The total voyage from the Third Fleet’s base in Gabred to the Royal Navy Academy at New Inn Port is approximately twelve days.
Although Phaletis is just a not-so-large island nation on the west coast of the continent, this world is imnsely vast. It’s sowhat fine on the continent, but once you’re in the open sea, even with the seasonal currents speeding you up, a voyage taking months at a ti is very normal.
On the third day of Aiven’s departure, the perpetually gloomy sky suddenly began to pour with constant dismal rain, and the sea wind gradually beca boisterous, soon making the flags on the ship flap loudly.
Fortunately, the supply ship on which Aiven was riding had been sailing near the coast, overall still relatively stable. The unpredictability of sea weather is indeed too normal; even the most experienced Chief Navigator cannot accurately forecast it. As long as the voyage was not hindered, the supply ship had no plans to stop and seek shelter.
Perhaps it could be pouring rain at this mont, and the next mont the skies could be clear again?
However.
The situation did not develop as they had expected, and halfway through the voyage, the changes in the sea’s weather slowly began to show so ominous signs.
Wuuu wuuu...
Crack!
Rumble——...!
On the side of the coast, there was nothing much except for so low-hanging dark clouds, and the unending wind and rain showed no sign of stopping. But toward the open sea, layers of dark clouds accompanied by lightning and thunder continuously lowered, as if the sky and sea were connected in the pouring rain, the ship constantly tossed in several-ter-high waves, almost causing the illusion that the sea and sky were inverted.
This kind of extre weather phenona was clearly indicating that a highly intense storm was beginning to brew.
Boom——
"Captain, the situation on the sea is worsening. I think we need to find a safe place to take shelter," said the Chief Navigator as he pushed open the door to the captain’s room, dripping wet, wiping his face, and loudly requesting the captain sitting behind the table.
When the Chief Navigator ca in, Aiven was visiting the captain’s room.
The captain of this supply ship, Captain Edlin, held the sa rank as Aiven, being also a Major, but he was much older than Aiven, nearing forty years old.
The long-term peaceful life on the supply ship had diminished so of his military sharpness, making him more reminiscent of a gentle uncle next door than a navy officer. Faced with the sowhat impolite request from the Chief Navigator in front of a guest, he didn’t get upset at all.
"My dear Chief Navigator, you have sailed this route over a hundred tis. I trust you as I trust my own hands.
Go! Prove to our guest our professionalism. I believe you will find us a perfect safe harbor,"
ntioned in their conversation, Aiven gave a polite smile towards the two who were looking at him. Although the weather was sowhat severe, he wasn’t nervous. As the captain said, individuals are insignificant in the face of nature, and it is enough to place complete trust in the experienced sailors.
"As you command, Captain," the Chief Navigator saluted the two majors in the captain’s room and then turned to leave.
Soon, with the Chief Navigator’s commands being issued,
The supply ship’s course was slightly adjusted, and maintaining stability, it moved at maximum speed toward a small island with an excellent harbor a few nautical miles away.
Aiven had traveled on many ships before, and he found that each ship captain and their crew had a unique way of interacting.
For instance, under Uncle Gel’s command, every crew mber on the "Silver Wings" was like a part of a machine, simple and efficient. But this Major Edlin boldly delegated power, allowing professionals to fully utilize their expertise.
Aiven himself always had a dream of becoming a captain; even though he knew achieving this goal would still take so ti, it didn’t stop him from absorbing other captains’ experiences to enrich himself.
"Drop the sails! Anchor! Everyone except the duty crew return to the cabin."
The Chief Navigator of this supply ship indeed proved very reliable, quickly guiding the ship into a sheltered bay on the leeward side of the island, dropping anchor and sails to harbor securely.
Pitter-patter....
Woosh——
Just as the supply ship ca to a stop, the heavy dark clouds from the open sea pressed down like a collapsing mountain. The rain intensified by several magnitudes instantly, giving the illusion that even the waves were being suppressed by the downpour.
But the anomaly in the weather was evidently not that simple, and accompanying the dark clouds and heavy rain was sothing else bizarre.
"Moo hoo... moo hoo..."
That was... a strange roaring sound seemingly from so gigantic sea beast.
"What is that noise?"
After the ship was secured, the responsible Chief Navigator couldn’t rest like the other crew mbers and simply returned to the captain’s room. The abrupt roar that rang out made all three in the room look up simultaneously, casting glances outside the window.
At this ti, the strange roar beca increasingly louder, and after listening closely, the Chief Navigator, with so graying hair and beard, wore a grave expression: "This isn’t a sound any marine creature I know could make."
"Could it be... a sea monster?!" The three exchanged glances, simultaneously reaching an unsettling conclusion.
As a supply ship captain, Major Edlin didn’t even have the expensive alchemy equipnt "Sea Monster Compass," let alone any alchemy bombs capable of harming a sea monster.
It could be said that if truly confronted with a sea monster, this supply ship was nearly defenseless. Even Captain Edlin himself, the ship’s highest combat power, was rely an ordinary Official Knight with decades of comfort, whose remaining battle strength was questionable.
Both Major Edlin and his Chief Navigator looked disconcerted at that mont, frequently sketching iron crosses over their chests with their right hands, murmuring prayers to the Goddess.
Aiven didn’t find it strange.
The Iron Cross Church was the common faith across the Tulip Alliance, worshiping one of the seven True Gods, the "Queen and Goddess of Navigation," whose holy emblem was a black iron cross with an anchor tip.
In Phaletis, at least seventy percent of the populace was followers of this Goddess, so whenever the word "Goddess" was ntioned publicly, it was understood to refer to the "Queen and Goddess of Navigation."
Because her divine position encompassed the mariti realm, she wielded enormous influence among the Kingdom Navy, sailors, and fishern. Facing the harsh ocean environnt, the more insignificant one felt, the more they tended to cling to the Divine Spirit.
Aiven was not an atheist, but his reverence for great beings didn’t hinder him from searching for solutions himself; he had to prepare for the worst possible outco!
His eyes glead faintly, sending out invisible waves instantaneously. Upon receiving instructions, two Needle-tailed Swifts launched like arrows, shooting into the sky, piercing the storm, and swiftly flying towards the source of the roar.
...
The source of the strange roar was much farther than Aiven had imagined.
Currently, the maximum real-ti reconnaissance radius for the Sea Bird scouts was about ten kiloters; beyond that range, Aiven could no longer receive real-ti visuals.
Only when the two Needle-tailed Swifts reached the very edge of the scouting radius did they finally spot the anomaly on the turbulent sea surface. It’s imaginable how formidable an existence that could easily project its roar so far must be.
When Aiven projected his view through the eyes of the Needle-tailed Swifts onto the sea surface, he was also deeply shaken by that colossal figure.
"Oh my god, what is that?!"
It was a gigantic sea monster, resembling a whale, with a head wrapped in a bony shell and covered with thousands of tentacles, floating in the ocean like a small island.
Even by estimation, its size far exceeded two thousand ters, much larger than even the Giant Species, the largest kind among ordinary sea monster categories that include Small Species, Large Species, and Giant Species!
"This... could it be a Sea God’s Son comparable to a Level 4 Transcendent human?!" A slight trembling sensation arose from Aiven’s very bones, a biological instinct when faced with the suppression of life rank.
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