The condition of the Dawood was obviously dire. The six sails that had been raised were almost entirely torn to pieces in this collision and were now nowhere to be found. The remaining sails that hadn't been raised weren't much better off, with damage done to them beyond repair. Simply put, these sails aren't going to be of use for a second time.
Fortunately, the ship's hull itself wasn't severely damaged, so it wasn't on the verge of sinking due to insufficient buoyancy.
He glanced ahead again, and after passing that rock mountain, the way forward was clear — but where the Dawood would be blown by the storm was not something they could decide on their own.
Luo Hao finally turned around to check on the others — one person was missing from the earlier collision, but that was already considered lucky. From the Dawood taking off in such weather to them narrowly missing that obstacle, until now they only lost one crew member.
In a way, that could be considered a miracle.
He weakly waved a hand and said to everyone: "The deck is unsafe; we're temporarily free of obstacles now. Everyone should go below; leave one person to keep watch."
Choosing who would keep watch was clearly a daunting task; staying on the deck was undoubtedly the most dangerous position. However, ZXC looked around at everyone and suddenly said: "I'll do it, my agility is the highest, it's the safest to remain on the deck."
Luo Hao glanced at him without hesitation, only nodding.
He went with the others to the entrance of the cabin, opened the door, descended the deck, and went all the way to the main control room of the Dawood, where the magic guided engine was located. Luo Yu, Xiangzi, and Gita heard the sound and turned to see him — Miss Natural Historian seemed to have bumped into something during the earlier impact; her forehead was wrapped in white cloth, with faint traces of blood seeping underneath.
Her face was a bit pale, but it didn't seem to be due to the injury. Upon seeing the others come down, she opened her mouth to speak. But Luo Yu spoke first: "You've come at the right time, come see these things."
"What things?" Luo Hao was taken aback. "Is there something wrong down below?"
"The Bain People placed lots of explosives on the ship," Gita said with some concern.
"Explosives?" Luo Hao was shocked. "Where? Have they been dealt with?"
"In the main control room, it was discovered by Miss Affia," Gita replied. "We just don't know why they didn't detonate it."
Luo Hao paused slightly and suddenly looked at Miss Arcanist.
...
Mayer Hill watched the knights leave one by one, then closed the temple door and turned to walk back into the hall — this sandstorm had been blowing for a week. However, in recent days, the wind had noticeably weakened, and pedestrians could already be seen on the streets. But under such weather, obviously few people were in the mood to visit the Holy Sanctuary of the God of War. Most were still busy dealing with the aftermath of the dust storm.
Three days had passed since the night of the divine miracle. However, very few actually witnessed the scene at that time; after all, in such weather, few ventured outside. Nonetheless, the guards on the city wall, the knights, and even His Excellency the Governor were among those who witnessed the Goddess manifest.
This had already been the second time His Excellency the Governor sent men to inquire about the situation here. Yet Mayer Hill still dismissed them, claiming nothing had happened. Nulman, as the Lord of Bain City, was himself somewhat a follower of Lady Marlan, so while there was doubt, he felt too embarrassed to probe further.
He couldn't possibly order the knights to force their way into Marlan's Holy Sanctuary, lest such an order cause an uproar among the knights themselves.
But the explanation given by Mayer Hill was probably sufficiently acceptable — the divine miracle by Lord Goddess was closely related to this once-in-a-century sandstorm. In other words, it implied the Goddess was protecting Bain City during this dust storm. It was said this rumor was widely accepted within Bain City.
Of course —
Though the Goddess protected Bain, many still suffered from this rare dust storm, besides the damage caused by the sand itself. Moreover, there were peculiar losses, such as someone's roof being pierced by a shield falling from the sky. Luckily, no one was injured in this incident.
Fang Hong vaguely felt that this incident might be related to the Dawood. The storm was gradually subsiding, though it was unclear whether those aboard the Dawood had escaped or had crashed somewhere outside the city.
He heard footsteps from behind, and turned to look, just in time to see Mayer Hill carrying an oil lamp and walking over from the other end of the hall. Because the hall had accumulated a thick layer of sand during the storm, the elderly knight left a long trail of footprints wherever he went.
Looking at him, of course, Fang Hong knew what he was up to, and asked:
"Are they sent by Bain Fortress again?"
Mayer Hill nodded.
"Did you send them back again?"
"Yes."
The knight bypassed him, went to the Holy Altar, placed down the oil lamp, then turned and answered:
"But the sandstorm is near its end; you can't keep pushing them away forever, right?" Fang Hong thought for a moment. "If they can't find me in the city, they'll definitely associate this with me. By then, this place won't be safe for me anymore."
Mayer Hill looked at him, silent.
Then Fang Hong said: "Alright, my point is, do you have a way to get me out..."
...