amaotonovel Chapter 57 Sailing Towards the Deep Blue
Chapter 57 Sailing Towards the Deep Blue
Bonus chapter released on 11/21 (3/3)
Olina Christopher strolled along the ship's side. Besides the naval shipyard, Sheila also had some small shipyards, which were taken over by the National Commerce Commission. After all, in addition to warships, society as a whole needed civilian vessels of all sizes.
Hilla Second Shipyard took on most of the shipbuilding orders. Of course, they did not receive the same preferential treatment as Hilla Naval Shipyard, but they did have new technologies. According to the data, as the Second Shipyard mainly engaged in merchant ship business, it also built a number of merchant ships.
The ship beneath Olina Christopher's feet was one of the first clipper fast sailing ships built by the Second Shipyard. In fact, after the so-called Royal Navy was destroyed, trade in the Western Ocean flourished again, with all kinds of merchant ships available. However, the Foreign Trade Department under the Commerce Commission found that the existing merchant ships were not fast enough.
Referring to the structure of the Navy's main warship "Hiun" class, the Ministry of Foreign Trade began to instruct the Second Shipyard to build a batch of clipper trade ships. The Second Shipyard quickly produced the result - the "Flying Fish" class, with a deadweight of 700 tons, an exaggerated length-to-width ratio of 6:1, and still using iron frame and wooden ribs.
Three days before the launch of the lead ship of the "Hiun" class, the "Hiun," the Second Shipyard launched four such ships at the same time. Originally, all of them were to be assigned to the Ministry of Foreign Trade, but people from the National Geographic Society and the Visionaries Alliance came to the shipyard with Alice's documents and took two of them away—to the Scientific Committee, or rather, the Geographical Sciences Division of the American Academy of Sciences. They also requisitioned several merchant ships from the Ministry of Foreign Trade for research purposes.
Olina Christophe strolled along one of the ships, which didn't yet have a name, but she already had an idea, so when the port authority came to register the documents, she applied to name it herself.
“Alright, Ms. Olina Christopher, give her a name.”
Olina Kristoff nodded, took off her hat, and uttered a single word—"New World"—intending to wish for good luck in discovering a new continent. After all, although Princess Alice believed there was a new continent there, no one actually knew what it contained.
The National Geographic Society spared no expense for this expedition, bringing a wealth of equipment, including sextants, barometers, compasses, magic indicators, and even a hot air balloon setup and a small chemistry lab.
The National Geographic Society sent three professors, one of whom was from the Visionaries Alliance, who were discussing the voyage aboard the New World.
"Generally speaking, we should keep sailing west, hoping to find a new continent or reach the East."
"It's also possible to reach a wall that towers into the clouds."
"Gentlemen, we'll only know what's on the other side of the sea once we've been there."
Olina Kristoff boarded the ship. This expedition was officially endorsed and naturally covered by the press. The citizens of Hilla Harbor gathered on the shore, all eager to see the fleet.
"Exploring the ocean! Ah, what courageous land dwellers!"
Amidst the crowd, Issa Mara, dressed in a robe, watched the sailors waving to them. In the sunset, the wind gradually blew from the shore to the sea. Two ships, two low, straight, and very beautiful new ships, leaped out of the harbor like graceful swallows. Opposite them, two slightly bulky three-masted sailing ships were anchoring, much like the difference between elves and orcs.
"They may never return. The ocean is too vast; even the Sirens couldn't cross it. Why would they do this? They haven't even fully conquered the land yet, and they want to venture into the ocean now?"
Isabella muttered to herself as she sat on the terrace, watching the fleet depart. People were still watching the expedition fleet sailing into the deep blue. The clipper ship's complex sails gave it a multi-layered appearance, like a large tree with white leaves.
The sirens are searching for their own meaning, but they haven't found it yet. Isa Mara watched the departing fleet and longed to ask the land people on board why they were heading to the ocean.
But before that, she wanted to find the answers on land.
The New World slowly sailed out of Hilla Harbor. With the land breeze blowing, the clipper with its sails full gradually accelerated, eventually reaching a speed of 10 knots. Even though she was prepared for the high speed, the speed it brought was still beyond her expectations.
"My God, what's going on here?"
"Captain, we're only sailing at full speed; we have a tailwind now."
The bow cleaved through the waves, and the sun dyed the horizon red, like the flames of a dragon. Olina Christopher, the old sailor, stood steadily on the deck, the sea breeze blowing her flaxen curls. She wrapped her coat tighter and reached out to infuse her hands with magic.
The starry sky swirls around her hands, twinkling starlight and colorful nebulae drifting in her palms. She gazes at the brightest star, forever floating in the northern part of this nebula.
"Navigation is in progress."
For self-defense, the HMS New World and the HMS Great Discovery behind it were each equipped with two 75mm Dahlgren guns. Most of the sailors were also transferred from the Navy, and a few young trainees were washing the deck under the guidance of the boatswain.
Olina Christopher astutely observed that the Amelansi was quite different from ships from other countries. On this ship, everything was clean and orderly, and the crew displayed absolute discipline. In contrast, ships from other nations were always filthy, damp, and permeated with a foul odor, with rats being the native inhabitants.
The first mate was clearly also a soldier, and he seemed to be the one in charge of everything, rather than Olina Kristoff. Although the sailors appealed to Olina Kristoff, she was mostly unable to provide any solutions: the ship was a type she had never seen before, narrow and long, with a mast that was more than half the length of the ship, and the complex sails could be raised with just one lever. What intrigued her even more was a small, black, cylindrical structure behind the mainmast.
Regardless, she continued to guide the fleet. She would often borrow the binoculars from the first mate—later they were simply given to her—to gaze at the vast ocean, for even she had never been to its depths. Looking around, there was only the horizon where the water met the sky, and apart from their two ships, everything was silent and desolate; there were no birds in the sky.
Suddenly, a tiny creature on the sea surface caught her attention. It was a creature leaping out of the water, and then more and more appeared. She realized that they were flying fish!
She reached out and grabbed one of them. The flying fish struggled. This little creature, like them, was continuing its journey in the ocean. She let go, and the boatswain rang the ship's bell—it was lunchtime.
Olina Kristoff looked at the ocean again, from the first glimpse she had of it as a child standing on her parents' small fishing boat, until now, she was finally able to travel to the deep blue of her childhood dreams, that distant place she had been so curious about.