Chapter 503

Chapter 503: The Day We Go Home.

Lawrence stepped onto the bridge. First Mate Gus came up at once to meet him. Many crew members stood behind the first mate, looking at their captain with a hint of expectation.

Lawrence’s gaze swept over these subordinates and friends who had followed him for so many years. After a long moment, he took a gentle breath and smiled: “We can go home. We set out now.”

The First Mate’s expression visibly relaxed, but he still could not help asking: “Then… what about the Vanished?”

“The Vanished will be taking another journey,” Lawrence said with a slight nod, speaking to everyone. “Captain Duncan will head south to do something more important. He has ordered the White Oak to return to the normal routes of the civilized world according to our original sailing plan. According to that plan, we will first go to Cold Harbor for supplies and to fill our purchase orders, and then we will return to Pland.”

“And after that?” First Mate Gus listened to the captain’s words, but he still wore an uneasy expression. Clearly, just like everyone else on the ship, this Frostholm journey had been too unexpected and too long for him. Now that news of going home had come, he still could not believe that everything would simply go back to the way it used to be. “We…”

“We will still make our living on this sea. The White Oak has already gained passage rights, and the routes of the civilized world will stay open to us. The only change is that, from now on, Captain Duncan will forever keep his gaze upon all of us,” Lawrence said calmly. “When the Vanished sends an order, as a part of that fleet we will answer. But at least not now. Sailors, for now we can go home.”

The bridge stayed quiet for more than ten seconds. Then someone finally began to clap. Gradually, more people joined in, and after that came a cheer that had been delayed for a very long time.

The news that they could go home spread across the whole ship in an instant and reached the ears of every sailor.

This long, unexpected journey had finally come to an end. This frightening and bizarre adventure would be carved deep into the memory of every person. The joy of going home washed away many worries about the future. A new Boiling Gold catalyst was fed into the steam core. The machinery bay began to roar. The whistle echoed over the boundless sea, as if the whole ship itself was cheering for the homeward voyage to come.

Lawrence walked to the edge of the foredeck and quietly gazed at the distant, rolling sea. The endless water had no clear point of reference and could almost give a person the illusion that the ship was still standing still. But the way the waves rose and fell and the sea wind blowing against his face told him that the White Oak had already set out.

He lowered his head and looked down past the side of the ship. Under the rolling surface of the sea, he saw the shadow of the Black Oak reflected like a dark cloud. At the bow of that ship, shrouded in darkness, the few sparse lights looked faint and hazy.

Martha’s voice came from the pocket mirror at his chest: “Everyone is very happy. It seems that once the day of going home comes, their familiar life will return as well. But you should remind them that not everything will go back to the way it was. We have established a link with the Vanished. No matter how much freedom that Captain Duncan has given us, this link with Subspace is bound to change many things… We should prepare for this curse and blessing.”

Lawrence was silent for a moment, then spoke softly: “You mean changes like those on the Radiant Star or the Sea Mist?”

“They will no longer grow old and die, but they will slowly drift away from the realm of the living. This ship will slowly undergo a transformation into a living thing. Some of its parts will suddenly seem to learn to think and will begin to move on their own. The very existence of the Black Oak, that ‘strange reflection’, will cause the White Oak to gradually gather all kinds of frightening and horrifying rumors and tales. Very soon, people will fear this newly born ‘ship of the curse’. And the passes issued by the Church will not solve that kind of problem…”

Martha spoke slowly and calmly. It sounded less like she was predicting Lawrence’s future and more like she was describing a past that had already happened. In her vast and tangled cluster of memories, she was tracing out the fate that the White Oak would surely face next.

But Lawrence only listened quietly. Only when Martha fell silent did he speak in a low voice: “Perhaps your prediction is right, and all those changes will slowly come. But at least not today. Today is the youngsters’ day to go home.

“They will return to the warm city of Pland before the year ends. They will embrace their family and friends and tell them about this incredible adventure as humans. And I will do everything I can to keep the White Oak active on all the busy routes, to make contact with the Church, with the Explorer Association, and with the city-state trade fleets. It is not only to carry out Captain Duncan’s orders, but also to make this ship a respected symbol before it becomes a thing of fear, a ship of the curse.”

The pocket mirror gave no reply.

But Lawrence felt a small gust of wind rise at his side. In a sudden patch of thin mist, a hazy shadow stepped out of the fog and gently embraced him from behind.

The touch was so faint and light it felt like a dream.

“Old man…”

“What is it?”

“So handsome I could die!”

…

Heavy, lead-like clouds of chaos covered the sky. Murky, dim light took the place of the bright, warm sunlight from before. A hazy mist spread over all the sea that the eye could see. On the surface of the water under that mist, black strands of shadow, as fine as hair, were quickly gathering, until at last they turned the whole sea into a field of pitch black.

The world became a strange illusion without color. On this black sea, the Vanished raised her spirit form sails. An invisible “wind” filled the canvas and drove the ship forward, letting it cut across the sea at a speed far beyond anything in the Mortal Realm.

On the platform at the stern of the Vanished, Duncan held the wheel himself. Goathead’s voice sounded in his mind: “We have safely sunk into the Spirit Realm. The Vanished is now sailing steadily in the Shallow Layer.”

Duncan grunted in reply, then turned his head and nodded to Nina, who was standing not far away and watching him steer with curiosity: “We have already sunk safely into the Spirit Realm.”

Nina nodded half in understanding and half in confusion. To her, steering a ship, and especially a sailing ship from a century ago, was something completely beyond her.

On the other side, Vanna could not help covering her forehead when she heard Duncan’s words: “Uh, no matter how many times I hear it, it still feels wrong to put the words ‘safe’ and ‘Spirit Realm’ together. I still cannot believe that ‘safely sinking into the Spirit Realm’ is a phrase that can really exist in this world…”

Duncan only laughed when he heard this: “It takes some skill. But in Spirit Realm mode, we can sail at very high speed and do not need to worry about hitting most of the obstacles that exist in the Mortal Realm. After all, it is a very long journey from Frostholm to Lightwind Harbor.”

“Lightwind Harbor… I have only seen that place in books,” Nina said, her eyes shining with a little longing. “The books say it is a city-state built by elves and also one of the most important ‘parishes’ of the Truth Academy, second only to Morka. I heard they have the most advanced Sorting Engines and steam cores in the world there. Their mechanical craft and mathematics are very developed…”

“What the books say is true. But books often leave out one point: Lightwind Harbor is ahead not only in technology. It is also one of the important bases of the Explorer Association,” Morris said to Nina with a smile. “Because the whole city-state lies close to the edge of civilization, countless pioneering fleets and explorers use Lightwind Harbor as a supply point and a hub for exchanging information. And those explorers, coming and going from all over the civilized world, bring all kinds of food with them. So Lightwind Harbor has also earned the name of a city of gourmet food…”

Nina listened with full curiosity and a thirst for knowledge to all this information that she could not find in books. At the end, her eyes suddenly lit up and she asked: “Do they have sweet pancakes there too?”

“They should,” Morris said after thinking for a moment and nodding. “Commerce in Pland is very developed. Many merchants have opened routes from the Central Seas to the south. The foods of Pland will naturally spread there as well.”

Nina brightened up. She climbed onto a large wooden barrel next to Duncan, sat on it, and began to swing her legs over the edge: “That is great… Good food and the most cutting-edge machines. I am starting to look forward to it…”

Duncan glanced at Nina, who was rocking on the barrel, then at the deck around it. A few ropes on the open deck between the wheel and the barrel were trembling slightly, looking both troubled and humble.

Clearly, these ropes thought that this “crew member” Nina was far too close to the wheel at the moment. But they also feared the light of the Sun.

After all, that was a six-thousand-degree giant fireball.

“Stop rocking on that barrel, or you will fall,” Duncan said to Nina with a shake of his head. “Also, do not stay so close to the wheel. It is not safe.”

Nina reacted at once, let out a quick “Oh”, jumped down to the deck, and backed away to a safe distance.

The ropes near the wheel relaxed. They were safe now.

Nina was quiet for only a short while before another thought suddenly came to her.

“When we get there, we are going to meet that Lady Lucretia, right?” She leaned against the rail at the edge of the helm platform and blinked at Duncan, her tone a little nervous. “Is she easy to get along with?”

“…She should be fine,” Duncan said, his expression a bit hard to describe. When he tried to look at this question from Nina’s point of view, that feeling only grew stronger. “Lucretia is a scholar who is obsessed with research. Other than that, she does not seem hard to talk to. She has always been like that in front of me. But I truly do not know what she is like in her daily life.”

“To be honest, I am a little nervous,” Nina said, sticking out her tongue. “I heard people call her the ‘Sea Witch’. Captain Lawrence said she is a cold and bad-tempered witch and that she will curse people who disturb her research. Many famous adventurers are very afraid of her…”

Duncan held the wheel with one hand and turned his head to glance at Nina.

“Tyrian is also a Pirate Lord who makes people tremble at the sound of his name. Do you not think he is quite polite when he is in front of you?”

“…That is true.”