Ashes Of Deep Sea

Chapter 382: Chapter 386: Return to Reality? Chapter 382: Chapter 386: Return to Reality? The White Oak had stopped on the sea surface, and the shadow-like “Ghost Ship”, enveloped in thick fog, also halted beside it, its blurry and hazy silhouette seeming to hide an invitation.

Lawrence looked at the ship, appearing somewhat hesitant.

“Should we send someone over to check it out?” came the voice of the first mate, Gus, from his side, pulling Lawrence out of his reverie.

Lawrence turned his head and looked at the first mate who had weathered storms with him for two or three decades. “…You recognize it too, don’t you?”

“…The last time we saw it was near Frost,” the first mate looked at the nearby sea surface, his tone quite complex, much like Lawrence, he was still engulfed in burning green flames, his body presenting a ghostly, ethereal stance, “All these years, the old crew members know about your situation, but no one dared to talk about it…”

Lawrence fell silent for a moment, then suddenly said quietly, “Do you remember, not long ago, when you saw someone standing on the deck talking to me?”

The first mate blinked, then quickly realized, “That was…”

“It was Martha—the ‘Martha’ only I could see all these years,” Lawrence spoke in a low voice, his words gradually widening the first mate’s eyes, “During this time, I’ve seen her more than once on the ship, and I heard her voice when we were exploring ‘Dagger Island’… I always thought that this was because this eerie sea region was amplifying the illusions in my mind, but now it seems that it’s not that simple.”

The first mate slowly turned his head to look at the Ghost Ship shrouded in fog, maintaining its silence and dead calm, and it took a long time before he broke the silence, “This is no illusion; it’s right here.”

Lawrence pursed his lips, seemingly lost in thought, and after a few seconds, he suddenly spoke, “Send out a signal, see how it responds.”

The first mate immediately nodded, “Yes, Captain.”

Moments later, a set of lights on the White Oak’s side lit up.

The crew, still in their ghostly forms, rotated the shutter in front of the searchlight, sending a series of rhythmic flashes towards the close-by black “Ghost Ship.”

Lawrence stood on the bridge, staring intently in the direction of the black Ghost Ship, waiting for the ship to respond—yet also seemingly fearing any response it might give.

“Martha…are you there…”

The tension made him subconsciously grasp the handrail beside him, while he muttered softly, almost talking to himself.

The next second, amidst the thick black fog, a flickering light appeared on the deck of the Ghost Ship. The light stayed on for a few seconds then went out, and then lit up again, repeating three times.

“…It responded,” the first mate turned his head, looking at his captain with a complex expression, “You can wait here, and I’ll send a few sailors to check out the situation first.”

“No, I’ll go myself,” Lawrence dismissed the idea with a gesture, his expression calming down as he clearly made his decision, “If this is truly caused by my mind slowly losing control, sending other sailors to that ship would definitely be dangerous… I need to face this myself, and only I can resolve it.”

The first mate seemed to want to say something else, but in front of the resolute captain, he eventually could only swallow his words of persuasion, “I understand.”

Lawrence nodded slightly, “Go prepare for me, please. Lantern, ropes, weapons, ammunition, and also…”

He suddenly stopped, his gaze turning to the nearby helm.

A shriveled corpse, donned in an old maritime coat, was there, cautiously and gradually moving towards the side, using the shade of the helm as a cover to avoid drawing attention from others, almost reaching the rope that was twisted nearby.

Lawrence thought for a moment, “I’ll take it with me—I can’t leave an anomaly that has already gone out of control on the White Oak, and its state is too abnormal.”

The anomaly 077 immediately stopped.

At the same time, in Frost City, near Cemetery No. 4, at the sewage treatment center, the black-clothed guards were still vigilantly guarding every intersection, with two warriors specifically looking after the unfortunate administrator—who was sitting paralyzed beside a pipe next to the sedimentation tank, pale and still somewhat trembling, but still trying to answer every question posed by the guards.

“I don’t know, I really don’t know… I can’t tell…” the only remaining ordinary person, the sole living “human” at the sewage treatment center, a balding middle-aged administrator constantly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his face a mix of fear and tension, “Everything has always been fine here, I’ve known those people for more than a day, they never seemed to have anything wrong with them…”

“Relax, you’re just an ordinary person, it’s normal for Transcendent powers to deceive you,” the black-clothed guard in charge of the interrogation was forced to reassure the terrified administrator, while also occasionally looking up towards the empty space next to the sedimentation pond, “The Gatekeeper will handle those freaks—Ms. Agatha will be back soon.”

The administrator subconsciously looked up at the empty space, and then, the horrifying scene from not long ago seemed to invade his brain again—three “church priests” suddenly transformed into unfamiliar faces, terrifying Profound Demons emerged from thin air, and about a dozen treatment center workers turned into twisted humanoid monsters, breaking into intense battle with the black-clothed guards…

The unfortunate administrator shuddered all over and quickly closed his eyes, but the darkness that came with closing his eyes brought new fears, so he opened his eyes, his face still showing the aftereffects.

The black-clothed guard beside him noticed this scene but could only offer a sympathetic gaze.

Having unknowingly spent so much time in a sewage treatment center that had turned into a den of monsters, surrounded by ferocious cultists and counterfeits replaced by the Prime Element—when the truth was suddenly revealed, the fact that he wasn’t driven insane was a testament to his excellent mental fortitude.

Those transformed into counterfeits were likely replaced one by one, and now this administrator was obviously the last one left; had the guardians not barged in here, the administrator’s fate might also have been to be replaced by the next “counterfeit”—he was clearly aware of this himself, and the fear of that was indescribable.

After this incident, this administrator would likely never be able to return to work at the sewage treatment center—let alone work, he might need long-term psychological treatment to return to a normal life, but that was no longer for the guardians to consider.

The guardians were currently more worried about their superior—Gatekeeper Agatha’s strength was unquestionable, three ordinary Annihilating Priests and a dozen mere cannon fodder counterfeits could not possibly be a match for that lady, but now… she had not returned yet.

A while later, even the administrator, who was in a state of fear and unease, noticed the tense and heavy atmosphere of the scene; he raised his head to look at the black-clothed guards around him, who were on high alert, hesitated for a moment, and then couldn’t help but ask, “Excuse me… is everything alright with the Gatekeeper?”

“Ms. Agatha is in the Spirit Realm, she was concerned that the battle between Transcendents would affect you, an ordinary person—as well as damage the sewage treatment equipment here,” a female black-clothed guard said solemnly, her calm voice carrying a reassuring strength, “Rest assured, no heretic can win against Bartok’s Gatekeeper in the Spirit Realm, she’s probably just delayed by continuing to investigate clues.”

The administrator quickly nodded, “Okay… okay…”

And just the next second, a chilling wind suddenly blew through the factory area, several guards at the entrance simultaneously looked towards the empty space near the sedimentation pond.

The female guard who had just spoken immediately breathed a sigh of relief, a smile appearing on her face, “Ah, it looks like Ms. Agatha has already resolved the trouble.”

As the guard’s words fell, one illusion after another suddenly appeared on the empty space next to the sedimentation pond—as if another dimension was reestablishing connection with the real world, murky ethereal shadows emerged one after another in the air, and within a few breaths, those shadows rapidly condensed into tangible forms, falling onto the filthy ground.

Those were a dozen humanoid mud figures transformed from counterfeits, and three cold, incomplete corpses of Annihilating Priests.

The bodies of the counterfeit monstrosities rapidly “melted” upon landing, transforming into dried mud that would no longer move, while the bodies of the Annihilating Priests started to burn the moment they returned to the real world, turning into piles of char in seconds, and the intertwined Profound Demons dissipated in the air without even having time to materialize.

The administrator of the sewage treatment center stood dumbfounded watching this surreal scene, even momentarily forgetting his fear, and then, he saw a whirlwind of grayish-white swirling at the center of the empty space, as if smoke and fog were churning within it; in the blink of an eye, a figure in a black coat, wielding a staff, condensed from the Grey Wind and stepped forward.

Wrapped in bandages, Agatha lifted her head, looking at the familiar real dimension and her somewhat tense subordinates.

“The problem is solved,” she said to her subordinates, nodding gently, her voice low and reassuringly magnetic, as always.