Chapter 447

Chapter 447: A New Member of the Vanished Fleet.

A fast exploration ship with a gleaming white hull suddenly rose out of the sea. Its side almost scraped the Sea Mist’s stern, and the violent swell of water threw both ships into heavy rocking.

Even the Undying sailors cried out in this situation.

Tyrian rushed onto the deck. At first glance, he saw his subordinates running toward the stern. Among them, the bare, shiny head of First Mate Aiden stood out at once. At the far end of the deck lay the “uninvited guest” that was almost pressed against the Sea Mist.

“What in the world is going on?”

Tyrian ran the last few steps to Aiden’s side, grabbed his shoulder, and shouted the question.

“No idea. It was a ship that suddenly popped out of nowhere. I almost ordered the guns to fire by reflex,” Aiden answered quickly. “Everyone is still on edge. Right now, everyone is jumpy about anything that ‘comes out of the sea’, and that thing just appeared…”

Tyrian let go of his First Mate and ran toward the stern. By the time he arrived, dozens of people had already gathered there. The nervous sailors were pointing rifles and pistols at the other ship. Several seamen had taken their positions beside the close-defense guns at the stern. The tension in the air was so thick it felt like sparks might start flying at any moment.

Tyrian looked across the rail. On the other ship, just a short distance away, a crowd of sailors had also rushed out. From their clothes, they looked like ordinary seafarers from a civilian ship. Someone on their stern platform was waving signal flags. They looked just as panicked as the people on the Sea Mist.

Tyrian frowned. He was just about to try to figure out what ship it was when a harsh squeal from a horn sounded by his ear. A loud, steady voice came from the other vessel’s broadcast system right after:

“Our deepest apologies. This is the White Oak of the Vanished Fleet. This is our ship’s first time performing a Spirit Realm surfacing operation, and due to an error in handling we nearly rammed your vessel… Repeat, this is the White Oak, of the Vanished Fleet…”

As he listened to the broadcast, Tyrian’s face froze at once. Aiden, who had just run up behind him, almost slipped. Shiny beads of sweat seemed to pop out on the bald man’s head. His voice even went slightly off pitch: “Captain, wh-what did they say? Who did they say they were?”

Tyrian did not answer. The first thing that popped into his mind was the warning Father had given him just before their link was cut, and that odd smile Duncan had worn before the image in the mirror faded.

His expression shifted in a subtle way. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something. He walked to the edge of the deck and looked down.

The reflection of the “White Oak” showed on the water below. But in that reflection, what appeared was a ghost ship wrapped in shadow and thick smoke.

He finally remembered where he had seen that somewhat familiar ship before.

Back in that battle in the fog, this was the storm of a ship that had raced across the battlefield like the wind. No one could figure out where it came from—now they had met again.

By now, the sailors on the Sea Mist had also noticed the strange reflection of the other ship in the water. Aiden, too, remembered where he had seen it. He looked up at Tyrian in shock and doubt. “Captain, are they the old captain’s…”

“…Father always has his plans.” The muscles at the corner of Tyrian’s eye twitched, but he still tried to keep his tone calm. “Honestly, I never thought there would be people in this age who would openly shout over a loudspeaker that they are members of the ‘Vanished Fleet’… Where in the world did Father find this bunch?”

“Maybe they know where the Sea Mist came from?” Aiden said, not very sure. “What should we do? Say hello? Invite them aboard? We have to figure out what they want…”

Tyrian suddenly felt a dull ache in his teeth.

“Use the wireless and call them openly. Ask them to send a representative over. Also, tell them to stop yelling ‘Vanished Fleet’ over their speakers. Our ship is not the only one in the Harbor district.” The Pirate Lord, who was about to become the city’s Governor, said this helplessly. Then he added: “And let the Harbor know not to panic. They must have seen the White Oak suddenly pop out of the sea too.”

At a time like this, anything that suddenly rose out of the sea was enough to scare people half to death.

“Yes, Captain.”

Aiden accepted the order and hurried off.

After a while, the Sea Mist finally established normal communication with the strange White Oak. After a simple exchange and explanation, the other side agreed to send a representative over for a talk.

Not long after, Tyrian met the representative they sent. A middle-aged man, tall and lean, with slightly wavy brown short hair and a sharp, capable look, came aboard the Sea Mist in a seafarer’s uniform, bringing a young priest with him.

“Captain Tyrian—it’s an honor. I have long heard of your deeds.” The middle-aged man stepped onto the deck with a bright, friendly smile and reached out his hand to Tyrian. “I am Gus, First Mate of the White Oak. And this is our ship’s priest, Mr. Jensen.”

Tyrian felt a bit dazed. He had never thought that, from that eerie “twin phantom ship” that could sail through mirror world, the Spirit Realm, and other abnormal sea regions, such a person would walk out.

A man with a bright smile, a solid body of flesh and blood, friendly and warm, a perfectly healthy and normal person.

He was not mad or raving. His limbs were whole. There was no sign of mental problems or bodily mutation at all. This was the new member of the Vanished Fleet? Someone under Father’s favor?

Even though many questions flashed through his mind in that instant, Tyrian still reached out on reflex and shook First Mate Gus’s hand.

“Tyrian Abnomar, captain of the Sea Mist. I don’t think I need too much introduction.” He looked at the “bright and sunny normal man” in front of him, who claimed to be First Mate of the White Oak. Tyrian’s eyes still held some doubt. “You said you are… members of the Vanished Fleet?”

“Yes. New members.” First Mate Gus answered with a smile. At the same time, he was also sizing up this famous Pirate Lord, and he could not help feeling puzzled in his heart.

The single eye was a bit frightening, but Tyrian’s attitude was on the whole friendly. His gaze was calm and rational. His body did not show the terrible damage that surrounded the Undying sailors nearby. He did not look at all like a madman with mental problems or a lunatic twisted by the Elder Gods’ corruption.

This was Captain Duncan’s eldest son? How could he not look insane at all?

At this first meeting between two broad-sense “members of the Vanished Fleet”, they both, at the same time, quietly questioned the other’s mental state. Then, together, they put away that not-so-kind thought and shared a smile.

“I saw you on the battlefield before.” Tyrian was the first to break the slightly awkward silence. “You roared through the thick fog back then. It left quite an impression.”

“We were under orders at the time to head to Frostholm in the mirror world,” First Mate Gus explained. “We couldn’t afford to delay such an important task.”

“Father’s orders?” Tyrian asked without thinking. Then his gaze fell on the young priest named Jensen, and his eyes took on a subtle look. “You even have a ship’s priest… Has the Deep Sea Church become this open-minded?”

priest Jensen looked a bit embarrassed. He shrugged with a helpless smile. “At least for now, the Goddess has not sent down any punishment.”

“Don’t you have a small Cathedral on your ship too?” First Mate Gus looked up at the striking shipborne Cathedral at the Sea Mist’s stern.

“…That is true.”

Tyrian choked on his words for a second, then gave an awkward little laugh. At the same time, though, something else crossed his mind—

On the Vanished, there was also a “priest” miss from the True Gods’ Church.

If Father could even bring an Inquisitor from Pland onto his ship, then having a few ship priests in the Vanished Fleet did not seem strange at all.

Realizing that it was probably best not to dig too deeply into secrets in the realm of Gods, Tyrian quickly cut off his train of thought. He straightened his expression and asked curiously: “You surfaced in such a hurry here. Do you have another mission?”

“Oh, we are here to pick up our captain,” First Mate Gus explained at once.

“Your captain?”

“Captain Lawrence led a marine squad into the mirror world world to fight earlier. Later, he returned to the city-state in the Mortal Realm together with Frostholm’s Gatekeeper. We just received word that he is coming back to the ship,” First Mate Gus said patiently. “But it seems they ran into a bit of trouble over there, so Lady Martha ordered us to surface and receive them…”

“Ran into trouble?” Tyrian frowned without thinking. He was about to ask for details when his chief sailor walked quickly up to them.

The chief sailor came to his side and gave a quick, quiet report.

The expression on Tyrian’s face slowly turned strange.

First Mate Gus noticed this and could not help asking: “May I ask what has happened…”

“Your captain—is he an older man in a white coat, maybe about fifty or sixty, who looks like a ghost?”

First Mate Gus stared for a moment, then answered a bit uncertainly: “He… doesn’t look like a ghost under normal conditions, but the rest fits.”

“Then that’s him.” Tyrian spread his hands. “Your captain is running all over the Upper City with a dozen heavily armed ghost sailors and a very loud mummified corpse. Now they have been ‘invited’ into the security bureau. If I’m right, they got lost, and it seems they don’t know how to ‘turn off’ the spirit form flames on their bodies, so they caused a panic among the citizens.”

Gus: “Ah…”

“But don’t worry. The security bureau knows they aren’t enemies. Witnesses saw them fighting the monsters in the city and covering the Guard Corps, so they won’t be in real trouble.”

“Uh…”

“Also, Gatekeeper and Archbishop Lady Agatha has already gone to meet them. With the great Cathedral vouching for them, your captain should be back soon.”

“Oh…”

“In the future, try not to publicly announce that you are ‘members of the Vanished Fleet’ whenever you feel like it. Mainly because… that identity is very sensitive.”

“…All right.”