A steel battleship with a towering bow was sailing on the vast ocean, and a thin, floating cold fog was lingering and fluctuating within a range of hundreds of meters around the steel battleship - this fog was like a curse cast by the frozen sea in the north on the Sea Mist. Even though this place had arrived in the relatively warm central sea, the coldness in the fog still lingered.

On the deck of the steel battleship, six giant triple-mounted main guns and dozens of secondary guns of various sizes were already in combat readiness. Undead sailors, shrouded in cold air, were busy moving between various facilities, preparing for a possible battle.

On the lower deck of the battleship, the elevators in the ammunition depot were running smoothly, continuously delivering propellant bags and shells to the turret transfer warehouse. Sailors were also operating the pipeline hubs located in various places, checking the delivery and pressure of the sacred steam and grease in various parts of the ship.

At the rear of the battleship, a small church had already ignited its independent boiler. The steam pipe on top of the church was spewing out clouds of mist into the sky. Along with the sound of the church's whistle, the scent of incense mixed with the steam was also spewing out, gradually enveloping the entire deck.

An undead priest in gloomy robes stood in the prayer room of the shipboard church, and solemnly lit the incense and candles in front of the statue of the goddess. This priest with dry skin and pale face looked very old. One side of his skull was sunken, and the corresponding half of his body was in a weird wet state as if it was still soaked in sea water. In his eyes, there seemed to be two dark clouds brewing eternally in his white eyeballs, in which the flickering candle flame in front of the statue of the goddess was vaguely reflected.

In front of the priest was the statue of the storm goddess Gemona - the goddess protected every ship on the boundless sea, even if the ship was helmed by the dead, and the base of the statue was located on top of a huge pipe. There were a large number of tiny pipes around the base that spread out like blood vessels and extended to various parts of the church. The lower part of the statue was buried deep in the hull, penetrating through layers of cabins and directly connected to the water tank - the darkest and coldest cabin directly connected to the boundless sea.

A fully functional shipboard church, a separate church boiler, and sacred steam pipes running through all decks have been standard equipment for every warship that needs to sail and fight on the vast ocean for a long time since the major military technological innovation of various city-states in 1835. These facilities can effectively prevent a ship from suffering from mental pollution in a high-pressure, harsh, and continuous casualty combat environment, or being captured by the subspace due to a collective mental breakdown of sailors.

From a certain perspective, the beginning of the great technological revolution in 1835 can even be traced back thirty-five years, all the way to the "Lost Homeland Incident" in 1800. The most advanced exploration ship in human history and the best explorers rushed directly into the subspace after a long voyage, which directly stimulated everyone who paid attention to the field of navigation.

The priest withdrew his gaze from the holy image, but his mind could not help but be filled with thoughts about the Lost Homeland and the ship-borne church before him.

His cold and numb brain and his heart that had stopped beating for half a century were both restless about what was about to happen.

"May you protect us," the priest bowed his head and prayed devoutly to the goddess, "We will confront the shadow of the warp head-on, please witness..."

The doorbell nearby suddenly rang, and a small light flickered in front of the communication station.

The pastor came to the communication station and turned on the copper pipe corresponding to the small light: "This is the church... Yes, the grease and steam are there, and the blessing has arrived."

On the bridge, Captain Tirian Abnomar of the Sea Mist was standing quietly in the captain's seat, looking out at the seemingly calm sea in the distance.

His eye sockets ached slightly, and a disturbing low murmur echoed in his head. Next to him was a brass machine with an exquisite and complex structure. The machine was composed of a large number of intermeshing gears, several exquisite compasses and many circular tracks. At the center was a small hemispherical bowl supported by three copper pillars.

At this moment, the small bowl contained about one third of blood, which was boiling and tumbling. The entire brass machine was also vibrating, constantly fine-tuning the angles of each gear and compass, with its multiple pointers pointing far into the distance.

First mate Aiden came over and nodded to Tirian, saying, "Captain, all units are ready. The church just sent a response that the goddess has bestowed her blessing."

"…The Lost Homeland is just ahead," Tirian said softly, as if talking to himself, and then looked back at the brass machine beside him, "I think 'he' should have sensed me, too."

First mate Aiden's eyes also fell on the brass machinery, especially on the boiling blood.

The pale-skinned bald man said in a low voice: "The Blood Compass will guide those who are connected by blood to reunite, but this item will never bring good luck and reunion... It only points to fighting and desolation."

"It fits the situation," Tirian said lightly, and at the end of his vision, a vague black dot seemed to have emerged faintly, "...it really came, pointing straight at Plunder."

"We can fire now," the first mate couldn't help but remind him, "In fact, we could have just now."

"... No, keep getting closer until we are within close range," Tirian shook his head. "We have already tried this half a century ago. Bombs fired from a certain distance will never hit the Lost Homeland. The ship is affected by some kind of time-space distortion, and there is a fault and dislocation in the connection with the real dimension."

Aiden lowered his head: "...Yes, the Sea Mist will continue to move forward."

※※※

Duncan put down the monocular telescope in his hand, hung it back around his waist, and continued to hold the steering wheel tightly.

He saw the ship.

The ship, Sea Mist, as its name suggests, is surrounded by a thin layer of ice fog, which does not look normal.

But what really surprised him was not the ice fog that seemed to be related to the supernatural phenomenon, but the attitude of the ship itself -

It was a steel battleship that looked very advanced, with heavy armor, towering chimneys, a well-structured and imposing bridge structure, and advanced multiple-gun turrets that were reminiscent of the main guns of a battleship.

All of this doesn't look like something that a ship from a century ago could be equipped with - even if it was a modification, it's hard to imagine how a sailing warship could be modified to look like this.

This reminded him of some rumors about the Sea Mist and the Brilliant Star that he had learned from various sources in the city-state.

For example, the ships of Tyrian would devour the metal of the sea and the wreckage of the defeated, growing and reforming themselves in the midnight when no one was watching.

Now it seems that the birth of these rumors makes sense - just like if you want to explain why a Type 59 suddenly made a superluminal jump, you can only say that the machine soul is very happy...

Duncan shook his head, temporarily putting aside the ridiculous thoughts in his mind.

The Sea Mist had no intention of retreating and seemed ready for battle. The Lost Hometown had no time to maneuver, and a head-on confrontation seemed inevitable.

He didn't understand naval warfare, but in theory he didn't have to worry about the battle - the artillery on the Lost Homeland could handle everything that happened next.

He was just a little... dazed, and in his dazed state there was a bit of nervousness and... anticipation.

Tirian Abnomer, Captain of the Sea Mist, one of Captain Duncan's two children.

In theory, Duncan's current identity is the father of the pirate leader.

He never thought that he would come face to face with the Sea Mist under such circumstances...Shouldn't that ship be staying in the cold sea? Shouldn't it be busy robbing and collecting protection fees in that icy sea? Why did it come here?

Tirian looking for his father? A loving father and a filial son?

It's impossible to even think about it.

Captain Duncan's story sounds like the path of family misfortune.

"Captain," the goat-headed man's voice suddenly came, sounding a little...excited, "The Sea Mist has begun to enter a firing stance. Should we adjust our direction?"

Adjust the direction to avoid the first round of direct fire from the enemy's artillery and enter the combat position with the smallest ship projection, while allowing as many of your own artillery as possible to enter the firing angle - Goat Head is obviously ready for an artillery battle.

Duncan raised his eyebrows: "You sound like you are looking forward to it?"

"The Sea Mist is a good opponent. First, it can't beat us. Second, it dares to fight us," the goat-head voice was a little cheerful. "Finally, it is very durable. The ship is full of zombies. Even the ship itself has a bit of the 'unsinkable' property. If the Lost Homeland wants to stretch its muscles, there is no better target than it."

"...In short, the kid is tough, right?" Duncan said casually, and at this moment, he suddenly noticed from the corner of his eye that several clouds appeared on the sea in the distance and slowly dispersed around the Sea Mist.

After a while, he suddenly heard a sharp whistling sound coming from the sky, and it was carrying some powerful momentum and heading straight for the location of the Lost Hometown.

The Sea Mist fired first - as a more technologically advanced steel battleship, that ship had the advantage of range, and even if it delayed firing until it reached close range, it could still launch an attack before the Lost Hometown.

Duncan couldn't help but feel nervous for a moment, and then he saw huge water columns rising one after another on the sea near the Lost Homeland. Every bombardment of the powerful battleship-class main guns had amazing power. Those huge water columns even made the huge hull of the Lost Homeland shake slightly.

But not a single shot landed on the Lost Homeland - all of the Sea Mist's first volleys of fire missed.

Duncan looked at the water columns falling one by one, thought about it, and felt that this might be a normal situation in naval battles - in the absence of guided weapons and modern fire control computers, the hit rate of ship artillery should be around this level.