This heretic cannot be burned, he must be hung up and whipped!

Captain Scott also arrived at the church. He nodded and said, "Thank God for the saints' blessing! I didn't have time to use many of the emergency plans I made. It's great!"

Neos' expression turned serious. "This place is quite weird! If I'm not around, you'd better stop saying things like that—"

Before he could finish his words, the entire ship suddenly shook violently, as if it had hit something solid. The vibration was so strong that Marcus, who was standing unsteadily, almost fell down.

"What's going on?" Scott hurriedly grabbed the nearby handrail to steady himself.

Marcus quickly turned to the observation instrument, adjusting the various knobs and switches. When he looked out through the instrument, his face suddenly turned pale.

"Wait—what is that?!" Marcus' voice was filled with fear and his body began to tremble slightly.

"What did you see? A heretic fleet?!" Neos stared at Marcus.

Marcus shook his head in disbelief, "No... Impossible!!"

"Go down first!" Scott, worried that the navigator would be contaminated by the illusions of the warp, kicked him away from the observation device. He himself, holding the cross tightly, chanting prayers, and wearing an iron-pointed hat on his head, went over to check the situation.

After a few seconds, Scott's expression changed drastically: "That-that looks like our ship?! Then what is this ship under our feet?"

Neos's brow furrowed. A thought flashed through his mind, and a blue-white flame ignited around him. He gave a brief instruction: "Stay alert. I'll go check outside."

Neos's figure vanished from the spot and reappeared outside the Kilkenny. In the purple void of the Warp, the blue-white flames on Neos' body shone like a bright star. He looked ahead:

Not far ahead of the Kilkenny, a nearly identical ship floated—more precisely, a wrecked Kilkenny. Its hull was severely damaged in several places, and its decks were covered in charred marks, as if it had experienced fierce battle. The paint on the hull had faded, and rust had crept up to the bow, but the words "Kilkenny" could still be clearly seen.

What was even more disturbing was that the wrecked ship did not seem to be completely solid. Its outline was sometimes clear and sometimes blurred, as if it existed between reality and illusion.

Neos cautiously observed the ghostly vessel, not approaching. He saw more disturbing details—no signs of life on board, and items scattered across the deck, as if hastily abandoned. Several marks on the ship's side, ripped apart by some immense force, revealed the twisted metal structure within.

"Is this—is this the future of this ship? No, it's probably those stupid demons trying to disgust me and mess with my mentality. This is our first voyage, and nothing can go wrong. Better not take any risks."

This is the Warp, where the concepts of time and space blur. Is the wrecked Kilkenny a phantom from the future? A reflection from some alternate reality? Or is it simply an illusion created by the Warp itself, designed to shake the crew's faith?

Only God knows.

PS: 260 votes, next update 4.5k meow... refresh in five minutes, add pictures

Red Tide: 1921: Qi II 3: .Ling Si Cu Qi III = Chapter 54: Breathing means He wants to die

April 21, 1915, western side of the Caribbean Sea

“Kill—!” “Ding!” “Bang!”

On the sea, two fleets are engaged in a fierce battle.

Although these wooden ship formations cannot be called "huge" from a modern perspective, for players on the American server, which has not updated its activities for thousands of years and is seriously lagging behind the European server, this is indeed a naval decisive battle of unprecedented scale.

The fleet of the Mayapán city-state from the Yucatán Peninsula consisted of approximately one hundred vessels, most of which were lightweight rafts made from bundled logs, with only a few canoes reaching six meters in length. In contrast, the Aztec fleet was not only larger—around two hundred ships—but its main battleships were nearly nine meters long, made from hollowed-out tree trunks and equipped with removable sails.

"Bow Warrior—rapid fire twenty rounds!"

PS: Mesoamerican civilization used the vigesimal system instead of the decimal system, and Beizhai directly converts units here.

"Eagle Warriors attack the enemy flagship!" "Attack!"

At the forefront of the Aztec fleet, on several command ships decorated with sun patterns and eagle feather patterns, the high priest Tezozomoc was observing the battle situation. The Mayans had been driven to the end of the Yucatan Peninsula. If this fleet decisive battle successfully defeated the Mayans, they could launch a landing from the sea, encircle them from both sides, and annihilate the remaining Mayans!

"High Priest, the vanguard fleet has engaged!"

Said the Eagle Warrior holding a wooden staff inlaid with obsidian.

"The direction where the sun rises is our land! The great Sun God will not allow these southern pagans to sail in our waters! Defeat them!"

In the Mayapan fleet, Commander Kilkan stood on the largest canoe, decorated with a painting of Quetzalcoatl. He raised his obsidian-studded spear and declared to his warriors:

"Quetzalcoatl has sent down a prophecy that the Aztec expansion will be stopped!"

A horn blew, and the two fleets rapidly approached. Aztec archers launched the first attack, raining countless arrows through the air onto the Mayan rafts and canoes. Although outnumbered, the Mayan fleet was more tactical—its smaller vessels could maneuver quickly and avoid the head-on impact of the Aztec warships.

"Protect our home!" A priest covered in paint stood at the stern, holding a horn. Several warriors behind him immediately began to perform a sacrifice. "Great God of the Sea, grant us strength!"

"Om——"

Blood dripped along the twisted lines of the obsidian to the center of the altar on the ship, gradually filling up the ritual symbols. All the Mayan warriors present felt a surge of power, and this scene was also felt by the priests of the Aztec fleet.

"Begin the ceremony immediately!"

Almost immediately, upon receiving the order, the Aztec priests began a ceremony on their flagship. Dressed in the skins of prisoners of war and crowned with crowns, they performed complex movements and shouted, "God of War, guide our weapons!"

Similarly, the attendant took out an obsidian dagger and stabbed it into the prisoner's chest, took out the still beating heart and held it high to the sky!

"Om-"

"God of War bless us!!"

The Aztec warriors also felt the power surging in their chests, and immediately burst into earth-shaking shouts, and began to launch a fierce charge towards the Mayan ships.

The intensity of the battle exceeded the Mayan commander's expectations. Although their canoes were more maneuverable, capable of swiftly weaving between the Aztec's larger wooden ships, the Aztecs' superior numbers and ferocious fighting power began to overwhelm the Mayan fleet. When a Mayan canoe approached an Aztec warship, dozens of Aztec warriors would simultaneously throw javelins attached to ropes to secure the canoe, then leap onto it and engage the Mayan warriors in hand-to-hand combat.

"Plop—bang!" A Mayan canoe was overturned, and six warriors fell into the sea. They swam desperately to the nearest friendly ship, but the Aztec archers did not give them the chance, and several bodies soon floated on the sea.

"Retreat west! Retreat west!" Kerkan realized the situation was unfavorable and began to order the remaining ships to assemble for a tactical retreat. His flagship had been damaged, its port side ripped open by the ramming of an enemy ship, and was slowly taking on water.

Mayapán's fleet was divided into two groups: one group withdrew westward toward the Yucatán Peninsula, perhaps as a "fleet of presence" to prevent a large-scale enemy landing; the other group fled eastward toward the Greater Antilles (Cuba), trying to hide in the jungles of the islands.

"Don't let them escape!" Tezozomok roared, "Catch them alive! We need to please the gods and ensure a good harvest! If we displease the gods, we will have to sacrifice the sinners of our tribe as well!"

As more and more Mayan ships were sunk or forced to surrender, leaving broken planks, shattered weapons, and countless bodies floating on the sea, the Aztec warriors began to gather up the spoils and captives for their return.

Standing on the deck of the flagship, Tzozomok watched this victory with satisfaction. In recent years, all of Central America had suffered from drought, and the crops produced by cultivated land were becoming less and less. The population of the imperial cities was too large, but the cultivated land around the cities could not keep up with the development, and famine gradually spread.

Emperor Montezuma VI ordered the expansion of tribute collection, seeking more offerings to please the gods. The tribe's priests also believed that the declining output of farmland was due to insufficient offerings. A victory in this naval battle would bring them nearly a hundred captives, enough to hold a grand sacrificial ceremony.

Some might think they needed to improve farming techniques, but in the Aztec Empire, where sacrifices and religion were prevalent, such people had little say.

"Prepare to return!" Tzozomok ordered, "We will hold a preliminary sacrifice here tonight to thank the gods for granting us victory!"

As the sun began to set, the Aztec fleet assembled. The warriors celebrated their victory by beating drums captured from Mayan ships and drinking a fermented beverage extracted from the blue of the sky (the morning glory plant, which contains ergot as its active hallucinogen). They brought the four strongest Mayan captives to the largest command ship for a ritual sacrifice.

The priest had already painted the black stripes symbolizing death, and his assistants had built a simple altar in the center of the deck. "Great Rain God, accept our sacrifice!" the priest prayed loudly. "End the famine, bring rain, and ensure a bountiful harvest!"

The first captive was brought to the altar, where four strong men held down his limbs. The priest, holding his dagger high, prepared to begin the ritual. At that moment, the wind on the sea began to blow unusually hard, and the sky quickly darkened.

"Look! God is obviously working!" an Aztec warrior exclaimed, pointing to the sky.

Strangely, white crystals began to fall from the sky – an unheard-of spectacle in the Caribbean in April.

"Snow! It's snow!"

Yes, a blizzard was pouring down in the sea near the equator, and the snowflakes fell on the naked upper bodies of the soldiers, bringing an unprecedented cold touch.

"The gods are pleased with our sacrifice!" the priest shouted ecstatically. He quickly completed the sacrifice of the first captive, and the blood flowed down the altar into the sea.

The Aztec warriors began a victory dance on the deck, believing the unusual weather was a blessing from the gods. The priest drank more hallucinogenic drinks, attempting to further communicate with the gods. His eyes became hazy and his body swayed.

"I saw!"

He suddenly pointed to the crack on the sea surface where snow and wind were constantly pouring out, and where purple and blue lights were flashing. "Uh-Ahhhhh!!!"

Many warriors screamed in terror after seeing the warp scene in the rift. Some warriors covered their bleeding eyes and rolled around on the ship screaming. Only a few priests were unaffected. Seeing this miracle, the priests shouted:

"The gods are coming towards us!"

As it happened, skilled assistants behind him had already skinned the dead prisoner (this was indeed part of the Aztec ritual), smeared the skin with chalk, and smeared the bloody face with resin and tucked it with turkey feathers.

The priest draped the human skin over his body and knelt at the bow, facing the ever-widening crack. The other warriors also stopped what they were doing and kowtowed on the boat, not daring to look directly at this "natural phenomenon."

"Boom——!"

Suddenly, a deafening roar split the sky, and the crack widened. Color-shifting bolts of lightning shot out from it! Then, the outline of a massive object began to emerge from the snowstorm—a massive ship nearly two hundred meters long, constructed entirely of a gray substance they had never seen before, seemingly stronger than the hardest stone.

"beep------"

The whistle echoed across the sea as the Kilkenny slowly emerged from the rift. Its sheer size was breathtaking, over ten times the size of the largest Aztec warship! Smoke billowed from the hull of this massive steel vessel, an eagle and cross hung from the deck railings, and the bow turrets reflected a cold light in the setting sun.

“This—this!”

The Aztec and Mayan warriors were stunned and speechless. They had never seen such a huge and incredible object.

"Quetzalcoatl!" A Mayan captive, crawling on the deck, called out to their chief deity. "Quetzalcoatl has returned on his sky raft! Look at those shining scales!"

Everyone looked in the direction he pointed. It was the steel baffles outside the windows of the Kilkenny. These baffles were flipping under the action of the mechanism, reflecting the sunlight.

"That's not the god of these southern pagans! It's the chariot of our god of war!" the priest retorted immediately. "The god of war has descended from heaven on a mountain of iron to harvest the sacrifices and end the famine!"

"boom!"

After the Kilkenny cruiser completely emerged from the rift, it slowly came to rest on the surface. Its displacement caused a wave to form around it, impacting the surrounding small wooden boats. Driven by the waves, the Aztec ships began to close in on the giant ship, seemingly being pulled by some invisible force!

A figure appeared on the deck of the Kilkenny. Even from a distance, everyone could sense the powerful aura emanating from that figure. He was clad in gleaming armor, and a halo of light seemed to surround his head.

"It's our God!" X2

The Aztecs and Mayans exclaimed simultaneously.

A captured Mayan priest knelt on the boat and said in tears: "The prophecy has come true! Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent god, once promised to come back. He has returned from the eastern sea on an incredible ship!"

All the captured Mayans cheered. According to legend, the feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl was a white man who taught people how to produce and live.

He was kind and wise, and hated bloody human sacrifices, so he called on his followers to sacrifice chickens and other creatures instead of humans. However, his actions aroused the envy of the dark god Tezcatliboca in the north, who led his people to attack, and a great battle broke out between the two sides.

The merciful Quetzalcoatl was defeated and fled with his followers across the Great Lakes, leaving behind the heroic words, "I will return!" From then on, the Americans were forced to submit to the new god and continue to sacrifice people.

"Look at his skin, it's white! It's not chalk!" "Even Quetzalcoatl's servants have white skin!"

The Mayan soldiers looked at the "servants of Quetzalcoatl" wearing uniform clothes, holding black and strange-shaped "sticks" in their hands, who kept pouring out from the deck, with fanatical expressions on their faces.

No one knows why Quetzalcoatl in their mythology is a white man. Historically, when the Spaniards arrived, many Indian and Mayan tribes believed that it was the return of the gods, so they joined the Spanish ranks and followed these white people to destroy the Incas and Aztecs.

Then they were sent to see Quetzalcoatl along with the smallpox virus.

"Look at these yellow-skinned, black-eyed Asians!"

As soon as he stepped onto the deck, the boatswain made a huge mistake. A few years ago, when the Ming expeditionary force appeared at sea, they brought with them a large number of Ming Dynasty classics and cultural books. According to the Ming people, many cities were far more developed than Paris and London. The ancient East was not like those ancient tribes in Africa. They also had steel warships and guns, and a splendid civilization.

You know, gunpowder was introduced from the East!

The boatswain—no, everyone on this ship except Neos—had never seen an Oriental person before. If it weren't for the fact that they were about to be sent out on a mission that required them to understand foreign knowledge, many sailors would have even considered the yellow-skinned, black-eyed Orientals to be demons.

"Saint, they—uh...seem..." "Don't look like Ming people?"

Neos stood on the deck of the Kilkenny, looking down at the primitive fleet below. He could clearly see the people on those small boats wearing strange clothes and wielding Stone Age weapons—oh, the Mayans were still in the stone-making stage, while the Aztecs already had a small amount of bronze. Congratulations! The European servers were almost entering space, and here we were just starting the metallurgy technology tree.

It is hard to imagine that two civilizations with such a huge gap can exist on the same planet at the same time.

"This isn't Asia, this is America. Those church explorers who set out from the Arctic Circle were right. This continent is no rumor; it exists right beneath our feet. Look at these natives; they're even using stone tools!"

Oh, it's Obsidian, I have no doubt that if you give me a company of Crusaders, equipped with automatic rifles and submachine guns, I can conquer an area the same size as my homeland within a month! "

The captain kept taking notes in the booklet in his hand, and the photographer behind him began to take pictures. The soldiers on the deck and the Aztec warriors who were worshipping at the side of the ship began to take photos together.

"Oh, by the way, we've also brought a boundary marker with us on this trip. We'll put this marker up when the ship's boat docks. This represents our role as the first pioneers in expanding our motherland's territory!"

As expected of the British, it was their first time in America, they had no experience in voyages, and they had no global colonies, but the first thing they did when they arrived in a strange place was to place a stone tablet. This tradition was something they learned naturally.

"What about these indigenous people? We are on their land."

Neos was worried that these British guys would repeat their tradition of not treating the people in the colonies as human beings, so he directly started the subspace triangular trade.

"What natives? Aren't the people under the boat heretics?" "Click!"

The captain pulled out a submachine gun from his back, switched off the safety, and loaded it in one go. He replied confidently:

"Do they look like Christians to you?"

Neos looked in the direction the captain's gun was pointing. The Aztec fleet seemed to be holding a sacrificial ceremony. The hearts of prisoners were cut out alive, and the blood in their hearts was squeezed out and "smeared" on the altar.

"Why does it feel like the style of sacrifice of these indigenous people is similar to that of our church?" Neos thought.

"Today, I will eliminate these heretics on behalf of God!" The captain aimed directly at the flagship.

"No! Don't get excited!" Neos quickly curbed the captain's greed. This shitty cesspool world had gods. What if all the people in America really worshipped something? He couldn't act rashly without knowing the enemy's specific intelligence!

"Crew! Don't get excited! I'll go and try to communicate with them first. Maybe they'll kindly invite us ashore and treat us with gold, silver, and jewelry! Captain! You should also prepare some gifts. We'll have to return the favor when the time comes!"

"Roger that!"

The captain saluted and immediately ordered people to prepare blankets contaminated with samples of smallpox, the Black Death and other highly contagious diseases that have appeared in European servers over the years, in order to strengthen the indigenous people of America who had never seen the world.