Ashes Of Deep Sea Chapter 237

Chapter 237: Chapter 241 “Opposite

A massive continent hung upside down was slowly moving overhead, its vast, eerie shadow covering four-fifths of the visible area, an oppressive sight that was astonishing–in fact, Duncan felt a choking sensation at that moment and couldn't help but want to look away.

But he forcefully controlled the urge to divert his gaze and instead forced himself to look up and observe the upside-down celestial fragment more closely.

He didn't know what was happening here, didn't know how he had arrived, nor did he know how to return–but because of this, he needed to scrutinize every suspicious scene and gather all the potentially useful intelligence.

Was the upside-down celestial debris real? Or just a terrifying illusion? Was it the remains of a world after being shattered, or merely a distorted projection from Subspace during a temporal distortion?

The land drifted closer on a slanted trajectory, nearing Homeloss, and Duncan suddenly tensed because he realized that the ship beneath his feet seemed to be moving right along the edge of the “continent,” and a collision seemed possible!

But just as the continent drew near and Homeloss's stern was about to touch the edge of a fragmented mountain on the continent, Duncan suddenly felt the deck below him tremble.

Following that, he seemed to hear surreal cries echoing from nowhere, harsh creaking and squeaking noises coming from various parts of this ancient, dilapidated Ghost Ship, breaking the silence aboard Homeloss. In the next moment, the giant hull beneath his feet began to subtly change direction–passing dangerously and narrowly by the fragmented mountain.

Duncan watched the movements on the ship in amazement, his ears catching those unreal cries and creaking noises that gradually fell silent. Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, he thought he glimpsed something, so he quickly looked up toward the fragmented mountain at the edge of the upside-down continent–

Homeloss had now slowly moved past the midpoint of that mountain, the old ship's masts nearly brushing the dark, blurred peak. Then, Duncan saw what lay behind that mountain.

He saw a cliff that appeared as if torn apart by brute force, and a massive humanoid creature leaned against it–“he” nearly as tall as the mountain itself, with lean, pale limbs and a grotesquely swollen head. His pitted face was adorned with a huge single eye, half-open and oozing dirty fluid that solidified mid-air into amber-like droplets.

This giant with the single eye had evidently been dead for untold ages, but “his” lingering body still emitted a captivating, formidable power. There were no clear wounds on “his” body; it seemed he had died from exhaustion, and even at the moment of death, “his” hands were pressed against the cliff behind him, fingers deeply embedded into the rock.

The color-faded Dark Continent, along with the pale, one-eyed giant dead on the edge of the cliff, under a prolonged “lightning” flash in the somber, chaotic Subspace, made a stark and profoundly lasting impression on Duncan's mind.

Afterward, the long-lasting flash of light finally began to fade–it crossed from the middle of the continent and gradually disappeared from the center. In Duncan's field of vision, the upside-down continent slowly relapsed into darkness.

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But he still looked up, aware that the continent had not completely drifted away; its last bit of structure still floated slowly overhead, and he felt as though he could hear the deep rumble of that massive, heavy entity rolling above–although he knew it was just his illusion, that thunderous illusion still echoed in his mind, like a final lamentation of a dead world lingering in Subspace.

Duncan finally averted his gaze, slowly looking around at the vast chaos beyond the ship's rail.

Light and shadow bouts emerged intermittently, bright flashes cleaved the darkness, and in this murky chaos of void, those flashes and turbulent flow occasionally illuminated fragments, indescribable and varied shadows.

Duncan took a deep breath and looked down at his feet at the ship beneath him–a ship that was familiar yet distinctly different, displaying a sense of ruin everywhere.

He slightly closed his eyes, wanting to try and communicate with the ship–just as he had communicated with the intact Homeloss in the real world, to understand this Ghost Ship floating in Subspace.

But the next second, he suddenly opened his eyes wide.

He could not feel this ship–not that he couldn't communicate, but he couldn't feel the ship's existence at all!

The moment his perception expanded, he “felt” that the ship beneath his feet had disappeared; there was no deck, masts, or cabins. He even felt as though he was drifting alone in this vast chaos, the immense sense of emptiness and perception disorder instantly disrupting his focus.

Duncan looked around in astonishment at the structure of the surrounding ships and then stamped on the deck as if he couldn't believe that the ship carrying him was actually just an illusion.

Or perhaps… it was actually himself who was an “illusion”?

Duncan's mind was filled with thoughts for a moment, then he shook his head and walked toward the hatch that led to the lower deck.

He decided to continue with his previous exploration plan.

No matter what was going on with this ship, no matter why it presented itself as “nonexistent” in his perception, at least it was actually carrying him now, and it had not shown any hostility or intent to expel him, the “captain.” This gave Duncan the motivation and confidence to continue exploring.

He descended the staircase to the spacious cabin below the deck.

He opened several compartments, all presenting the same old and decrepit scene, mysterious black stains spattered across the walls and ceiling, and all the rooms were utterly empty–some rooms in Duncan's memory had clearly been storage rooms filled with items, but now there were only ragged walls and pillars.

He even specifically went to Alice's quarters, which of course were just as empty–a fact that, somehow, made him breathe a sigh of relief.

Rather than seeing familiar people or objects here, he preferred that they not appear in this eerie, dreadful place.

After leaving Alice's room, Duncan directly crossed the crew and dining areas, heading deeper into the ship.

As he passed the mid-level storage area, he hesitated for two minutes in front of the staircase leading deeper down.

On the real dimension's Homeloss, he had explored those areas and knew that below were cabins with inverted lights and shadows, and deeper still, the “shattered hull bottom”–but during that exploration, he had been carrying a special oil lamp.

The oil lamp could help him expand his own perception and reveal the dangerous, mutated corners of the ship cabin in advance.

However, he couldn't find the lamp here.

After a brief moment of hesitation, Duncan still decided to go ahead.

The situation here had changed so much from the reality dimension, it was hard to tell, even if he had found the lamp, whether it would be of any use in the cabins below. Besides, the main ability of the lamp was to expand his perception–but in his perception, this ship didn't exist at all. What was the point of expanding his perception several times over?

Duncan simply raised his sword, his fingers gently tracing through the air above the blade, a faint green Spectral Flame then ignited on the blade, providing limited light.

Taking the sword as his light, he descended step by step, walking slowly.

A dark and open ship cabin appeared before him.

This was the “light inverse” cabin–in the reality dimension, this cabin was filled with oil lamps everywhere, yet the light from the lamps and the darkness in the corners presented an inverse light situation, where the brighter it was, the darker it became, and the darker corners were brighter.

Duncan looked around.

There was no light inversion here, only a uniform, chaotic dimness. The flame burning on the blade did not trigger any light inverse mechanism but instead illuminated the surroundings normally.

“This place seems more normal now.”

Unable to help himself, Duncan muttered softly and then cautiously crossed this empty space, advancing forward until another staircase came into his sight.

This staircase led to the belly of the “Homeloss,” that broken, shattered place.

Duncan stood in front of the stairs and took a light breath, then stepped down.

A door appeared at the end of the stairs.

Duncan instinctively looked up at the door frame–he remembered that the door had a phrase written on it indicating that it was the last door to the ship's hold.

There was nothing on the door frame.

There were no warnings for future generations, nor directions for the way forward, it was just an ordinary wooden door, slightly ajar, as if welcoming a Visitor to step inside.

Duncan wasn't too surprised; he just retracted his gaze, gripping the burning sword in one hand while slowly pushing open the door with the other.

Opposite the door was another dim place, an old, decrepit ship cabin.

But it was intact.

As Duncan stepped inside, his first notice was of the intact cabin walls all around–despite being worn and dilapidated, these walls had not even a single breach, naturally preventing any view of the outside scene.

The reality dimension's ship's hold was torn apart, yet here it was so intact?

A strange feeling surged in Duncan's heart as he continued to move forward. But after just a few steps, he suddenly stopped.

Ahead, in the dim depths of the ship cabin, stood an ancient door.

Duncan's heart seemed to skip a beat, then he quickly moved towards it, and the door's appearance became clearly visible to him.

It looked exactly like the door at the bottom of the “Homeloss” in the reality dimension!

Duncan reached the door, and the first thing he noticed was that it was slightly open–ajar towards the inside.

And through the crack of the door, he could vaguely see the scene on the other side.

There was a broken, shattered ship cabin with a faint light floating within.

Duncan abruptly turned his head, looking at the place he was currently in.

The old, decrepit ship cabin, dim and dusty, long abandoned–just as he had first explored the belly of the “Homeloss” with Alice, looking through the crack of that door.

Duncan finally confirmed his initial speculation–

This place was “on the other side of the door.”

Chapter end

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