Chapter 208 - 208 65

Words : 1257 Updated : Sep 23rd, 2025

208: 65. Return to Belfast 208: 65. Return to Belfast “Arlen Principality Gazette” [Hurricane Hits the Earlen Peninsula Duchy! Belfast Falls!] “Walson Post” [Sudden Hurricane, a New Wave of Disaster Warnings?] “Daily News” [Immortal Giant Disappears Near Waters of Seaview Cape!] Apart from the “Daily News,” the other two newspapers from the Earlen Peninsula Duchy featured the hurricane as the front-page news. In Shadow Town, 200 miles away from the coast, the impact was noticeable. It was foreseeable that the devastation in Belfast, closer to the sea, would be even more severe. Compared to the first two newspapers, the last one caught Lu Li’s attention due to a coincidence: Several hours earlier, he had encountered a fishing boat sailing through the hurricane during a storm. Lu Li was aware of the Immortal Giant, as he read the newspapers daily and knew that this large ship had started its maiden voyage three days ago. Since it was strikingly similar to Earth’s Titanic and also marketed as “unsinkable,” Lu Li paid extra attention to it. Now, it seemed that ships claiming to be “eternal” and “immortal” didn’t have good fates. [Kodasselson lost contact last night... It suddenly lost all contact while passing through Seaview Cape near Tillage Garden... There were 1,871 passengers, 426 crew members, and among those who disappeared with the ship were the chairman of Hodgkin Royal Sailing Company and Earl Lewis... The Kodasselson had the world’s most advanced communication system; it couldn’t have just vanished... Scholars speculate that the disappearance of the Kodasselson might be related to increased speed. The originally expected 23-day trip to Belfast was forcibly shortened to 15 days... The queen of Lennon Archipelago Duchy and the Hodgkin Royal Sailing Company are currently communicating with Tillage Garden, seeking information about the ship’s whereabouts...] Alongside the text was a black-and-white photograph, taken on the day of departure. The photo showed a large ship over 200 meters in length – a stark contrast to the decrepit vessel Lu Li had seen on a rainy night. “Daily News” devoted a whole page to the Kodasselson disappearance event, and the second page reported the hurricane attacking the Earlen Peninsula Duchy. Lu Li first looked at the image, a bird’s-eye view of Belfast from Sugard Mountain. The famously well-arranged streets of Belfast stretched downward, with most fishing boats already far from Rhode Port. Further ahead in the sea, a massive, dark cloud ominously rolled in. (Before the Hurricane) It was clarified in the parenthesis below the image when the photograph was taken. The morning newspapers were written the previous afternoon, and at that time, Belfast was still under the threat of the hurricane. The news didn’t specify the exact conditions in Belfast but generally summarized some accounts from the affected parties. The hurricane had struck suddenly; by the time people noticed it, it was less than 50 nautical miles from Belfast. Prior to this, there had been no unusual weather or official warnings. Actually, Belfast’s geographical location is advantageous; the last recorded hurricane was a hundred years ago, and those had ravaged the inland before turning toward Belfast – a direct hit was unprecedented. According to the summary, the first to suffer were the fishing boats that couldn’t make it back in time, followed by the Rodest Port. The only redeeming factor was the relatively mild wind speed, which didn’t cause severe damage to buildings, allowing residents to stay indoors and avoid some injuries or deaths. But only some... The fishing boats that sailed out yesterday morning ran into the hurricane, and most couldn’t return before nightfall. By the time the newspaper went to print, only a few ships had returned successfully, and these were relatively large or hadn’t strayed far from the port. At this point, Lu Li reflected thoughtfully. The missing ships, the ships in the hurricane... it seemed to fit together. Only the direction was off. The ship came from inland, heading toward Belfast. The remaining two newspapers had similar content, the second page detailing the disappearance of the Kodasselson cruise ship. Compared to the other two newspapers, the “Arlen Principality Gazette” included more testimonies, describing the conditions of the Belfast residents after the hurricane had passed. “...everyone crowded into the church, while lightning filled the skies outside; the furious wind howled like a demon. The church windows shattered, everyone screamed, huddled in corners, trembling... later the nun led us to the basement...” “...everyone gathered on the main street, staring blankly at the terrifying dark clouds coming from the sea, it was like the end of the world, I thought I was done for, and ran to hug my wife and tell her I loved her.” “...it wasn’t as bad as I imagined, my house is wooden, and it’s a miracle that the roof wasn’t blown away, only the ground was soaked. The rain was too heavy, the accumulation of water couldn’t flow out of the house...” It seemed the damage in Belfast was within an acceptable range. The low wind speed prevented the hurricane from becoming Belfast’s executioner; the real victims were those who hadn’t made it indoors before the hurricane arrived. Whish— As she put down the newspaper, Anna murmured disappointedly, “I thought Belfast would be safe...” She was worried about the Detective Agency’s nest. “The sculpture is at the Detective Agency; it will take care of things,” Lu Li said, not worried about returning to see ruins. The sculpture didn’t like to move, but that was just its nature. If something happened, it would do something. “Hmm,” Anna nodded, her mood seeming somewhat low. After finishing the rest of the three newspapers, Lu Li picked up the bread that had almost cooled and put it into his mouth. Even though it was the same finely ground wheat flour, Mrs. Phelin’s bakery tasted much better than the ones in Shadow Town. The heavy rain turned into moderate rain at noon and then stabilized without any changes. Lu Li looked up at the distant horizon; the curtain of rain obstructing his view couldn’t block his observation of the Blood-Colored Tentacles, even though they were hundreds or thousands of miles away. Of the original eight Blood-Colored Tentacles, one burrowed into Lu Li’s mind and vanished, while he dealt with three others sequentially. The remaining four stretched down from deep within the clouds, three aimed inland and the last one reaching toward the mountains behind Belfast, to a certain spot in the lead-heavy depths of the sea. He hoped that Richard wouldn’t make him wait too long. The travel was monotonous and bumpy; he heard that the steam trains were in trial but hadn’t yet reached the Earlen Peninsula Duchy. In times like these, a distance of 200 miles often meant traveling non-stop for a whole day. By evening, less than an hour before dark, the carriage finally returned to Belfast, after the hurricane had swept through. The horse hooves clacked over the cobblestone road; the streets were as noisy as ever, dominated by cries and sorrow. Under the curtain of rain, residents were helping to dig out neighbors from collapsed houses and clearing the streets of debris; church nuns and medical personnel were bandaging the wounds of the injured residents. The current state of Belfast was just as the newspapers had described, smaller than imagined. But still, many people had died in the hurricane. Perhaps, after some time, these sorrows would gradually be healed by time. If no new disasters emerged.

Chapter 208 - 208 65

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