Chapter 1 The Black Oak

Clinging to the rope ladder, Lawrence slowly climbed up the Black Oak, its hull a dark, somber color as if it had been smoked by something, and reached the deck.

As soon as he landed, he bent over, his hands on his knees, gasping for breath until he evened out – which made him shake his head with a self-deprecating smile.

He really was getting old, to the point where he had to stop and rest after climbing a rope ladder for a while. If it had been before…

Another footstep landed behind him. Lawrence put aside the irrelevant thoughts and turned to see Anomaly 077 also climbing up – the terrifying-looking dried corpse stood cautiously at the edge of the ship's rail, appearing quite docile.

It, or rather he – had been very cooperative on the way, and it was indeed a strange sight to see such a terrifying high-level anomaly being so well-behaved. But when Lawrence thought that this dried corpse was his only "companion" on this exploration, he restrained the strange feeling in his heart and made his expression serious.

"Is the small boat secured?" he asked, looking at Anomaly 077 as if he were talking to one of his sailors, engaging with this special "sailor."

"Secured," the dried corpse nodded immediately, its voice hoarse and low. Then he looked up, quickly surveyed the surroundings, and said with some hesitation, "...It seems there's no one here, Captain."

"I'm not blind," Lawrence said calmly, while also surveying the situation on the deck.

After stepping onto the deck of the Black Oak, the surrounding eerie mist and shadowy texture were still present, but there was no sign of further intensification. Through the floating mist, he could vaguely see the scene on the ship – everything was as he remembered. About seventy or eighty percent of the Black Oak's facilities were similar to those of the White Oak, except they had a texture as if they had been abandoned for many years. The paint on the railings had peeled off in patches, and some places on the deck showed warping and distortion. The exterior of the superstructure in the distance still had rust-like stains.

Aside from the eerie mist, the ship felt like another White Oak – a neglected "version" that had been adrift at sea for many years after being abandoned.

Moreover, as Anomaly 077 said, there was no sign of anyone on the ship.

"There's no one on board, so who threw down the rope ladder just now?" Anomaly 077 muttered. "And when you ordered signals to be sent to this ship before, it responded with lights – who was responding to the signals then?"

"For an 'anomaly,' you think quite logically," Lawrence couldn't help but look back at this "sailor," his tone quite surprised. "But don't you think it's strange to use 'logic' to think about a ghost ship?"

Anomaly 077 shrugged and said nothing.

But Lawrence didn't give the dried corpse a chance to remain silent – he brought this dried corpse onto the Black Oak not just to avoid this guy causing danger on the White Oak, but to make him useful to some extent.

"Can your abilities work on this ship?" Lawrence stared into Anomaly 077's eyes. "Can you control this ship?"

"You want me to 'take over' it?" Anomaly 077 was immediately surprised.

"You can't 'take it away' – but I want you to confirm whether your abilities can work here," Lawrence said with a serious expression. "Sense it, what state is this ship in?"

Anomaly 077 – Sailor. The greatest ability of this anomaly is to control and take over things that have the concept of a "ship." In other words, this anomaly actually has a perception and influence ability towards the "ship" that far exceeds human understanding. So… in the eyes of the "sailor," would the Black Oak show some "special features"?

Starting from this idea, perhaps Anomaly 077 could help him uncover the truth here.

The dried corpse obeyed the order. He stood on the deck, opened his hands, and closed his eyes slightly as if to feel the wind direction in the fog. Not far from him, Lawrence looked at the familiar things on the deck with a somewhat complex gaze.

The Black Oak… He was now standing on this ship. How many times had he dreamed of the past, he could not forget the scenes on this ship, how many voyages had he stubbornly held the idea of retrieving this ship – but when this moment really arrived, when he really stood here, he had to repeatedly question everything, question his judgment, question his perception, and even question the existence of this ship.

Because the appearance of the Black Oak was too suspicious and strange, and the state it was currently in was definitely not normal. Although his emotions were unwilling to admit it, reason told him… this was most likely not the "Black Oak" he was looking for at all.

This was just some kind of uncontrolled transcendent phenomenon creating a…"phenomenon."

Lawrence's mind was filled with thoughts until the "sailor" next to him suddenly opened his eyes and made a questioning sound, finally stopping his chaotic thoughts.

"What's the situation?" Lawrence asked immediately.

"I… I don't know how to explain…" The sailor looked down in confusion, staring at the deck under his feet. "Captain, I… I can't feel the existence of this ship…"

"What do you mean?! You can't feel the existence of this ship?" Lawrence's eyes widened instantly. He thought that the "sailor's" power might not be enough to control this strange ghost ship, but he didn't expect the other party to give such an answer. "Then where are we standing now?"

"So I don't know how to explain…" The sailor seemed startled by Lawrence's expression, but he still continued with a brave face, "We are standing here, it undoubtedly exists, but in my perception, it is actually non-existent, at least… at least it's not here…"

Lawrence frowned. He knew that the dried corpse in front of him shouldn't be lying to him, this was the other party's true thought at the moment, but… this did not diminish the doubts in his heart in the slightest.

After a brief silence, he took a breath, holding the lantern in one hand, and turned to look in a certain direction at the end of the deck.

The soft yellow light emitted by the lantern floated in the mist, as if guiding an invisible path.

"Captain, where are we going?"

"The bridge," Lawrence said calmly. "The captain should be on the bridge."

Before he finished speaking, he had already stepped in the direction illuminated by the light. The "sailor" was stunned for a moment before quickly following, walking a bit staggeringly while curiously asking, "Are you saying… the captain of this ship? Do you know the captain of this ship?"

Lawrence paused for a moment, then walked forward: "I know him, very well."

The sailor oh-ed, and then honestly quieted down again.

A moment later, Lawrence had arrived at the door leading to the bridge.

The red metal door was slightly open in front of him, as if inviting him in.

"You go open the door."

Lawrence held the lantern in one hand, and drew his revolver from his waist with the other, gesturing to the dried corpse beside him to come forward.

"Ah… okay."

The dried corpse sighed quite humanely, stepped forward and grabbed the handle of the door, and without much effort, he pushed the door open.

Lawrence leaned his head inside to look.

The bridge was empty, without any sign of anyone. Only thin mist drifted between the chairs and control equipment, and at the front of the bridge, the unmanned rudder was swaying slightly left and right, as if fine-tuning the course.

"There's no one here either," the dried corpse muttered beside him.

"I'm not blind," Lawrence said, and stepped into the bridge.

He raised the lantern, using the light to dispel the surrounding dimness, and his eyes swept over the mottled and old equipment and seats, then slowly came to the rudder.

The captain should be standing here.

But there was no sign of the captain.

Lawrence stood quietly for a while, sighing with a hint of loss or relief: "Ah, you're not here after all."

"No, I am."

A slightly cold female voice came from the side.

Lawrence instantly tensed up, and even the faint green flames on his body suddenly soared a few inches. In the next second, he suddenly looked in the direction of the sound –

A young female adventurer wearing a captain's uniform, with slightly curly long hair draped over her head, was standing there, arms crossed, looking at him with a calm expression and a hint of helplessness.

"Ah, a woman popped out," Anomaly 077 said in surprise, then seemed to realize something, quickly glanced at Lawrence, "Captain, do I need to be quiet?"

Lawrence looked at the dried corpse: "Yes, be quiet."

"Yes, Captain."

Anomaly 077's inopportune interruption more or less diluted the awkward and stiff atmosphere just now. Lawrence took the opportunity to try to calm himself down, and then quickly thought about how to start speaking – what should he say in the first sentence?

In the past days, he had talked to "Martha" countless times, and in one hallucination after another, they had been together for many, many years. But at this moment, Lawrence suddenly realized that he was stuck – he couldn't interact with Martha as naturally as he usually did when he fell into hallucinations.

And it was this moment of being stuck that made him suddenly realize one thing.

The Martha in front of him… was an "individual" who was completely unrelated to his subconscious and was acting independently!