Shrouded Seascape

Chapter 1053: Loop

The crew members nearby were amused by Wrench's act, and only Lily noticed that something was off about the man.

Wrench's expression was numb as he slumped on the ground. His eyes were hollow, making him appear as if he were an empty shell.

Lily walked over and sounded concerned as she asked, "Are you okay?"

After a while, Wrench finally came to his senses. He sat up, looking around at the crew members and Lily in a daze. Then, his stiff expression cracked as agitation and wild joy burst from within him.

His mouth opened wide as he let out a heart-wrenching howl. Snot, tears, and saliva flowed out of his orifices. "Ahhhh!!!"

The majority of the crew sobered up at the sight. They retreated quickly with a bottle of liquor in their hands while their other hand gripped their weapon at their waist.

"I'm telling you, Wrench, you're going too far. Don't forget that we're still at sea. Hey, guys! Tell the captain and the doctor to come here."

Klaus was busy writing in the ship's logs in his quarters, but he put down whatever he was doing and rushed to the deck. The ship's doctor quickly arrived as well.

Just as the doctor was about to examine Wrench, Klaus raised his hand and said, "Wait."

Wrench shuddered violently. He turned to look at Klaus, but his eyes were blank.

It was like he couldn't recognize Klaus at all.

"Throw those two relics at your waist and hand over that gun as well."

For the safety of the rest of the crew and his employer, Klaus wanted Wrench to relinquish his weapons. His behavior had become too erratic for him to be allowed access to any weapons.

Moreover, anything could happen on the bizarre seascape. Perhaps Wrench was replaced by some unknown monster as soon as he touched that iceberg.

"Captain? Is it really you, Captain? Captain! That iceberg!! Don't touch that iceberg, no matter what!" Wrench roared, using all his strength to warn his captain.

"What nonsense are you spouting?" a sailor beside Klaus chimed in. "Aside from you, who is stupid enough to touch an iceberg?"

Although it was a bit inappropriate, some of the crew couldn't help but chuckle at the remark. The solemn air shattered beneath their laughter.

Just then, snowflakes began drifting down from the sky, landing on everyone.

Rain was rare in the Subterranean Sea, and aside from Lily, who had heard about the word "snow" from Charles, no one had any idea what was falling from the skies.

However, Wrench seemed to be extremely afraid of the snowflakes. He cried out in despair and desperately tried to avoid them, but the snow was falling too fast for anyone to dodge.

Wrench collapsed on the deck, wailing in despair as snow covered his hair.

"Everyone, retreat into the cabin! Dust off the white powder on you!" Klaus exclaimed, passing down the best order against an unknown threat.

Everyone shook off the snowflakes on them while nervously waiting for something to happen. However, nothing changed even after they waited for a while. No one died, and no one transformed into a horrifying monster.

The ship's doctor walked over and examined Wrench, but he found nothing abnormal.

"Hey, aren't you taking this joke a bit too far?" the First Mate asked. Furious and feeling deceived, he kicked the collapsed Wrench. As soon as his leg made contact with Wrench, the latter's eyes became hollow once again, startling the First Mate.

Moments later, the First Mate recovered and felt embarrassed by the fact that he was startled over something as minor as a change in someone else's demeanor.

He had been drifting out at sea for a long time, after all, and he was considered an experienced old sailor. He was particularly embarrassed by the fact that he was startled right in front of his employer.

Klaus reached out and hauled Wrench up. "Speak. What exactly is wrong with you? If you keep this up, don't blame me for throwing you into the sea."

Focus returned to Wrench's gaze, and a bitter smile filled with incredulity tugged at his lips. "We're done for. We're all done for. It's starting again!"

A fist heavily struck Wrench's stomach. Wrench curled up and vomited every ounce of alcohol in his stomach. The stench of alcohol instantly pervaded the cabin.

"I don't have time for games! Speak! What's going on?!" Klaus exclaimed, feeling annoyed. He had no issues facing enemies or monsters out at sea, but the unexplainable was different. He was terrified about facing issues that were beyond human comprehension.

After all, those issues could never be resolved by mere strength alone. Although nothing had happened so far, Klaus had been feeling uneasy since Wrench's behavior changed drastically.

Swallowing a mouthful of his own vomit, Wrench turned to the clock on the wall and said, "You're about to find out. Look at that clock. Five, four, three, two, one."

As soon as Wrench's words fell, they suddenly found themselves standing on the deck. More specifically, they returned to the moment when the snowflakes had just landed on them.

"Go back! Everyone, go back to the cabin!" Klaus roared, leading the crew members back to the cabin.

"Overload the engines! We're leaving this damned place!" the nervous Klaus yelled into the communication pipe. However, the ship's speed remained slow despite his orders.

Klaus called out his orders a few more times but received no response. In the end, he sent someone down to check.

Soon, a voice echoed from the communication pipe. "Captain! The Chief Engineer and the Second Engineer are frozen! They're standing still like statues!"

"Damn it!" Klaus cursed. He looked gloomy as he glanced at the icebergs beneath the searchlight.

"First Mate, Second Mate, you two go down and take charge of the engines. Let's get out of this damned place before anything else."

The First Mate and the Second Mate immediately left to carry out the order. The Maiden's Love, which was slowly being engulfed in snow, turned rapidly and fled desperately out of the bizarre, unknown region.

Lily cast an anxious gaze at the ticking clock on the wall. She grew more and more anxious as the minutes went by.

When the minute hand overlapped with the hour hand, the scenery around them flickered, and they were back on the deck once again. Everyone's position, posture, and expression were exactly the same as the moment when the snowflakes had just landed on them.

Wrench collapsed on the ground looked up to his captain and said, "See? I've been through this many times before. We're trapped here, experiencing the same forty minutes over and over again."

However, Klaus had no time to pay any attention to him. He hurled Wrench onto the cabin floor and rushed to the bridge with the other crew members.

They were in a bizarre predicament, and they couldn't see anything outside except for white. As the captain, Klaus had to come up with a way for them to escape this predicament.

Unfortunately, finding a solution was easier said than done.

Every forty minutes, they would find themselves on the deck. As the time loop repeated again and again, the crew eventually stopped hiding and just sat in the snow while drinking some alcohol.

Soon, another time loop started, and an idea came to Lily in a flash of inspiration. She turned to Wrench, who was getting buried in so much snow that he looked like a snowman on the floor.

"Don't lose hope just yet. There's a way out of this, and you're the key to it. So tell me, how did you get out of this the last time you did?"

Everyone's hearts lit up with hope upon hearing that.

If Wrench could leave, then it meant that they could leave as well.

"Haha. Of course, you can leave by doing what I did. You just have to wait. But do you know how much time I spent in this forty-minute time loop? Ten years! A full ten years!!"