Chapter 1 The Northern Journey

Since his long talk with Tീയan last time, Duncan had told Nina, Shirley, and the others about the Submersible Project, but at that time, he did not mention any sailing plans for the *Vanished.* It was a letter from an old friend that Morris received that finally led to this northern trip.

"We are currently heading north along the Sea Mist's route. We expect to enter the edge of the Frigid Sea in a few days. There should be scenery there that is completely different from the central sea area," Duncan said. "You can spend this time on the ship. Alice has prepared rooms for you. Of course, if you find it difficult to adapt to life at sea, you can return to the city-state—I can summon you temporarily when necessary."

"I...I'll stay on the ship," Shirley immediately raised her hand. "I can help Miss Alice with some work..."

"You also need to do homework on the ship," Duncan glanced at her lightly. "I will personally supervise you here."

Shirley immediately shrank her neck: "Ah, then I..."

"You also need to do homework in the city-state, and I will personally supervise you."

Shirley looked miserable: "Then...then I'd better stay on the ship, just to change the environment."

"I want to be on the ship too," Nina looked at Shirley and then at Duncan, her eyes sparkling, her tone a little eager to try. "I haven't really adapted to life on the ship yet. Last time, I didn't even stay overnight..."

Duncan nodded: "Well, then you can go back first and bring your usual bedding here to prevent you from not being able to sleep in an unfamiliar environment."

"Okay, okay," Nina nodded repeatedly, then seemed to remember something again, and asked with a slightly firm tone, "Then can I also bring the holiday homework and textbooks left by the school to the ship? I'm afraid I won't be able to finish it before school starts..."

As soon as Nina finished speaking, A'gou couldn't help but hold his head with his paws: "We are taking the most terrifying ghost ship in history to solve a transcendent event, but why does it sound more and more like a holiday trip..."

"Surely under the witness of Captain Duncan, on this extremely ordinary *Vanished,* actively reading and luring evil spirits...what will happen?"

Alice was taken aback. She had sought knowledge on the academic road for most of her life, and it was the first time she had heard of such a crazy and whimsical thing. However, the next second, she realized from Shirley's eyes that this "Ghost Ship Captain" was serious.

Shirley turned two more pages and looked up: "Why haven't they come yet?"

After the initial shock, a strange sense of excitement and anticipation also floated up from the depths of the old scholar's heart.

Shirley didn't care about A'gou's muttering. She thought for a while and said to Nina uncertainly: "Captain Duncan's spelling book can be brought on board, but your textbooks and homework may be a bit dangerous—reading books on the boundless sea is like reading in the city-state at night, which can easily attract some shadows with good intentions."

Goat Head: "..."

Shirley: "...?"

"Nina wants to do her winter holiday homework on the ship," Shirley said to the goat head with a serious face. "Surely you have a way to 'attract' those 'invaders' he just mentioned. You attract them, and I have something to discuss with them."

"I think your judgment is very reasonable."

"Usually speaking, the shadows attracted by reading have the characteristic of pursuing knowledge, which determines that they will be a little 'dumber' than ordinary 'invaders'," the goat head's words finally became smooth, but the tone was still very strange. "Dumber means having a certain degree of judgment. Even the chaotic and disordered abyssal and spiritual shadows know how to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages in the process of pursuing knowledge, and they will not rashly appear in front of you..." 138 Reading Network

Shirley did not respond to the goat head's flattery, but continued to immerse herself in the books at hand. She slowly turned the slightly smooth pages, and her eyes slowly patrolled the frightening or mysterious folklore descriptions of the southern city-states, allowing her mind to relax and immerse itself little by little.

Waiting for the invaders who pursue knowledge to smell the sweet bait and invade the undefended dimension of reality.

Anyway, Uncle Duncan is invincible, if anything is making trouble, just let Uncle Duncan beat it up—Nina's thinking was very clear, complex, and crude.

She must admit that she herself suddenly had a hint of curiosity.

"I understand," Shirley nodded.

She glanced at the words in the book and said casually, "That is to say, those who dare to run to the *Vanished* will not be unknown people or fools, but must be powerful invaders who have sufficient confidence in themselves and have weighed the pros and cons—then this is actually a good thing. That means I only need to beat them once or twice to make the weakest among 'them' quickly recognize the situation, and I don't have to worry about endless harassment from fools."

Shirley thought about it and thought it was a good idea.

"Actually... I think you still don't have to be obsessed with this matter. There are so many taboos on the boundless sea, not being able to read is just..."

Nina was stunned, calmly analyzed, thought briefly, and suddenly raised a very constructive question that even everyone hadn't considered: "Then surely something ran out of the shadows, can't you just beat it up?"

"Nina wants to do her winter holiday homework," Shirley said violently. "I attach great importance to this matter."

The goat head's thinking was a bit knotted again. This time, it hesitated for a longer time before finally opening its mouth: "I think you may need to 'test' it a little longer."

The goat head was startled by the sudden movement: "Captain... Captain?"

Of course, Nina was not bound by traditional thinking—because on the first day this girl came into contact with the transcendent realm, she saw the scene of her Uncle Duncan stepping on the city-state and tearing the sun apart with his hands. The most top-level transcendent pollution in this world was presented in her eyes in the posture of being pressed to the ground and beaten up...

"I never thought of this at all." Shirley was stunned for several seconds before finally saying with a strange expression. I don't deny that from the beginning when I heard the goat head say something about "sea reading taboos," I fell into a blind spot of thinking, and only habitually regarded it as a rule like the others, but didn't consider other possibilities. And now it seems... on the contrary, Nina, who has only been in contact with the transcendent realm for a short time, has shown incredible openness of thinking.

She directly carried a large book to the captain's room and put the book in front of the goat head with a "bang."

However, no invaders appeared.

"I need a trap to attract these invaders who pursue knowledge," Shirley detoured to Alice and placed this book of folklore in the old scholar's hands. "You read that book and make your mind look like an undefended seeker, luring an evil spirit who pursues knowledge onto the ship. I want to 'communicate' with this invader and find out what this kind of invader is."

This is indeed an action that only a powerful subspace shadow like me dares to seriously consider.

The goat head was startled, and subconsciously opened its mouth: "Ah, this is obvious. Reading on the boundless sea usually attracts the attention of certain wills in the deep layers of the world, such as invaders from the spiritual realm, demon projections from the abyssal domain, and even whispers from subspace will take advantage of the opportunity to intrude during this process. They will extend their projections to the real world when the reader's mind relaxes its vigilance, and...what are you doing?"

"You...how are you going to discuss with 'them'?"

The goat head felt that its thinking was getting knotted, but it still subconsciously opened its mouth while getting knotted: "Usually... they should come after reading begins, very quickly."

"Beat them, keep beating them until they promise not to disturb Nina's studies," Shirley said, then thought for a while, and added cautiously, "Of course, this is just an idea of mine, and I'm not sure if it's feasible. Maybe you are more professional in this regard?"

Alice picked up the book.

So she directly carried the book back to the restaurant—everyone was still waiting here, Nina and Duncan were whispering about what Shirley was doing, Morris was checking each other's dictation with A'gou, Alice was closing her eyes and resting, and opened her eyes when she heard Shirley coming in.

"It doesn't seem to work," Shirley looked up and said to the quiet goat head on the edge of the table, "Is there any other way?"

"I need to do some confirmation." the goat head suddenly said, then got up and left the restaurant.

Then she directly spread out this large book about the folklore and culture of various city-states brought from Prland, and said while flipping through the contents without raising her head, "When will these 'invaders' he mentioned come?"

Shirley: "?"

A'gou and Duncan: "Oh, that's right!"

"What are the usual consequences of reading books on the boundless sea?" Shirley asked directly.

"Perhaps you can let others try reading, such as Mr. Morris—the leaders of the God of Wisdom are better at controlling their minds, whether it's protecting themselves or setting traps," the goat head said immediately, "These invaders are mostly afraid to appear because they smelled your breath, but it's still a trap, it should be fine."