Chapter 1 The Mirror Image

In the small mirror she carried, Martha materialized from a swirling cloud of black mist, her voice reaching Laurence's ears: "Do you see the lights in the distance?"

"I see them," Laurence nodded, looking up at the incredible sight before him—large patches of inky black phantoms floated on the sea, vaguely resembling the outlines of a city-state, but without any visible details. Beneath the water, however, the illuminated harbor docks and the edges of the city-state's buildings were reflected. The White Oak was gradually approaching these inverted lights and shadows without any control. Countless shadowy silhouettes of ships floated on the distant sea, as if caught in a fierce battle. In this confusing vision of light and shadow, reality and illusion, he even felt himself becoming unreal. "It's an unimaginable sight… So this is what it's like to observe the world from the other side of the mirror..."

"The lights and shadows are inverted in your vision, but in my eyes, it's a normal landscape—but soon, all of this will reverse again," Martha said with a slight smile. "Get ready. I'll be docking soon, at an abandoned pier in the southern corner of the East Port docks. I'll try to get the ship as close as possible to a sewer access point. Take your mirror, and I'll guide you to the Second Waterway."

"And then… the other counterfeits will react, right?" Laurence couldn't help but worry. "If we can't beat them, you take the White Oak and the Black Oak and retreat first. At our current speed, those counterfeits definitely can't stop us."

Martha rolled her eyes. "Of course, I'm not stupid—my job is just to get you here and delay them a little. I don't plan on taking down the entire Mirror Frost fleet with two Ghost Ships; they can't be completely destroyed."

Anomaly 077 was squatting on the deck, fiddling with a rope he'd found somewhere, occasionally looking up to observe the White Oak's smokestack and flagpole, looking quite troubled.

"Don't people in your time hang errant sailors from the mast anymore?" the mummy muttered in confusion.

"Still thinking about your noose?" Laurence raised his eyebrows, his tone unfriendly. "Put the rope down and go get a cutlass and some guns and ammunition from the first mate. We're going ashore."

"I used to put it around my neck and fall asleep… why doesn't it work anymore…" Anomaly 077 was still muttering in confusion before suddenly reacting. "Ah? Go ashore?! You're taking me this time?"

"A strange anomaly to deal with a strange city-state—it's fitting," Laurence said seriously. "We need to enter the depths of Frost through the Second Waterway—don't waste time, go get your weapons."

The sailor paused for a moment, then immediately reacted and stood up. "Yes, Captain!"

The White Oak gradually approached the unreal, inverted darkness, closer to the lights reflected in the sea. An elite and powerful landing party had gathered behind Laurence.

First Mate Gus wasn't among the group; Laurence had assigned him to stay on the ship.

The old captain made his arrangements with a serious expression: "There's going to be a fierce battle. All the counterfeit warships near the harbor will react and attack the White Oak and the Black Oak. You need to stay on board and direct the battle—delay them as long as possible. If you can't hold out, retreat with Martha."

"I understand," Gus nodded but still glanced worriedly at the "sailor" behind Laurence, who was fiddling with his newly acquired weapons. "But… is he really reliable?"

Laurence looked back. Anomaly 077, the sailor, also looked up. The mummy had a cutlass at his waist but threw the rifle and ammunition pouch onto a nearby wooden barrel, muttering, "I only need the cutlass; I don't know how to use this thing."

"Suit yourself, if you think a cutlass is enough to deal with the Mirror City-State's Second Waterway," Laurence said casually. "Someone who doesn't know how to use a gun will only cause more harm than good."

The sailor thought for a moment and still didn't touch the rifle. Instead, he went to a nearby weapons box and took another cutlass, hanging it on his belt.

Laurence said nothing, only lowered his head and looked at his palm.

He slowly exerted strength, making a fist, opening it. He adjusted his breathing, awkwardly sketching in his mind the phantom of a ship burning with ghost flames, its spectral sails raised high, recalling the feeling of the flames engulfing him, his body transforming in the fire.

After a long time, he saw a faint green color appear in the lines of his palm, tiny flames slowly flowing in the patterns.

The deck beneath his feet vibrated slightly. The White Oak began to brake, and the hazy darkness outside the ship was close at hand. Martha's voice came from the small mirror in his chest—

"Attention, the ship will dock soon. Then I'll reverse again and disengage the twin projection. Jump onto the dock from the left side and go straight ahead. I'll guide you."

"I'm ready," Laurence breathed softly, slowly walking to the ship's rail.

"I'm ready too!" Anomaly 077 followed closely behind the captain, a hint of excitement and anticipation in his hoarse, dark voice. "Ashore! Battle! The pirates are here!"

"We're not pirates," Laurence looked back at the mummy. "We're honorable seamen."

"Docking," Martha's voice came from the mirror almost simultaneously. "Three, two, one… reverse!"

In an instant, the light and shadow changed, reality and illusion swapped.

Everything around Laurence seemed to flicker violently. Then, the reflection in the sea rose, and the darkness in front of him reversed, as if passing through an invisible mirror. He saw the docks and piers of Frost, and the damp, cold feeling that had always surrounded him, as if he were immersed in seawater, instantly disappeared!

The next moment, he saw a patch of black shadow suddenly appear on the sea next to the White Oak. The silhouette of the Black Oak quickly emerged from the shadow.

After the light and shadow reversed, the Black Oak simultaneously disengaged from its mirrored state with the White Oak, instead appearing on the sea as a twin warship, ready to fight alongside its sister ship.

In an instant, beams of light appeared on the dock, sirens wailed in the distant streets, and a chaotic wind howled through the harbor. The sound of warships hastily firing their cannons echoed from afar, like a chaotic thunder.

The reaction was this fast?!

Laurence was shocked, but he reacted without delay, kicking the rope ladder down and rushing out first. "Let's go!"

A landing party of a dozen or so capable sailors charged onto the dock, heading towards the distant intersection along the route Martha indicated, with Laurence leading the way.

The cold wind howled in his ears. The distant sirens and gunfire carried a fragmented, distorted quality. In the chaotic, dim light, Laurence gripped his revolver in one hand and his sword in the other, running wildly through this mirrored and distorted ghost city-state, with Martha's voice constantly guiding him.

"The intersection ahead, turn left, avoid the guard post… go straight, take the small alley on the right, the entrance is at the end…"

Behind him, were the sailors' hurried and chaotic footsteps. In his hand, was a trusty weapon. In his ear, was the seamless cooperation of his lover.

Laurence ran faster and faster. In a daze, he felt as if the age and fatigue that had accumulated over the decades had vanished from his body. He felt his heart beating like a young man's, with the same blood coursing through his veins as when he was in his prime—those unrestrained and exuberant years returned to his mind.

It's back, everything is back.

He stepped forward, swinging his arms, a faint green flame floating like a phantom behind him. Next to him and behind him, green flames began to appear on the bodies of the sailors, the flesh and blood bodies reflecting a ghostly, illusory texture in the flames.

Anomaly 077's wailing voice sounded from the side: "Captain! I'm scared!"

"If you're scared, stick close to the group!" Laurence grinned, a strange joy in his voice. "This city can't stop us!"

Anomaly 077 continued to wail as he ran wildly alongside Laurence: "What I'm afraid of is you guys!"

"Then you'll have to adapt—I'm not retiring, and you can forget about it too!"

Laurence said loudly and cheerfully. He didn't mind that his voice would reveal the team's location, nor was he worried that his reckless running through the streets would attract the "guards" of this city-state.

Because from the beginning, this could never be a "sneak in"—the moment the uninvited guests stepped into this mirrored city, the living city had already reacted.

A fog slowly spread through the streets. In the eerie, dim fog, shadowy figures emerged from it.

"The streets are getting foggy!" he shouted. "Martha, is this normal?"

"The fog is a sign of the boundary; it's hardest to distinguish between reality and illusion in the fog—keep going, don't mind the fog that's spreading from the real world. It's just ahead."

"Okay!"

Laurence responded loudly, leading the sailors towards the fog. In the fog, one swaying, distorted figure after another stood up. They had deformed bodies, the wrong number of eyes, and they roared and muttered in the fog, staggering forward.

Laurence raised the muzzle of his gun, but before he and the sailors could fire, a series of dense gunshots rang out from the other side of the fog.

A spider-like steam walker suddenly appeared in the fog. Fully armed city-state guard soldiers built barricades around the walker. The rifles in the soldiers' hands and the gun turret mounted on top of the steam walker spewed flames, instantly tearing the monsters in the fog to pieces.

Laurence ran past the edge of the combat zone, looking in astonishment at the city-state guards who had suddenly appeared. The next moment, the soldiers and the steam walker disappeared back into the fog, leaving only a pile of scattered rubble behind.

"We're here, the sewer entrance—at the end of the passage below, there's an elevator that goes directly to the Second Waterway!"