of the shells flying from the opposite side of the dense fog landed near the Sea Fog, and the same was true for the Sea Fog's first bombardment.
"It's the Knight, pay attention to its side rapid-fire cannons." Tirian opened his eyes. His voice was not loud, but it was clearly heard in the ears of every soldier. "This distance is enough for the rapid-fire cannons to exert their power." Now - the steam core is pressurized to increase the distance."
"Yes! The steam core is pressurized! Keep the distance!"
The "heart" in the depths of the Sea Fog let out a low roar, and the entire ship began to accelerate and slowly turn. On the nearby sea, large tracts of ice floes began to emerge rapidly, spreading rapidly in all directions like some kind of living thing. , building a battlefield favorable to the Sea Mist.
Just as the ship began to maneuver, out of the corner of his eye, Tirian suddenly noticed another firelight coming out of the porthole on the other side, accompanied by a distant shadow.
First Officer Aiden immediately shouted: "Second ship found, no radio response, not on the identification list!"
Before Aiden finished speaking, another low roar came from the distance.
"Third ship! Not on the identification list!"
"A communication came from the Sea Crow. They have fought multiple enemies!"
"A communication came from the Frost Navy, and a battle broke out offshore of the city-state!"
"The first and second main guns give priority to dealing with the Knight, and the third main gun and long-range secondary guns deal with other enemies that appear within the range," Tirian's voice did not change at all because of the enemies appearing one after another on the sea. He just still calmly stared at the silhouette of the ship in the depths of the thick fog that was still firing its cannons and approaching against the ice floes. "Don't worry about how many enemies there are - all strange things that appear on the sea are enemies. This is just the beginning."
First mate Aiden also spoke loudly: "Listen to the captain, shoot whatever appears on the sea. Even if these old guys come back to life, they are no match for the Sea Fog Fleet. Keep firing!"
Following the order from the bridge, all the main and secondary guns of the Sea Fog began to fire round after round, and the scorching fire light ignited the dark and chaotic fog again and again.
And amidst the roar of artillery, more unrecognized ships began to appear on this vast sea!
As Tyrion said - this is just the beginning.
The mirror frost is rising, and the borders of reality are blurring in the fog. Things that once sank in this sea are entering reality in the form of replicas on a large scale!
And everything that appears on this sea next is an enemy!
"Let's make a big fuss!" Aiden's loud voice like a broken gong shouted on the bridge. The bald man had an almost ferocious smile on his face. It was obvious that he had not had such a hearty battle for a long time, "Bring it on Let all the evil fire of these fifty years be vented, brothers, and open the eyes of those sissies in the Navy! Let them see what the Sea Mist Fleet is..."
Suddenly, the first mate's noisy voice stopped abruptly. It was as if his throat was being strangled by invisible hands, and his eyes suddenly widened and stared in a certain direction - and the next second, Tirian knew why he was There will be this reaction.
Another ship shadow suddenly appeared in the dense fog nearby, and then rushed directly into the battlefield at an almost lightning speed. The ship shadow was different from any enemy that had appeared so far. It was different from Tirian's recognition. Any famous ship in Zhizhong——
It was a solid black mist, a tangible shadow, a nothingness that vaguely looked like a ship! It broke through the thick fog like some kind of weird shadow reflected in the mirror, roaring straight towards it. Compared with the weird shape of this "shadow ship", the crew of the Sea Mist instantly made the crew of the Sea Fog even more confused. What was as silent as a cicada was the "shadow" of the ship reflected in the sea.
It turned out to be another ship, a "ghost ship" that was surrounded by green fire. In the eyes of all the members of the Sea Fog Fleet, it was even weirder and more terrifying than the phantom!
The "twin ships" with the sea as a mirror suddenly ran out and roared across the sea. One was smoking billowing black smoke on the sea, and the other was burning green fire under the sea. It almost touched the sea. Speeding past the side of the Sea Mist, in the blink of an eye he had reached the other end of the battlefield.
Tirian dared to swear to his father that he had never seen a large ship with such an outrageous speed in his life!
(End of chapter)
