Chapter 686: Accidents and Coincidences

Chapter 686: Accidents and Coincidences

This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation.

In the midst of loud noises, the shriveled body the sailors had jokingly called “the mummy” suddenly sprang into the air from the ship’s deck. It launched itself with such force that it resembled a cannonball. The mummy landed with a heavy thud among scattered items across the deck.

The unexpected commotion startled the sailors. Lawrence, watching from a distance, sprang into action. He leapt from his lookout post and, accompanied by some quick-acting crew members, rushed to where the strange figure had fallen. Amid the debris, they found the decayed corpse, clad in a sailor’s uniform, entangled and struggling to extract its head from a broken wooden crate. The figure seemed disoriented, shaking its head in confusion before weakly muttering, “I... I saw...”

Gus, the ship’s first mate, hurried over and helped pull the mummy from the wreckage. He asked sharply, “What did you see?”

The mummy’s reply was odd and barely coherent. “I saw my grandma...”

Exasperated and skeptical, Gus pushed the mummy aside and demanded, “You fool, what does your grandma have to do with any of this?!”

Meanwhile, Lawrence concluded that the disturbance caused by Anomaly 077 was just a diversion and turned his attention to a recent rescue—the “castaway” found at sea.

The survivor, an elf wearing typical attire from the southern regions, was reclining against a cargo winch on the deck. He looked disheveled and wet but had no visible injuries. His expression was vacant, his eyes empty.

As Lawrence approached, the elf turned his head slowly and weakly, his gaze drifting over his surroundings listlessly.

Ted Lir, the elf, was lost in a fog of confusion. Since repelling the mummy, his mind had been clouded, filled with echoing noises and fleeting shadows, disrupting his clarity of thought.

He was aware that he had left the frightening realm of subspace; the feel of the sea breeze and the rhythmic waves were unmistakably real. However, the trauma of crossing the “Dark Traverse” had deeply affected his psyche, leaving a mental scar that dulled his senses.

Ted Lir recognized his remarkable fortune. Few survived entering subspace, and even fewer kept their sanity after such a terrifying experience. He had little time to ponder his miraculous survival. The remnants of his sanity urged him to fully regain consciousness and anchor his thoughts in reality. However, he wasn’t completely safe yet; lingering toxic influences and shadowy entities from subspace subtly continued to assail him, attempting to drag him back into that dark, chaotic realm.

Suddenly, a rumbling noise interrupted his thoughts, like thunder muffled by heavy drapes. A figure approached—an older man with graying hair and a solid build. His words sounded distorted and foreign.

“Come on, snap out of it,” Lawrence urged, gently tapping the elf’s cheek to rouse the stranger from his stupor. His voice mixed concern with curiosity, “Can you tell me your name?”

This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation.

From the shadows, a cautious voice spoke. Martha, ever vigilant, warned Lawrence, “Be careful, Lawrence. There’s something strange about this man—he emerged from the sea right after the sun disappeared. We have no idea what he might be...”

Looking up in awe at the captain, now surrounded by the faint green flames, Ted Lir felt a strange sense of familiarity.

“Why does this fire seem so familiar to me?” he wondered to himself.

“What in the world was that?” murmured Lawrence, equally perplexed. He continued to watch the elf, who no longer appeared to be a malevolent cultist or a vile demon. Unsure of what to do next, he pondered, “Was that some sort of spell?”

Breaking the silence, Ted Lir finally spoke in a language everyone could understand, “Who are you? And where am I?”

“You can talk?!” Lawrence’s surprise was clear, but he was relieved to hear the elf speak a human language. Despite his confusion about what had just happened, his immediate sense of crisis diminished. “This ship is the White Oak. I’m the captain.”

“The White Oak?” Ted Lir’s brow furrowed in a mix of recognition and confusion. Still recovering from mental strain and fatigue, he struggled to connect his memories. “What’s your connection with the Vanished? With Captain Duncan?”

“Captain Duncan?” Lawrence, taken aback by the mention of that rarely spoken name, quickly composed himself and nodded. “He’s my boss.”

Ted Lir looked puzzled, his mind racing to make sense of the situation.

...

“Ted Lir is missing?!”

In the grand and mystical “Witch’s Mansion” in bustling Wind Harbor, Duncan’s face showed shock and concern upon hearing the alarming news. Lucretia, who had just returned to the city, delivered this unexpected and troubling update.

“Yes, I’ve just received word from the academy,” Lucretia confirmed with a solemn nod. She had only stepped out briefly before returning with this news. “Ted Lir left the research station near the ‘glowing geometric body’ just fifteen minutes ago via a teleportation portal. However, he hasn’t arrived at the designated point here in Wind Harbor.”

“Only fifteen minutes ago?” Shirley, intrigued and slightly anxious, leaned in closer to the conversation. “That doesn’t seem like a very long time. Do we really need to organize a search for him...?”

With a serious expression, Lucretia turned to Shirley, “Using a teleportation portal is a precise process. If the person doesn’t arrive at the exact moment the portal opens, it’s an immediate cause for concern.” She then added, reflecting the seriousness of the situation, “This could likely be a malfunction of the spell, possibly triggered by the recent extinction of the sun.”

The room filled with a tense atmosphere as the implications of Ted Lir’s disappearance began to unfold, hinting at a deeper, more sinister issue possibly linked to the supernatural cosmic event of the sun’s disappearance.