The cannons roared, and scorching projectiles whistled as they plunged from the sky. Massive columns of water erupted one after another around the harbor, some of them nearly scraping the hull of the White Oak. The sea churned and surged, and the entire ship shuddered from the impacts, emitting ominous creaks and groans.

Lawrence and First Mate Gus led twelve sailors up the rope ladder, returning to the deck of the White Oak without incident. Behind them, Dagger Isle remained shrouded in mist, and a sudden, chaotic gust of wind swept through the deserted harbor. The mist swirled and churned in the wind, as if filled with malice, as if angered by the uninvited guests.

The boatswain hurried over, the tall seaman looking anxious, clutching a rifle in his hand (though it was of little use in naval warfare). He rushed to Lawrence, quickly confirming the captain's condition before breathing a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness! You're finally back – we heard thunderous sounds coming from the island earlier, and you were gone so long that the second mate thought something had happened to you..."

The scene from the dockside square flashed through Lawrence's mind – the four extra sailors, the sudden appearance of green flames. A complex expression appeared on his face.

Something *had* happened, and it was no small matter.

But now was clearly not the time for explanations.

"Never mind that for now," he said, shaking his head. "What's the situation? Where's Jason?"

"The second mate is commanding the battle from the bridge. We're engaged with an unidentified warship," the boatswain said quickly. "The ship opened fire on us from a great distance as soon as it appeared, and it's been closing in ever since – the stern took a hit just now. Luckily, the damage wasn't too severe, but we have to get out of here. The White Oak is no match for a warship."

"Leave here, now," Lawrence said quickly.

The steam core emitted a deep rumble, and the boiling-gold catalyst began to release surging energy. The powerful drive mechanism propelled the propellers, causing the White Oak to accelerate away from the eerie harbor. Amid the falling cannonballs and rising plumes of water, the advanced cargo-exploration ship with its white hull steadily gained speed, leaving Dagger Isle behind in a cloud of mist.

However, the attacker pursued relentlessly.

Lawrence went to the bridge and observed the situation on the sea through the large windows on the side and rear of the bridge. At the end of the vast sea, he could clearly see the silhouette of the attacker – a warship of modest size, firing its main guns from the bow as it pursued. Bright flashes repeatedly pierced the dim sky that enveloped the sea.

Fortunately, it was a small ship, not a heavily armed battleship; otherwise, the White Oak would never have survived this attack.

Unfortunately, the ship was extremely fast. Even with the White Oak's speed constantly increasing, Lawrence judged that the ship would eventually catch up.

The ship was even accelerating.

"We can't shake it," the first mate said, sounding desperate. "It's too fast... but our firepower is no match for a warship!"

Lawrence remained silent, thinking rapidly.

Technically, the White Oak was a civilian vessel, but that didn't mean it was a lamb to the slaughter. As a specialized exploration ship capable of long-term navigation on the boundless sea and transporting sealed items between city-states, it possessed a military-grade steam core and anti-sinking structure. Moreover, its keel, waterline hull, and superstructure had all been specially reinforced. It could be said that, in terms of hull strength alone, the ship was not inferior to a warship of the same class.

It was lacking only in firepower – after all, as a civilian ship, it could only mount a few small-caliber guns for defense against small groups of pirates or sea monsters, and those were simply incapable of fighting a warship.

As things stood, the White Oak would be caught sooner or later – when the two ships were closer, the enemy's artillery accuracy would not be so poor.

No matter how sturdy the hull structure, it couldn't withstand being used as a target for long.

A sharp whistling sound suddenly grew louder, followed by a deafening roar that interrupted Lawrence's thoughts. His ears rang, the ground beneath him shook, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw a fireball suddenly erupt on the side of the White Oak, sending shards of broken metal and deck structure flying in all directions.

The boatswain shouted, "Hit on the broadside...

Quick, put out the fire!"

Lawrence steadied himself amidst the violent shaking, his expression rapidly changing as if he had suddenly made a decision.

"The cargo manifest," he said, looking up at the first mate, who was maintaining order on the bridge. "Get me the cargo manifest!"

"The cargo manifest?" The first mate was taken aback, then understood the captain's intention. His expression became conflicted and grave, but he immediately carried out the order, handing Lawrence a logbook.

Lawrence opened the logbook, his eyes quickly scanning the contents, finally settling on one line.

"Open sealing room two and bring the sealed item 'Anomaly 077' to the bridge," he said, looking up and quickly ordering the first mate. "Prepare a clean shroud and a new noose, ready for re-sealing at any time."

The first mate's face was tight. Although he had expected this, he still looked extremely hesitant. "Captain, this..."

"This is an emergency, we have no choice," Lawrence said sternly. "There's precedent for unsealing items onboard to resolve a crisis in special circumstances – if the Church wants to investigate afterward, I'll explain it to them."

The first mate seemed to want to say something, but faced with the old captain's serious gaze, he swallowed his words and nodded forcefully. "Aye, Captain!"

The order was quickly executed. Several seamen specifically responsible for handling sealed items raced to the special area located below deck, opened sealing room two, and deactivated the room's sealed state according to Anomaly 077's containment protocols.

Moments later, amid the roar of cannons, several sailors brought Anomaly 077 to the bridge, placing what the captain wanted in front of Lawrence.

Lawrence lowered his head, his expression extremely solemn as he gazed at the "anomalous item" that the sailors had brought from the sealing room.

It was a mummy tightly wrapped in a shroud.

Anomaly 077 – The Sailor.

Lawrence knew the details of every item on his ship, including this anomaly.

Anomaly 077 initially appeared on an exploration ship that had mysteriously disappeared three years prior, and was believed to be responsible for the ship's demise. The anomaly's appearance was that of a mummy, about 1.7 meters tall. In its unsealed state, it exhibited the characteristics of a "living being", even capable of speech and thought, and its power was closely related to its "identity".

As a sailor, it would attempt to influence the nearest ship, and regardless of environmental conditions, ship type, or handling skills, it would take over all of the ship's functions in a short period of time. Once the takeover was complete, it would cause the ship to teleport randomly – the entire process taking only a few minutes. A ship of any size would be sent to a random corner of the boundless sea under the "Sailor's" influence.

But this teleportation was not a safe journey – ships teleported by Anomaly 077 always appeared in the center of a great storm.

No one knew whether Anomaly 077 specifically chose storms as the landing point for teleportation, or whether it created a storm specifically for the teleportation. The only certainty was that, in a large number of recorded teleportation events, only a small number of ships could safely navigate away from the storm at the "landing point".

More ships and hundreds or thousands of unfortunates became victims of Anomaly 077.

However, according to the information Lawrence had, Anomaly 077 itself was not difficult to deal with – although the unsealed anomaly would unconditionally activate its ability before teleportation was complete, it was easy to re-seal once the teleportation was complete. Simply placing a new noose around its neck would cause it to stop moving immediately, and wrapping it in a shroud would return it to slumber – the mummy had no strength beyond that of a human, and its combat power was not strong.

At that point, the White Oak's crew would only need to find a way to fight a storm – and Lawrence and his sailors had faced countless storms.

Lawrence bent down and slowly placed his hand on Anomaly 077's shroud.

The crew on the bridge watched the scene with bated breath.

Lawrence took a deep breath and loosened the shroud's cords.

A slight inhaling sound reached his ears almost instantly.

The sound came from the wrapped mummy.

The shroud loosened, as if an invisible force had instantly undone all the cords. Anomaly 077's true appearance was exposed to everyone's gaze – a mummy wearing an old-fashioned sailor's smock, its hair sparse and falling out, its body shriveled and nearly skeletal, lying quietly on the floor.

The mummy's chest was rising and falling slightly, and the rise and fall became more and more obvious. In the end, Lawrence even thought he could hear the mummy's heartbeat and breathing.

Anomaly 077 was unsealed – the Sailor awakened from its seal.

The mummy slowly opened its eyes and stiffly sat up little by little, its joints cracking.

"This ship is temporarily under your command," Lawrence said, gritting his teeth, his expression complex. "Take us away from here."

Anomaly 077 sat up straight and slowly looked around, its gaze finally settling on Lawrence.

For some reason, Lawrence suddenly felt as if he saw a hint of fear on that shriveled, hideous face.

Then he saw the mummy actually shiver.

"Don't... don't mess around!"

A hoarse, frightened cry came from the mummy's mouth, and the next second, it closed its eyes in full view of everyone and lay down, pretending to be dead.

It even reached out and tugged at the scattered shroud beside it, as if trying to secretly wrap the cloth back around itself.

Lawrence: "····?"

The sailors: "……?"