Ashes Of Deep Sea-Chapter 355 - 359th Stargazing
Chapter 355: 359th Chapter Stargazing
Chapter 355: 359th Chapter Stargazing
The White Oak continued its journey through the mist, its powerful steam core propelling its massive and efficient propulsion system, enabling it to swiftly traverse the fog-covered waters.
At some point, the sky had darkened a bit, and the cold wind over the sea made it all the more uncomfortable. Lawrence tightened his coat, feeling he had enough of the chilling breeze on deck for one day, so he turned back towards the bridge.
A young priest wearing a blue robe trimmed with silver on a black background was praying beside the machinery, gently shaking the incense burner in his hand, causing smoke to wind around several control panels. Upon seeing the captain, he paused and nodded politely to Lawrence in greeting.
He was Jansen, the accompanying priest for this voyage. Lawrence was not familiar with this young cleric—in fact, most captains who took on the transport of ‘anomalous items’ frequently had to deal with unfamiliar clergy. Their ships’ priests were directly assigned by the City-State’s church and often changed; a usual ship’s priest might only complete two to three voyages with a ship. Naturally, this rotating system was also for safety considerations.
After all, ships on dangerous cargo transport inevitably faced the influence of transcendent forces. As the ship’s “Supernatural Barrier,” the accompanying priests bore almost all the mental stresses brought about by transcendent intervention. This included the contamination from items on board and also the psychic stress generated by the crew during the voyage—even the impact of the dreams every sailor had at night would reflect in the priest’s daily prayers and rituals.
Ship’s priests were mortal, after all. Long-term exposure to specific transcendent influences would inevitably assimilate and affect them. After several long ocean voyages, they would lose their acute sensitivity to supernatural contamination and could even become a fissure for Subspace invasions. Therefore, usually, accompanying priests must return to shore after a period and undergo purification and spiritual reshaping at specified churches. Afterwards, most could recover and be reassigned to other ships to continue their duties, but those who remained with lingering psychological issues could only stay away from the sea, serving the church as land-based clerics for the rest of their lives.
So, in a sense, these respectable priests… were also consumables in the course of a voyage.
But then again… who isn’t a consumable in the course of a voyage?
“Mr. Jansen, how’s the machinery doing?” Lawrence nodded to the young priest in front of him and asked with concern.
“All systems are operating well, Captain,” the young priest replied, his voice calm, “I just checked the lower engineering bay, and the entire power system and the steam pipelines are all functioning normally.”
Lawrence nodded in satisfaction, exchanged a few informal words with the young priest, and then moved to the wide windows at the front of the bridge, looking out at the scene outside.
The deck was engulfed in a grey mist, the skies outside dark, with chaotic and blurred clouds hanging, and feeble light floating between cloud layers, ineffectually showering upon the sea surface—the sky didn’t look so good, but they were already not far from Frost, so they should not be stuck in a storm or other unfortunate situation before reaching the City-State.
Suddenly, Lawrence furrowed his brows and turned to look at a sailor seated not too far from a control panel, “Is there still no response to our signals from Frost?”
“None,” the sailor responsible for the telegraph system shook his head. He wore a headset and held a pencil in one hand, while a small machine in front of him displayed an orange light, “We haven’t received any signals back either—but by location, we’re already at a distance where we should be able to directly contact Frost Harbor.”
” …Something’s not right,” the old captain finally felt a tinge of unease as he raised his head to look into the distance, his expression gradually becoming grave, “At this time, at this position, we should be able to see the coastline of Frost…”
He suddenly turned his head towards his first officer, “Has our course been confirmed?”
“Just reconfirmed, our position is correct.”
Frowning, Lawrence took a deep breath after a moment and said, “I’ll confirm it myself again, prepare the Stargazing Chamber.”
Upon hearing the captain’s words, the first officer obviously hesitated, but before he could speak, the young accompanying priest Jansen approached and said to Lawrence, “Captain, at your age, it is not quite suitable for you to enter the Stargazing Chamber…”
Lawrence turned his head to glance at the young priest but said nothing.
He understood what the priest meant—entering the Stargazing Chamber required enduring a certain level of contamination, as the images and lights from the deep void and Spirit Realm interlayer could exert pressure on the mind. As an old captain who had drifted on the Endless Sea for most of his life, his mind was no longer as normal or intact as it was in his youth. He might very well lose himself whilst observing the stars.
But often, only captains of age had enough experience to discern the subtlest changes in the stars, detecting the slightest signs of the ship’s drift—a feat not achievable by the healthy-minded young navigators.
“I will finish as quickly as possible,” Lawrence finally said after a few seconds of eye contact, his expression serious, “I suspect the ship has veered off course, but there’s misalignment in the Stargazing Chamber, and I have experience with calibration.”
Once Lawrence’s determined attitude was confirmed, the ship’s priest could only sigh and stepped aside, ” …You are the captain, and the captain is the law on this ship—I will prepare the protection for you.”
Lawrence nodded then turned his head back to look in the direction of the ship’s bow.
In the direction where the Frost Coastline was expected to be visible, there was still nothing but the vast Endless Sea and the boundless thin mist.
He withdrew his gaze and walked towards the passage leading to the Stargazing Chamber.
Leaving the bridge, passing through a corridor, stepping onto a staircase extending to the lower levels of the White Oak, through several connecting sections and a few doors, he reached the location of the Stargazing Chamber.
At the very bottom of the ship.
Lawrence stood in front of the door as ship priest Jansen busied himself, the young clergyman adding specially made incense and holy oil to the censer while chanting arcane and esoteric scriptures. He swayed the chains in his hands, allowing the scent of the incense to gradually envelop Lawrence. He then took out a ceremonial dagger adorned with numerous Storm runes and sliced through the air in front of Lawrence, symbolizing the blessing of the Storm Goddess Gomona’s protection descending upon this place.
The navigator of the White Oak, having heard the news, had hurried over—a young man with a notably pale complexion. He appeared uneasy, almost tearing the buttons off his clothes upon seeing that the captain intended to personally enter the Stargazing Chamber to confirm the course.
“Relax,” Lawrence noticed the navigator’s reaction, a smile forming on his face as he comforted the young man, “It might not be your fault. The Spirit Realm and the Subspace are filled with unpredictable changes. The Spirit Realm lens isn’t always reliable, and deviations in star positions are normal—you lack experience, that’s all.”
“I… I’ve double-checked,” the young navigator said subconsciously, “but…”
Lawrence waved his hand: “I’ll figure out what’s going on.”
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“Captain, the blessing is complete,” the voice of the ship priest arose at this moment from beside him, “You may enter the Stargazing Chamber now—but remember not to stay too long, don’t gaze for too long. If you have not come out after fifteen minutes, I will come to find you.”
“Ten minutes will be enough.” Lawrence adjusted his clothes, his expression serene.
He then sighed softly, stepped forward to the metal door embellished with Storm runes and inlaid with holy silver threads, and pushed it open.
A dimly lit cabin came into view.
Lawrence casually closed the metal door behind him and quickly assessed the situation inside the Stargazing Chamber.
The room had no windows; the metal door was the only means of entry and exit. There were no superfluous facilities in the entire room, the only fixture being the cylindrical device about one meter in diameter placed in the center of the room.
It looked like an altar, yet it was surrounded by a multitude of cranks, connecting rods, and reflective devices. Beside it was a small platform meant for a person to stand on, left for the navigator, while at the top of the cylindrical device was a concave transparent component.
It was a crystal lens, supported by a very complex framework of connecting rods. The lens was bowl-shaped, seemingly empty inside—but when one focused on it, it seemed as if there were glittering waves within the lens.
Those waves seemed to brim with seawater.
Lawrence stepped onto the small platform beside the cylindrical device, his gaze fixed on the lens before him.
A ship sailed on the boundless Endless Sea, where almost no markers could be found on the water’s surface. City-States were isolated islands, and once a voyage brushed past its destination, navigators could find themselves lost in the vast sea—thus, navigation became a critical science.
Anomalous item 001-Sun was a very useful celestial marker. Using the sun to determine the ship’s bearing was certainly one of the navigational skills, but the sun was not always visible in the sky, and relying solely on the sun sometimes failed to provide accurate navigational positioning. When faced with such a situation, how could one accurately determine whether they were on the correct course?
The answer, of course, was—to look at the stars.
Stargazing was a vital skill for modern ocean voyages.
Lawrence lowered his head, slowly bending over, submerging his entire face into the concave structure of the large crystal lens.
The stars lie deep within—seeing them required not only sophisticated equipment but also a sound mind.
