Ashes Of Deep Sea Chapter 689

Chapter 689: Chapter 686: Accidents and Coincidences Chapter 689: Chapter 686: Accidents and Coincidences With a loud bang, the ugly and shriveled “mummy” sprang up from the deck and smashed heavily into a pile of debris nearby, as if it were a cannonball.

The sailors on the deck were startled by the loud noise. Lawrence, who had been observing from a distance, instantly jumped off the platform and, along with a group of men, quickly ran towards where the “sailor” had fallen–within the messy pile of debris, the shriveled body dressed in a sailor's shirt was struggling to free itself. It finally managed to pull its head out of a broken box, looked around dizzily at the gathering sailors, and muttered in confusion, “I… I saw…”

First mate Gus forcefully dragged the mummy out and asked, “What did you see?”

“I saw my grandma…”

Gus kicked the mummy back, exclaiming, “Your TM is an anomaly, how do you have a grandma?!”

Lawrence immediately confirmed that anomaly 077 was nothing serious and turned to walk towards the recently rescued “person overboard.”

An elf wearing Southern-style clothing lay half-reclining on the deck, leaning against a winch used for hauling cargo, his expression somewhat dull and blank–he was completely drenched and in a sorry state, though there were no apparent injuries on his body.

But as Lawrence drew closer, the elf's reaction was noticeably abnormal–he merely turned his head sluggishly, as if he still hadn't fully awakened, briefly scanned his surroundings with a vacant look, then slowly turned his head back.

Ted Riel remained immersed in a muddled state, unaware of his whereabouts.

After instinctually knocking away the ugly shriveled mummy, this had been his ongoing condition–his mind seemed to be stuffed with a sticky, chaotic mess. Strange noises continuously reverberated in the depths of his thoughts, and shadows flickered at the edge of his vision, disruptively affecting his judgment and reasoning.

He knew he had left Subspace, the sounds of the sea breeze and waves around him undeniably belonged to the real world. However, the terrifying “dark journey” had left a lasting scorch in his mind, a scorch that was slowly spreading, becoming a horrendous aftereffect of witnessing Subspace, continuously numbing his nerves.

He was incredibly lucky–almost no one survives after witnessing Subspace, let alone retains their human sanity and returns to the real dimension after such a terrifying “journey.” But he had no time yet to feel relieved about his narrow escape–his remaining sanity was urging him to regain consciousness swiftly, to anchor his mind firmly in the real dimension, because the deadly pollution and shadows hadn't completely dissipated; they were assaulting from gaps unfathomable and incomprehensible to humans, attempting to drag him back into that chaotic dark place…

A droning, rumbling sound came from nearby, sounding like thunder muffled by a thick curtain. A white-haired robust old man approached; he appeared to be talking, his mouth opening and closing, emitting sounds that humans couldn't understand.

“Wake up, wake up,” Lawrence extended his hand, slapping the strange elf's face in an attempt to awaken this unfortunate soul who had drifted at sea for unknown reasons, “What's your name?”

A vague shadow loomed beside him, Martha cautioned from within the shadow, “Be careful, Lawrence, this person appeared under very suspicious circumstances–he drifted here from the sea following the disappearance of the sun; we still don't know exactly what he is…”

“Don't worry, Martha, even if he is something that drifted out of Subspace, it's no stranger than us,” Lawrence casually remarked, but still cautiously placed one hand on the pistol at his waist, faint green “Spectral Flame” flickering within the chamber, “Did you clearly see how this man appeared from the edge of the dark?”

“There was no warning,” Martha's shadow answered cautiously while observing the suspicious elf, who was awake yet didn't seem to have fully regained consciousness, “From the moment the sun disappeared, I've been monitoring the surroundings in the Spirit Realm. He just suddenly emerged… appeared out of nowhere amidst the darkness.”

“This is the first time I've encountered such a situation…”

Mumbling to himself, Lawrence instinctively looked up beyond the ship's rails, gazing at the choppy waves surrounding the White Oak–sections of the sea illuminated by the ship's lights looked as if they still maintained the normal appearance of the ocean before the sun vanished. However, beyond this limited maritime area lay an invisible boundary; outside this boundary, the Endless Sea was dark and eerie, as if the entire world had been reduced to nothingness.

And this suspicious elf had suddenly emerged from that invisible boundary.

Just then, the “drifter” leaning on the winch suddenly moved his eyeballs.

Lawrence swiftly turned back, his gaze intently locked on the other.

The elf opened his mouth, but what reached Lawrence's ears was a series of raspy noises unintelligible to humans, and even impossible for humans to produce: “@##Y=%…?”

Lawrence: “…?!”

Upon hearing this series of noises, a sudden alarm arose. The old captain, who had accumulated experiences over half a lifetime upon the Endless Sea, instinctively stepped back two paces and drew his revolver at a speed almost invisible to the naked eye. Almost simultaneously, the sailors on guard around him reacted, pointing various types of weapons towards the “Drifter”; even the “sailor” who had just climbed out of the pile of debris again managed to pull out a curved saber, swinging it about by his side.

The “Drifter” on deck widened his eyes, seemingly a bit confused. He spread his hands to show he was unarmed, and once again tried to speak, emitting a raspy noise that seemed capable of shattering an ordinary person's sanity: “%&**%Y=!!”

Then, he abruptly stopped.

Ted Riel finally realized that what he was speaking was not a “human” language–it wasn't even a language at all.

It was an incomprehensible tremor, a meaningless sound.

It was an echo from the Subspace.

He quickly understood this, and the next second, he noticed that the world before his eyes was distorting–the seemingly ordinary, innocent sailors gathered around him suddenly began to shimmer with unstable shadows, numerous malevolent eyes materialized behind the elderly captain with white hair, the nearby deck gradually softened, taking on a muddy texture, and an invisible curtain slowly unfurled, the corrosion of the Subspace was almost…
However, at the moment Ted Riel prepared to sacrifice himself to stop the further opening of the Subspace rift, a faint green flame suddenly caught his eye.

A spectral flame began to emerge from Lawrence, and then, the flame-like living entity began to leap and spread, rising and burning on each nearby sailor, turning them into ghostly forms and spreading to the surrounding deck, ropes, bridge, smokestacks…

The mummified figure waving the saber, engrossed in the excitement, screamed as though scalded the moment the Spiritual Fire rose; he hopped and jumped aside, but soon returned as if nothing had happened, carefully touching the nearby flame on the deck with his saber, lighting a small fire on the blade tip, and holding it above his head, pretending to be part of the burning brigade.

The gate to the Subspace had not managed to open before it was thoroughly banished. Ted Riel felt all the noise and shadows within him being scorched and dispersed by that invisible fire–the fire cut off the last entanglements of the Subspace with him, and the sensation of the real world seemed clearer and more stable than ever before.

He raised his head in astonishment, looking at the old captain engulfed in faint green flames, feeling somewhat dazed.

Why does this fire look so familiar?

“What was that just now?” Lawrence also seemed dazed, muttering as he continued to vigilantly watch the opposite figure, who although suspicious, didn't seem like a heretic or a foul demon, unsure of what to do next, “Is it some kind of spell?”

“…Who are you?” Ted Riel suddenly spoke up, this time, in a voice intelligible to humans, “What place is this?”

“You can talk?!” Lawrence was instantly surprised, but upon hearing the elf speak human language, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief–although he didn't know what was going on, his sense of crisis somewhat abated, “…This is the White Oak, and I am its captain.”

“White Oak?” Ted Riel frowned slightly, seemingly vaguely remembering having heard this name before. But the continuous mental trauma coupled with severe fatigue kept his mind still somewhat muddled, unable to recall specific details about the ship, “What's your relation to Homeloss? What's your relation to Captain Duncan?”

“Captain Duncan?” Lawrence paused upon hearing this, the first time he had heard this name mentioned so openly by someone outside, but he quickly recovered and nodded, “He's my boss.”

Ted Riel: “…?”

…
“Ted Riel disappeared?!” Back in Light Breeze Harbor, in the “Witch's Mansion,” Duncan was startled upon hearing the news brought by Lucresia.

“Yes, this is news just transmitted from the academy,” Lucresia nodded; she had stepped outside just a few minutes before, “Fifteen minutes ago, Ted Riel left the research station next to the 'Luminous Geometric Body' through a teleportation gate, but thereafter, he didn't appear at the predetermined location in Light Breeze Harbor.”

“Only fifteen minutes ago?” Sherry leaned in, “That doesn't seem too long, maybe try looking for him…”
“Using a teleportation gate–if the person hasn't arrived the moment the gate is opened, it already means there's trouble,” Lucresia glanced at Sherry, “This could likely be due to the sun's extinguishment leading to a loss of control in the spell.”

Chapter end

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