The White Oak is back - after a long period of disconnection and deviation, the state-of-the-art steamship belonging to the Explorers' Guild has finally returned to the city-state of Plan.

Many people were waiting for the ship to return, countless pairs of eyes nervously watching the silhouette that was approaching on the sea.

Inquisitor Vana saw that at the same time as the whistle of the White Oak sounded, the personnel on the docks immediately went into action:

The crew guiding the ship to shore had arrived and began signaling the White Oak with lights and flags, while the Church's guardians went to activate the deep-sea relics that had been placed all over Pier 1 the previous night: a large number of bronze "boundary monuments" with the name of the storm goddess Grimona engraved on their bases, and sacred greases and spices in the grooves at the top, when these boundary monuments were activated, the area where the White Oak docked would be cordoned off and become a "sanctuary" for the goddess to watch.

Farther afield, the sheriffs sent by the City Hall, these ordinary people are not good at dealing with the supernatural, so their main job is to block all the intersections with heavy firepower - ordinary guns are not good for dealing with the strange invisible curse, but if the white oak is a physical polluter, then eight-millimeter bullets and four-pounder guns will do a lot of good.

Sometimes Vana can't help but be grateful for the progress of science and technology, and these engineering crystallizations give weak ordinary people a certain strength to intervene in such events involving the extraordinary, although the results of scientific and technological progress are good and bad, but at least ...... The support of the machine guns and artillery did greatly reduce the casualties of the fellow Church over the years.

Vanna's gaze looked beyond the dock to the sea in the distance.

The White Oak let out a second whistle, and the ship began to slow down slowly under the guidance of the light signal from the shore, and came to a stop some distance from the dock.

A priest standing beside Fanna breathed a sigh of relief when he saw this, and said in a low voice, "The White Oak carried out the order, and it seems that at least the ship is still under the control of 'humans'. ”

"For the time being, it is impossible to assert that many people affected by anomalies or anomalies will appear to be no different from normal people until the mutation occurs," Vanna shook her head, "send a second set of signals, send out inspection boats, and have the shore defense guns ready to be ready if there is any change on board...... Just fire. ”

The order from the Inquisitor was quickly conveyed, and since the White Oak's communication devices had been damaged, the people on the shore could only communicate with the ship by lights and flags, and after a complex set of lights and flags, the bow of the White Oak was lit up with three lights, and then the rope ladder on its side was lowered.

A speedboat was released from the docks, and with the help of a small steam mechanism, it sped towards the White Oak.

On board the speedboat was a whole team of Guardians, including eight combatants, a commander, and a priest of the deep sea, who had lit incense and chanted the name of the Storm Goddess on the boat, and instead of boarding the White Oak as soon as they approached, they first circled the ship and sprinkled holy oil mixed with seaweed extract in the nearby water.

As soon as the grease fell into the sea, it emitted a faint glow and gradually joined together, eventually forming a ring that completely enclosed the White Oak.

After doing all this, the clergy on the speedboat actually approached the White Oak and boarded the rope ladder.

It all fell into the eyes of Vana on the lookout.

It is extremely dangerous to "go home" to a ship that has been lost at sea, especially since it is an ocean-going ship that was once responsible for transporting anomalous objects, the White Oak cannot dock directly, it first needs to be boarded by a speedboat from a safe distance, and only after a preliminary confirmation that there are no signs of corruption on board can it approach the dock of Plant, but after that, the people on board are still not allowed to disembark, they also need to undergo a second round of inspection by the clergy, and the entire ship must also be subjected to a more rigorous and comprehensive search and purification, After that, all personnel on board were to be observed in the chapel on the docks for a few days or weeks, and the entire ship was to be purified with incense for at least a week.

Only when all of these processes are completed and there are no accidents will the civilized world dare to re-admit these people who had been lost at sea to their homes - and if any of these things go wrong, the White Oak and its crew will be killed at sea.

The Goddess of Storms will take in the souls of these poor people.

This cold, even cruel law is not due to anyone's malice, but the "way of survival" that has been explored so far in the development of human society.

Of course, there are also city-states that are unwilling or unable to enforce these strict rules, and most of these city-states are now concentrated in the first two units of the second volume of secondary school history classes, which are required for the final exam.

As the minutes ticked by, everyone was waiting for the Guardian Squad to come back with a signal from the boarding and inspection team, and there were only two possible signals - if all was well, the team would send back the docking application with a special psionic communication, and if the ship was already contaminated, the team would fight to the last man and try to detonate the nitroglycerin on the dinghy before all were killed.

If an ocean-going vessel of the size of White Oak is really deeply polluted by subspace or something, then it is impossible for a few people who board the ship to inspect it come back alive.

Fanna clasped her hands to her chest and tapped the metal on her gauntlets.

Suddenly there was a bell ringing in the chapel on the docks, and the steam pressure relief pipes on either side of the bell tower rang three long times.

The priest in the church received a message from the inspection team, and the church bells and whistles were ringing to inform all the teams on the docks:

The ship is safe, the White Oak applies for docking, and there is a special situation report.

Vanna breathed a sigh of relief.

The ship seems to be in good order, at least for now, and that's already the biggest piece of good news.

As for the special situation report...... She wasn't surprised.

It would be strange that a bizarre lost ship re-docked, and there were no special circumstances to report.

The White Oak slowly came to shore, and the ocean-going ship had finally returned to the docks of the civilized world after a lot of twists and turns, and although the crew on board had not yet been allowed to land, it must have been able to relax a lot.

More of the church guards began to board the ship in an orderly manner, ready for thorough inspections and inquiries, and Vana left the lookout and personally led a group of priests to the docks, where she walked through the long gangplank and finally stepped onto the deck of the White Oak, where she met the gray-haired, burly captain.

The old captain looked a little haggard, obviously working in a state of high tension for too long, but after seeing the inquisitor of the church approaching, the old man immediately cheered up and took the initiative to come to Vanna.

"Hello, I'm Vanna, the Inquisitor of the Deep Sea Church of the City-State of Purland, Captain Lawrence," Vanna didn't like redundant etiquette, she chose to get straight to the point, "let's skip introducing ourselves—first of all, I apologize, I hope you and your crew understand the strict inspection of the city-state authorities and the church." ”

"Of course, Your Excellency Inquisitor," Lawrence nodded at once, he was about to say "Miss Inquisitor", after all, the other party looked almost the same age as his own daughter, but when the words came to the end, he changed to a more respectful title, "I expected it, after all...... We've lost touch for so long. ”

Vanna nodded: "Tell me briefly what happened to the White Oak, why did you lose contact?" Why did it suddenly appear on an unreported route? What is the situation of the goods you escorted, abnormal 099? ”

As soon as these words came out, the expression on Lawrence's face was suddenly full of frustration and nervousness, he sighed, first subconsciously looked around quickly, and then slowly spoke: "You may not believe me when I say it, we ...... Met the legendary Lost Homeland......"

In front of him, the inquisitor lady with a serious expression suddenly froze on the spot like a petrified person, with a strange expression frozen on her face.

He couldn't tell what that expression meant, but it looked like it was the same as he had been hit by the Lost Country the other day.

"Inquisitor...... Excellency? Lawrence asked cautiously, "Are you ......?"

"Captain Lawrence," Vana said as if she had suddenly woken up, staring at the captain in front of her, "you say it again?" ”

"You may not believe me when I say it......"

"I'll say the second half."

"We met the legendary Lost Land......"

"I believe it."

Lawrence was stunned: "That ......"

"You may need to stay on the docks for a few more days, Captain," said Vana with a serious face, "this is serious, very serious, you ...... Wait, you guys suffered a Lost Place, but everyone survived? ”

The expression on the face of Miss Inquisitor suddenly changed slightly, and there was a hint of doubt in her eyes, Lawrence hurriedly opened his hand when he saw this: "We're all right, but the Lost Country took away Anomaly 099, which is the puppet coffin." I suspect that the ghost ship is coming for the puppet coffin. ”

"The Lost Country took Anomaly 099?" Vanna frowned, then asked, "And then?" And it just let you go? ”

"Yes...... Yes," Lawrence also became nervous, and vaguely realized something, "Your Excellency, is there ...... in the city lately?"

“…… It doesn't hurt to tell you, after all, it seems that your 'contact' may be even worse than ours right now," 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 Country recently. Let's find a quiet place, I need to know more. ”