Chapter 389

Chapter 389: Stepping Onto the Black Oak

Clinging to the rope ladder, Lawrence climbed up the side of the Black Oak bit by bit. The hull had a dull, dark color, as if it had been scorched by something. At last he reached the deck of the ship.

As soon as his feet touched the deck, he bent over, hands on his knees, and panted several times before his breathing evened out. This made him shake his head with a self-mocking little smile.

He really was old now. He had reached the age where climbing a rope ladder a short way left him needing to stop and rest. In the past…

Another set of footsteps landed behind him. Lawrence put away those stray thoughts and turned to see that Anomaly 077 had climbed up after him. The frightening mummified corpse stood very carefully near the rail and looked quite obedient.

It – or rather, he – had actually cooperated very well all the way here. A terrifying high-level anomaly being this honest was a strange sight indeed. But once Lawrence remembered that this mummified corpse was his only “companion” on this exploration, he gathered up the odd feeling in his heart and made his expression turn serious.

“Did you secure the boat?” He looked at Anomaly 077 and spoke to this special “sailor” the same way he normally spoke to the sailors under his command.

“It’s secured,” the mummified corpse said at once in a hoarse, low voice. Then he raised his head and glanced quickly around them. There was a trace of doubt in his tone. “…It looks like there’s no one on board, Captain.”

“I’m not blind,” Lawrence said calmly as he let his gaze move across the deck.

After they stepped onto the deck of the Black Oak, the eerie thick fog and the texture of Shadows around them were still there, but they did not grow any thicker. Through the drifting mist, he could faintly see the scene on the ship. Everything was just as he remembered. Seven or eight parts of the Black Oak’s layout were almost the same as the White Oak’s. The only difference was that it all had the look of something left to rot for many years. The paint on the railings had peeled and flaked. Parts of the deck were warped and buckled. On the outer walls of the superstructure in the distance, he could even see stains that looked like layers of rust.

If he ignored the strange fog, the whole ship felt like another White Oak – a “version” that had been abandoned and left to drift on the sea for many years without proper upkeep.

And as Anomaly 077 had said, there was no sign of anyone on this ship.

“If there’s no one on board, then who threw down that rope ladder just now?” Anomaly 077 muttered. “And when you ordered them to signal this ship before, it sent back a light signal in reply. Who sent that signal back then?”

“For an ‘anomaly,’ your thinking is actually quite orderly,” Lawrence said, unable to resist glancing back at this “sailor,” clearly surprised. “But don’t you think using ‘logic’ on a ghost ship is a little strange?”

Anomaly 077 shrugged and fell silent.

But Lawrence did not give the mummified corpse a chance to stay quiet. He had not brought this mummified corpse onto the Black Oak just to keep it from causing trouble on the White Oak. He wanted to make some use of it.

“Can your ability work on this ship?” Lawrence stared into Anomaly 077’s eyes. “Can you control this ship?”

“You want me to ‘take it over’?” Anomaly 077 looked a little shocked.

“You are not allowed to ‘take it away’ – but I want you to check whether your ability can work here,” Lawrence said with a very serious face. “Feel it. Find out what state this ship is actually in.”

This “sailor” called Anomaly 077 had an ability whose greatest strength was to control and seize anything that fit the concept of a “ship.” In other words, this anomaly had a sense for and influence over “ships” far beyond human understanding. So… in the eyes of this “sailor,” would the Black Oak show some “special traits”?

Starting from this line of thought, Anomaly 077 might be able to help him uncover the truth here.

The mummified corpse obeyed the order. He stood on the deck and spread his arms, then closed his eyes halfway, as if he were feeling the direction of the wind in the fog. Not far away, Lawrence looked at the familiar parts of the deck with a complicated gaze.

The Black Oak… He was now standing on this ship. How many times had he dreamed of the past and failed to forget the scenes on this deck? How many times had he set sail clutching a stubborn wish to find this ship again? But now, at the very moment he was truly standing here, he could only question everything over and over. He questioned his own judgment. He questioned his own senses. He even questioned the existence of this ship.

The way the Black Oak had appeared was far too suspicious and strange, and the state it now showed was most definitely not normal. Though he did not want to admit it emotionally, reason told him that… this very likely was not the “Black Oak” he had been searching for.

It was only some “phenomenon” created by the supernatural Visions of a runaway state.

Lawrence’s mind was full of tangled thoughts. Only when the “sailor” beside him suddenly opened his eyes and made a confused sound did all those thoughts finally stop.

“What is it?” Lawrence asked at once.

“I… I don’t know how to explain it…” The sailor looked down in shock at the deck under his feet. “Captain, I… I can’t feel this ship’s existence…”

“What do you mean?! You can’t feel this ship’s existence?” Lawrence’s eyes widened at once. He had thought that the sailor’s power might not be strong enough to control this strange ghost ship. He had not expected the other party to give this kind of answer at all. “Then what are we standing on right now?”

“That’s why I don’t know how to explain it…” The sailor seemed startled by Lawrence’s expression, but he still forced himself to go on. “We are standing here. There’s no doubt that it exists. But in my senses, it actually does not exist. At least… at least it is not here…”

Lawrence frowned. He knew that the mummified corpse in front of him had no reason to trick him. This was the other’s true thought at this moment. It was just that… this did nothing to ease the questions in his heart.

After a short silence, he took a breath. One hand lifted the consecrated lantern as he turned his head to look toward a certain part of the deck.

The soft yellow light from the consecrated lantern drifted through the fog, as if it were pointing out an invisible path.

“Captain, where are we going?”

“The bridge,” Lawrence said coolly. “The captain should be on the bridge.”

Before he even finished the sentence, he had already started walking toward the path lit by the lantern. The “sailor” stood stunned for a second, then hurried to catch up, walking with a slight stumble as he asked curiously, “You mean… the captain of this ship? You know the captain of this ship?”

Lawrence’s steps paused for a heartbeat, then he kept walking: “Yes. I know her very well.”

The sailor made a small sound of understanding and then fell quiet again.

A moment later, Lawrence reached the door that led to the bridge.

The red metal door in front of him was slightly ajar, as if it were inviting him in.

“You go open it.”

Lawrence held the consecrated lantern in one hand and drew his revolver from his belt with the other. With a look, he motioned for the mummified corpse beside him to step forward.

“Ah… all right.”

The mummified corpse let out a very human sigh, stepped up to the door, grabbed the handle, and, without seeming to use much strength, pushed the heavy door wide open.

Lawrence leaned forward and looked inside.

The bridge was empty. There was no sign of people anywhere. Only thin mist drifted between the chairs and the control equipment. At the very front, at the helm, the unattended wheel was swaying gently left and right, as if someone were making small adjustments to their course.

“There’s no one here either,” the mummified corpse muttered beside him.

“I’m not blind,” Lawrence said, then stepped onto the bridge.

He lifted the consecrated lantern and used its light to drive away the darkness around them. His gaze slid past the worn, weathered equipment and seats and slowly came to rest in front of the wheel.

The captain should have been standing here.

But there was no sign of the captain.

Lawrence stood there quietly for a while, then let out a sigh. He himself could not tell whether it was from disappointment or relief. “So, you really aren’t here.”

“No. I am.”

A cool female voice came from the side.

Lawrence jumped so hard even the ghostly green flames on his body flared several inches higher. In the next second, he snapped his head toward the source of the voice.

A young-looking woman in a captain’s uniform stood there, arms folded, her slightly wavy long hair loose down her back. She looked at them with a calm expression that held a hint of helplessness.

“Ah, a woman just popped out,” Anomaly 077 said in shock. Then he seemed to realize something and shot a quick look at Lawrence. “Captain, should I stay quiet?”

Lawrence glanced at the mummified corpse. “Yes. Quiet.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Though Anomaly 077’s interruption came at the wrong time, it still eased the stiff, awkward air a little. Lawrence used the chance to steady himself. In his mind, thoughts raced over what he should say first – what should his first sentence be?

In the past, he had spoken with “Martha” countless times. In one hallucination after another, they had already spent many, many years together. But at this very moment, Lawrence suddenly realized he was stuck. He could not act as naturally with Martha as he did when he fell into hallucinations.

And this brief moment of hesitation made him suddenly realize one thing.

The Martha in front of him… was a being acting on her own, completely separate from his subconscious.