Shrouded Seascape

Lost in thought, Anna's fair arm dropped limply as she fell asleep. The earlier struggle with maddening roars had left her mentally exhausted. In her dreams, whatever she saw made her lips curve slightly upward into a charming smile.

Outside, Wang Sheng had just finished his speech to the new recruits. Under his guidance, everyone uniformly removed their clothing, and they gave up all of their electronic devices.

Everyone was then informed of the church's code of conduct and their upcoming duties, which included a variety of chores.

Wang Sheng's words didn't cause any waves among the new recruits. The miraculous scene earlier had convinced them thoroughly. If even the false religions around the world had quite a few followers, how could a real religion with a real god not have any followers?

Roy was included in the crowd. After taking another shower, the grime all over him was nowhere to be seen, and he had shaved all of his facial hair as well. His musty clothes were replaced with brand-new ones.

The biggest change was in his demeanor. If before his eyes had shown only despair, now they held extreme yearning. Roy seemed to have been reborn.

He followed Elder Wang Sheng's guidance and ate a full meal before retiring to the dormitory to conserve his energy for tomorrow's dedication.

It was late at night, and moonlight streamed through the window, hitting the small mirror in Roy's hand. Roy was staring at himself in the mirror, and he was muttering something to himself. Soon, Roy's overall demeanor changed.

There was a reason Roy was the top agent of the organization. In addition to his wide range of skills, Roy was also capable of hypnotizing himself.

Once he was in character, he could completely merge with his fabricated persona, and it was a change that even lie detectors couldn't detect. This special ability of his was the reason he managed to infiltrate so many dangerous organizations throughout his career.

Roy thought that his years of experience had shown him everything, but reflecting on today's events still left him bewildered.

Regardless of their doctrines, Roy had categorized the leaders of the organizations he had infiltrated so far into three categories—smart people wielding Anomalies as weapons, twisted psychopaths committing cruel and unusual acts under the guise of religion, and fools worshiping Anomalies as gods.

Whatever they believed was merely a means to an end. There were no gods in this world, and the so-called gods were born from poor acting of frauds and con artists.

However, today's events actually made Roy feel like his worldview was being challenged. He tried to rationalize what he had seen, thinking of it as a magic trick and a part of a script.

Unfortunately, the burn on his palm made him feel uncertain about the truth.

When Anna had collapsed earlier, he rushed forward before anyone else. As soon as his hand made contact with her skin—a pain several times worse than a burn—was transmitted to him.

It was so painful that it almost shattered his hypnosis.

Roy had suffered burn injuries before, and it was a sensation that could not be faked so easily.

Could it be that the woman named Anna has a controllable Anomaly? Roy considered this possibility, but it seemed unlikely. After all, the bizarre array earlier that filtered those disloyal to god had shown the same green flames as Anna.

Moreover, that bizarre circle was drawn by the other believers. Could all of them have a controllable Anomaly and the same Anomaly as Anna at that? Moreover, there were also those incomprehensible murmurs in his ears during the ritual.

Roy finally understood why the headquarters had decided to lend him a Level C Controllable Anomaly. It was all because this mission was unlike any other mission he had gone through before.

The road was dangerous ahead, but Roy revealed a confident smile as he sprawled out on the bed. The certain dangers in the future hadn't subdued him at all but had instead stoked his competitive spirit.

"Let's go. Let this final performance be my closing act," Roy muttered to himself. Then, he looked at the mirror in his hand and closed his eyes.

***

"All of you are reserve helmsmen, so you have to understand that steering a ship isn't exactly like driving a car. Cars have brakes, but ships don't," an old captain said to the black-clad believers before him, "Regardless of what's ahead of you, the ocean's current will keep pushing the ship forward."

"If you're in a car and you somehow get into an accident, other people can rescue you, or you can save yourself as well. You're on solid ground, after all. However, it's not that easy when it comes to accidents out at sea.

"Imagine this—there's nothing around you, but your ship is sinking. What can you do? Nothing. You can't do anything other than wait for your demise. So you need to be extremely observant while working on a ship. You need to pay attention to the details; attention to detail, attention to detail, and more attention to detail.

"Helsmen cannot make any mistakes, especially on the open sea. Any error can easily snowball into casualties. You've heard of the Titanic, right? Don't let your ship become the second Titanic.

"Ah, one more thing—if you do encounter an iceberg, remember not to turn the helm; just hit it straight, and the ship probably won't sink."

Roy was sitting in the front row, and his expression was solemn. It looked like he was trying to show everyone that he was doing his best to perform duties for the Fhtagn Covenant.

"Wait, there's another important point that all of you must remember—out at sea, the captain's words are absolute. Humans are like social animals—like wolves, and in an enclosed space like a ship, there must be an alpha among the wolves.

"Never challenge the captain's authority out at sea. And the captain must maintain control of the ship at all times, or the ship will definitely fall into chaos.

"In an enclosed space out at sea, every single emotion—whether good or bad—is contagious. Trust me, you don't want to see the horrors that are bound to transpire on a ship without any rules or laws," the old captain said. Then, he shuddered as if he had recalled something.

Just as he was about to start the class, the door opened, and Li Long walked into the room.

"Our new ship has arrived at the port. The High Priestess wants you to train these guys on the ship," Li Long said.

With that, the old captain and the others were guided to several cars and brought to the docks. It took them two hours to reach the port, and they were dumbfounded to see a massive ocean liner upon arriving at the busy port.

The ocean liner towered about fourteen stories from the waterline. Roy and the others looked like mice as they looked up at the massive ship.

"You're kidding, right? This is such a massive ship, and they're making you sail this thing? Are they trying to die here? Please tell me you've decided to hire some professionals here," the old captain said.

His brows were furrowed tightly. Clearly, he didn't believe that his students—who had just begun learning the rudiments of seamanship and navigation—could sail an ocean liner.