Chapter 102 Anomalous Sea

On the patrol ship, everyone stared dumbfounded at the massive ship that suddenly emerged from the thick fog, watching its prow, almost twice the height of the patrol ship, graze the gunwale. They watched its mottled, rust-eaten hull slowly move forward. Above the "Warrior," an old, tattered flag seemed to still hang, the strips of cloth, no longer discernible, swaying wildly in the night wind, looking like loose… shrouds.

The patrol ship's commander was the first to react.

"Continue turning, accelerate away!" he shouted. "Don't get caught in that ship's wake!"

Passing this close to a capital warship was extremely dangerous, especially for a small vessel like a patrol ship. The water flow around and behind the larger ship would severely disrupt the smaller ship's course. In the violent shaking, any collision would be fatal.

The steam core roared again. The helmsman could now feel the terrifying influence of the large ship. The patrol ship's hull was veering and swaying to one side, and he had to do everything he could to stabilize the ship in the chaotic currents and accelerate away from the behemoth that was only inches away.

The helmsman's efforts were on the verge of failure.

The "Warrior's" speed was greater than expected, and the turbulence around the ship was even more bizarre, exceeding the helmsman's years of experience. He felt as if countless invisible ropes were entangled around the patrol boat's rudder and hull, maliciously dragging the small ship closer to the ghostly old warship.

The entire ship began to creak ominously, as if being violently torn apart by something unseen.

The little distance the patrol ship had gained from the sudden turn and full engine power only lasted for a few breaths. Then, the entire ship began to visibly move toward the stern of the "Warrior." The rusted "cliff" rapidly enlarged in everyone's vision, and many swaying, inhuman figures appeared near the Warrior's gunwale, looking down with chilling gazes at the small ship about to capsize.

"It's going to crash! It's going to crash!"

Someone exclaimed, and the sailors immediately ran to the nearest railings or handholds to avoid being thrown overboard at the moment of impact. However, just as the side of the patrol ship touched the stern of the Warrior, the latter disappeared.

The Warrior disappeared, disappearing before everyone's eyes.

Like a startling nightmare, the old capital warship, which had loomed like a dark cloud just a moment before, vanished instantly, leaving only a terrifying impression and a sense of fear trembling in everyone's heart. Those on the bridge and deck looked at each other in confusion, as if waking from a dream, unsure of their whereabouts.

The fog dissipated, and the world's creation cast a cold glow on the sea. The cold sea breeze woke many people up. The empty sea was filled only with undulating broken waves and drifting ice fragments in the distance.

The patrol ship's commander slowly released his grip on the railing and went to the porthole, looking out at the sea. A subordinate walked to his side, muttering as if to himself, "A mass hallucination? Was that just a phantom?"

"...Not a hallucination," the commander said in a low voice. He raised his hand, pointing to a railing outside the porthole. "See that? The railing is damaged—we just hit something."

"Then where did it go? The 'Seahawk' didn't seem to be like this... the Seahawk didn't 'disappear into thin air' until it was completely destroyed. And the currents around us suddenly changed, the helmsman couldn't even control the course..."

The commander didn't speak for a moment. After a long silence, he slowly said, "Perhaps... we just sailed into some kind of crevice—it wasn't the ghost ship that suddenly appeared and disappeared, but ourselves."

A look of astonishment and horror instantly appeared on the subordinate's face. He instinctively looked at the distant sea and toward Frost City, before finally speaking a few seconds later, "Then... are we back in the real world now?"

"...Call Sea Mist and Frost Island at the same time," the commander said quickly after a brief pause. "Compare their responses to determine our own state—until we can confirm the situation, do not approach any ships appearing in the nearby waters."

"Yes."

"They encountered a warship that sank forty years ago? And then that warship suddenly disappeared before it was about to collide?" In the Sea Mist's captain's cabin, Tyrion leaned back in his chair, raising his eyebrows after listening to the first mate Aiden's report. "Now they're still wandering in the patrol area—because they're afraid to confirm whether they've returned to the real world?"

"Yes, the commander of that patrol ship seems to have judged from the various phenomena encountered during the 'Warrior' incident that they briefly entered an 'anomalous sea area.' Now they are contacting the Sea Mist fleet and Frost at the same time, trying to determine whether the surrounding environment is real," Aiden nodded, then shrugged. "I think they might be a little scared out of their wits, overreacting."

"...No, this is the right kind of caution," Tyrion shook his head, his expression quite serious. "We may not like the current Frost Navy, but we must admit that they have indeed protected the city-state for fifty years—in terms of experience in fighting against extraordinary phenomena, they are no less than us. That commander's judgment should be correct."

Listening to the captain's words, the expression on Aiden's face finally became serious. "So... they really briefly sailed into a...'anomalous sea area' that might overlap with the real world? And encountered the Warrior there?"

"The Warrior... I still remember that ship. When it was first built, the Queen personally cut the ribbon for it," Tyrion said with emotion. "Do you remember how it sank?"

"Of course, I remember, after all, we sank it," First Mate Aiden nodded. "After that ship was taken over by the rebels, it underwent some modifications, and was then sent to suppress our 'rebel fleet.' As a result, it was sunk in the outer sea of Frost in the first engagement by an ambush you arranged—several rounds of shelling hit the ammunition and fuel depots one after another. It was almost broken in half."

"Yes, broken in half, but the Warrior seen by that patrol ship was a complete ship," Tyrion said. "So it's obvious—a fake, similar to the Seahawk."

"Frost has been looking for the source of those 'fakes' because they always seem to 'appear out of thin air'..." Aiden said thoughtfully. "Could it be... a hidden overlapping space?"

"Frost should receive the news soon, and the smart ones among them will analyze that possibility. As for us, we don't need to worry about them—we have our own mission."

"Are you going to report this to the old captain?"

"Of course, he's been waiting for my news," Tyrion said, pointing outside. "You go out first, close the door, and don't let anyone in."

"Yes, Captain."

"Tyrion reported a new situation."

In Frost City, inside the temporary residence on Oak Street, Duncan said to Morris and Vanna, who were sitting across from him.

Beside him, Nina was engrossed in reading a history book, while Shirley, who had wandered with him until midnight outside, was already nodding off.

"New situation?" Morris immediately adjusted his posture. "Something happened at sea?"

"A Frost patrol ship encountered a naval warship that sank forty years ago in the southwestern sea area, suspected to be a 'fake' like the Seahawk, but the two sides did not engage in battle—after a slight collision, the 'fake' warship disappeared before the patrol ship's eyes. It's hard to say whether a new fake suddenly appeared on the sea, or whether the patrol ship briefly sailed into an anomalous sea area parallel to the real world—the second possibility is more likely."

"...An anomalous sea area parallel to the real world." Morris analyzed the sentence, his expression slowly becoming solemn. He looked up. "This seems to confirm your discovery tonight..."

"Yes, another Frost appeared in the mirror—if all the fakes, even the lairs of those cultists, are hidden in a 'mirror,' then it can explain why searching the entire city can't find the source of the pollution," Duncan said slowly. "And the 'Raven' that once went missing and returned out of thin air, the large number of duplicates of unknown origin in the city, the disappearance of certain personnel... it can all be explained."

Morris and Vanna looked at each other, seeing the same gravity in each other's eyes.

"...I can deal with ordinary heretics and demons, and even if the enemy is strong, I can always solve it by mobilizing more manpower and firepower, but enemies in the mirror..." Vanna frowned, looking a little troubled. "I can't think of a solution for a while... I can't even imagine how those heretics did it."

"If this is also the authority of the Saint of the Abyss, then his power is obviously not only spreading from the deep sea to the surface, but also spreading on a large scale. This is no longer a 'small-scale' movement like making a few copies," Morris also said.

The two "professionals" seemed to be in trouble, and Duncan smiled when he saw this: "Actually, I have already planted a seed in the mirror."

Morris & Vanna: "...Huh?"