Opening the silver cover, in the center of the complex mechanical dial, a green gemstone pointer slowly rotated with continuous ticking sounds, and then gradually stopped at the three o'clock position.
"Level 1 battle readiness, three o'clock direction, cannons ready!" Gel's command echoed throughout the ship.
Although Aiven couldn't figure out what was happening, he dared not speak rashly at this time. On a wartime ship, there is no distinction between uncle and nephew, only superior and subordinate. If he delayed the battle opportunity by speaking out, even if Gel didn't punish him, Aiven wouldn't forgive himself.
While Aiven was unclear, that didn't mean the other officers were also in the dark.
"It's really a sea monster! How could a sea monster want to come over in a place like the coastal area?" questioned the Chief Navigator curiously.
"The Sea Monster Compass is too inaccurate, it can only confirm their presence based on the unique sound waves of sea monsters, and it can't distinguish what level they are at all," the Helmsman tightly held the ship's wheel carefully adjusting the Silver Wings' course, complaining.
"In a coastal area like this, encountering a small sea monster with a size of about thirty meters is considered a fortunate encounter. How could there possibly be large species? Not to mention the giant species rarely seen even in the deep ocean.
Moreover, it is thanks to our former status as part of a Level 4 Battleship fleet, otherwise, we wouldn't even be equipped with a Sea Monster Compass of such precision. We should consider ourselves fortunate," the First Mate, responsible for logistics, had a broader perspective, naturally knowing how precious a Sea Monster Compass is.
The First Mate, Chief Navigator, and Helmsman all stood by Captain Gel, and upon seeing the extraordinary mechanical indication in Gel's hand, began discussing it among themselves.
The officers, having weathered many storms, were not nervous, but merely curious as to how a deep-sea sea monster appeared in a near-shore navigation lane.
Aiven listened with interest; these tales of sea monsters were still within the realm of stories for him, even during new recruit training he had never encountered such things.
In reality, what he didn't understand was that various mystical knowledge involving the hidden world is jointly restricted from widespread dissemination by secular countries and the Church as taboo knowledge.
This is because mystical knowledge often involves power, just like the Knight Training Method, without the appropriate foundational knowledge and guidance from a mentor, recklessly exploring the unknown often has disastrous consequences.
The danger of the Knight Training Method isn't too great; the worst outcome may be, while advancing as a knight, losing reason entirely and being controlled by a feral physical form, turning into a beast.
While harming oneself, it doesn't affect too many others.
In other indecipherable mystical knowledge, it's not uncommon for the prying of terrifying Evil Gods to be hidden within. It's conceivable that once this power gets out of control, resulting in an unstoppable horrifying calamity, dragging down an entire city as collateral damage is not impossible.
With his family heritage broken off, Aiven, apart from the core knight heritage, did not obtain much mystical knowledge hidden deep within the world. Steward Leo, given the circumstances at that time, wouldn't have taught him this temporarily useless knowledge.
In the Navy training camp, new recruits aren't supposed to come into contact with this either. By the time they truly need to face such mysteries, most are at least crew or even officers of a Level 4 Battleship, having ample opportunity to acquire knowledge from their predecessors.
Hence, ever since crossing over into this world, aside from the undeniably real power of the Extraordinary Knight, Aiven hadn't witnessed much maritime technology and science exceeding that of the same era in the previous world.
Until now, he finally felt a touch of fantasy in this otherworldly realm.
Then his first thought was:
"Wow! My first battle at sea as a new recruit is fighting a sea monster, I'm really something!"
"It's coming!"
Ignoring the discussions behind him, Gel was the first to notice the presence of the sea monster; after all, this behemoth was making no attempt to conceal itself.
With the sound of enormous splashes, a gigantic sea shell taller than a house broke through the sea mist, appearing in the field of vision of the crowd.
The hard black shell with a metallic sheen, long deep-blue tentacles dancing underwater, constantly stirring the sea, coupled with its colossal size beyond common sense, was simply astounding!
At its first appearance.
This sea-monster-shaped giant sea shell surged vast water behind it, accelerating instantly like an invincible battering ram, rushed towards the Silver Wings with the momentum to shatter it at high speed.
Stunned and wide-eyed, Aiven could now imagine what the merchant ship had encountered. He could also empathize with the despair they felt at sea when faced with a "battering ram" larger than a house!
"Identified as small species 'Impact Sea Shell', Gunpowder Chief, concentrated fire from the starboard cannons! Fire!" Gel, worthy of a veteran former Battleship Captain, swiftly identified the sea monster species and calmly commanded the artillery attack. His formidable lung power of Knight Tier made his command sound like thunder, resounding throughout the entire warship.
"Roger! Distance 0.5 nautical miles, target directly ahead Impact Sea Shell, fire!" the Gunpowder Chief's shout immediately followed, and the cannon crew needed only to execute according to the command.
Perhaps this sea monster had no experience in combat against human warships, choosing an attack angle that was directly ahead from one side of the ship's broadside where the ship's artillery power could be maximally exerted.
"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" ...
In the continuous cannon fire roars, the orange-red fire broke through the sea surface. In the first round, twenty cannons fired simultaneously, with most of the whistling solid shells splashing into the sea around it, only a mere three struck its shell-like sea monster, producing a huge metallic crash!
Aiven saw fragments of the sea shell falling from the monster's body, and its speed was somewhat reduced.
The cannon attack worked! The sea monster was not invulnerable!
Gel remained calm and composed, having experienced similar scenes countless times. Although Sea Monsters are the true rulers of the deep sea, that refers to the "Giant Species" or even the "Sea God's Son." This kind of Small Species can still be dealt with by the firepower onboard the battleship.
The order will not be withdrawn, and the bombardment will continue unabated.
After another round of salvo, as if by divine intervention, five shells simultaneously hit the Sea Monster, even damaging a part of its thick shell and injuring its body. The Sea Monster emitted a sharp, ear-piercing cry like that of a baby from its hidden mouth.
"Ying——!"
Even when it was less than five hundred meters from the Silver Wings, as if it would collide and shatter it at any moment, the Sea Monster dared not ram blindly. After letting out another cry full of hatred, it sank into the sea.
"Did it escape?" Aiven looked around, he was the only one unfamiliar with the behavioral patterns of Sea Monsters and couldn't determine the Sea Monster's next move.
In nature, animal behavior is varied. Some, when slightly frustrated, will choose to retreat and find other prey. Others will be relentless and cling on for dear life. Aiven didn't know which type this Sea Monster belonged to.
"Gunpowder Chief, prepare the Alchemy Bombs, remain vigilant for underwater threats!"
"Affirmative! Alchemy Bombs ready, first batch of ten units, bombers prepared!"
After issuing the new order, Gel turned back to Aiven and explained:
"The Impact Sea Shell is a relatively common Small Species of Sea Monster. Its most common attack method is to churn the waters on the sea surface to accelerate and ram ships. But it is also very cunning, and size does not determine the absolute strength.
Most Sea Monsters in the Black Sea are the Beloved of Mother of Sea Monsters Echidna. They attack human ships not for prey, but out of an innate hatred for land dwellers, seeing them as traitors to the sea!"
At this point, Gel's tone became very serious:
"Encounters with them in the ocean often end with one side completely defeated. Remember! Unless you see its corpse, never let your guard down."
The existence of Sea Monsters still falls under relatively basic Mystical Knowledge, which can be somewhat restrictedly disseminated among frontline combat personnel.
But what Gel just talked about technically involves core knowledge of the Mysterious Source. Some Mystics can even invoke names of divine entities to gain bestowed power through rituals.
In facing Aiven, if it had been anyone else, even the most promising young officer, Gel wouldn't provide such high-level Extraordinary knowledge for free.
Although an Extraordinary on the path of a Knight cannot use this knowledge to directly gain power, its value speaks for itself. In the eyes of self-taught and system-lacking wild Extraordinary, this is priceless!
The officers around Gel exchanged glances. With their understanding of Gel, it seemed they instantly grasped something, and their gaze towards Aiven grew increasingly friendly.
"Clack, clack, clack..." The sound from the Sea Monster Compass became increasingly urgent, the green gemstone pointer spinning round and round as if it were out of control.
"Order! Gunpowder Chief, drop the bombs, target directly below the battleship!"
"Bombers, first batch, target directly below, drop the bombs!"
Following the Gunpowder Chief's loud order, a heavy splashing sound came from both sides of the ship as weights hit the water.
"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"...
Muted explosions continuously sounded underwater, unsure if they hit the target or landed on the seabed. This era lacked underwater detection equipment, especially when facing such oversized opponents like Sea Monsters, relying only on the commander's experience.
Although Gel was confident in defeating Small Species, the sea was ultimately the Sea Monster's territory, any misjudgment could plunge him into great peril.
Looking at the still erratically spinning Sea Monster Compass, Gel decisively issued a command:
"Sailor, raise the sails! We are leaving this area."
Since this Sea Monster wanted to play hide and seek, then find a way to provoke it to reveal itself.
"Affirmative! Raise the sails, full sail ahead!"
"Heave ho—heave ho—"
With the Sailor's command, accompanied by the sailors' shouts, the sails on the three main masts were raised in order, then filled with the sea breeze.
But Aiven immediately sensed something was wrong!
Despite the considerable fog and the low wind, which also meant low waves, allowing all the sails to be hoisted for full sail navigation. However, the battleship's speed did not significantly increase, as if...
As if it were caught on something!