In the southeast dock area of Puland, a beautiful white steam turbine ship is undergoing final inspection.
After a long stop, the White Oak is finally ready to set off again. This time it will carry many commissioned items from the city-state of Pland, passing through the central route and the northern route, all the way north, passing through Leng
Harbor until the frost.
This is a long voyage, but for a specially modified exploration ship designed for fast ocean travel, this route, which is mostly located in safe waters, is not too challenging - powerful steam
The core will ensure the ship's surging power, and the renovated shipboard church will be enough to protect the safety of all crew members.
The busy sailors on the shore and on the ship seemed quite relaxed.
In the machinery room at the stern of the White Oak, the chief engineer and assistant mechanics were supervising the sailors to complete the final preparations for the steam core.
This powerful machine is as large as a house and is fixed to the main support structure of the ship by a solid steel frame. It consists of three spherical containers arranged longitudinally and a series of complex pipes and valves surrounding the containers.
It is composed of a linkage device and an iron suspension bridge suspended halfway around the three containers, which is used for water supply workers to check the operation of the steam core and perform necessary maintenance work.
At this moment, several sailors were busy on the iron suspension bridge. They opened the heavy hatch of the spherical container, took out a few dull metal rods that had been worn out, and took out a few small arm-thick and nearly
One meter long pale gold metal rods are fixed on the slot in the hatch, and the mechanism is activated to send the metal rods into the center of the container.
They are catalytic media made of boiling gold. They are the source of the powerful power of the steam core and one of the important guarantees for the smooth operation of the machine. Just like the priest's prayer and incense ceremony near the steam pipe, the boiling gold in the steam core
The media can also resist the intrusion of certain malicious forces to a certain extent, preventing the machine from suddenly becoming evil after running for a long time.
The squeaking sounds of pulleys and hinges kept coming, and the operations of two sailors seemed a little rough. The sturdy bald engineer chief suddenly shouted: "Be careful! Don't damage those boiling gold catalysts, then
The stuff is as soft as a bread stick, and if you break one, the captain will eat you!"
"If you are referring to the bread sticks baked by Chef Finley - then you should worry about the chutes and latches in the steam core being damaged!" The sailor on the drawbridge laughed, but at the same time he was talkative.
Just be careful with your movements.
"When the frost comes, I have to suggest the captain to buy a batch of high-quality boiling gold catalysts from the local place - the boiling gold there is as cheap as the stones on the ground," the assistant mechanic muttered to the side. She was a woman who looked like she was in her third or fourth year.
A ten-year-old woman, her arms are as strong as a man's, and her work clothes are stained with oil. "The purchasing channels of the Adventurers Association are too dark."
"That depends on whether the client and the church agree," the chief engineer shrugged, "Half of the cargo bays on the White Oak are special 'sealed rooms', and many of the things we shipped this time were ordered by the church.
Relic raw materials and semi-finished products, these things are very sensitive, and there must be a strict list of supplies sent to the ship - before, there was an asshole on the Gray Crow who secretly brought a barrel of mead on board, causing an incident on the ship.
The seal was loosened, and two shadows came out and killed half the people on the boat..."
"I know, so I will give the captain some advice then," the assistant mechanic waved his hand, then frowned slightly, "but speaking of which, the captain doesn't seem to be here yet - he's not usually late."
"The captain will come," said the chief engineer, then paused and repeated, as if for emphasis, "the captain will come - he's not retired yet."
…
"It's really time for you to retire," the wife folded her arms and leaned against the door frame next to her, looking here with an unkind expression, her eyes as sharp as before, "Don't wait until I get to the boat to pluck your ears before you realize that you are
How serious is the situation?”
Lawrence didn't respond. He just straightened his captain's uniform in front of the mirror silently, checked his meticulously combed hair, solemnly picked up the hat next to him, put it on his head, and then relaxed slightly.
tone.
"Thank you, Martha, but it's time for me to get going," the old captain whispered. "The White Oak is waiting in port."
His wife stared at him quietly, no more irritable words, no more nagging complaints, only long gaze and silence.
After an unknown amount of time, she sighed softly: "Okay, then pay attention to safety and come back early - don't run into any messy things again."
"I hope." Lawrence sighed helplessly and turned away from the mirror.
"Have you brought everything?"
"Bring them all."
"Where are the keys to the house and the amulet for leaving?"
"I brought them all with me, I didn't forget them."
"It's good to have a little prayer book with you."
"I have it with me too," Lawrence bent down and picked up the small suitcase placed at the door and patted it. "There are also a few pages of handwritten prayers and the sacred candles I got from the cathedral."
The wife opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something more, but Lawrence turned around with a smile on his face: "I brought them all, I'm not old enough to lose anything."
The wife was silent for a moment and breathed out softly: "Your medicine."
Lawrence's movements stiffened and stopped.
"Don't forget your medicine." My wife repeated it again.
Lawrence's lips trembled slightly, and his eyes moved to the side little by little.
On the small low table at the door, a small brown glass bottle was quietly placed there. The sunlight shone on the bottle, and the clear texture of the liquid in the bottle was vaguely visible.
After a long silence, Lawrence picked up the bottle of potion. After a few seconds, he opened the small cork.
He looked up at Martha and saw that his wife was still leaning against the door frame, looking at him with her arms folded, just as he remembered.
"Have a safe journey," she mouthed.
"I'm going out." Lawrence responded softly, and then followed the psychiatrist's instructions and put a few drops of medicine into his mouth.
The strong taste dissipated in the mouth, and the wife's figure quietly disappeared in the sun.
Lawrence silently plugged the lid of the medicine bottle, opened the small suitcase, and put the remaining medicine in a corner where it would not be bumped. While arranging the things, he muttered and complained: "That psychiatrist is just fooling people... this thing
It's extremely bitter and has no herbal aroma."
The old captain, who had been drifting on the boundless sea for half his life, packed up his belongings, sighed softly, picked up his suitcase, and left the house.
…
After finishing her day's work, Heidi finally returned home before evening. She opened the door, took off her coat, and the first thing she did after walking into the living room was to slump down on the chair in an awkward manner, and took a deep breath.
Sighed.
The mother was sitting by the warm fireplace sorting out some letters. When she heard her daughter coming home, she turned her head slightly and said, "You're a big girl, pay more attention to your appearance - ladies don't do this."
"Let the lady take a rest. The lady has been dealing with weird nightmares and nonsense sailors today." Heidi slumped on the chair and waved her hands feebly. "There is a ship that has a mechanical failure on the boundless sea.
The stay at sea was nearly twice as long as planned, and several sailors were tied up and carried off the ship - it was a disaster."
Speaking of this, she exhaled, shook her head and sighed: "It is really not easy to make a living on the endless sea."
Mother looked up from the letter: "That sounds really bad, so you can't just lie there like this. Go upstairs and take a bath to relax yourself first. The bath water has been boiled."
"Okay, that's true," Heidi curled her lips and finally got up from the chair with all her strength. She walked toward the stairs, but suddenly stopped out of curiosity, "These letters are..."
"Water bills, electricity bills, gas bills, all kinds of bills - a mess," my mother said casually, in a calm tone, "your father used to take care of it, but now he happens to be out, so I take care of it."
"Well, I don't want to deal with these things." Heidi said, waving her hands and walking upstairs.
The mother watched her daughter go upstairs quietly, then looked back and glanced at the letters in front of her.
Most of them are indeed bills.
But there are two other letters that are real - one of them comes from a place that the world cannot imagine.
It was a letter from Morris, delivered this afternoon by a messenger whose body was burning with green flames.
The letter carries a special incantation from the God of Wisdom to prevent outsiders from seeing its true content.
The old woman looked at the familiar writing on it with a smile:
"... We are heading towards Hanshuang. There is not much scenery to see along the way. Only the occasional small pieces of floating ice on the sea and the cold mist in the distance are quite interesting...
"...Nina was doing her winter vacation homework in the restaurant today. A strange shadow ran out of her textbook. Everyone rushed to beat it. It was very lively...
"...The captain went fishing again before lunch. You know, that kind of 'fish' - it struggled very fiercely this time. It was a thrilling scene. The captain said that energetic fish taste better, but in fact
I didn’t taste the difference…”
The old woman smiled, put the letter aside for the time being, and picked up another letter that she had just opened.