Chapter 383

Chapter 383: Anomaly 077.

The cannons roared. Scorching shells screamed down from the sky. Huge columns of water rose again and again inside and outside the harbor. Some pillars almost grazed the White Oak’s hull. The sea churned and heaved. The whole ship shook from the impacts and gave off worrying creaks.

Lawrence and First Mate Gus led the twelve sailors up the rope ladder and, with some scares but no accidents, climbed back onto the White Oak’s deck. Behind them, Dagger Island was still buried in thick fog. Over the empty harbor, a chaotic wind suddenly rose. The fog rolled and twisted in the gusts, as if full of malice, as if angered by uninvited guests.

The boatswain ran over in a rush. The tall seafarer’s face was tight with worry. He clutched a rifle in his hands, even though it was almost useless in a sea battle. He stopped in front of Lawrence, quickly checked the captain’s condition, and finally let out a breath. “Good! You are finally back. We heard thunder-like sounds from the island, and you still were not returning. The second mate thought something had happened to you…”

Scenes from the plaza by the docks flashed through Lawrence’s mind. He remembered the four extra sailors and the sudden green flames. A complicated look came to his face.

Something had happened, and it was no small thing. But this was clearly not the time to explain.

“Leave that for now,” he said, shaking his head. “What is the situation? Where is Jason?”

“The second mate is on the bridge, commanding the fight. We are trading fire with an unknown warship,” the boatswain said quickly. “The moment that ship showed up in the distance, it opened fire on us and has been closing in ever since. The stern took a hit just now. Luckily the damage is not too bad, but we have to get out of here. The White Oak cannot match a warship.”

“Leave this place. Now,” Lawrence said at once.

The steam core gave a low roar as the Boiling Gold catalyst began to release its surging power. The strong propulsion system drove the propellers, pushing the White Oak to speed up and leave the eerie harbor. Between the falling columns of water from the nearby shells, the advanced white-hulled cargo and exploration ship kept accelerating and left Dagger Island behind in the fog.

However, the attacker did not give up the chase.

Lawrence went up to the bridge and watched the sea through the wide side window. At the far edge of the misty ocean, he saw the outline of their attacker clearly. It was a warship that was not especially large. It chased them while the main gun at its bow kept firing, bright flashes stabbing again and again through the dark sky that covered the whole area.

Fortunately, it was a small ship and not a heavily armed battleship. Otherwise the White Oak could never have lasted this long.

Unfortunately, that ship was very fast. Even as the White Oak’s speed kept rising, Lawrence could tell it would catch up sooner or later.

It was even still speeding up.

“We cannot shake it,” the first mate said, his tone close to despair. “It is too fast… and our guns could never match a warship’s.”

Lawrence did not answer. He just thought quickly.

By category, the White Oak was indeed a civilian vessel, but that did not mean it was a sheep waiting for slaughter. As a special-purpose exploration ship that could sail the Boundless Sea for long periods and carry sealed objects between city-states, it had a military-grade steam core and an anti-sinking structure. Its keel, hull at the waterline, and superstructure had all been specially reinforced. In terms of hull strength alone, it was no weaker than a warship of the same size.

What it lacked was firepower. As a civilian ship, it could only mount a few small-caliber guns meant to fight off small bands of pirates or sea monsters. Those guns were no match for a warship’s artillery.

From the look of things, the White Oak would be overtaken sooner or later. Once the distance shrank, the enemy’s shots would not miss so often.

No matter how strong a hull was, it could not last long as a target under constant fire.

A sharp whistling sound rushed toward them from afar. The booming crash that followed cut off Lawrence’s thoughts. His ears rang and the deck shook under his feet. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a fireball blossom along the White Oak’s side as broken metal and deck planks flew apart.

The boatswain shouted: “Hit on the side! Put out the fire!”

Lawrence steadied himself on the rocking deck. His expression changed quickly, as if he had made a decision.

“The cargo manifest,” he said, lifting his head to the first mate who was keeping order on the bridge. “Bring me the cargo manifest.”

“The cargo manifest?” The first mate hesitated for a moment, then understood what the captain meant. His face became very conflicted and grim, but he still obeyed at once and brought a logbook to Lawrence.

Lawrence opened the book and scanned it quickly, then stopped on one line.

“Open sealed vault Two. Bring sealed object Anomaly 077 to the bridge,” he said, looking up and issuing the order. “Prepare a clean shroud and a new noose. Be ready to reseal it at any time.”

The first mate’s face tightened. He had already guessed this might happen, yet he still hesitated. “Captain, this…”

“The situation is urgent. We have no other choice,” Lawrence said sternly. “There is precedent for unsealing a sealed object on board to solve a crisis. If the Church wants to hold someone responsible later, I will explain it to them.”

The first mate seemed about to say more, but under the old captain’s serious gaze he swallowed his words and nodded hard. “Yes, Captain.”

The order was carried out quickly. Several seafarers assigned to handle sealed objects ran to a special section below decks, opened sealed vault Two, and lifted the room’s seal according to Anomaly 077’s containment rules.

Moments later, amid the thunder of the guns, several sailors carried Anomaly 077 onto the bridge and set the item the captain had asked for before Lawrence.

Lawrence lowered his head and stared at the Anomaly the sailors had brought from the sealed vault, his expression very grave.

It was a mummified corpse tightly wrapped in the shroud.

It was Anomaly 077, the Sailor.

Lawrence knew the details of every piece of cargo in his ship’s hold. That naturally included this Anomaly.

Anomaly 077 had first been found on an exploration ship that had mysteriously vanished for three years. It was believed to be the main cause of that ship’s loss. On the outside, this Anomaly looked like a mummified corpse about 1.7 meters tall. When unsealed, it behaved like a living being, able to think and speak with people. Its power matched its “identity” very closely.

As a “sailor,” it tried to influence the ship closest to it, ignoring all environmental conditions, ship types, or control systems. In a short time it could take over all of a vessel’s functions. Once it had full control, it would make the ship perform a random teleportation. In just a few minutes, any ship, no matter its size, would be sent to a random corner of the Boundless Sea under the Sailor’s influence.

But that teleportation was no calm journey. Any ship teleported by Anomaly 077 would appear at the heart of a great storm.

No one knew whether Anomaly 077 chose storms on purpose as the landing points for its teleportations or created a storm just for the jump. The only certain thing was that among the many recorded teleportation events, only a small part of the ships had managed to sail safely out of the storm at the drop point.

Many more ships, and hundreds or thousands of unlucky people, had become Anomaly 077’s victims.

Even so, the information Lawrence had said that Anomaly 077 itself was not hard to handle. Before the teleportation finished, the freed Anomaly would use its power no matter what. But once the teleportation was over, it was easy to seal again. As soon as a new noose was placed around its neck, it would instantly stop moving. Wrap it up in the shroud and it would fall back into sleep. This mummified corpse had no strength beyond that of a human and was not strong in a fight.

At that point, the White Oak’s crew would only need to deal with a storm. And Lawrence and his sailors had faced countless storms before.

Lawrence bent down and slowly laid his hand on Anomaly 077’s shroud.

The crew on the bridge watched the scene with tense faces.

Lawrence took a deep breath and loosened the knots on the shroud.

A faint sound of someone drawing a breath reached his ears almost at once.

The sound came from within the wrapped mummified corpse.

The shroud loosened as if some invisible force had undone every knot in an instant. Anomaly 077’s true form was revealed to everyone. A mummified corpse lay still on the floor, wearing an Old Era sailor’s smock, with thinning hair and a dried, almost skeletal body.

The corpse’s chest rose and fell slightly, and the motion grew clearer and clearer, until Lawrence felt he could hear its heartbeat and breathing.

Anomaly 077 was free. The Sailor had awakened from its seal.

The mummified corpse slowly opened its eyes. Its whole body sat up bit by bit, stiff and creaking, its joints cracking.

“For now, you have the helm of this ship,” Lawrence said through gritted teeth, his expression complicated. “Get us out of here.”

Anomaly 077 sat up straight and slowly looked around. Its gaze finally settled on Lawrence.

For some reason, Lawrence suddenly felt he could see a hint of fear on that dry, frightening face.

Then he saw the mummified corpse actually shiver.

“Don’t… don’t do this!”

A hoarse, frightened cry came from the mummified corpse. The next second, right in front of everyone, it closed its eyes and lay back down, pretending to be dead.

It even reached out, tugged at the shroud lying beside it, and seemed to be trying to sneak the cloth back around itself.

Lawrence: “…?”

The sailors: “…?”