The Steam Age: Gears and Bones

Chapter 10 Departure

In the final week before the expedition set off, Perfitter practically lived in Port Langton.

This is not an exaggeration.

In the seven days following the Princess's issuance of the executive order, Langdon Harbour was transformed from a commercial port into a military quarantine fortress, and Perfit would set off from his temporary office at Windsor Castle every morning, taking a carriage tour along the harbor road, often working until late at night.

Naval engineers set up three temporary isolation zones outside the main port area. Each isolation zone was equipped with the most basic facilities: an independent steam boiler to heat water, a hydrogen peroxide atomizing disinfection machine designed by her in each ward, and all sewage was purified in a separate lime treatment pool before being discharged into a dedicated sewer pipe.

Perfit personally inspected the airtightness of each ward.

She used a lit candle to slowly move along the window frame and door seams, and if the flame flickered even slightly, she would have the engineers remove the seals and reinstall them.

Some people thought she was too harsh, but when the two newly arrived Ross refugees were sent to quarantine zone one, these strict sealing measures immediately came into play—the infected people in the ward did not cause secondary infections to any medical staff during their quarantine period.

There were dissenting voices in Langdon.

Merchants complained that the quarantine zone slowed down the turnover of goods, ship owners protested that the navy had requisitioned their ships as quarantine observation vessels, and several members of the noble council even publicly accused the eldest princess of "overreacting".

There were also dissenting voices within the church. Two bishops publicly criticized Judge Cohen's appointment of Sabel as "wasting the court's manpower on secular matters." Cohen's response was to directly suggest that the two bishops personally perform a live autopsy on an infected sample.

The eldest princess ignored all of this.

Every morning she sent her adjutant to Perfitt with the day's port quarantine report, and every other day she held a regular meeting of the crisis response team, repeatedly reiterating the same position at the meetings: until the threat of wilt disease was effectively controlled, all ports of the Empire would continue to maintain the highest level of quarantine.

The navy has the right to fire warning shots at any vessel attempting to bypass quarantine procedures to enter the port.

Perfitt was not surprised by this.

She knew the princess's personality all too well—once Princess Anne was convinced that something was right, the entire council of nobles combined couldn't sway her.

Just like back in the desert kingdom, she dared to cross the front line with a cavalry company to rescue besieged friendly forces.

Now, the Empire is not facing an enemy army, but a plague that could sweep across the entire Old World.

On the evening before the expedition set off, Perfit and Sabel were doing a final inventory of supplies in the laboratory on the second basement floor of the base.

Archibald sent six sets of portable experimental equipment, each equipped with a high-resolution lens group that she had modified with a microscope, and a small box of filamentous slides extracted from Sample 7.

"These are the experimental supplies," Archibald handed her the list. "And one more thing—the large box you specifically asked for. It was just delivered from your estate this afternoon and has already been loaded into the cargo hold."

Pficott nodded, offering no explanation as to what was in the box. Archibald didn't press further.

Sabel made two copies of the complete text of the requiem prayer, giving one to the two medics accompanying the team and keeping the other for herself.

"I've broken down the intervention process into seven steps, and each step has a corresponding instruction manual." Perfit handed a stack of bound documents to Sabel beside him. "If I'm not here, you can use this manual to treat the wounded in the early stages of infection."

You may not be able to perform the excision procedure independently, but the combination of medication and requiem prayers can slow the spread of infection.

Sabel took the handbook, flipped through a few pages, and looked up at her: "You wrote such detailed instructions in the handbook because you're worried you won't be able to come back?"

"This is a necessary preparation before departure," Perfit replied quickly. "The expedition will be staying in the infected area for at least three weeks. Anything can happen during that time."

What she didn't say was that she had locked another, more detailed document in a metal cabinet in the basement of her estate.

The document listed all her unfinished experimental projects at Langdon, the current progress of each project, and the person she had assigned to take over each project.

If she really died in the Old World, the old butler Foster would find that letter.

The following morning, Langdon Harbour was shrouded in a thin fog.

The princess dispatched a naval cruiser to transport the expedition across the northern route and to continue providing resupply support after landing.

Two steam carriages were parked on the cruiser's main deck, and the cargo hold contained enough supplies for the entire expedition to survive in the infected zone for six weeks.

Perfit stood on the dock, conducting final checks before boarding. Befa was beside her, and behind them was a twenty-man squad consisting of Marine veterans, alchemists, medics, and judges.

The eldest princess stood at the end of the pier, personally seeing off the expedition. Behind her stood an entire squadron of knights, their armor gleaming coldly in the morning mist, each bearing the emblem of a sword and rose on their breastplate—the coat of arms of the princess's own order of knights. As Perfitt passed by, the princess reached out and placed her hand on her shoulder.

"This is the first flag unit of the Knights of Sword and Roses," the princess said, her voice not loud, but every word carrying undeniable weight. "From now on, they will only obey your orders."

Their mission wasn't to assist in the expedition, but to bring you back alive under any circumstances. You promised me. You came back alive.

“What I promised was to come back alive if possible,” Perfit corrected her. “In the infected zone, no one can make absolute guarantees. But I can assure you of one other thing—if I really don’t come back, the Empire will not lose its ability to deal with the Blight because of me.”

She handed the bound copy of the instruction manual to the eldest princess: "I have had three copies of this manual made. One is with Archibald, one is given to Judge Cohen, and this one is for you to keep."

The document details every step of the dual-intervention therapy, and this program can continue as long as the Empire has alchemists and inquisitors.

The princess took the manual, remained silent for a while, and finally just squeezed Perfit's shoulder tightly before letting go and taking a step back.

She straightened her back again, adopting the demeanor befitting an heir to the throne.

"Expedition, set off."

Perfit turned and walked onto the pier, with Belfast following closely behind, carrying her suitcase.

As she stepped onto the cruiser's deck, she glanced back at the princess on the dock, then looked away and nodded to the captain standing on the bridge.

"Let's set sail."

The cruiser slowly sailed out of Langton Harbor, braving the cold winds of the northern route, and headed towards the Old World.

Perfitt stood at the stern, watching the outline of Langdon Harbour gradually shrink and blur in the fog, eventually merging into the gray horizon.

Her fingers unconsciously rubbed the slightly crumpled note in her pocket.

That was given to her by the eldest princess the day before yesterday; it only had one sentence on it—

"No matter what happens, don't let yourself die where I can't see you."

She took the note out of her pocket and read it again, a barely perceptible smile playing on her lips. Then she folded it up again, put it back in her pocket, and turned to face the bow of the boat.

On the sea ahead, the cold wind was whipping up wave after wave of white waves.