Chapter 157 Apparition

For a long time, Laurence had been trapped in a "lucid dream"—he was clearer than anyone else about what was happening to him and the changes in his mental state.

He knew Martha was gone, knew that the figure who spent every day with him was just an illusion. He knew all this—both subconsciously and consciously, he was perfectly aware.

But compared to other captains of similar age and experience, his mental state was actually considered good. In the vast, boundless sea, there was no shortage of captains with twisted minds and damaged sanity. Even with the burden shared by the ship's chaplain, this profession of challenging the sea was destined to endure far more mental pollution than ordinary sailors. Every captain completed voyage after voyage by fighting against their own deteriorating sanity, to the point where captains often used a saying to describe their profession:

"We are not sailing on the edge of the abyss; our lives are heading straight into it."

But precisely because of years of mental distress, Laurence had an unusually keen awareness of "Martha." At this very moment, he had keenly sensed that the figure before him was definitely not the same "thing" as the illusions he had seen in the past.

He couldn't help but recall the "Martha" who had appeared on the white oak deck before. The first mate, Gus, had seen that "Martha's" figure—did the changes start from then?

Had all this finally crossed some critical point? Had something from his imagination...finally come to reality? Or had some unspeakable force read his mind and created this actually existing "individual" before his eyes? Was this a gift filled with malice? Or a trap filled with irony?

"Martha…" Laurence finally opened his mouth. He felt his throat was a little dry, and even his voice was hoarse. "Are you…in front of me?"

"As you can see," the female adventurer smiled. "Want to touch me? I even have a body temperature."

“…You are a truly existing individual,” Laurence took a light breath, restraining his impulse to step forward. “But…why is this? Could it be that the illusion in my mind has been transformed into some kind of entity here? Is this…the power of this sea area?"

"At least you're partly right," Martha shook her head gently. "It is indeed this 'sea area' that shaped me and the Black Oak, but I didn't come from the illusions in your mind—I've been wandering here for many years, Laurence—I and this ship have been here for many years in the past, as part of a huge number of 'forgeries,' wandering blindly."

Remember the URL.

Laurence was slightly stunned: "Forgeries?"

"Forgeries—some powerful force located in the deep sea caused all this. I don't know what it is, but it has been entrenched here for many, many years, creating countless forgeries. Remember the 'Seahawk' you just destroyed? And Dagger Island..."

"They are all 'forgeries'?" Laurence's eyes widened. He suddenly realized that the vortex he was deeply trapped in seemed to be more bizarre and terrifying than he had imagined. "Wait, the Frost City-State we encountered before..."

"It is too. Everything here is," Martha said calmly. "That power has long since permeated the entire sea area. Everything that wanders and stays in this sea area long enough cannot escape its 'replication.' There are countless blind and empty copies wandering in the deep sea—what you have encountered is only a small part of them."

Laurence seemed to be in a state of shock. After a long time, he suddenly came back to his senses and looked at the "wife" in front of him in disbelief: "But…you look different. You can even talk to me, and this ship just fought side by side with the White Oak…"

Martha didn't speak, just looked at Laurence quietly with a calm and meaningful smile.

The latter stopped speaking and gradually reacted. He lowered his head, looking at his still ghostly, illusory body and the ghostly green flames quietly burning on his body.

The Black Oak appeared after the White Oak completed its "transformation" in the flames of spiritual fire.

"You've realized it, Laurence," Martha said softly. "The only thing that can compete with great power is another, more powerful great power. Even this sea area cannot taint the spoils of the Forsaken Fleet—you and I are both 'His' spoils."

Laurence listened blankly, feeling a little dazed. Then, his face changed slightly, and he realized the incongruity of the last few words the other party had said—that was not something the "Martha" who had said goodbye to him forever decades ago should have known!

Why would she know about the Forsaken? Why would she know that the White Oak was Captain Duncan's "spoils"?

"You read my mind!" Laurence's eyes widened suddenly, and the muscles on his body tensed subconsciously. "You are not the real Martha!"

However, the figure standing not far away just smiled, as if she didn't care about Laurence's reaction at all. This calmness was the same as it had been decades ago: "If you want a 100% accurate and 'pure' Martha, I'm sorry, Laurence, I'm really not her—but 'she' is a part of me. Martha's soul is in my body, and the other part of me comes from your consciousness and memories… This sea area is like a mirror, constantly reflecting everything that floats on its surface, and consciousness and memories are naturally included.

"I didn't read your consciousness; your consciousness naturally mapped into a part of me—can't you accept this?"

Laurence opened his mouth. After his expression changed several times, he finally gave a bitter tug at the corner of his mouth and spread his hands: "I don't know. I never even thought about how to deal with you after really facing you. I… I don't know how to accept this…'form' of you. I still don't even understand what kind of existence you are."

He raised his head. The old captain, who had faced countless bizarre terrors on the boundless sea without wavering, seemed a little at a loss at this moment.

He had never shown his weakness in front of anyone—except in front of his wife.

Martha looked quietly at Laurence, who was no longer young. After a long time, she smiled helplessly: "You're still the same as before. At critical moments, I always need my help."

She walked over, raised her hand, and placed her hands with the temperature of a living person on Laurence's shoulders.

"You need to strengthen yourself and make clear judgments…"

Laurence frowned slightly, a little puzzled.

"Sailor, could you please leave for a moment?" Martha turned her head again and looked at the unusually obedient Anomaly 077, "The master of the Forsaken Fleet will be satisfied with your cooperation."

The dried corpse wearing a sailor's smock suddenly became alert. Without saying a word, he turned and left the bridge.

Laurence seemed to suddenly realize something and hurriedly said, "Wait..."

But the door to the bridge had already closed.

Anomaly 077 ran quickly to the corridor outside the door. He only vaguely heard Captain Laurence's last shout from inside:

"Martha—I'm already over sixty this year!"

He couldn't bear to listen to what happened after that.

After a moment, a creaking sound of the door axis turning came. Anomaly 077 shrank his neck and turned his head cautiously. He saw the female adventurer standing in front of the door with a relaxed and happy smile on her face.

Immediately afterward, Laurence also walked out with a grimace. After seeing Anomaly 077 at the door, he immediately cast a warning look—then quickly covered his head again, grimacing even more.

Anomaly 077 immediately retracted his gaze, trying to reduce his presence like a real corpse.

Obviously, he had been beaten hard.

"Can you accept it now?" Martha turned her head and said to Laurence with a smile.

Laurence covered the swollen area on his head. He didn't know why his current form was almost spiritual, but he could still be beaten so hard by Martha. He only knew that such details were no longer important: "I can accept it, I can accept it…"

Wandering on the boundless sea still requires an open-minded attitude.

After all, it seemed that if he couldn't figure it out, Martha would help him "figure it out"—the female adventurer's bold temperament was the same as many years ago, but he was already an old man over half a century old…

"Then next, we should consider business," Martha said with a smile, leaning against the door with her arms crossed. "It's not a solution to be trapped here all the time."

Hearing this, Laurence immediately suppressed the complicated thoughts in his heart, and his expression became serious: "Martha, I wanted to ask you just now, what is the state of this sea area? Do you know how to leave here?"

"…I would love to answer you, but I'm sorry," Martha said apologetically after being silent for two seconds. "Although I have wandered here for many years, after all, I and this ship are just one of the many forgeries trapped here. But one thing is certain… This entire sea area is centered on the 'Frost City-State.' If there really is a rift that intersects with the real world here, it must be in the Frost."