Chapter 13 The Missing

The assembly bell rang, its urgent peals followed by the chaotic, hurried footsteps of the sailors. Laurence, along with the first mate and the still-breathless Reverend, remained in the wheelhouse.

The old captain looked out at the sea. The White Oak was still deep within the spirit world. Mists coiled over the ocean beyond the ship's rail, and the water remained as black as ink. But the storm had ceased, and the terrifying Nameless Wanderer was nowhere to be seen. It created the illusion that the previous storm and even the collapse of the reality boundary had been brought on by that ghost ship, and that now all the disasters had vanished with its departure from the White Oak.

Laurence thought of the terrible legends surrounding the Nameless Wanderer and Captain Duncan Abnormaal, of the fleet swallowed by the reality boundary more than a century ago, and of the sea vessels sunk into the deep abyss during encounters with the Nameless Wanderer. He suddenly felt that it was not impossible.

But regardless, the Nameless Wanderer had left, and the surrounding waters had temporarily returned to calm. Although still in the dangerous depths of the spirit world, at least he and his crew had a chance to breathe.

Next, Laurence had to determine exactly what the Nameless Wanderer had taken from the White Oak—or left behind.

And it had to be determined quickly.

Without eliminating all hidden dangers, he dared not rashly raise the ship back to the real world, because some things brought from the spirit world would cause terrible pollution in the real world. But if he stayed in the depths of the spirit world for too long, he and his crew would still suffer irreversible effects.

Listening to the noise coming from the deck, Laurence suddenly raised his head from his thoughts. He looked at the Reverend, who was sitting in front of the incense burner, his face somewhat better, and said with a very serious expression, "Mr. Ron, how is our stability right now?"

The Reverend coughed twice, then took out a delicate compass from his pocket, its surface engraved with numerous marine symbols and sacred signs. With a snap, he opened the metal cover, and the compass needle immediately spun rapidly before finally settling steadily in a certain position.

"We are staying on the surface of the spirit world, slightly closer to the real world, the influence from the deep abyss... is very weak," the Reverend said, looking at the state of the compass needle, his expression suddenly somewhat puzzled. "Strange... we are completely stable here, with the holy artifact turned off, there is almost no sinking... cough cough..."

"Perhaps that 'bump' from the Nameless Wanderer actually bumped us into a safe route," Laurence said with a wry smile, trying to liven up the atmosphere with a cold joke. "I've heard that there are some subtle balance points in the spirit world that can keep things from the real world from the deeper 'pull'..."

"Captain, that joke is too cold," the Reverend said, coughing twice more. Although he had recovered, he was still not in good condition. "Cough, in any case, what happened today must be reported to the church... the appearance of the Nameless Wanderer is no small matter. There have been reports of encounters with the Nameless Wanderer for the past few decades, but afterwards they were all proven to be just the sailors' ravings or mass hallucinations caused by uncontrolled anomalies. But today we actually witnessed it... Goddess above, you'd better prepare yourself mentally to not be able to sail again for the near future after you return to Prrand."

"I understand—neither the church nor the city-state authorities will allow a ship that has just encountered an anomaly disaster to return to the sea. This is for the safety of everyone. And I have to report to more than just the church, the city-state, the Explorer's Association... alas, and my terrible wife..." Captain Laurence pressed his forehead hard, waved his hand after a long sigh, "Enough of that, you need to rest now. Until we return to port, this ship needs the Goddess's blessing."

The Reverend nodded gently, and soon the first mate, who had left not long ago, returned to the wheelhouse.

"No one is missing or added on the ship," the first mate reported immediately before the captain could ask. "I personally checked the sailors assembled on the deck, and went to the boiler room to check the mechanics left there. They can all accurately recite the names of the gods they believe in. They are definitely alive."

"No one is missing?" Laurence widened his eyes. This should have been good news, but he couldn't believe the first mate's report. "What about the holy emblem beacon?"

"The holy artifact is normal," the first mate nodded immediately. "The navigator is preparing incense and essential oils, waiting for your order to restart the holy artifact."

Laurence listened in disbelief, and once again couldn't help but mutter softly, "...Did it really let this ship go?"

"Good luck is with us, Captain," the first mate spread his hands. "We didn't lose anything. Perhaps that terrifying ghost captain was just passing by, or maybe just accidentally bumped into us."

"Do you believe that yourself?" Laurence glared at his first mate immediately. "If good luck was really with us, we wouldn't have encountered..."

He was only halfway through his words when a burst of hurried footsteps suddenly rang out from outside the door. Then someone pushed open the wheelhouse door, and the boatswain, covered in sweat, appeared before Laurence, his face full of terror.

"Captain! Anomaly 099 is gone!!"

The wheelhouse instantly fell silent. Everyone was looking at each other. Yet for some reason, Laurence suddenly felt relieved amidst the brief shock—

Excellent, after the encounter with the Nameless Wanderer, something was finally found to be wrong on the ship, which was too right!

But then he quickly controlled the expression on his face, and while walking towards the door, he hurriedly instructed the first mate to take over the helm, and the boatswain to lead the way.

The hurried footsteps echoed in the corridors of the White Oak. Soon, Laurence arrived at the deepest part of the steamship, led by the boatswain.

A special cabin appeared before him.

The door to this cabin was covered with densely packed occult symbols. The heavy, black door seemed to be cast from a whole piece of black iron. The mysterious symbols extended from the edge of the door frame all the way into the corridor, vaguely seeming to form some kind of closed cage, to restrain the things preserved in the cabin.

Laurence glanced at the door, confirming that the door and the surrounding symbols showed no signs of damage. He then looked up—the "holy artifact room" where the holy emblem beacon was placed was directly above the sealed chamber. The beacon was the key to ensuring that the ship was not affected by the "deep layers," and it was also the second layer of insurance to maintain the sealed chamber, even when it was turned off, it should be able to ensure the integrity of the sealed chamber's barrier.

But even with these two barriers intact, the thing in the sealed chamber, the most crucial cargo that the White Oak was escorting on this voyage, Anomaly 099—the Puppet Coffin, had disappeared.

Laurence took a deep breath and stepped forward to open the door to the sealed chamber, forcefully pushing open the heavy door.

Inside the sealed chamber, the lights were bright. The gas lamps hanging on the four pillars illuminated the center of the room almost without blind spots. However, the "cargo" that should have been placed there was gone. Only a few crisscrossing chains and some scattered gray-white ashes were left on the surrounding ground.

The boatswain's voice came from behind Laurence: "According to the sealing requirements for Anomaly 099, this room has always been kept lit, and every two hours a crew member comes in to re-strengthen the chains around the 'coffin' and sprinkle bone ash on the floor of the room. But when that... ghost ship appeared, because of the chaotic situation, the sailor who was supposed to be on duty did not enter the room in time. He was about seven minutes late, and then he found that Anomaly 099 had disappeared..."

"Being only seven minutes late wouldn't cause that thing to go out of control. At most, the seal would weaken and there would be some changes. The worst-case scenario would be a coffin running around in this room—the layers of seals and the confinement of the holy emblem beacon are not just for show," Laurence frowned and shook his head. "The current situation is that it disappeared... The cargo left this ship. This has nothing to do with that sailor."

The boatswain's expression was a little nervous: "Then you mean..."/

"It must be the Nameless Wanderer," Laurence said in a deep voice. "That 'captain' took Anomaly 099..."

He paused, then sighed softly, "Perhaps we should be grateful. The Nameless Wanderer only takes what it wants. That captain came for Anomaly 099, not our lives."

The boatswain looked at his captain's face, and then at the empty sealed chamber. After a long time, he hesitated and asked, "Then... we lost such an important cargo, how should we report to the city-state authorities..."

Laurence glanced at the boatswain and patted him hard on the shoulder.

"The Nameless Wanderer is a natural disaster. We have marine insurance."

"...Does the insurance company cover this?"

"If they don't cover it, we'll have the Explorer's Association issue a new bounty for the Nameless Wanderer..."

"Captain, are you a little anx..."

"Shut up."