Chapter 1 The Shipbuilding Rule a Century Ago

A century ago, in the age of sailing warships, shipwrights in various city-states had a rule when building ships: they had to cut a piece of wood from the original timber when processing the keel.

They would carbonize, soak, and oil this piece of wood in the same way as the keel. It would be placed on the slipway together with the unfinished ship. After the ship was completed, this "keel timber sample" would be left in the shipyard, permanently preserved on land. Usually, the shipowners would also pay an extra sum to have the city-state's priests perform a blessing ceremony for this piece of wood regularly, or simply send it to the church for safekeeping and care.

Initially, this practice of keeping a "keel sample" was part of the quality standards. Shipowners used it to check whether the keel's material selection and preliminary processing could meet the technical requirements of a ship. Later, it became a symbol of praying for safety—

People believed that ships had souls, and the keel left on land would bring good luck to ships sailing far away. They were like lighthouses, allowing lost ships to find their way back to the coast. The blessings that the clergy bestowed on the keel timber could also descend on ships sailing far away. And if misfortune really happened, the keel left on the shore would transform into a small boat in the world of the dead, bringing the sailors' souls back to their hometown.

In the past, when a ship was confirmed to have been wrecked, the priests of the god of death would even take out the keel timber sample left on the shore and hold a "funeral" for it. The families of the shipwrecked sailors would see off the piece of wood as if it were the remains of their loved ones, and watch it being sent into the incinerator.

Agatha had once described in great detail to Duncan, out of interest, the scene of the death priests "seeing off" the keel sample a hundred years ago.

In fact, this custom is still preserved today, but with the development of the times, people may not necessarily choose to keep the keel sample of the ship. In many cases, young captains prefer to keep a part of the pipeline cut off during the installation of the steam core in the shipyard or church.

Duncan quietly stared at the piece of wood in the box.

The *Ghost Ship* was built a hundred years ago. No matter how special it is now, when it was in the shipyard, it was constructed according to the general ship specifications and habits.

The craftsmen a hundred years ago retained its keel sample.

Not the ancient god's spine now, but the original *Ghost Ship*'s, the one that Duncan Abernathy found in the mist near the border… the "twig."

Duncan reached out and carefully picked up the seemingly unremarkable piece of wood.

He suddenly widened his eyes slightly: "No weight?!"

The "weight" from this keel sample surprised him. It was too light… even "light" was far from enough to describe it. As he blurted out, this piece of wood seemed to have no weight at all. It was even lighter than a speck of dust when held in his hand!

However, Duncan clearly saw that the black silk surface in the box originally used to place the wood had obvious indentations, which were traces left by the wood's weight.

"Yes, no weight—but only when held in someone's hand," Bishop Valentine's voice came from the side. "When placed on a weighing platform, it weighs 0.7 kilograms. When a living person holds it in their hand, it weighs 0 milligrams, but it wasn't like this at first. According to records, it was no different from ordinary wood when it was first cut from the keel timber. I mean in terms of 'weight'."

Duncan frowned. Although he already had an answer in his mind, he couldn't help but ask, "...When did the change happen?"

"On the day the *Ghost Ship* fell into the subspace," Valentine replied. "Many things happened that day. Many situations were investigated and confirmed only after people recovered from the chaos. In addition to the keel sample losing 'weight' in the hands of living people, we also found that all the other wood cut from the *Ghost Ship*'s keel material disappeared except for this sample."

The old bishop paused and further explained, "The 'original material' that you brought to Pland was a very large piece of wood. After it was processed into a keel, a large amount of remaining material was still enough to be used for many other purposes. According to records, some of them were processed into various objects on the *Ghost Ship*, and the rest were stored in the shipyard's warehouse by you. And some of the remaining wood was taken by you several years later to make the figureheads and steering wheels of the *Sea Mist* and the *Brilliant Star*, and the remaining wood was not very useful, so it remained in the warehouse until… the day of the 'accident'."

As he said that, the old man took a step forward and pointed to the large box in front of Duncan.

"The relevant records are also in here."

"The *Sea Mist* and the *Brilliant Star* were also built in Pland? And the remaining keel material of the *Ghost Ship* was used? Are their construction records still there?"

"Unfortunately, the construction records of those two ships were burned to ashes in the great fire of the shipyard that year, along with their 'keel samples'," Valentine shook his head. "People say that was the beginning of the curse on those two ships—the storm caused by the *Ghost Ship* in the subspace destroyed the 'anchors' left on land by the *Sea Mist* and the *Brilliant Star*. From then on, those two ships gradually became what they are today."

At this point, the old bishop seemed to suddenly feel a little inappropriate and quickly coughed twice, "Ahem, I hope you don't mind, these are all..."

"It's okay, you're just stating what happened—and I took the initiative to ask," Duncan shook his head and said, "And now I have a good relationship with the children, that's all in the past."

As he said that, he refocused his gaze on the weightless "keel sample" in his hand.

Many things have finally become clear today.

Everything is roundabout, seemingly chaotic, but it turns out to be just a line connected end to end, and now, the end of this line has finally reached his hand.

"If you want to know more about what happened back then, I can try to find those elven craftsmen who participated in the construction of the *Ghost Ship*… but that may not be easy," Valentine watched Duncan's expression change and cautiously opened his mouth, "After all… the situation on the elven side is not good now."

"I know, I'm here to solve this matter," Duncan took a light breath, temporarily put down the thoughts in his mind, and nodded to Valentine, "This is enough, I have got what I wanted, I will take this box."

"Of course," Valentine nodded immediately, "Rather… it's better if you can take it away."

Duncan certainly knew why the other party said that. He just smiled, then carefully put the piece of wood back into the box and closed it again.

However, just as he was about to summon Ai to send this box back to the *Ghost Ship*, he noticed Valentine's hesitant expression.

"Is there anything else?"

"Um…" Valentine visibly tensed up, then hesitated for a few seconds before opening his mouth, "Actually, I've been thinking about a question since just now, but I'm afraid you'll find it offensive..."

"Speak."

"...Vanna is on your ship, hasn't caused any trouble, right?"

"Trouble? Why do you say that?" Duncan felt baffled. "She is a mature and stable person, and she is very worry-free on the ship. What trouble could she cause?"

Valentine was stunned for a long time before uttering a sentence, "She didn't break anything? She has a very straightforward personality, doesn't get along well with people, and is very strong. She also has very few friends in the city…"

Duncan didn't speak for a while. He first thought about the jumpy Nina, then thought about Shirley, who was making a fuss over a few test papers all day long, and Alice, who would stew herself every now and then, as well as the pile of pots, pans, mops, buckets, and even gunpowder cannons on the ship that were constantly making noise day and night…

"She's fine," he said to the old bishop very seriously, "She's already one of the quietest on the ship, and the only time she makes a little noise is when she runs and exercises on the deck in the morning..."

Valentine: "...?"

The old bishop still couldn't imagine what it was like for Vanna to live on the *Ghost Ship*.

But Duncan didn't mean to explain further—he quickly summoned Ai and directly teleported the large wooden box to the distant *Ghost Ship*, then said goodbye to the old bishop and swaggered out of the cathedral.

In the brightly lit inner chapel, Valentine stood in front of the statue of the Storm Goddess and was in a daze for a while. In a trance, he suddenly felt that what happened this morning was unreal.

This sacred place actually received a shadow from the subspace—and now, that shadow has left so calmly.

It's like a dream.

"...Vanna."

"I'm here," the psychic channel was not closed, and Vanna's voice reached Valentine's ears, "Did the captain leave?"

"...He just left," Valentine said.

Perhaps the hesitation and subtle emotions in the old bishop's tone were too obvious, Vanna keenly noticed the strangeness: "What's wrong? Was there anything unsuccessful?"

"That's not it, I just feel a little weird..." Valentine hesitated and opened his mouth, "Do you think... does this count as the cathedral being invaded by subspace once?"

Vanna obviously didn't expect the old bishop to say such a sentence. She was silent for several seconds before responding uncertainly, "I also… don't know."

Valentine turned his head and glanced at the Gammona statue standing quietly in the candlelight: "The goddess doesn't seem to blame us."

"I don't think the goddess will blame us," Vanna said quite certainly, "After all, the captain is just visiting. If this is really considered an invasion, then the Death Cathedral on the Frost side is invaded by subspace once every Friday… and there is no movement on that side."

Valentine: "...?"

(End of this chapter)