From the Ship of Fools to Earl of Wugang

Chapter 115 Setting Sail!

Two days later, six reporters, along with a group of busybodies and workers, gathered outside the berths at Dusk Harbor, creating a rare and lively scene.

Elizabeth Price stood between Earl Schenkel and Edmund, and first read out the joint statement of the guild and the Knights of Laurel's Maritime Survey Office:

The original records of this voyage will be kept by both parties separately, and all participants have completed insurance registration. No accident may be determined unilaterally by the employer.

The reporter's questions immediately bypassed her and focused on the Earl.

"Sir, do you believe this operation will lead us to the legendary Old Port?"

"I believe the evidence warrants a serious investigation," the count said, leaning on his cane and facing his notebook and camera. "Furthermore, I will participate in the upcoming voyage and witness the first round of measurements firsthand."

This decision was clearly outside of yesterday's personnel list, and Edmund couldn't help but glance at him sideways.

Several cameras flashed continuously as the count stood tall and proud.

Edmund had to respond as calmly as possible: "His Excellency is familiar with the family's nautical charts and the old port's architecture; we expect him to provide his judgment on board."

Price added, "The union will oversee operational safety. Identity, wealth, and surname cannot replace a life jacket."

The reporters laughed a few times after that statement, and someone pressed the Earl on whether he was worried about a repeat of his disappearance eighty-one years ago.

Count Yuki acknowledged the risks and stated that the operation would leave complete evidence in accordance with modern maritime investigation procedures.

After the Q&A session with reporters, everyone's attention immediately turned to the "Hailu" ship docked behind them.

This is a near-shore survey vessel that was decommissioned and converted for civilian use. The hull has a beautiful line, and the aft deck still retains the towing winch and two sets of large guide sheaves.

The four men the count brought were already waiting at the ship's side: two veteran divers with naval experience, a veteran engineer, and finally, a radio operator who had participated in hydrographic surveys, who was responsible for explaining the equipment to the reporters.

The measurement room was crammed with several bulky screens, printers, tape recorders, and devices with various interfaces filling the cabinets, and the bundles of cables on the walls emitted the smell of dust from the heat.

"We are equipped with side-scan sonar, professional depth sounders, and magnetometers for locating metal anchors." He patted the cabinet.

"Undersea profilers determine whether there is a continuous foundation beneath the sediment, while underwater cameras are responsible for obtaining images that can be understood by the public and the courts. A single device may lie, but five machines are enough to provide a credible answer."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Theo Harding from the union came out of the warehouse with four other men.

"The union-recommended certified commercial diver, along with a mechanic, is just as useful as a new cable."

Ha Ding introduced the money to everyone, then looked at the Earl: "They know why this trip has more money than usual, so there's no need to hide anything from them."

After verifying the information, Price had the photographers take pictures of the divers, insurance policies, and storage box numbers, clearly preparing to ensure that any future disputes would first be met with a wall of paper evidence.

After the reporters had taken their photos, they left one by one. Once the crowd had dispersed, Edmund turned to the Earl and said, "You didn't say you wanted to board the ship yesterday."

"I read those records yesterday and I've thought it through." The Earl's reply was brief and forceful. "The Old Port does exist, and it is my mission to personally resolve the nightmare that has plagued the Schenkel family for eighty-one years."

If the Earl were dragged back to Wangchao Castle now, the next day's newspapers would probably have an extra timid headline.

Edmund had no choice but to accept the decision, while he himself made it clear at the crew meeting that he would not perform routine dives, citing his unhealed injury.

Fortunately, no one expected him to go into the water. His main responsibility was to judge the data, calibrate the position, and make decisions in case of emergencies. The advantage of having money can be reflected anywhere.

The first round of measurements mainly used remote sensing equipment and towed cameras, with divers only responsible for troubleshooting equipment malfunctions and emergency rescue.

Neud, who had followed him, remained silent, while Moro on his shoulder asked for wine or other things for him.

Julian himself stayed behind at the old relief center, and before departing, he handed Edmund a black, branch-like object by the gangway.

"If you encounter a danger that you cannot handle, crush it. His Highness instructed me to emphasize: do not save, use it as needed."

Edmund accepted the extra insurance provided by the royal family; the branch felt metallic to the touch, with three thin golden leaves growing on its branches. The information then unfolded.

【Golden Branches on the Return Journey】

This is a one-time use artifact made from a branch of the "Io Golden Tree" in the third layer of the spirit world, the "Hengtian Realm." After the branch is broken, a nearby, real threshold will open an escape route within seven breaths. The person holding the branch and at most two others maintaining traction with it...

Those who embrace or pledge their connection with their companions can do so.

[When crossing the threshold, attached spirits, external projections, and wandering contaminants not acknowledged by the holder will be left outside. Physical wounds, internal toxins, completed curses, and entities recorded as multiple parts by the threshold will remain as they are.]

When there are no available thresholds nearby, the shelter coordinates are invalid, or a high-level blockade is established, the Golden Bough will only point to the nearest return route.

The branch cannot be broken at this point.

It was indeed a formidable weapon for self-defense. Edmund put the branch away: "Please thank His Highness for me. Tell him to rest assured that I will absolutely put the value of life before it."

As the Hailu gradually sailed away from the twilight harbor, a small shout erupted from the crowd on the shore, which gradually dissipated in the wind.

Edmund, however, noticed something discordant on the side: a small boat with a red anchor mark slowly followed from the north berth, always keeping a distance from which his shouts could not be heard.

The other party limited all its actions to following and recording the course from a distance. After watching for a while, the count ordered the crew to maintain the established speed and ignore it.

The first round of exploration was scheduled for daytime when the weather and sea conditions were stable. After arriving at the designated grid, the Hailu (Sea Heron) deployed its towed fish and began the first survey line along the presumed boundary of the old port.

The side-scan sonar first returned a few blurry parallel shadows, which the veteran surveyor judged to be caused by rock strata fracturing.

The magnetometer then detected several equidistant anomalies at the corner of the shadow, and the seabed profiler showed a continuous foundation beneath the sediment.

The three devices gradually reduced the interpretive space that natural terrain could occupy.

The printer continued to spit out swirling blueprints, and Edmund used a transparent ruler to adjust the scale, projecting the sound and image onto the old nautical charts brought out from the archives.

The breakwater of the old port encloses warehouses and ship repair berths, with a pilot lighthouse and tide observation house at each end, and a shopping street in the center for crew members to stay, resupply and trade.

The first point of agreement is the breakwater corner. This is followed by the warehouse wall, the lighthouse base, and the artificial pier.

Those straight lines drawn eighty-one years ago have returned to the seabed today.

The towed camera slowly moved along the designated location. Initially, the screen showed only mud, schools of fish, and the occasional glimpse of seaweed, then the lights illuminated a row of cut rocks.

The camera pans past the broken walls, revealing the underwater complex emerging from behind the floating dust. Warehouse ruins line the old street, broken stone steps lead to berths covered in silt, and further away stands a circular base that is now only half intact.

The count pressed his palm against the edge of the table.

"That's the lighthouse in the old port, I'm pretty sure of it," he said. "Let's go back to the same survey route."

The Heron turned around and lowered its camera again. The second image was consistent with the first, with the stone wall, dock, and lighthouse base remaining in the same positions.

The Old Port has finally transformed from a rumor about the Schenkel family into a tangible reality.

The Earl requested that the two original tapes be placed in sealed bags and kept separately by the firm and the union, with the Earl's mansion signing the seals as witness.

After signing, he walked alone to the stern and gazed at the sea for a long time beside the towing winch.

Edmund watched the figure's back through the glass of the measuring room and felt that the count had finally found some kind of relief.

The old port does exist.

The same thing that swallowed Victor and the entire exploration fleet also existed.