The White Oak is back - after a long period of communication interruption and route deviation, this advanced steam ship belonging to the Explorers' Association finally returned to the city-state of Plande.
Many people were waiting for the ship to return, and countless pairs of eyes were nervously watching the silhouette that was gradually approaching on the sea.
Judge Vanna saw that when the White Oak's whistle sounded, the people on the dock immediately took action:
The staff who were to guide the ship to the shore had already arrived at the location and began to send signals to the White Oak with lights and flags. The guards under the church went to activate the deep-sea sacred objects that had been placed at various locations on Pier No. 1 last night: they were a large number of "boundary monuments" cast in bronze, with the name of the storm goddess Gemona engraved on the base, and the grooves on the top were filled with sacred oils and spices. When these boundary monuments were activated, the area where the White Oak docked would be blocked, becoming a "holy land" watched by the goddess.
Further away were the sheriffs sent by the city hall. These ordinary people were not good at dealing with supernatural things, so their main job was to block all intersections with heavy firepower—ordinary guns and cannons could hardly deal with strange and invisible curses, but if a tangible polluter ran out of the White Oak, then the eight-millimeter bullets and four-pound cannons would play a big role.
Sometimes Vanna couldn't help but be grateful for the advancement of technology. These achievements in engineering allowed ordinary people with limited strength to intervene in events involving the supernatural. Although the results of technological progress were both good and bad, at least... the support of machine guns and artillery had indeed greatly reduced the casualties of fellow church members over the years.
Vanna looked beyond the dock and toward the sea in the distance.
The White Oak sounded its second whistle, and guided by the light signals on the shore, the ship began to slow down slowly and stopped some distance from the pier.
A priest standing next to Vanna breathed a sigh of relief and whispered, "The White Oak has carried out the order. It looks like at least the ship is still under the control of 'humans'."
"It's hard to say for now. Many people who are affected by abnormalities or phenomena will appear to be normal people until they mutate," Vanna shook her head. "Send a second signal and dispatch the inspection boat. Have the coastal defense guns be ready at any time. Once there is any abnormal movement on the ship... open fire."
The order from the Inquisitor was quickly passed down. Since the communication equipment of the White Oak was damaged, the people on the shore could only communicate with the ship using lights and flags. After a complex set of lights and flag signals, three lights lit up on the bow of the White Oak, and then the rope ladder on its side was lowered.
A speedboat was released from the dock and, driven by a small steam engine, quickly sailed towards the White Oak.
On the speedboat was a whole team of defenders, including eight fighters, a commander and a deep-sea priest. These loyal priests lit incense on the boat and chanted the holy name of the Storm Goddess. After they approached the White Oak, they did not board the ship immediately, but first circled around the ship and sprinkled holy oil mixed with seaweed extract in the nearby sea water.
After these oils fell into the sea water, they immediately emitted a faint glow, and gradually connected together, finally forming a circle that completely surrounded the White Oak.
After doing all this, the clergy on the speedboat actually approached the White Oak and boarded the ship along the rope ladder.
All this fell into Vanna's eyes on the lookout tower.
It is extremely dangerous to let a ship that has lost contact at sea "go home", especially when it is an ocean-going ship that was once responsible for transporting anomalies. The White Oak cannot dock directly. It first needs to be boarded and inspected by a speedboat at a safe distance. Only after it is preliminarily confirmed that there are no signs of evil god corruption on the ship can it approach Pland's dock. However, the personnel on the ship cannot disembark after that. They still need to undergo a second round of inspection by the clergy. At the same time, the entire ship must undergo a more rigorous comprehensive search and purification. After that, all personnel on the ship must be observed in the church at the dock for a few days or even weeks, and the entire ship must be purified by incense for at least one week.
Only when all these processes are completed and there are no accidents, will the civilized world dare to accept these people who have been lost at sea back home - if any link goes wrong, the White Oak and its crew will only be buried in the sea.
The Storm Goddess will receive the souls of these poor people.
This cold and even cruel rule does not come from anyone's malicious intention, but is a "way of survival" that human society has explored over the course of its development.
Of course, there were also city-states that were unwilling or unable to enforce these strict rules. These city-states are now mostly concentrated in the first two units of the second volume of high school history courses and are part of the compulsory final exam.
Time passed by minute by minute, and everyone was waiting for the signal from the guard team that boarded the ship for inspection. There were only two possible signals - if everything was fine, the team would use special psychic communication to send back a request for docking. If the ship had been contaminated, the team would fight to the last man and try to detonate the nitroglycerin on the boat before all were killed.
If an ocean-going vessel of the size of the White Oak was truly deeply contaminated by the Warp or something, then the few people who boarded the ship for inspection would not be able to return alive.
Vanna crossed her arms across her chest and tapped the metal of her arm armor.
Suddenly, bells rang from the small church on the dock, and the steam pressure relief pipes on both sides of the bell tower rang three times.
The priest in the church received the secret message from the inspection team, and the church bells and whistles informed all the teams on the dock:
The ship is safe, and the White Oak has requested to dock, with special circumstances to report.
Vanna heaved a sigh of relief.
The ship seems to be doing fine at least for now, which is the best news.
As for having special circumstances to report... She was not surprised at all.
It would be strange if a ship that has been lost in a strange way returned to port without any special circumstances to report.
The White Oak slowly approached the shore. After experiencing a series of twists and turns, the ocean-going ship finally returned to the dock of the civilized world. Although the crew on board had not yet been allowed to land, they must have been able to relax a lot.
More church guards began to board the ship in an orderly manner, preparing to conduct a thorough inspection and questioning. Vanna also left the lookout and personally led a team of priests to the dock. She walked across the long gangway and finally stepped onto the deck of the White Oak, and met the gray-haired, burly captain on the front deck.
The old captain looked a little haggard, obviously having worked for too long under a highly stressful state. However, after seeing the inquisitor of the church approaching, the old man immediately cheered up and took the initiative to come to Vanna.
"Hello, I am Vanna, the judge of the Deep Sea Church of Plande City-State, Captain Lawrence." Vanna didn't like redundant etiquette, so she chose to get straight to the point and greeted him. "Let's skip introducing ourselves. First of all, I apologize. I hope you and your crew can understand the strict inspections of the city-state authorities and the church."
“Of course, Your Excellency the Inquisitor,” Lawrence nodded immediately. He wanted to say “Miss the Inquisitor” because she looked almost the same age as his daughter, but he changed it to a more respectful title. “I expected this. After all… we have lost contact for so long.”
Fanna nodded. "Tell me briefly what happened to the White Oak. Why did you lose contact? And why did you suddenly appear on an unreported route? What about the cargo you were escorting, Anomaly 099?"
As soon as these words came out, Lawrence's expression was suddenly filled with frustration and tension. He sighed, subconsciously looked around quickly, and then slowly said: "You may not believe me, but we... encountered the legendary Lost Homeland..."
In front of him, the judge who had a serious expression on her face suddenly froze in place like a petrified woman, with a strange expression frozen on her face.
He couldn't tell what the expression meant, but it looked like the same one he had after being hit by the Lost Hometown a few days ago.
“Your Excellency, Inquisitor?” Lawrence asked cautiously, “You…”
"Captain Lawrence," Vanna seemed to wake up suddenly and stared at the captain in front of her, "Can you say it again?"
"You may not believe me..."
"I'll say the second half."
"We encountered the legendary Lost Homeland..."
"I believe."
Lawrence was stunned: "Then..."
"You may need to stay at the dock for a few more days, Captain," Vanna said seriously, "This matter is serious, very serious. You... wait, you encountered the Lost Homeland, but everyone survived?"
The judge's expression suddenly changed slightly, and there was a hint of doubt in her eyes. Lawrence opened his hands and said, "We are fine, but the Lost Homeland took away Anomaly 099, the puppet coffin. I suspect that the ghost ship was coming for the puppet coffin."
"The Lost Homeland took away Anomaly 099?" Vanna frowned, and then asked, "What happened after that? Did it let you go?"
"Yes... yes," Lawrence also became nervous and vaguely realized something, "Your Excellency the Inquisitor, has the city recently..."
"… It doesn't hurt to tell you. After all, it seems that your 'contact' may be more serious than ours." Vanna sighed and looked at the old captain in front of her. "Captain Lawrence, you may not be the only one who has dealt with the Lost Homeland recently. Let's find a quiet place. I need to know more."