In Duncan's eyes, the massive, chaotic shadows had "collapsed" back into the dashing female adventurer. In the depths of the mirror, the superimposed silhouettes no longer trembled erratically.

Duncan quietly watched this scene, remaining silent for a long time.

Martha in the mirror, after reforming, stood still for a moment—as if buffering before a film officially starts. After two or three seconds, a lifelike vibrancy returned to her face. She looked down at herself, somewhat bewildered, before belatedly raising her head. "What... did you do?"

Duncan temporarily ended his contemplation and shook his head gently. "Nothing, just a welcome."

He paused, organizing his thoughts before speaking. "If you are to be 'Martha' forever, are you still planning to tell Lawrence the truth?"

"He might... already know," Martha said hesitantly, "I've hinted at things. I told him that I am primarily Martha, pieced together from his memories. With Lawrence's perceptiveness and experience in the supernatural, plus the excessive information I've revealed, he should be able to deduce... that if 'Martha' can accommodate one memory, she can accommodate countless others. After all..."

The female adventurer paused, a complex smile on her face. "After all, in that Mirror City, I seemed to know too much."

"What was his reaction?"

"He... doesn't mind," Martha shook her head, "but I don't know if he'll always feel that way." Duncan quietly observed her for a while, then suddenly chuckled.

"You care about these things. It seems I don't need to worry," he said lightly, "Then let's put it aside. On this vast sea, dark and strange things are countless, so any warmth is all the more precious—Lawrence understands this perfectly."

In the mirror, the female adventurer wore a thoughtful expression. Duncan paused briefly before continuing, "What else do you know about the deep sea beneath Frost?"

"The deep sea..." Martha frowned, immediately gathering her thoughts. As she sifted through her massive memory, she slowly began to speak, "I do have some 'memories' about the deep sea, but most are dark and blurry, interspersed with the fear of constant sinking and the absurd hallucinations born of cold suffocation. These probably can't be used as reliable references, but..."

Duncan raised an eyebrow. "But?"

Martha in the mirror considered for a moment, then opened her hands.

Her figure suddenly vanished in the mirror, like ink dispersing in an instant. Black纹路 spread rapidly across the mirror's surface, and then, shadowy shapes emerged from the darkness.

A vast shadow, as if floating in endless nothingness, like an island, a mass with irregular edges. Around the shadow were countless small fragments, like "debris" broken off from the irregular mass, orbiting the island.

And in the center of the floating "island," something like a pillar could be seen, extending infinitely upward and downward in the darkness, as if piercing through the shadow, then through the entire void.

Martha's voice came from the depths of the mirror:

"I have traversed all memories pointing to the deep sea. The immense fear experienced by countless consumed minds during their descent is superimposed into this scene. I don't know how to interpret this—it looks like a large floating object in the deep sea, pierced through by a giant 'pillar.' But lacking reference, I don't know how big the object is, nor how big the pillar is."

Duncan stared at the scene in the mirror for a long time, speechless.

What surfaced in his mind were countless pieces of information related to Project Abyss—submersibles that never returned, the maddened deep-sea scouting teams, the insane descriptions of the abyss, and... the vast cavern in the depths of the Aureum mines, and the Ancient God's tentacle that crossed the boundaries of reality and pierced deeply into Frost.

There truly is a physical entity in the deep sea.

The illusion in the mirror dissipated, and Martha's figure reappeared before Duncan. "That's all I know. Although I keep many memories, few point to the deep sea in a relatively clear state. You..."

"It doesn't matter, Madam," Duncan said softly, interrupting the female adventurer. "I'll go see for myself."

On deck, Alice and the dried-corpse "sailor" had found the second small insect. The two "people" continued to poke at it.

But this game was clearly not as interesting as fighting with pots and pans in the kitchen.

"I'm starting to get bored," Alice threw away the small wooden stick in her hand and looked up at the deck, which was still quite unfamiliar to her. "Why isn't Captain back yet..."

The "sailor" visibly shivered when he heard the doll mention "Captain." He raised his head and hesitated for a long time before speaking, "You're usually with him... aren't you afraid?"

"Not afraid," Alice turned her head, looking at the ugly dried corpse with a bewildered expression. "I like being with Captain, why should I be afraid of him?"

"That's the Subspace! Do you understand Subspace!" The dried corpse looked terrified. "I feel my sanity 'dropping' just by looking at him. You dare to stick with him all day long—I think you should be Number 077, you're much more sinister than me."

Alice scratched her hair, ignored the dried corpse, and instead looked curiously at Lawrence not far away. Lawrence was with his first mate, Gus.

"Suddenly, everyone's flames are under control," First Mate Gus opened his palm, showing his captain a small flame quietly flickering in his palm. At the point where the flame touched his hand, the translucent texture of flesh transforming into a spirit body could be faintly seen. Outside the range of the flame, it was a normal, fleshy body. "Do you have any idea why?"

"I don't know either," Lawrence frowned slightly. He snapped his fingers, watching the spirit fire flicker on his fingertip, then waved his hand, and the flame disappeared silently. "The change happened not long after Captain Duncan came aboard..."

"...Could there be some connection?"

"Perhaps... but anyway, it's always a good thing," First Mate Gus said. "Before, the flames on our bodies would always suddenly appear, as if stimulated by something, but we could never find the cause. To be honest, it was quite nerve-wracking—some people were worried that we would never be able to go ashore normally again, after all, not every city is as 'worldly' as Frost and Pland..."

"The future..." Lawrence's tone carried a hint of emotion and contemplation. He subconsciously clenched and opened his fist, feeling the power of the flame operating calmly within his body, while thinking about the future of himself and the entire crew of the White Oak. "It's time to think about the future..."

He lowered his head, rubbing his fingers together, spirit fire flowing like water at his fingertips. A low, dignified voice came from behind him: "Fun?"

Lawrence and Gus shivered simultaneously, flames erupting two or three meters high from their bodies...

The next second, Lawrence quickly suppressed the flames on his body, turned his head, and looked in the direction of the voice—Duncan stood there, looking at them with a subtle expression. Duncan sighed silently.

As soon as he came out, he saw Anomaly 077 and Anomaly 099 squatting on the deck poking bugs, and he also saw the captain and first mate of his new ship playing with fire at the door—if you knew it was the Forsaken Fleet, you'd think this ship was heading to kindergarten...

...What kind of people have gathered around me?

"D-Duncan Captain!" Gus straightened up instantly, hurriedly patting off the last sparks on the corner of his clothes. "I... we were studying how to control the power of the flames, to prevent a situation like the one in Frost from happening again..."

"The same situation? Are you referring to the captain leading an entire Marine platoon being arrested by the local magistrate, and finally having my envoy bail them out of the police station?" Duncan pressed his temples and waved his hand. "Forget it, just have fun..."

As he spoke, Alice had already run over, grabbing his arm and shaking it vigorously while shouting, "Captain! You're finally back! Are you done?"

"Done, done—stop shaking, don't pull any of your joints off again," Duncan said, pressing down on the overly excited doll, then turned his gaze to Lawrence and nodded gently. "Don't worry, Martha is fine. I have formally accepted her as a member of the Forsaken Fleet."

Lawrence was stunned, then sensed the hint of solemnity and deep meaning in Duncan's words. "You... saw that she was actually..."

"You don't want to care, she doesn't need to care, and as for me... I don't mind," a hint of a smile seemed to be in Duncan's eyes as he said lightly, "The boundless sea is vast, the Forsaken Fleet has always dealt with all sorts of strange things—one more harmless ghost ship isn't a big deal."

Lawrence opened his mouth, but said nothing, finally just took a light breath and bowed deeply before Duncan.

"In any case, welcome to my fleet," Duncan laughed, patting Lawrence's shoulder casually. "Speaking of which, I thought I heard you talking about... the future? Do you have any plans?"

"The future..." Lawrence hesitated, a hint of complexity in his expression. "I am indeed considering this. Do you think... can we still return to normal ports like we used to?"

Listening to Lawrence's hesitant and conflicted words, Duncan sighed softly. The future of the White Oak... was indeed a problem.