The cannons roared, hot shells whistled and fell from the sky, huge columns of water rose one after another in and outside the harbor, some of which almost brushed the side of the White Oak, the sea surface was churning and surging, and the whole ship was shaking due to the impact, making an uneasy, creaking sound.
Lawrence and first mate Gus led twelve sailors to climb the rope ladder and returned safely to the deck of the White Oak. Behind them, Dagger Island was still shrouded in thick fog, but a chaotic wind suddenly blew over the deserted port, and the fog swirled and rolled in the wind, as if full of malice, as if angered by the uninvited guests.
The boatswain came running over in a hurry. This tall seaman had a nervous look on his face and was holding a rifle in his hand (although it was of no use in a naval battle). He came to Lawrence and quickly confirmed the captain's condition. Then he breathed a sigh of relief: "Great! You're finally back - we heard a thunderous sound coming from the island before, and you didn't come back. The second mate thought something had happened to you..."
The scene that just happened at the dock square flashed through Lawrence's mind. He remembered the four extra sailors and the sudden green flames, and a complicated expression appeared on his face.
Something had indeed happened, and it was a big deal - but now was obviously not the time to explain.
"Let's not talk about that for now," he shook his head, "What's the situation now? Where is Jason?"
"The second mate is directing the battle on the bridge. We are engaging a warship of unknown origin," the boatswain said quickly. "The ship opened fire on us as soon as it appeared from a long distance away, and has been approaching us. The stern was just hit by a cannon. Fortunately, the damage is not serious, but we must leave quickly. The White Oak is no match for the battleship."
"Get out of here, now." Lawrence said quickly.
The steam core emitted a low roar, and the boiling gold catalyst began to release surging energy. The powerful power mechanism drove the propeller, allowing the White Oak to speed up and leave this strange port. Amid the falling shells and water columns nearby, this advanced cargo exploration ship with a white hull continued to accelerate, leaving Dagger Island in a thick fog.
However, the attackers kept pursuing.
Lawrence came to the bridge and observed the situation on the sea through the large window at the rear side of the bridge. At the end of the vast sea, he could clearly see the silhouette of the attacker - a not-too-large warship, which was chasing this side while continuously firing its main gun at the bow. The bright flashes 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 survive the attack until now.
Unfortunately, the ship was traveling at an extremely fast speed, and even though 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 picking up speed.
"We can't shake it off," the first mate said in a desperate tone, "It's too fast... but our firepower is no match for a warship!"
Lawrence said nothing, but thought rapidly.
From a classification perspective, the White Oak is indeed a civilian ship, but this does not mean that it is a lamb to be slaughtered - as a special exploration ship capable of sailing for a long time on the vast ocean and transporting sealed items between city-states, it 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 a battleship of the same level.
What it lacked was only firepower - after all, as a civilian ship, it could at most be equipped with a few small-caliber cannons for fighting against small groups of pirates or sea monsters. It was simply not capable of fighting against warships.
Judging from the current situation, the White Oak will be caught up sooner or later - when the two ships are closer, the opponent's artillery fire hit rate will not be so low.
No matter how strong a ship's structure is, it won't last long if it's used as a target.
A sharp whistling sound suddenly came from afar, and the loud bang that followed interrupted Lawrence's thoughts. He felt a buzzing in his ears and the ground shaking under his feet. In the corner of his eye, he saw a fireball suddenly rising from the side of the White Oak, and broken metal fragments and deck structures collapsed everywhere.
The boatswain shouted, "The broadside has been hit... put out the fire!"
Lawrence managed to keep his body steady 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 the cargo list!"
"Cargo list?" The first mate was stunned for a moment, then he understood the captain's intention. His expression became extremely conflicted and solemn, but he immediately followed the order and handed 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 sealing chamber and bring the sealed object 'Anomaly 077' to the bridge," he raised his head and quickly ordered the first mate, "Prepare a clean shroud and a new noose, and be ready for a second seal at any time."
The first mate's face was tense. Although he had expected this to happen, he still seemed particularly hesitant: "Captain, this..."
"This is an emergency. This is the only way," Lawrence said with a serious face. "Unsealing the seals on the ship to resolve crises under special circumstances has precedents. If the church wants to investigate, I will explain to them."
The first mate seemed to want to say something, but facing the old captain's serious gaze, he swallowed back what he wanted to say and finally nodded vigorously: "Yes, Captain!"
The order was quickly executed, and several sailors who were responsible for handling sealed objects ran to the special area on the lower deck, opened the No. 2 sealed room, and lifted the seal of the room according to the containment rules of Anomaly 077.
A moment later, amid the roar of artillery fire, several sailors brought Anomaly 077 to the bridge and placed what the captain wanted in front of Lawrence.
Lawrence lowered his head, looking at the "abnormal items" that the sailors brought out of the sealed room with an extremely serious expression.
It was a dried corpse tightly wrapped in a shroud.
Anomaly 077-Sailor.
Lawrence knew the information about every item of cargo on his ship, including this anomaly.
Anomaly 077 first appeared on an expedition ship that had mysteriously disappeared for three years, and was believed to be the culprit that caused the accident of the expedition ship. This anomaly looks like a mummy, about 1.7 meters tall. When unsealed, it will show the characteristics of a "living thing" 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 nearest ship and take over all functions of the ship in a short period of time, regardless of any environmental conditions, ship types, or control technology restrictions. Once the takeover is completed, it will cause the ship to be teleported randomly - the whole process only takes a few minutes, and a ship of any size will be sent to a random corner of the vast ocean under the influence of the "sailor".
But this kind of teleportation is not a safe journey - the ship teleported by Anomaly 077 will definitely appear in the center of a big storm.
No one knows whether Anomaly 077 specifically chose the 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 in the large number of recorded teleportation events, only a small number of ships can safely leave the storm at the "landing point".
More ships and hundreds of unfortunate people became victims of Anomaly 077.
However, according to the information Lawrence had, Anomaly 077 itself was actually not difficult to deal with - although the escaped Anomaly 077 would unconditionally activate its abilities before the teleportation was completed, it could be easily re-sealed once the teleportation was completed. Just put a new noose around its neck and it would immediately stop moving, then wrap it in a shroud and it would fall back into sleep - this mummy did not have any powers beyond humans, and its combat effectiveness was not strong.
At that point, all the crew of the White Oak would have to do was to figure out how to fight a storm—and Lawrence and his sailors had fought countless storms before.
Lawrence bent down and slowly placed his hand on the shroud of Anomaly 077.
The crew on the bridge watched the scene nervously.
Lawrence took a deep breath and untied the shroud's cord.
A slight inhalation sound reached his ears almost instantly.
The sound came from the wrapped mummy.
The shroud loosened, as if an invisible force had untied all the ropes in an instant, and the true appearance of Anomaly 077 was exposed to everyone's gaze - a mummy wearing an old-time sailor's smock, with sparse and falling hair, and a body that was shriveled and almost a skeleton, lying quietly on the ground.
The chest of the mummy was rising and falling slightly, and the rise and fall became more and more obvious. In the end, Lawrence even thought he could hear the other's heartbeat and breathing.
Anomaly 077 is freed - the sailor wakes up from the seal.
The mummy slowly opened its eyes, then sat up bit by bit with its stiff body, its joints crackling.
"You will be in charge of this ship for now," Lawrence gritted his teeth and said with a complicated expression, "Take us away from here."
Anomaly 077 sat up straight, looked around slowly, and finally his eyes fell on Lawrence.
For some reason, Lawrence suddenly felt as if he saw a hint of fear on that shriveled and terrifying face.
Then he saw that the mummy actually trembled.
“Stop… stop making trouble!”
A hoarse, frightened cry came from the mummy's mouth, and the next second he closed his eyes in full view of everyone and lay down pretending to be dead.
It even reached out and tugged at the scattered shroud beside it, as if it wanted to secretly wrap the cloth around its body again.
Lawrence: “……?”
Sailors: “……?”