After the entire Vela Navy finished dealing with this battle, it returned to its previous course, preparing to meet the combined fleet of the Xister Kingdom and the East Sea Alliance, which was coming in response to the news.
The entire Vela Navy was ready to fight the enemy to the death.
However, the fighting that followed took a highly unusual turn. They successfully encountered the enemy's combined fleet, only for a sudden storm at sea to follow close on its heels.
The storm descended without warning, with towering waves surging skyward, bringing the great battle to an abrupt halt. To avoid being swallowed by the storm, all the ships on both sides had to abandon the fight and leave those raging waters.
During this operation, Ete also managed, through a stroke of luck, to earn credit for his service. He formally became a member of Sodoma's Two Rivers County Navy and was transferred to one of its steam gunships as an engineer.
When Ete himself recalled what had happened, he still felt lingering fear over the emergency he had faced.
When the two fleets encountered the great storm at sea, its arrival was so sudden that many warships were unprepared and suffered all manner of problems. Even the Two Rivers County Navy's steam gunships were not spared.
The cooling-water circulation system of one gunship's steam engine assembly malfunctioned, but the spare parts aboard had accidentally been swept into the sea by the wind and waves.
The ship lost power and could barely make headway, so another vessel had to supply the spare parts needed to repair its cooling-water circulation system.
The Blue Lake Bay, aboard which Ete was serving, happened to carry ample spare parts. Since Ete also possessed the necessary technical skills, he was chosen to take the