Ashes Of Deep Sea
Chapter 464 - Chapter 464 Where should the future of the White Oak go

Chapter 464: Where should the future of the White Oak go? Chapter 464: Where should the future of the White Oak go? Chapter 465: Pass?

This long-ignored issue was now laid out on the table.

There are no walls in the world that cannot be breached, and Frost was not a City-State that was closed to the outside world; the abnormal transformation of the Sea Mist–especially its reflection in the sea–could not possibly escape the eyes of other captains and ports.

Even without the most unique identity of being a member of the Exiled Fleet, it had already become a “Ghost Ship” entangled by transcendent powers and in a peculiar state.

City-States have always maintained the strictest security standards for ships and personnel entering the Endless Sea; a ship that briefly lost communication on the sea surface had to undergo an intensely thorough quarantine inspection upon returning to port and could be denied entry for even the slightest abnormality, let alone a ship that had mutated into a “Transcendent object”.

Besides Prand and Frost, no other City-State would dare to accept the Sea Mist in its current state.

Moreover, the owner of Homeloss might not allow his “servants” to leave the fleet and continue to move freely in the civilized world–on this basis, what would the future of the Sea Mist and its crew look like?

Fraternizing with abnormalities, living among apparitions, far from the civilized world, wandering in the depths of mist, storms, foreign lands, and eerie seas, gliding across the ocean like a ghost during the day, sinking into the crevices of Subspace at night–after all, that’s what the records say about Homeloss.

Lawrence looked deeply worried, as if he, who had drifted on the Endless Sea for most of his life, was not yet prepared for this transformation.

After all, he was neither “Captain Duncan,” who had long since left the civilized world, nor Tyrion, who possessed a fleet capable of dominating the seas; he had a ship’s crew, and they all had their families, friends, and homes to support.

Having left the legal sea lanes of the Endless Sea, he did not know how to sustain his crew, nor how to face their loved ones–after all, the Exiled Fleet did not seem to have “salaries” or a comprehensive employee welfare system…

Duncan broke the silence after a brief moment of thought, “Frankly speaking, even if the relationship with the Exiled Fleet weren’t an issue, and there was no transforming reflection brought by the Black Oak, your future business probably wouldn’t improve much…”

Lawrence did not react immediately, “Ah? Why do you say that?”

Duncan spread his hands, “Think about the previous anomaly 099, and now think about the current anomaly 077…”

Lawrence’s expression immediately stiffened, and after struggling for a while, he awkwardly blurted out, “Occasional cargo losses are an unavoidable situation, the Sea Mist has high insurance coverage, enough to compensate the employer for losses and subsequent penalties…”

“Current marine insurance covers even this?” Duncan raised an eyebrow, “Then these two transport losses shouldn’t be a worry…”

He paused for a moment, as if suddenly thinking of something, “Wait, how much is the compensation for encountering Homeloss? And for being transformed into the Exiled Fleet? How much?”

“That’s not covered, it’s considered ‘force majeure’. In fact, the previous anomaly 099 losing control is also within the exclusion scope, because the disappearance of the doll coffin is related to Homeloss, later I found…” Lawrence said, his expression slightly dull, probably not expecting Captain Duncan to suddenly bring up such a question, but then he immediately responded, “You… why do you ask?”

As soon as Duncan heard the reply of “that’s not covered,” a look of disappointment flashed across his face, then he waved his hand, “Never mind, just asking.”

Lawrence thought for a moment, with seventy to eighty classic insurance fraud cases popping into his mind, but he dared not speak.

Duncan was silent for a few seconds before changing the subject, “Additionally, you might not have to worry too much about the future of the Sea Mist–even if it becomes part of the Exiled Fleet, you might not necessarily be forever away from legal sea lanes and ports.”

This time Lawrence was really surprised; he stared at Duncan, apparently not understanding the intentions of this “Subspace Shadow” for a moment.

Duncan looked at him with a half-smile, “Do you think Homeloss will forever stay away from the civilized world?”

“Your meaning is…”

Duncan smiled, “I have regained my humanity, and you may have heard rumors about that. Having regained humanity, I am naturally interested in the civilized world again. During this period, I have been actively contacting City-States of the civilized world–starting with Prand and then Frost, and in the process, I have also made contacts with the Deep Sea Church and the Death Church. Frankly, I consider the outcomes quite fruitful.”

Lawrence subconsciously recalled the various incidents that had occurred around the Homeloss during the “Return Journey,” and his expression gradually became more complex.

Duncan noticed the change in his expression, the corner of his eye twitching slightly, then he struggled to control his expression and tone, “Of course, I admit the noise made during these contacts might have been excessive.”

Lawrence: “…”

“That’s not important,” Duncan waved his hand, “What’s important is that the Exiled Fleet will rejoin as a member of civilization–you and your crew could potentially be the bridge that allows the Homeloss to further establish communications with the civilized City-States.”

Lawrence grasped Duncan’s intention, surprised–this development seemed somewhat different from what the books described?

However, he quickly recovered from his brief surprise, more pressing concerns coming to his mind, “I understand what you mean. You hope to ‘normalize’ relations with the various City-States, so the first step is to bring us ‘fleet members’ back to normal navigation routes, but… you’ve seen the state of the Homeloss now, most City-States would probably not accept a ship corroded by Transcendent powers…”

“But as far as I know, there are still some ‘mutated’ ships that are exceptions, and the legal navigation channels and City-States allow them to dock and pass through.”

Lawrence: “…Ah?”

“Sea Mist, and the Brilliant Starship–these two ships’ level of Transcendental mutation is almost second only to that of the Homeloss. The former has now become the flagship of the Frost Navy again, and the latter is an honorary member of the Explorers’ Association, enjoying unlimited navigation rights along the border channels,” Duncan spread his hands, “I’ve also heard of some well-known legendary exploration ships that were corroded and transformed by Transcendental powers, possessing somewhat eerie and frightening features, but their captains, holding certain special documents and backed by powerful entities, still can navigate the Endless Sea.”

At this point, Duncan paused, then continued earnestly, “Moreover, strictly speaking, every ‘Church Ark’ of the Four Gods Church belongs to ships that have been transformed by Transcendental powers, and they can navigate freely, right? This proves that, in the line of ‘Transcendental mutation,’ the standards of the Churches and City-States are quite flexible.”

Lawrence was stunned by Duncan’s flurry of words, almost getting tangled up in them, but thankfully, he snapped back to reality when he heard about the Four Gods Church, his expression growing complex, “This… Church Arks are definitely not to be uniformly judged, they are protected by the gods, different… but indeed, as you said, there are exceptions.”

The veteran captain continued, licking his somewhat dry lips, struggling to organize his words, “But the reason why they are exceptions is that they are difficult to achieve–your son and daughter took half a century to gradually gain acceptance by the world, and even so, many City-States still hold cautious or even hostile attitudes towards the Sea Mist and Brilliant Starship, as for the other legendary exploration ships you mentioned…

“Ah, I’m certainly aware of them, like the ‘Tulip’ that wandered the Spirit Realm for twelve years, and the ‘Dust Song’ that passed through the Subspace and all crew members survived… they indeed returned to the civilized world in the end, but their process of being accepted wasn’t any easier than that of your children.

“Extremely strict inspections, prolonged surveillance, approval by the Church–the Four Gods Church uses the highest safety standards to confirm whether a ship that has undergone ‘Transcendental mutation’ is safe, the severity and difficulty of this process are unimaginable–even after passing a series of assessments, those legendary exploration ships remain under church surveillance and undergo re-examination periodically, those legendary captains’ navigation permits… are not so easy to obtain.”

By the end, Lawrence couldn’t help but sigh deeply, but Duncan appeared thoughtful halfway through listening, and when Lawrence finished talking, he curiously asked, “So, having the Church’s endorsement is enough? What are the requirements for this permit?”

“In short, the ‘patron deity’ behind the power to which the ship belongs needs to descend approval. The Homeloss belongs to the Explorers’ Association, which is under the protection of the Deep Sea Church, and the Storm Goddess Gomona is the patron deity of seaborne explorers–the Homeloss, if it wants to legally return to navigation, needs at least one Deep Sea Saint willing to swear before the goddess to undertake this guarantee, and to personally carry out the inspection of the ship in question upon receiving a divine oracle, followed by a City-State Judge issuing the navigation permit.”

Continuing, Lawrence sighed again, “Strictly speaking, Ms. Agatha the ‘Gatekeeper’ actually meets the status requirements; she is both a saint and the ‘gatekeeper’ of the City-State, and due to a series of events, became your envoy, but unfortunately… she is not from the Deep Sea Church…”

Duncan looked at him: “I also have saints from the Deep Sea Church.”

Lawrence: “…Ah?”

“The saints from the Deep Sea Church, right?” Duncan looked seriously at the distressed Lawrence, “The saint conducts the inspection, the judge issues the navigation permit–can the saint and the judge be the same person?”

Lawrence suddenly felt a bit stuck in his head, merely responding subconsciously, “It seems… there’s no restriction on that…”

“Oh, then you go ahead with your own tasks, I’ll go inquire about the navigation permit.”

Lawrence blinked, not quite catching on.

And by the time he wanted to ask something, Duncan’s figure had already disappeared from the deck with a burst of flaming ascent.