Chapter 539

Chapter 399: Signal

Conquer Sea, on the voyage to Iwig.

On the vast ocean, a pilgrimage fleet consisting of two cruisers, four destroyers, and three passenger ships, totaling nine vessels, was making its way solemnly towards the Holy Mother’s sanctuary in Iwig for a grand pilgrimage journey.

At the forefront of the fleet, on the flat foredeck of a cruiser plowing through the waves, stood a middle-aged officer with a clean-shaven beard. He wore a naval officer uniform with religious connotations, a captain’s hat adorned with the Radiant military emblem, and white gloves on his hands, which were clasped behind his back. His sharp eyes gazed into the distance.

“Santos, take a look over there. Do you recognize that ship?”

After staring into the distance for a while, the officer turned to a man dressed as a deputy by his side and asked. The man was slightly startled and then looked in the direction the officer was looking.

“That ship over there… It’s quite large… It looks like a cruise ship? Looking at the spelling on the hull… Could it be the Shining White Pearl?”

The deputy said while squinting at the distant ship and furrowing his brows slightly, then continued.

“No, wait… If I remember correctly, the Shining White Pearl is supposed to be the ship hosting a jewelry exhibition, isn’t it? When I was in Barse, I read in the newspaper that this ship, although also heading to Iwig, departed earlier than us. According to the circumstances, we shouldn’t encounter them, right? Sir Jorde, this seems strange.”

The deputy said with a hint of confusion. Listening to the deputy’s words, Jorde, the officer, silently responded.

“Hmm… Yes, theoretically, the Shining White Pearl should not be here, but situations at sea can change in an instant, and anything could happen. Recently, the weather has been poor, so there’s a possibility of getting lost…

“In any case, let’s keep an eye on that ship for now. If there’s nothing else unusual, we’ll just ignore it…”

Jorde said as he continued. As a senior official of the Church and a naval officer with many years of experience at sea, he had encountered all kinds of maritime situations due to the complexity of weather conditions, sea conditions, and vessel conditions. Ships often encountered accidents at sea, and there were numerous reasons why they might be delayed. Therefore, he did not pay much attention to why the Shining White Pearl was appearing here, as the other party was still far away.

Just as Jorde was about to stop paying attention to the distant cruise ship, suddenly, a distant rumbling sound came. Upon hearing this sound, Jorde was slightly taken aback. As an officer, he knew exactly what this sound was—it was the sound of an explosion!

“What’s going on? Why is there an explosion!”

Upon hearing the explosion, Jorde immediately turned his head back towards the distant direction, looking towards where the cruise ship had been. Based on the direction, the explosion seemed to have come from there.

“Sir Jorde! Look over there! There’s abnormal black smoke coming from the Shining White Pearl! It looks like there’s a fire!”

At this moment, the deputy who had been closely watching the cruise ship shouted loudly. Hearing the deputy’s words, Jorde’s expression became very serious. He carefully observed the distant cruise ship and indeed saw several wisps of black smoke drifting out of the portholes, which could be a sign of a fire.

“It seems… something has happened to them. Judging from the smoke coming out of their chimneys and their speed, it could be a boiler malfunction causing the explosion, and the fire was caused by the explosion… The boiler malfunction affected the power, slowing down their speed, so we caught up with them…”

Looking at the condition of the distant cruise ship, Jorde said while frowning, analyzing based on his experience, and then immediately turned to look at the deputy beside him.

“Order the entire fleet to slow down. Hang the signal flag on the Buena. Ask them what’s going on.”

“Yes, sir!” After receiving the order, the deputy resolutely retreated. On the deck, Jorde continued to gaze anxiously at the distant cruise ship.

…

Far from the Radiant Church’s pilgrimage fleet, on the foredeck of the Shining White Pearl, Costa and Massimo, among others from the Abyss Cult, were frightened when they saw the Church’s warships on the horizon. After regaining their composure, they immediately ordered the bridge to steer the cruise ship away from the Radiant fleet. However, just as Costa gave the order, an unexpected situation occurred.

An explosion, originating from below deck deep within the ship, shook the entire vessel. Then, the ship’s course noticeably dropped. Amidst the shaking, Costa steadied himself and immediately turned to look at his subordinate, shouting loudly.

“What was that explosion! Go check it out immediately!”

“Yes, sir!”

Hearing Costa’s stern command, one of the Abyss Cult sailors immediately obeyed and ran into the cabin. Meanwhile, Costa continued standing on the deck, his face filled with concern as he stared at the distant Church fleet. Beside him, Massimo, somewhat flustered, spoke.

“Thief K… It must be that Thief K!

Encountering the Church fleet in such a place and having an explosion occur at this exact moment! This must be some mischief by Thief K! She might be trying to escape using the Church fleet from this ship!”

Massimo exclaimed angrily. Beside him, Costa’s expression grew even more serious upon hearing Massimo’s words. Indeed, given the current situation, everything seemed to point to Thief K causing trouble in secret. Although they didn’t know how she did it, the sudden appearance of the Church fleet and the explosion happening at the same time were too coincidental, indicating a premeditated plan. Therefore, suspecting Thief K was justified.

“Thief K… You… What are you planning now?”

Gazing at the distant fleet, Costa muttered to himself. At this moment, passengers on the deck, alarmed by the explosion, began to inquire about the situation from the crew. Under Costa’s instructions, the crew tried to calm the passengers and send them back to their cabins.

After waiting a bit longer, a dirty Abyss Cult sailor rushed from the cabin to the deck and reported to Costa.

“Mr. Costa! We found out the cause of the explosion! It happened in the boiler room! Two boilers exploded! It’s chaos down there! We don’t know if the explosion affected the transmission, but the whole ship has stopped moving entirely, with no power at all! Some areas are on fire, but it’s not too big, and they’ve already started putting it out!”

“What… Boiler explosion? Isn’t the boiler room supposed to be guarded by our people? How could this happen!”

Costa sternly addressed the sailor in front of him. As the core of the ship’s power, Costa had not only assigned his subordinates to guard it closely but also made sure it was patrolled frequently. It should not have happened.

“I don’t know the specific reason! When I went to the boiler room before, everything was fine! Workers were shoveling coal, and Hamma was supervising. When I went again, it was a mess! Escaping workers said they heard an unusual noise from the boilers and sensed danger, so they all fled before the explosion. Hamma and the others said they saw something suspicious and went to investigate but disappeared!”

The sailor continued to report anxiously. Listening to the sailor’s account, Costa’s brow furrowed deeper. Clearly, he was referring to the suspicious figure, likely Thief K, who must have caused the explosion by tampering with the boilers. Those who pursued her, Hamma and the others, were probably in grave danger with no news of them.

Just as Costa was about to say something, Massimo continued speaking.