Chapter 11 The Mirror City

In the small mirror she carried, Martha materialized from a cloud of black mist, her voice entering Lawrence's ears: "Do you see the lights in the distance?"

"I see them," Lawrence nodded, while looking up at the incredible sight before him—large swathes of inky black phantoms floated on the sea, vaguely resembling the outlines of a city-state, yet he couldn't see any details within. Beneath the water, however, was the reflection of a brightly lit port and docks, as well as various buildings on the edge of the city-state. The White Oak was slowly approaching the reflected light and shadow, without anyone at the helm. Countless shadowy ship phantoms floated on the distant sea, as if locked in fierce battle. In this chaotic vision of light and shadow, reality and illusion, he even felt like he was becoming ethereal. "What an unimaginable sight… So this is what it's like to observe the world from the other side of the mirror…"

"The light and shadow are reversed in your vision, but in my eyes, it's a normal landscape—but soon, all of this will flip again," Martha said with a smile. "Get ready. I'll be docking soon at an abandoned pier in the southern corner of East Port. I'll try to get the ship close to a sewer access. Take your mirror, and I'll guide you to the Second Waterway."

"And then… the other forgeries will react, right?" Lawrence couldn't help but worry. "If we can't beat them, you take the White Oak and the Black Oak and retreat first. At our current speed, those forgeries definitely can't stop us."

Martha rolled her eyes. "Of course, I'm not stupid—my mission is just to get you here and stall for a little time. I don't plan to rely on two twin ghost ships to wipe out the entire Frost Mirror fleet. They can't be killed off completely anyway."

Anomaly 077 was squatting on the deck, fiddling with a rope he'd found somewhere, occasionally looking up to observe the White Oak's smokestack and flagpole, looking quite troubled.

"Don't you people in this era hang sailors who make mistakes from the mast anymore?" the mummy muttered in confusion.

"Still thinking about your noose?" Lawrence raised his eyebrows, his tone unfriendly. "Put down the rope, go get a scimitar and ammunition from the first mate. We're preparing to go ashore."

"I used to put it around my neck and fall asleep, why doesn't it work anymore…" Anomaly 077 was still muttering in confusion, then suddenly realized, "Ah? Go ashore?! You're taking me this time?"

"A weird anomaly to deal with a weird city-state, that's fitting," Lawrence said with a serious face. "We're going to enter the depths of Frost through the Second Waterway—don't waste time, go get your weapon."

The sailor paused, then immediately reacted and stood up. "Yes, Captain!"

The White Oak gradually approached the dark, reversed illusion, approaching the lights reflected in the sea. An elite and powerful landing party had gathered behind Lawrence.

First Mate Gus was not in the group; Lawrence had arranged for him to stay on the ship.

The old captain made arrangements with a serious expression. "There's going to be a fierce battle. All the forgery warships near the port will react and attack the White Oak and the Black Oak. You have to stay on the ship and command the battle—stall for as long as possible. If you can't hold on, retreat with Martha."

"I understand," Gus nodded, but still glanced worriedly at the "sailor" behind Lawrence who was fiddling with his newly acquired weapon. "But… is he really reliable?"

Lawrence looked back. Anomaly 077 - the sailor - also happened to look up. The mummy had a scimitar on his waist, but threw the rifle and ammunition bag onto a wooden barrel on the side, muttering, "I just need the scimitar, I don't know how to use this thing."

"Whatever. If you think a scimitar is enough to deal with the Mirror City-State's Second Waterway," Lawrence said casually. "A gun is counterproductive if you don't know how to use it."

The sailor thought for a moment, but still didn't touch the rifle. Instead, he came to a box where weapons were stored and took another scimitar from inside, hanging it on his belt.

Lawrence didn't say anything, just lowered his head and looked at his palm.

He slo-

owly exerted force, made a fist, opened it. He adjusted his breathing, awkwardly conjuring in his mind the illusion of a ship burning with ghost flames, its spectral sails billowing, recalling the feeling of the flames burning his body, his body transforming in the flames.

After a long time, he saw a faint green appearing in the lines of his palm, tiny flames slowly flowing in the lines.

The deck under his feet vibrated slightly. The White Oak began to brake. The hazy darkness outside the ship's hull was close at hand. From the small mirror on his chest came Martha's voice—

"Attention, the ship will dock soon. Then I will reverse again and cancel the twin projection. You jump onto the dock from the left, then go straight. I will guide you."

"I'm ready," Lawrence breathed softly, slowly walking to the side of the ship.

"I'm ready too!" Anomaly 077 followed closely behind the captain, a hint of excitement and anticipation in his hoarse, dark voice, "Land! Battle! Pirates are here!"

"We're not pirates," Lawrence looked back at the mummy. "We're honorable sailors."

"Docking," Martha's voice came from the mirror almost simultaneously, "Three, two, one… Reversal!"

In an instant, light and shadow changed, reality and illusion were exchanged.

Everything around Lawrence seemed to flicker violently. Then, the reflection in the sea rose up, and the darkness in front of him reversed. As if passing through an invisible mirror, he was presented with the Frost's docks and piers. The damp, cold feeling that had always surrounded him, as if he was immersed in seawater, instantly disappeared!

The next second, he saw a dark shadow suddenly appear on the sea next to the White Oak. The silhouette of the Black Oak quickly emerged from the black shadow.

After the reversal of light and shadow, the Black Oak simultaneously ended its status as a reflection of the White Oak and appeared on the sea as a twin battleship, preparing to fight alongside its sister ship.

In an instant, pillars of light appeared on the docks, sirens sounded in the distant streets and alleys, chaotic winds howled and wailed in the port, and the sound of warships hastily firing echoed from afar, like a chaotic thunder.

The reaction was so fast?!

Lawrence was shocked, but reacted without hesitation. He kicked down the rope ladder and charged out first: "Move out!"

The landing party, consisting of more than a dozen capable sailors, rushed onto the dock and headed towards the road, following Martha's directions. Lawrence took the lead.

The cold wind howled in his ears, the distant sirens and artillery fire carrying a disjointed and distorted quality. In the dim and chaotic light, Lawrence clutched a revolver in one hand and carried a sword in the other, running wildly in this mirrored and twisted ghost city. Martha's voice continued to come.

"The intersection ahead, turn left, bypass the guardhouse… Go straight, take the alley on the right, the entrance is at the end…"

Behind him were the sailors' hurried and chaotic footsteps. In his hand was a reliable weapon. In his ear was the seamless coordination of his lover's voice.

Lawrence ran faster and faster. In a daze, he felt as if the old age and fatigue accumulated over the decades had faded away from this body. He felt his heart beating like a young man's, his blood vessels surging with the same blood as when he was in his prime—those unrestrained and high-spirited years returned to his mind.

It's back, it's all back.

He stepped forward, swung his arms, and faint green flames appeared like phantoms behind him. Around him, behind him, green flames began to appear on the sailors' bodies as well, the flesh and blood reflecting a ghost-like and ethereal texture in the flames.

Anomaly 077's howling voice rang out from the side: "Captain! I'm scared!"

"If you're scared, stick to the group!" Lawrence grinned, his voice filled with inexplicable pleasure. "This city can't

stop us!"

Anomaly 077 wailed as he ran madly after Lawrence, "What I'm scared of is you!"

"Then try to adapt—I'm not retiring, and you can forget about it too!"

Lawrence said loudly and cheerfully. He didn't mind that his voice would reveal the team's whereabouts, or that running recklessly through the stre-

ets would attract the city-state's "guards."

Because from the beginning, this could never be a "sneak in"—the moment the uninvited guests stepped into this mirror city, this living city had already reacted.

A fog slowly spread through the streets. In the strange and dim fog, something shadowy emerged.

"The streets are getting foggy!" he shouted. "Martha, is this normal?"

"The fog is a sign of the boundary. The mirrors in the fog are the hardest to distinguish from reality—continue forward, don't mind the fog spreading over from the real world, it's just ahead."

"Alright!"

Lawrence responded loudly, leading the sailors towards the fog. In the fog, one after another, swaying and twisted figures stood up. They had deformed bodies, the wrong number of eyes. They roared and mumbled in the fog, staggering as they approached.

Lawrence raised the muzzle of his gun, but before he and the sailors could fire, a series of dense gunshots rang out from the other side of the fog.

A spider-like steam walker suddenly appeared in the fog. Fully armed city-state guard soldiers built a barricade around the walker. The soldiers' rifles and the gun turret mounted on top of the steam walker spewed flames, instantly tearing the monsters in the fog to shreds.

Lawrence ran past the edge of the combat zone, looking in surprise at the city-state guards who had suddenly appeared. The next second, the soldiers and the steam walker disappeared into the fog, leaving only a pile of scattered rubble in their place.

"We're here, the sewer entrance—at the end of the passage below there's an elevator that goes straight to the Second Waterway!"