"This is our ship. It's being repaired now. It won't be long before we can go out to sea. By the way, have you ever been on a ship before?"
Dipper asked nonchalantly while standing on the deck of the Narwhal.
After talking for a long time, he didn't see any response behind him. He turned his head and saw the new sailor of the Narwhal standing there in a daze, staring at him, as if frightened by his appearance.
"What? Have you never seen a murloc? Do you think I look scary? Boy, you'd better not make me hate you, or I'll make you clean the toilet every day when you get on the boat."
When Norden Wright, who was wearing a blue and white short-sleeved shirt, heard this, he immediately put his hands together and said in a loud voice: "Report to the boatswain! No!"
Dipper looked him up and down for a while, muttered a few words, turned around and pushed open the hatch next to him. "Come on, I'll take you inside."
Norden breathed a sigh of relief and quickly followed. "Reporting to the boatswain, I am a border guard on the lightship. I have learned everything on the ship!"
"Don't be so full of yourself. Our ship is different from other ships. The Narwhal is a ship that can dive. It's probably the first one in the Earth Sea. Come on, I'll take you to the water filling tank."
Norden suppressed his excitement and walked through the cabin door. When he saw the dim and narrow corridor inside, he got goosebumps. He finally boarded the ship of his dreams.
Dipper took Norden on a tour of the Narwhal inside and out, familiarizing him with the future environment.
"Don't be so tense. An exploration ship is not the navy. Just complete your mission. You can do whatever you want at other times. By the way, whose soldier are you?"
"Report! I belong to the Third Fleet!"
"The Third Fleet? Who's in charge of that?" Dipper looked a little confused, as he didn't know much about the naval system.
That aspect is usually handled by Feuerbach and the bandage.
"It's Brigadier General Roves."
When Norden said this name, Bandage's eyes lit up. "Ah~, it's that kid."
Dipper remembered that the guy who was obviously an exploration captain but was wearing a black military uniform was one of the exploration captains who found Hope Island together.
"No wonder you're so tense. I heard that he was a navy officer from another island before he became an exploration ship, so his military discipline is the strictest. But that kind of thing is not useful here, so put it away."
Norden resisted the urge to report and nodded, pretending to be relaxed. "Okay."
"Did you see that? This is a water tank. Normally, no one except the chef is allowed to open it. Why did you come to the island? Are you here for the echo coins?"
When Norden heard Dipper's question, his expression became very enthusiastic. "I'm not doing this for money! Because I admire the Governor! I dream of getting on his ship! Going on adventures with him."
"What? What kind of bullshit reason is this?" Confused, Dipper put his hands together and wiped the fins on his head.
After Dipper's detailed inquiries, he found out that his captain actually had a group of admirers on the island, who believed that other governors were cowards who took advantage of the situation.
Only Governor Charles, who continued to explore the island even though he owned his own, was worthy of the original purpose of establishing the exploration ship and was a true hero of mankind.
Dipper used his sharp nails to pick at the scales on his chin, thinking in surprise, "Sure enough, there are so many people on the island, all kinds of people, but there are actually people like this? What are they doing with nothing to do?"
"Report to the boatswain! I will never fall behind. Even on my ship, I have the strongest physique and my shooting skills are very accurate. I can score above eight rings every time out of ten shots." Norden's body subconsciously straightened again.
Dipper turned around and continued walking down. "Report to my house before 3pm. Our deck team needs to get together so we can get to know each other."
"Can we see the Governor?" Norden's eyes were full of excitement.
"Are you deaf? I said it was the deck crew. Is the captain a member of the deck crew?"
A trace of disappointment flashed across Norden's eyes, but it disappeared immediately. "Mr. Dipper, how did you get to know the captain?"
"That's a long story..." Dipper took out a cigarette from his pocket, and just as he was about to light it, he put it back into his pocket.
Two months may pass quickly or slowly, but for Charles, he has become a little impatient.
During this period, in addition to some necessary exercises, he kept a close eye on the battle situation at the Cathedral of Holy Light.
It is not good for the Pope to fail completely, but it is not good for the Pope to win completely either. It is best to stalemate with the Pope of Fortan so that there will be room for other operations after he finds the key.
The daily battle situation was sent to Charles' desk via telegram. Generally speaking, both sides were more restrained than he had imagined, and the life-and-death scene he had imagined did not appear.
The casualties in the daily battles were controlled within a few ships. The Pope, whose strength was like a human nuclear bomb, did not take any action, and no one knew what he was afraid of.
The battle continued until the Narwhal was completely rebuilt.
The hole in the shed was poked open, and the morning of Hope Island arrived. Charles opened his eyes in bed and put on the captain's uniform that was washed clean by the maid and was lying on the stool next to him.
Then he walked to the bathroom, took out a black blade and shaved his face. The cold water flowed down the faucet and was splashed on his face by Charles.
He enjoyed the process. Today was the day to get on board. Once on board, he could only use sea water for washing.
Not only is the sea water filled with a fishy smell, but it also makes the skin extremely rough. Fortunately, he doesn't care much about this.
When Charles arrived at the dock, some crew members had already arrived. There were some new faces among them. They were all new crew members found by Charles during this period of time, and Norden was one of them.
However, compared with the crew, the Narwhal has changed more significantly. The hull that was once painted white has now turned into matte black, a black that gives a sense of security.
The Narwhal was waving at him with a rope made of steel wire.
Charles climbed the ladder to the deck and knocked on the stern with his prosthetic limb. A dull sound reached his ears.
"Sizzle~~" As the black blade passed across the hull, a crackling sound of friction instantly rang out, leaving a shallow scratch where the blade passed.
The protective capability of No. 3 steel is better than he imagined. Even if the Narwhal is hit by artillery fire, it will not sink so easily.
(End of this chapter)