Deep Sea Embers

A steel battleship with a towering bow is sailing on the vast sea, and a thin layer of cold mist is lingering within a few hundred meters around the steel battleship - this fog is like the sea fog entwined in the frozen sea in the north. It's like a curse on the ship. Even though this place has reached the relatively warm central sea area, the coldness in the mist still lingers.

On the deck of the steel battleship, six triple-mounted giant main guns and dozens of large and small secondary guns are ready for battle. The undead sailors, lingering in the cold air, are nervously and busily walking between various facilities, preparing for Prepare for possible fighting;

On the lower deck of the battleship, the elevator of the ammunition depot is operating in Kerala, continuously feeding propellant packets and shells into the turret transfer warehouse. Sailors are also operating pipeline hubs located everywhere to check the presence of sacred steam and grease on the ship. The transportation and pressure conditions everywhere;

At the rear of the battleship, a small church has lit its independent boiler. The steam pipe on the top of the church is emitting bursts of mist into the sky. Along with the whistle of the church, the smell of incense is mixed with the steam and gradually erupts. Let this breath cover the whole deck;

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An undead priest wearing a gloomy robe stood in the prayer room of the ship's church, solemnly lighting the incense and candles in front of the statue of the goddess. This skinned, pale priest looked very old, and his skull was The side of his body was sunken, and the corresponding half of his body was in a strange wet state, as if it was still soaked in sea water. In his eyes, two dark clouds seemed to be brewing forever in the white eyeballs, in which the lake was reflected. The dancing candle flames in front of the statue of the goddess.

In front of this priest is the icon of the storm goddess Gmorna - the goddess protects every ship on the endless sea, even if the ship is controlled by the dead, and the base of this icon is located on a huge At the top of the pipe, there are a large number of small pipes around the base that spread out like blood vessels and extend to all parts of the church. The lower part is buried deep in the ship's hull, penetrating through the layers of cabins and reaching the pressurized water tank - that Directly connected to the boundless sea, the darkest, coldest cabin.

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

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

The pastor retracted his gaze to look at the icon, but he couldn't help but have thoughts related to the Lost Home and the ship-based church in front of him floating in his heart.

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

"May you protect us," the priest lowered his head and prayed devoutly to the goddess. "We will confront the shadow of subspace head-on. Please bear witness..."

The bell on the side suddenly rang, and a small light flashed 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, the captain of the Sea Mist, Tyrian Abnomar, was standing quietly on the captain's seat, looking at the seemingly calm sea in the distance.

There was a slight pain in his eye sockets, and a disturbing low murmur echoed in his mind, and next to him was a brass machine with an exquisite and complex structure. The machine consisted of a large number of intermeshing gears and several delicate The compass is composed of many arc tracks, with a small hemispherical bowl supported by three copper pillars at its center.

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

First mate Aiden walked over from the side, nodded to Tirian and said: "Captain, all units are ready. Feedback has just come from the church, and the goddess has sent down her blessing."

"...The Homeless Ship is just ahead," Tirian said softly as if talking to himself, then looked back at the brass machinery beside him, "I think 'he' should have felt me ​​too."

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

The pale-skinned bald man had a deep voice: "The blood-seeking compass will guide those connected by blood to reunite, but this item will never bring good luck or reunion...it only points to fighting and desolation."

"It's just right for this situation," Tirian said calmly, and at the end of his field of vision, a misty black spot seemed to have vaguely emerged, "...it's really coming, pointing straight at Plande."

"We can start firing," the first mate couldn't help but remind him, "Actually, that was enough just now."

"...No, keep getting closer until you reach close range." Tirian shook his head. "We already tried it once half a century ago. Shelling from a certain distance will never fall on the Homeless Ship. , that ship was affected by some kind of distortion of time and space, and there were gaps and misalignments 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 in his hand, hung it back on his waist, and then continued to hold the steering wheel tightly.

He saw the ship.

The Sea Fog, as its name suggests, was surrounded by a thin layer of ice fog, which didn't look like a normal phenomenon.

But what really surprised him was not the layer of ice fog that seemed to be related to extraordinary phenomena, but the attitude of the ship itself. It was a steel battleship that looked very advanced, with thick armor and a towering chimney. , a bridge structure with reasonable structure and elegant style, as well as an advanced multi-mounted turret reminiscent of the main gun of a battleship.

None of this looks like something that a ship from a century ago could be equipped with - even if it were to be modified, it would be hard to imagine how a sail warship could be modified to look like this.

This reminded him of some rumors related to the Sea Mist and the Brilliant Star that he had learned while inquiring around the city-state.

For example, Tirian's warships will eat the metal on the seabed and the wreckage of the defeated, and grow and transform themselves in the middle of the night when no one is watching.

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

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

The Sea Mist had no intention of giving in, and seemed to be ready for battle. The Lost Home had no time to take a detour, and a head-on confrontation seemed inevitable.

He didn't understand naval warfare, but in theory he didn't have to worry about combat - the artillery on the Lost Home could take care of everything else.

He was just a little... dazed, with a bit of nervousness and... expectation in his dazed state.

Tyrion Abnomar, captain of the Seamist and one of Captain Duncan's sons.

Theoretically, Duncan is now the father of the pirate leader.

He never thought that he would encounter the Sea Mist in this situation... Shouldn't that ship stay in the cold sea? Shouldn't I be busy robbing houses and collecting protection fees in that icy sea? What is it doing here?

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

It's impossible even to think about.

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

"Captain," the goat-headed voice suddenly came, sounding a little... excited, "The Seamist has begun to enter a shooting posture. Do we need to adjust its direction?"

Adjust the orientation, try to avoid the first round of direct fire coverage of the opponent's artillery, and enter the combat position with the smallest hull projection, while allowing as many of your own artillery as possible to enter the shooting angle - Goat Head is obviously ready for an artillery battle. Be prepared.

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

"The Sea Fog is a good opponent. First of all, it can't beat us. Secondly, it dares to fight us." The goat-headed voice was a little happy. "Finally, it's also very durable - that ship is full of living dead, even the ship." They all have a little bit of the 'immortal and unsinkable' quality to them. If Homeless wants to stretch his muscles, there is no better person than that."

"...In short, the child resists being beaten, right?" Duncan said casually, and at this moment, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly noticed a few clouds and mist emerging on the sea in the distance, and surrounding the Sea Mist Spread out slowly.

After a while, he suddenly heard a sharp whistling sound coming from high in the sky, and it rushed towards the location of the Homeless Ship with a powerful momentum.

The Sea Mist took the lead in firing - as a technologically more advanced steel battleship, that ship had a range advantage. Even if it was delayed to the close-range firing range, it could still launch an attack before the Lost Home.

Duncan couldn't help but feel nervous. Then, he saw huge water columns rising one after another on the sea near the Lost Home. Each bombardment of the powerful battleship-level main gun had astonishing power. Those giant water columns even The huge hull of the Homeless Ship shook slightly.

But not a single shot fell on the Homeless - all the Seamist's first shots failed.

Duncan watched the water columns falling one by one, and after thinking about it, he thought that this might be a normal situation in naval battles - without guided weapons and modern fire control computers, the hit rate of the ship's artillery should be at this level.