Chapter 465

Chapter 465: A Pass?

The future of every crew member of the White Oak.

This problem, which everyone had always avoided, had finally been laid on the table.

There was no wall in the world that never leaked wind, and Frostholm was not a city-state sealed off from the outside world. The anomalous changes of the White Oak itself—especially its reflection on the surface of the sea—could not possibly stay hidden from other captains and from the harbor’s eyes.

Even without that most special identity of “member of the Vanished Fleet”, the ship was already a “ghost ship” wrapped in supernatural power and stuck in a strange state.

The city-states had always used the strictest safety standards for ships and crews that entered the Boundless Sea. A ship that went missing for just a short time at sea had to go through extremely strict quarantine and inspection when it returned. Even a small anomaly could get it refused at the harbor gate. There was no need to even mention a ship that had already turned into an “supernatural object”.

It was likely that, besides Pland and Frostholm, no other city-state would dare accept the White Oak as it was now.

What was more, the Master of the Vanished might not even allow his own “servants” to leave the fleet and continue acting freely in the civilized world. On that basis, what kind of future could the White Oak and her crew have?

To live side by side with anomalies, to survive in Visions, far from the civilized world, wandering in the depths of mists, storms, strange realms, and eerie sea zones. By day, to sweep across the sea like ghosts; by night, to sink into the cracks of Subspace. After all, that was how the books described the Vanished.

Lawrence looked deeply worried. Even after drifting on the Boundless Sea for most of his life, he still did not seem ready for such a change.

After all, he was not “Captain Duncan”, who had long left the civilized world behind, nor was he like Tyrian, a pirate lord who ruled a sea region with a whole fleet. He had a ship full of seafarers, and each of them had their own family and friends. They all had families to support.

If he left the legal routes on the Boundless Sea, he had no idea how he was supposed to feed his sailors, let alone how he would face their loved ones. After all, the Vanished Fleet did not seem to have things like “wages”, much less any proper employee care system…

After a short moment of thought, Duncan broke the silence: “Honestly, even without your ties to the Vanished Fleet, and without the distorted reflection from the Black Oak, your business would not have gone that well in the future anyway…”

Lawrence did not react at first: “Huh? Why do you say that?”

Duncan spread his hands: “Think about Anomaly 099 before, and then think about Anomaly 077 now…”

Lawrence’s face stiffened at once. After holding it in for a long time, he finally managed to squeeze out a sentence with an odd expression: “Occasional cargo loss is an unavoidable risk. The White Oak carries high-premium insurance, enough to cover the employer’s losses and any later liquidated damages…”

“Marine insurers now dare to cover even that?” Duncan raised his eyebrows. “Then you really don’t need to worry about those two cases of lost cargo…”

He paused, then seemed to think of something: “Wait. How much do they pay if you run into the Vanished? And if you get transformed into part of the Vanished Fleet, how much do they pay then?”

“For that, there is no payment. It counts as ‘force majeure’. In fact, that earlier Anomaly 099 runaway state incident was also in the excluded category, because the loss of the doll’s spirit coffin was tied to the Vanished. Later I went to…” Lawrence’s voice trailed off. His expression turned a bit blank, as if he had not expected Captain Duncan to suddenly bring this up. Then he finally reacted: “Why… are you asking this?”

The moment Duncan heard the words “no payment”, disappointment appeared on his face. He waved his hand: “Nothing. I was just asking.”

Lawrence thought for a moment. About seventy or eighty classic insurance fraud cases flashed through his mind, and he decided to keep his mouth shut.

Duncan stayed quiet for a few seconds, then changed the topic: “Besides, you might not need to worry that much about the White Oak’s future. Even as part of the Vanished Fleet, you might not have to leave legal routes and legal harbors forever.”

This time Lawrence was truly surprised. He stared at Duncan in confusion, as if he had no idea what this “Subspace Shadow” was getting at.

Duncan looked at him with a half-smile: “Do you think the Vanished will stay away from the civilized world forever?”

“You mean…”

Duncan smiled: “I have reclaimed my human nature. You should have heard that rumor. Since I have human nature, of course I will grow interested in the civilized world again. These past days, I have been actively in contact with the city-states of the civilized world. First Pland, then Frostholm. Along the way I also met with the Deep Sea Church and the Church of Death. To be fair, I think I’ve done quite well.”

Lawrence instinctively recalled all the events that had unfolded during this “homecoming voyage” of the Vanished, and his expression slowly turned strange.

Duncan saw the change on his face. The corner of his eye twitched, and he worked to keep his expression and tone steady: “Of course, I admit the commotion during those meetings might have been a bit much.”

Lawrence: “…”

“That’s not important,” Duncan waved his hand. “What matters is that the Vanished Fleet will become part of civilization again. You and your crew might be the bridge that lets the Vanished build further ties with the civilized city-states.”

Lawrence understood Duncan’s intent, and surprise flashed in his eyes—this way of doing things did not sound much like the stories in the books.

But he quickly woke up from that brief surprise, and more down-to-earth worries rose up: “I understand. You want to ‘normalize’ relations with the city-states, so the first step is to let us ‘fleet members’ return to normal routes. But… you’ve seen the White Oak as she is now. Most city-states probably won’t accept a ship that has been tainted by supernatural power…”

“But as far as I know, some ‘mutated’ ships are exceptions. The city-states and the legal routes still allow them to dock and pass.”

“…Huh?” Lawrence blurted.

“The Sea Mist and the Radiant Star. The level of supernatural mutation on those two ships is almost second only to the Vanished. Yet the first has already become the new flagship of the Frostholm navy, and the second is an honorary member of the Explorer Association, with unlimited passage rights on the border routes,” Duncan spread his hands. “I’ve also heard of some other famous legendary exploration ships. supernatural power corrupted and remade them, so they carry strange and terrifying traits. But their captains hold certain special papers and have powerful groups backing them, so they can still sail on the Boundless Sea.”

He paused there, then went on in a very serious tone: “Strictly speaking, every ‘Cathedral ark’ of the Four Gods’ Church is also a ship that has been altered by supernatural power. Yet they still sail wherever they like. That proves that when it comes to ‘supernatural mutation’, the standards of the Church and the city-states are very flexible.”

Lawrence was stunned by this string of words and almost got swept along by the logic. Fortunately, when he heard “Four Gods’ Church” at the end, he snapped back to his senses, and his expression grew complicated: “The Cathedral arks really can’t be treated the same. They are under the gods’ protection. That’s different… But in those other cases, things are indeed like you said. There are exceptions.”

The old captain licked his dry lips and tried to find the right words: “But exceptions are called exceptions because they are hard to get. Your two children spent half a century getting the world to slowly accept them. Even now, many city-states still treat the Sea Mist and the Radiant Star with caution, or even hostility. As for the other legendary exploration ships you mentioned…

“Sigh, of course I know them. The Tulip, which was lost in the Spirit Realm for twelve years, and the Dust Song, which once crossed the Sea of Visions and returned with all hands alive… They did return to the civilized world, but the process of being accepted was no easier than what your two children went through.

“Extremely strict inspections, years of surveillance, the Church’s recognition. The Four Gods’ Church uses the highest safety standards to decide whether a ship that went through ‘supernatural mutation’ is safe. The harshness and difficulty of that process are beyond imagination. Even after going through all the tests, those legendary exploration ships stay under Church monitoring forever, and every so often they have to be inspected again. The passes in those legendary captains’ hands… are not easy to get.”

By the time he finished, Lawrence could not help letting out a long sigh. Duncan, however, had already gone thoughtful halfway through. When Lawrence stopped, Duncan asked with interest: “So in short, it’s enough if a Church is willing to act as guarantor? What are the requirements for this pass?”

“In short, the ‘guardian god’ behind the faction that owns the ship has to grant recognition. The White Oak belongs to the Explorer Association, and the Explorer Association is under the protection of the Deep Sea Church. Storm Goddess Gamona is the protector of explorers at sea. So if the White Oak wants to return to legal routes, at least one Saint of the Deep Sea has to be willing to swear an oath before the Goddess to act as guarantor, and, after receiving an oracle, personally carry out the inspection on the ship in question. In the end, an inquisitor from a city-state issues the pass.”

At this point, Lawrence sighed again: “Strictly speaking, that ‘Gatekeeper’ Lady Agatha would actually meet the identity requirements. She is both a Saint and the city’s ‘Gatekeeper’, and because of a series of events, she became your envoy. Sadly… she doesn’t belong to the Deep Sea Church…”

Duncan looked at him: “I have a Saint of the Deep Sea Church too.”

“…Huh?” Lawrence stared.

“A Saint of the Deep Sea Church, right?” Duncan looked very seriously at the worried Lawrence. “The Saint does the inspection, and the inquisitor signs the pass. Can the Saint and the inquisitor be the same person?”

Lawrence suddenly felt his brain jam. He answered on pure reflex: “I don’t think… there’s any rule against that…”

“Oh. Then go take care of your own business. I’ll go ask about the pass for you.”

Lawrence blinked and still did not quite react.

By the time he thought to ask a question, Duncan’s figure had already vanished from the deck in a pillar of flame that shot into the sky.