Shrouded Seascape

The footsteps of the landlubbers learning to sail reverberated as they stepped onto the ocean liner's deck. They cast excited gazes at the enormous vessel, and it couldn't be helped—it was their first time on a ship, after all.

The foredeck of the large ocean liner was roughly half the size of a football field. The cabins of the ocean liner stood four stories high, and the ship's bridge was curved, making it appear like the colossal eye of the ship.

Everyone could barely contain their excitement at the thought that the High Priestess was going to let them sail such a magnificent vessel.

Their tutor, an old ship captain, came along as well. His face revealed indifference, but his gleaming eyes betrayed him. His eyes were filled with adoration as he sized up the ship.

Everyone had something they genuinely loved; some loved guns, some loved fishing, but Roger undoubtedly liked ships and everything related to it

"Young man, let me ask you something—are you really going to let this motley riffraff sail this ship? That's so dangerous that it's practically suicide. If you really want to go out to sea, I strongly recommend you find a qualified crew."

Roger took a moment to clear his throat before saying, "How about this? I recently met a group of sailors. They're old, but they're very experienced, and they'll work for half their rate in the market. You'll save a ton of money by hiring them.

"And I'm not exaggerating when I said 'a ton.' I'm not sure if you know, but if you want to employ a qualified captain for an ocean liner of this size, you'll have to pay them an amount not less than a hundred thousand dollars annually.

"And that's just the minimum you have to fork out…"

"Sir, I'm sorry, but I have no authority when it comes to making any decisions here," Roy said, shaking his head. "I suggest you discuss that with Priest Wang Sheng."

"Ah, right, my mistake. Well, then, let's continue. Everyone, follow me. We'll take a tour around the ship first and familiarize ourselves with her," Roger said. He looked pretty eager to explore as he led everyone toward the nearby stairs.

Roger introduced everyone to the ship's facilities and machinery as they walked around the ship. If one wanted to become a good sailor, one had to receive systematic training, but Anna clearly had no time to waste on that.

Three days later, the trainees were sent to another ship to undergo anti-seasickness training. It was like hell. Everyone felt like they were constantly suffering from a high fever, dizziness, and general weakness.

It wasn't just Roy and his group of new recruits. Anna had also ordered everyone in the Fhtagn Covenant to undergo the same training as them. It was a miserable ordeal, but the scene when Anna received the blessing of a god was still fresh in everyone's mind, so none of them uttered any complaint.

The ship was massive, and there was no way that the devotees alone could handle it, so Anna started recruiting people to serve as sailors for when they set sail.

Meanwhile, Wang Sheng received a visitor inside a seemingly empty suburban church. The visitor was none other than Roger. "I'm sorry, Mr. Roger. Though your proposal is tempting, we don't need to hire other captains for the time being."

"You're not hiring other captains? Are you really going to rely on those rookies who can't even stop vomiting over the railings?" Roger asked with widened eyes.

"Don't worry about them. We have our own way of doing this."

"We're talking about the open ocean here! The ocean isn't a child's playground. If something goes wrong, everyone on board will definitely die!" Roger exclaimed, sounding agitated.

In the face of Wang Sheng's calm expression, Roger was bewildered. He truly couldn't understand what these people were thinking. They were doing things in a way that was unlike ordinary people. At first, he thought that these foreigners had simply come here to spread the gospel of their religion.

However, he quickly realized that he was wrong. These people living in the suburbs were completely different from the devotees of other religions. They kept to themselves, appearing particularly mysterious. They were unlike the others.

When they visited him, Roger thought that he was about to deal with a troublesome bunch, but surprisingly, they only wanted him to train sailors. They even offered a substantial payment in exchange for his services.

Accepting the offer that he could not refuse, Roger visited their territory and found the people from their church to be quite polite and serious. They seemed like an amiable and agreeable religious group.

Thus, Roger didn't want these good but ignorant people to go out to sea and die.

"If you want to be on that ship, then you can just come with us. Join us in our covenant," Wang Sheng said, offering a compromise.

"I'm an atheist, so I don't believe in any gods out there! If you're not going to agree with my suggestion, then forget it!" Roger said, storming off in a huff.

The training went on, and the team that would sail the ocean liner into the open sea was slowly taking shape. Meanwhile, Wang Sheng—serving as Anna's mouthpiece—had become so busy that he barely had any time to eat, let alone worry about his blond hair.

The newly grown black hair on his head made his blond hair stand out, giving him an odd hairstyle featuring blond hair with some black strands of hair interweaving the blond hair.

Wang Sheng was eating a cup of instant noodles inside his messy room. His eyes reflected the digits and texts on the distant LCD monitors. The cogs in his mind were turning rapidly as he thought about his next course of action.

"Master~! You have a call~" A young voice abruptly reverberated in the room, and it was coming from a phone lying in a pile of what looked like white powder.

Forcefully swallowing the noodles in his mouth, Wang Sheng picked up the phone and tapped on it. When he saw the number on the screen, his face turned ugly, as if he had swallowed a fly. The number belonged to none other than his father.

He almost threw the phone away, but he forced himself to calm down upon recalling Anna's words.

"Hello? Who is this?" Wang Sheng barely managed to squeeze these words out of his throat amidst his ugly grimace.

"It's me." Wang Jianshe's deep voice echoed from the phone. "The people I recruited from Cuba will reach you soon. Get ready to leave."

Wang Sheng nearly exploded with fury upon hearing that. His fingers trembled, and he almost crushed the phone as he asked through gritted teeth. "You're making decisions for me again?! You've been doing that since I was young. Have you ever asked me for my own opinion before making any decisions for me?"

"Is this the time to talk about that? That woman is dangerous! Do you want to die out there, huh?!"

"So what if I die out here? At least, it was a choice I made myself! Mind your own business, and go make your own money! Don't you have a ton of bitches around you? Can't you make another son with any of them?

"Why are you so obsessed with me?!"

"What can you even do without me, you worthless piece of garbage?! How are you going to face your mother if you keep doing this?"

"You actually don't feel disgusted with yourself by mentioning her? Do you really think that I don't know how she died? I was young back then, yes, but I wasn't stupid!"

The air between the father and son instantly became thick with hostility. Just then, some voices in the background reverberated from Wang Jianshe's end.

"Mr. Wang…. you shouldn't…. say that. It's…. counterproductive. You should..."