Chapter 301: “Set Foot on the ghost ship”
This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation.com
As Vanna and Nina stood by the sea, an otherworldly spectacle unfolded before their eyes. A ship, with a mysterious and eerie glow, rose from the water, swaying gently.
Nina, stunned by the sight, took a few moments to react before exclaiming, “Ah! A ship! A ship just emerged from the sea!”
She quickly turned to Vanna, her urgency palpable. “I must tell Uncle Duncan!”
Before Vanna could respond, Nina had already dashed across the deck, her feet barely touching the ground as she sped towards the stern.
Vanna remained fixed on the eerie ship, her gaze absorbing every detail of its decayed and ancient structure. She noticed a row of large, corroded letters on the ship’s bow, partially obscured by grime, yet she managed to make out the word: “Obsidian.”
The mysterious ship’s sudden appearance caused quite a stir among the crew. Soon, others who had been resting in the cabin gathered on the deck, including Morris, Shirley, Dog, and Alice. They joined Vanna, marveling at the strange vessel and speculating about its origins. Shortly, Duncan arrived on the bow’s deck with Nina in tow.
“Mr. Duncan,” Vanna said as he approached, “there are no signs of life on that ship. It might be… a ghost ship.”
At the mention of “ghost ship,” a peculiar expression crossed the young inquisitor’s face.
“Fellow travelers,” Duncan replied nonchalantly, his eyes scanning the ghost ship, which was only half the size of their own vessel. He first noticed the chimney structure atop the ship. “It looks like a steamship… Can you estimate its age and origin?”
“No need to guess,” Morris interjected, his voice filled with complexity. His gaze fixed on the distant sea. “I saw its name – Obsidian, a steamboat that sank in the Cold Sea six years ago.”
“Ah?” Shirley, who was stretching her neck to get a better look, turned to the old scholar in surprise. “Sir, you know that ship?”
“Scott Brown was on that ship when it had the accident,” Morris replied somberly. “But how did it suddenly appear here? And in this manner…”
Alice, who had been quietly listening, glanced between the distant Obsidian and Morris before asking, “Captain, is this normal? Do sunken ships float back up from the sea?”
“This is, of course, not normal,” Duncan said, glancing at her. “This is called a ghost ship… and I suspect it’s not just any ghost ship.”
As he spoke, Goathead’s voice echoed in his mind. “Captain, should we fire a couple of shots? The cannons are in an ideal position, and they’re eager to fire a few rounds over there…”
“Hold them off!” Duncan cut off Goathead decisively. After a moment of thought, he turned to his crew. “We need to go over there and investigate.”
“We’re going… to that ghost ship?” Shirley recoiled at the suggestion. “Isn’t that a bit reckless? I’m not afraid of anything else, but what if that ship suddenly sinks again? After all, it surfaced unexpectedly…”
“Ai will bring us back,” Duncan said, casting an indifferent glance at the girl. “Of course, if you don’t want to go, you can stay here. It’s not compulsory.”
Shirley opened her mouth to respond, but Dog interjected first. “We’ll go! We’ll go! It’s our duty to serve the captain! We’re eager to!”
Shirley, taken aback, began grumbling telepathically to her partner. “Dog, can’t you have some principles…”
“What’s unprincipled about actively participating in group activities, understanding the situation, and showing initiative?” Dog retorted in their mental connection. “With the boss leading, we don’t have to worry about safety, so we should show ourselves…”
“What I mean is, can you give me a chance to rely on someone next time? You always snatch it…”
Dog pondered for a moment. “Shirley, can’t you have some principles?”
Duncan didn’t notice Shirley and Dog’s silent exchange, knowing that when these two were quiet, they were likely communicating telepathically. Instead, he turned to the others. “Do you want to join us?”
“I want to go!” Nina was the first to raise her hand, her excitement barely contained. “A ghost ship! I’ve only heard of them in legends and stories, but I’ve never seen one in person.”
“The Vanished is also a ghost ship,” Duncan reminded her, then looked at the others. “What about you?”
“Perhaps we can find clues left by Brown before the accident on that ship,” Morris nodded. “I’ll go with you.”
“I’ll go too,” Vanna added. “The ghost ship vision may be related to heresy or evil corruption, and I have some experience in this area.”
“I don’t know,” Alice said thoughtfully, glancing at Duncan. “But I want to be with the captain.”
“Let’s all go then, consider it an eye-opener,” Duncan said casually. He then waved to the dove resting on the mast. “Ai, take us to that ghost ship.”
A ball of dark green flames appeared on the Vanished, and in an instant, the massive skeletal bird took flight, heading towards the Obsidian, which swayed gently with the waves.
Suddenly, the deck of the Vanished fell silent.
This quietness was brief, however, as a small boat hanging near the side of the Vanished creaked, swaying dejectedly.
It was a shuttle boat, typically used for quickly transferring personnel between two ships at close range on the water.
As they spoke, two ropes coiled at the edge of the deck produced a rustling friction sound, slithering like snakes toward the side of the shuttle boat and tapping the boat’s hull with their ends.
Meanwhile, Goathead in the captain’s cabin sensed the situation on deck and sighed slightly, striking up a conversation with the old crewmates it had been with for a century. “Maybe… you guys should practice rowing in the sea a bit more…”
The creaking sound of the rocking boat grew louder…
On the other hand, Ai, who had flown above the Obsidian, did not land immediately. Instead, under Duncan’s command, she circled the ghost ship several times, ensuring there were no moving targets on the ship before landing on a relatively clean and stable part of the deck.
A green flame shot into the sky, and Duncan and his companions emerged from the fire.
An unmistakable musty smell immediately assailed their nostrils – the stench of seawater mingled with an indescribable rotten odor.
Nina was the first to frown upon arriving on the deck. “Ugh… the smell here is so unpleasant…”
“Not all ghost ships are as clean and tidy as the Vanished with unlimited fries,” Duncan said to Nina with a smile. “If this ship really is the Obsidian from back then, it’s been submerged in the deep sea for six years.”
As he spoke, he surveyed the eerie steamship.
Rusty, broken, and stained – it might have once been a beautiful and advanced mechanical speedboat, but now all that remained was a lifeless mass of steel and wood. Even more bizarrely, the seawater that should have been present on a ship that had just emerged from the sea was nowhere to be found.
The deck was dry.
Even in many of the dents on the deck, where water should have easily collected, everything was dry.
Vanna also noticed this and frowned slightly, squatting down to rub the ground with her finger.
She still remembered the scene when the ship emerged from the sea, with a torrent of seawater pouring down from the Obsidian, like an endless waterfall washing every corner of the ship. Logically, there shouldn’t be any dry spots on this ship.
“Vanna,” Morris turned his head after observing the situation. “Do you sense any heresy or evil corruption?”
“…No,” Vanna shook her head slowly and frowned. She had been paying attention to this issue since she first stepped on the deck, constantly detecting the presence of any supernatural fluctuations around her. “There’s no trace of any supernatural aura, but that’s even more unsettling. The deck is dry, which is obviously abnormal, and some supernatural force must be involved behind the abnormal vision.”
“It could be a supernatural force beyond your perception,” Duncan said casually as he walked forward. “Anyway, if there’s something hidden on this ship, we just need to search more thoroughly, and it’s bound to reveal itself.”
Nina hurriedly took two steps to catch up with her Uncle Duncan. “What if something really jumps out?”
Duncan stopped and turned around with a smile. “In any case, let’s try reasoning first…”
……….
Why do I have a feeling whoever meets “Duncan” will turn tail and run away first.
Running away is the most “reasonable” thing to do, rite?
His first reaction will be to burn it.
“This quietness was brief though, and a small boat hanging near the side of the Vanished suddenly creaked, swaying rather dejectedly.”
So cute ?
Row boat is sad 🙁
Row boat wanted to be used ?