Lord of Mysteries

Chapter 8 A New Era

Ugh!

The wind howled and the rain poured down. The three-masted sailboat rose and fell between wave "peaks" one after another, like a toy being tossed and caught by a giant.

The crimson in Alger Wilson's eyes faded, and he found himself still standing on the deck, no different from before.

Immediately afterwards, he saw the strangely shaped glass bottle in his palm shatter, the frost and snow melting into water and merging with the raindrops.

In just two or three seconds, this ancient artifact completely disappeared without a trace.

A hexagonal, crystalline snowflake appeared in Alger's palm, then quickly faded until it disappeared, as if it had shrunk into his flesh.

Alger nodded almost imperceptibly as if he were thinking about something, and remained silent for a full five minutes.

He turned around and walked towards the cabin entrance. Just as he was about to enter, he met a man who was also wearing a long robe embroidered with lightning bolt patterns.

The man with soft blond hair stopped in his tracks, looked at Alger, extended his right hand, clenched his fist, and placed it on his chest, saying:

"The storm is with you."

"The storm is with you." Alger's rugged and profound face was devoid of any superfluous emotion as he clenched his right fist into his left chest.

After exchanging greetings, Alger entered his cabin and walked along the corridor toward the captain's quarters in the distance.

Along the way, he didn't encounter a single sailor or crew member; the place was as quiet as the inside of a tomb.

The captain's cabin door opened, revealing a soft, thick, dark brown carpet. On either side were bookshelves and wine cabinets, their yellowed covers and bottles of dark red wine gleaming strangely in the candlelight.

On the desk where the candles were placed, there was a bottle of ink, a quill pen, a black metal telescope, and a brass sextant.

Behind the desk, a pale-faced middle-aged man wearing a skullcap hat watched Alger approach step by step, and said through gritted teeth in anger:

"I will not give in!"

"I believe you can do it," Alger said calmly, as if he were saying that the weather wasn't very good that day.

"You..." The middle-aged man was stunned, seemingly not expecting such a response.

Just then, Alger slightly bent his body and suddenly lunged forward, instantly closing the distance between the two until only the desk remained between them.

Snapped!

His shoulders tightened, and his right hand shot out, grabbing the middle-aged man's throat.

Before the other party could react, illusory fish scales appeared on the back of his hand, and he exerted force with his five fingers.

"It will be the true overlord; it will conquer the sea!"

The nobles, ministers, and members of parliament were in an uproar. The prime minister’s description alone was enough for them to imagine the terror of the ironclad warship, let alone the fact that the real thing was right in front of them!

Agusid smiled slightly, delivered a few more words of his speech, and then bowed to King George III, saying:

"Your Majesty, please name it."

"Let's call it the Pritzker from Pritzker Harbour onwards," George III said with great pleasure.

"The Pritz!"

"The Pritz!"

……

Starting with the First Lord of the Admiralty and then the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Navy, the name was passed around until it reached the ironclad warship, where officers and sailors cheered in unison.

"The Pritz!"

Amidst the celebratory atmosphere, cannons fired in salutes, and King George III gave the order to set sail for test firing.

Ugh!

The steam whistle sounded, and plumes of thick smoke billowed from the chimneys; the sounds of machinery operating could be faintly heard.

The behemoth set sail, and when it left the harbor and bombarded the uninhabited island ahead with its two main bow cannons, everyone was shocked.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The earth seemed to be shaking, dust rose into the air, and hurricanes swept outwards, stirring up waves.

Prime Minister Agushid turned with satisfaction and said to the nobles, ministers, and members of parliament:

"From this moment forward, those seven pirates who call themselves generals, and those four who usurp the title of kings, can only tremble and await their doom!"

"Their era is over. Even if they possessed extraordinary powers, ghostly or cursed ships, only ironclad warships will dominate the oceans!"

At this moment, Agushid's chief secretary deliberately asked:

"Then why can't they build their own ironclads?"

Some nobles and members of parliament nodded in agreement, believing that this possibility could not be ruled out.

Agushid immediately smiled and slowly shook his head, saying:

"Impossible, absolutely impossible! Building such an ironclad warship would require three large coal and steel conglomerates, more than twenty steel mills of considerable size, sixty scientists and many more senior engineers from the Backlund Artillery Research Institute and the Pritzker Shipbuilding Institute, two royal shipyards and their nearly one hundred affiliated parts factories, an Admiralty, a shipbuilding committee, a cabinet, a steadfast king with exceptional vision, and a great nation with an annual steel production of 1200 million tons!"

"Pirates could never do that."

He paused for a moment, then raised his arms and shouted passionately:

"Ladies and gentlemen, the age of giant ships and cannons has arrived!"

(End of this chapter)