Chapter 4

Chapter 4 “Ship of the Spirit World”

It turns out Duncan didn’t need a crew at all because as long as he – the captain – was at the helm, the Vanished could set sail at any time!

Of course, he did get briefly frightened by the ghostly green flame as it rose into the air and started doing weird things, but that fear paled in comparison to the thought of not gaining control. So, his hand turned into a death grip around the wheel and refused to let go.

He’s not stupid. Duncan had figured out by now the green flame was some kind of harmless “force.” Whether or not he could recover his body later was a question for later. But at least for now, the flame was helping him, and he needed it badly!

Soon, the tsunami of cheers faded, and Duncan found his mind in a state of absolute clarity, with the ship becoming an extension of himself. Although he still didn’t have the knowledge and experience of a qualified captain, controlling the Vanished to move as he please was no longer an issue.

First, he tried turning the wheel and got real feedback from the “force” inside his head – it was telling him the hull had begun turning as he intended.

However, the speed at which the Vanished was turning didn’t seem to be enough, and that got reaffirmed by the screeching cry of the goat head through the copper pipe next to himself: “Attention, we are fast approaching the limit of reality... we’re about to fall into the spiritual world! Captain, we need....”

“I’m doing it!” Duncan yelled and cut off the goat head’s cry, “Instead of making noise down below, how about you think of something to help!”

The goat head went momentarily quiet, but just when Duncan thought the other party had finally stopped, the copper pipe suddenly came back with a hoarse and somewhat creepy cheer: “FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!”

Duncan: “.....?”

Talk about having reality crash down on his head. Duncan could accept coming to a ghost ship, becoming a ghost captain, and being stewed by a ghostly green fire, but what’s this, cheerleading? The goat head had always given him a dangerous and spooky feeling like that of an evil gargoyle, but now that creepy and scary figurine just became a lala, pompom cheerleader? WTF!Nêww chapters will be fully updated at novelhall.com

But the fast-approaching fog didn’t give Duncan time or chance to think about it. Although the Vanished had begun to turn rapidly, it was still no match for the gaining fog on their rear, and soon, the fog had enveloped the area surrounding the ship.

Something strange was definitely taking place in the surrounding environment at that moment. The sky had become particularly dim, and the original blue sea water had now been riddled with wisps of black lines entangling itself like a hairnet. Before long, the blue water had turned into a sea of black water as countless shadowy things emerged.

“Captain! The pastor can’t hold on anymore!” The first mate’s mournful shouts came from the side.

Lawrence could hear the slightly muffled echo from the other’s voice, indicating something was awfully going wrong. Then looking forward to where the prayer table had been set up, an ominous purple-black flame had burst forward from the incense, and the honorable cleric they brought along for the journey was frothing in the mouth. The guy was not well, and the nose bleeds and shivering only meant he was fighting whatever foul taint was invading his soul.

“Captain!” The first mate’s voice came from the side again but got cut off by Lawrence’s following order.

“Temporarily close the Holy Emblem Marker. We’ll dive into the spirit world!”

The first mate was momentarily stunned, and the man who had spent half his life at sea seemed unable to believe his ears: “Captain?!”

“Sink into the spirit world. We can spend ten minutes there and escape the fiercest wave of the border-collapse. This will give our priest a chance to recover.” Lawrence ordered again with a commanding voice, “Obey my orders, NOW!”

The first mate’s jaw moved but then gritted his teeth and complied: “Yes, Captain!”

The crew began to carry out the orders in quick and precise strides, leaving Lawrence to get a breather and focus on the big picture. The sense of protection from the holy relic had started to recede following his order, and they were quickly sinking into the “spirit world,” a space between reality and the deep sea.

It was dangerous to do this, but historically, there are cases of ships returning from that place. As a member of the Explorers’ Association, he had read numerous texts on the subject and various “survival guides” written by survivors to prove it possible.

How bad could it be, right? He only needed to let the White Oak dodge the storm at the edge of the spirit world and then use the surging power output of the advanced steam turbine to carry out a thrilling “spirit drift.” Then, if luck still cared for him, he could lead his crew back to the human world.

Afterward, he only needs to hand over the damn “Anomaly 099” in storage to the officials of the city-state of Pland. From then on, he swore he would never get mixed up with this business again.

Things couldn’t get worse....

Lawrence tries to comfort himself by muttering this until he sees the three-masted galleon larger than the White Oak. The other ship had suddenly emerged on the surface of the sea, and it was charging head-on into them like an indomitable beast!