The White Oak was still moving through the mist, the surging power of the steam core driving its massive and efficient propulsion system, allowing it to move quickly through the fog-covered seas.

It was getting darker at some point, and the cold wind on the sea was even more uncomfortable, so Lawrence tightened his coat, feeling that he had been blowing the wind on the deck long enough today, and turned back to the bridge.

A young priest in a blue-trimmed robe with silver on a black background was praying beside the machine, shaking the incense burner in his hand slightly, causing the smoke to linger on several consoles, and after meeting the captain, he stopped and nodded politely to Lawrence.

He was the ship's chaplain, Jensen, who Lawrence was not familiar with the young priest - in fact, most of the captains who were tasked with transporting "anomalous items" were constantly dealing with unfamiliar clergy, and the chaplains on their ships were assigned directly by the city-state church and were frequently replaced, and a chaplain would usually only follow the ship on two or three voyages, and this replacement system was of course also for safety reasons.

After all, ships carrying out dangerous goods are inevitably affected by supernatural powers, and as the "supernatural barrier" of the whole ship, the chaplain will bear almost all the stress of transcendent interference, including the pollution caused by the items on board, as well as the mental stress of the crew members during the voyage - and even the real-life effects of each crew's dreams at night will be reflected in the priest's daily prayers and rituals.

The ship's priest is also a mortal, and if they are under pressure under a specific transcendent influence for a long time, they will inevitably be assimilated and influenced, and after several ocean voyages, they will lose their keen sense of transcendent pollution, and may even become a rift in the invasion of subspace, so usually,

After a period of time, the chaplains who moved with the ship had to return to shore for a period of purification and spiritual remodeling in a particular church, and then most of them could recover and were placed on other ships to continue to serve as chaplains on board, while some of them were left with spiritual hazards and could only stay away from the sea and continue to serve the church as priests on land for the rest of their lives.

So in a sense, these venerable priests. . . It is also a consumable item in navigation.

But then again.... Who is not a consumable in sailing?

"Mr. Jensen, how is the machine?" Lawrence nodded to the young priest in front of him and asked with concern.

"Well worked, Mr. Captain," said the young priest, his voice calm, "I just went to the mechanical cabin on the lower level, and the entire power system and steam ducts are fine."

Lawrence nodded in satisfaction, and after a few more casual conversations with the young priest, he went to the wide window in front of the bridge and looked out.

The deck was gray, the sky was a little dark outside, the sky was shrouded in a chaotic blur of clouds, and the diffuse light floated among the clouds, spilling limply onto the surface of the sea—it wasn't very good, but it wasn't far from frost, and it shouldn't be trapped in a terrible situation like a storm before reaching the city-state.

Lawrence suddenly frowned and looked at the crew sitting in front of a console not far away, "Is there still no response from the frost side?"

"No," the crew member in charge of eavesdropping on the telegraph system shook his head, headphones on his head, pencil in one hand, and orange lights on a small machine in front of him, "and no feedback from the signal - but from the position, we are already within easy reach of the Frost Harbor."

「.... Something is not right," the old captain finally felt a little uneasy, and he looked up into the distance again, his expression gradually becoming solemn, "At this time, at this location, we should be able to see the frosty coastline... …」

He suddenly turned his head and looked at his first mate: "Has the route been confirmed?"

"Just confirmed, we're in the right place."

Lawrence frowned, and after a moment, he suddenly took a light breath, "I'll go and make sure again in person, and prepare the stargazing room."

The first mate apparently hesitated at the captain's words, but before he could speak, the young chaplain Jensen came over and said to Lawrence, "Captain, you are not old enough to enter the stargazing room......

」

Lawrence turned his head to look at the young pastor and didn't speak.

He knew what the other party meant—entering the stargazing room was subject to a certain amount of pollution, and the light and shadow from the secluded and spiritual mezzanine would put pressure on people's minds, and as an old captain who had been adrift in the endless sea for most of his life, his mind was no longer as normal and complete as when he was young, and he was likely to lose himself in the process of observing the stars.

But in many cases, only the older captain has enough experience to see the subtle changes in the starlight that the ship is yawing—something that a young navigator with a strong mind cannot do.

"I'll finish it as soon as I can," Lawrence finally spoke, his expression serious, "I suspect the ship has gone awk, but there is an inaccuracy in the stargazing room, and I have experience in calibration."

Confirming Lawrence's firmness, the ship's priest could only sigh and step aside: "....... You are the captain of the ship, and the captain is the law of the ship – I will protect you."

Lawrence nodded, and glanced back in the direction of the ship's bow.

In the direction where you can expect to be able to see the frosty coastline, there is still nothing but the endless sea and the endless mist.

He withdrew his gaze and walked to the passage leading to the stargazing room.

Leaving the bridge, through a corridor, a staircase leads to the lower level of the White Oak, with several connecting compartments and doors in between, where the stargazing room is located.

At the lowest level of the cabin.

Lawrence stood in front of the door, and the ship's priest Jensen began to get busy, the young clergyman added special spices and holy oil to the incense burner, chanted obscure scriptures, shook the chains in his hands, and gradually filled the smell of incense around Lawrence, and then took out a ceremonial knife depicting many storm runes, and used it to slash through the air in front of Lawrence to symbolize the shelter of the storm goddess Grimona.

The navigator of the White Oak had already heard the news, and it was a young man with a slightly pale face, who looked a little uneasy, and when he saw that the captain was about to enter the stargazing room himself to confirm the route, he was so nervous that he almost pulled the buttons off his clothes.

"Relax," Lawrence noticed the navigator's reaction, a smile on his face, and reassured the young man, "It's not necessarily your fault, the spirit world and the darkness are full of unpredictable changes, the spirit lens is not always reliable, astral shifts are normal - you are inexperienced, this is normal."

"I.... I've made sure it's all right," said the young navigator subconsciously, "but ......."

Lawrence waved his hand, "I'll figure it out."

"Captain, the blessing is complete," the voice of the chaplain of the ship rang out from the side, "You can enter the stargazing room - but remember, don't stay too long, don't look too long, and in fifteen minutes, if you haven't come out, I'll come in and find you."

"Ten minutes is enough." Lawrence straightened his clothes and said with a calm expression.

Then he breathed a sigh of relief, and stepped over to the metal door depicted with storm runes and inlaid with holy silver threads, and pushed the door in.

A dimly lit cabin comes into view.

Lawrence casually closed the metal door behind him, roughly confirming the situation in the stargazing room.

The room has no windows, the metal door is the only way to get in, there is no superfluous amenity in the whole room, the only furnishings are a cylindrical device about a meter in diameter placed in the center of the room.

It resembles an altar, with a cylindrical pedestal surrounded by a large number of cranks, connecting rods, and mirrors, and next to it is a small table where one can stand, which is reserved for the navigator, and at the top of the cylindrical mechanism is a transparent part that is recessed inward.

It was a crystal lens, held up by a very complex set of connecting rod brackets, the crystal lens was bowl-shaped, and its interior looked empty – but when the eye was focused on it, it seemed as if there were sparkling waves in the lens.

The light seemed to fill the sea.

Lawrence

Stepping onto the small platform next to the cylindrical device, he looked at the lens in front of him.

When a ship sails on the vast sea, where there are few references to the sea, and the city-state is an isolated island, once it passes by its destination, the voyager will be lost in the boundless sea—then navigation becomes an important science.

Vision 001 - The sun is a good use of the sky marker, using the sun to confirm the ship's position is of course one of the navigation skills, but the sky does not always see the sun, and the sun alone, sometimes can not provide enough accurate navigation positioning, in this case, how to accurately judge whether you are sailing on the right route?

The answer, of course, is – look at the stars.

Stargazing is an essential skill for modern ocean voyages. Lawrence lowered his head and slowly leaned down, submerging his entire face in the hollow structure of the large crystal lens.

The stars are in a deep, deep place – to see them requires not only a delicate device, but also a sound mind.