Chapter 1 The Secret

Deep underground, layers of confinement, a hidden facility leading directly to the sea, a vast project unknown to anyone, a secret buried beneath countless truths and lies… Half a century of concealment, past hopes and expectations, fears and taboos stretching to this day.

All of this now converged before Agatha, forged with cold metal, silently suspended among the bone-like, crisscrossing beams, like time solidified and then set in motion again… A submersible secretly built by the city-state authorities.

Agatha stood quietly before that massive, silent machine, peering through the thick black cloth, watching this pile of steel, a wordless pressure seeming to pulse at the edge of her perception.

After a long while, she broke the silence, her voice hoarse: "How did you find it?"

"There was a great deal of luck involved," Tyrian said. "I believe that even among Chancellor Winston's confidants, only a handful knew about this, and most of them probably died in the final defense, but after taking over the city hall's work, I noticed abnormal flows of funds and personnel, and they all pointed to a non-public research project within this port." As he spoke, he turned his head and looked at the behemoth suspended between the steel beams.

"The rest is nothing to speak of. Given that South Port had completely fallen, we let loose and thoroughly searched this place, and then found a suspicious warehouse, a suspicious vertical shaft, a suspicious underground facility, and a suspicious submersible."

Tyrian's expression was calm as he spoke of these things, but even just listening, Agatha couldn't help but marvel at the abilities of this "Iron General"... He was taking over and understanding everything about Frost so quickly. It was completely unlike something someone who had been away from the city-state for half a century could do.

Such a secret facility couldn't be found easily just by finding a few clues. It was as if he had never left Frost.

"Is this machine usable now?" After a brief silence, Agatha couldn't help but ask.

"It needs to be inspected," Tyrian shook his head. "Although this submersible was built based on the blueprints left by the Frost Queen, it uses many modern and even contemporary technologies. Moreover, there are many above-ground devices in this facility to support the operation of the submersible, such as air pumps, steel cables, and communication equipment. We have to figure out the status and function of these devices." "The bad news is that the people who knew these technical details are probably all gone, killed in the previous Frost defense.

When we discovered this underground facility, it was locked from the inside. The people inside seemed to want to lock those monsters in the isolation rooms, but they didn't know how large the scale of that disaster was." Tyrian shook his head slightly at this point; "However, there's also good news," he raised his hand and pointed around. "The submersible is intact, and everything in this hall is intact."

Agatha didn't speak, but silently raised her head, turning back to look in the direction she had come from. The heavy and slightly distorted door stood quietly in her chaotic vision, the outlines of handprints faintly traced in the bloodstains on the door. The vitality in the blood had faded, but the outlines still glowed faintly in her vision.

Tyrian's voice came from the side, interrupting Agatha's thoughts: "Next, I will try to find people who know about this secret project—perhaps not all the technicians were in this facility at the time, but if we really can't find any surviving technicians, then we can only let some of the old guys in the Sea Mist Fleet try their luck."

Agatha frowned in confusion: "Sea Mist Fleet?" A smile appeared on Tyrian's face: "Those who participated in the Submersion Project back then. They'll be very surprised when they see this submersible." Agatha fell silent, thousands of emotions surging in her heart. She didn't know whether to lament the cycle of history or to be grateful that, in the dark, everything was returning to its proper place.

Tyrian, who was beside her, also fell silent. The Iron General gradually收敛 qǐle liǎn shàng de xiàoróng, turning instead to slowly scan the hall with a silent and solemn gaze. Finally, his gaze rested on the door leading to the elevator. He nodded slightly, as if paying tribute to this unknown folly and feat.

The sea breeze was gentle, the碎浪 suìlàng tumbled, and the surging power output by the steam core drove the ship beneath his feet. The cold sea breeze blowing in his face dispelled the clutter in his mind. Lawrence stood on the high foredeck of the White Oak, wearing his captain's coat that he had worn for many years, gazing at the distant sea; however, the old captain's heart was not as calm as he seemed at the moment. A gentle female voice came from the small mirror hanging on his chest, "Getting nervous?"

"This nervousness hasn't lessened since leaving Frost," Lawrence smacked his lips. "After all, we're actively going to meet that ship."

"For a hundred years, the captains on the Boundless Sea have only desperately fled from that ship, but we're actively approaching it. If we tell the Explorer Association guys about this, they'll definitely think I'm crazy."

"No captain on the Boundless Sea is sane—and you will become the most legendary of these crazy captains," Martha's tone was tinged with laughter. "Does that thought give you a little motivation?" Lawrence sighed: "You're telling a person who's about to be sent to the gallows that the noose they're getting is the most beautiful of all ropes—and you can even tie a bow on it. Do you think that will have a comforting effect?"

Martha in the mirror opened her mouth, as if she was about to say something, but a hoarse and noisy voice suddenly came from the flagpole not far away: "It can! As long as the noose works, don't mention tying a bow, you can tie me into a bow!"

Lawrence's lips twitched instantly. He turned his head and glanced in the direction of the voice—on the high flagpole at the bow of the ship, a noose hung down, and Abnormality 007 was hanging himself on that noose, swaying back and forth with the rocking of the ship, looking bizarre and ominous.

"Aren't you planning to come down?" Lawrence looked at the hanged corpse on the flagpole unhappily. "You've been hanging there all day."

"What if it suddenly works? I felt a little sleepy just now," the hanged corpse hanging on the flagpole shouted. "I'll hang for a while longer—you promised that I could choose where to sleep."

"I promised you that you could choose a place to rest without affecting others, but you didn't say you were going to hang yourself on the flagpole," Lawrence glared. "I advise you to give up. Your sealing method has obviously failed—going to the Ghost Ship to report in all honestly is your only option."

The corpse hanging on the flagpole let out an exaggerated wail, but Lawrence was in no mood to pay attention to this guy anymore. Instead, he lowered his head again and said to the small mirror on his chest, "Do you think it will go smoothly?"

"You even remember this?"

Martha's voice was tinged with emotion, and then she chuckled softly, "Don't worry so much. Haven't you already accepted your new identity as a member of the Ghost Fleet? Besides, this isn't the first time you've met that ship."

"That's the logic—but I'm still really nervous," Lawrence sighed, and then subconsciously straightened his collar. "Besides, the last time I met that ship isn't worth remembering at all. That scene is a nightmare for any captain."

"Look on the bright side, at least this time the Ghost Ship won't crash straight into you." A burst of creaking, teeth-grinding noise suddenly interrupted Martha's words.

In the next second, Lawrence discovered that layers of ghostly green flames had appeared out of thin air around the White Oak beneath his feet, followed by the deafening roar of the engine and the violent shaking caused by the sudden turning of the rudder! In the blink of an eye, the originally calm sea had changed its appearance. Countless hair-like, pitch-black, terrifying shadows suddenly appeared on the azure sea. The sunlight in the sky also dimmed and became illusory. Thick clouds and mist fell from the sky like a collapsing curtain, and the entire ocean was polluted by those "hairs", turning pitch black. The corpse hanging on the flagpole screamed almost instantly. Amidst the corpse's ear-piercing screams and the sailors' exclamations, Lawrence realized that the White Oak had been dragged into the spirit world by some powerful force—accompanied by a thrilling roar and a sudden surge of wind and waves, a towering, burning ship shadow rushed out of the thick fog in front of him!

The Ghost Ship appeared, like a burning cliff, crushing towards them overwhelmingly. Abnormality 077's screams almost resounded throughout the sea.

"It's crashing over, it's crashing over!"

"Damn it, it really is crashing over!"

"I'm not playing anymore! I want to go home! Let me down! I want to go home!"

"Ah—" Then, the bow of the Ghost Ship suddenly stopped amidst the "sailor's" ear-piercing screams... less than half a meter away from the side of the White Oak's bow, stopping in an incredible way.

The Ghost Ship arrived, and a tall figure appeared in his vision. Duncan Abnormal, the eternal master of the Ghost Ship, stood on the high舷 xián, looking down at them. This was the second time Lawrence had faced this legendary being face to face. Then, he heard the other party speak, his voice low and like majestic thunder, "Lawrence, what the hell is going on with your ship?"