Chapter 1 The Beginning

The skirmish began.

The battle opened with the Sea Mist's first volley, a thunderous roar echoing across the sea as shells screamed through the air, arcing across the sky before plunging into the ocean at the apex of their trajectory, kicking up towering plumes of water and creating small-scale turbulent waves.

The first round missed, the second round missed, and it wasn't until the third volley that the Sea Mist's barrage finally grazed the side of the Vanishing Sail.

Towering spectral flames blazed between every seam and mast of the Vanishing Sail. Duncan gripped the helm, steering the massive ghost ship across the water like a mobile mountain of fire. The imposing prow cleaved through the waves ahead, stirring up a chain of white foam and ripples on either side of the ship. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a dark shape swiftly hurtling towards the stern deck.

It was a shell from the Sea Mist – after a series of misses, the iron warship seemed to have finally calibrated its guns. A shell whistled towards the rear of the Vanishing Sail with unerring accuracy, and this time, there was no avoiding it.

Dramatic helm-dodging maneuvers wouldn't happen in reality; the Vanishing Sail's massive hull still had to obey the basic laws of physics when sailing in the real world... probably.

The ship was about to be hit.

But in the next moment, Duncan suddenly felt his vision sharpen to an incredible degree. He could even perceive the complete trajectory of the shell as it tilted slightly downwards, see the waves of heat distorting the air around it, the currents of air being pushed away by the shockwave, the red-hot warhead, and the blurred indentations on its surface – he stared at that incandescent steel, and the steel responded to his call.

In the final instant before impact, a faint flame suddenly erupted on the surface of the Sea Mist's shell, as if it had been instantly contaminated and assimilated by the spectral fire surrounding the Vanishing Sail. It quietly transformed into a green shooting star, gently falling into the sea of fire rising above the Vanishing Sail in a slow, bizarre arc.

The shell, now burning with a spectral green flame, landed on the deck of the Vanishing Sail with a heavy thud. The entire ship seemed to shudder – but no further damage was felt.

"A beautiful catch!" The goat-headed man's voice suddenly echoed in his mind, startling Duncan back to his senses. "Captain, how did you do that?!"

"...Instinct, didn't think much." Duncan answered casually, and then, more whistling sounds cut through the air, coming straight for them.

He instantly tensed up, simultaneously maneuvering the Vanishing Sail's massive hull and tracking the black shapes falling from the sky. In the next second, streaks of green "shooting stars" abruptly appeared above the Vanishing Sail's burning hull.

But Duncan's catching ability wasn't limitless. As the Vanishing Sail closed the distance with the Sea Mist, the latter's barrage became more accurate and fierce. Its numerous secondary guns and close-in weapon systems finally came within effective range. As a sky full of shells rained down, some finally evaded Duncan's gaze and struck the hull of the Vanishing Sail.

Amidst the continuous roars of explosions, Duncan saw a section of the ship's side near him suddenly struck by something. A dark shape pierced the wooden planks there, and after causing severe tearing damage, plummeted into the sea. The struck section of the ship's side exploded into countless fragments –

…Those torn and shattered structures flew outwards, into the sky, and then stopped, suspended in the air, maintaining their position relative to the Vanishing Sail.

It was an incredibly bizarre scene, as if the shattered hull structures in the real dimension were still one with the Vanishing Sail on some higher dimension. They only appeared to be torn apart visually, but the fragments were still closely connected!

This instantly reminded Duncan of the ship's bottom, of the fragmented yet still functional bulkhead that was submerged and sailing in the sub-space.

And in the next second, he saw the fragments that had broken away from the ship's side begin to slowly fall, returning, quickly restoring the ship as if time was flowing backwards.

Duncan finally turned his gaze away from the ship's side.

This was the first time he had seen the Vanishing Sail take damage, and the first time he had seen the ship restored after being damaged – this ship could heal itself so quickly! And the "healing" process... seemed to directly revert the ship to the state it was in before it was damaged?!

He finally understood why an advanced, fully armed iron warship like the Sea Mist couldn't defeat a ghost ship from a century ago.

The sub-space had completely transformed the Vanishing Sail, placing the entire ship in a bizarre space-time structure... It was simply impossible to defeat it with conventional firepower in the real dimension!

The goat-headed man's voice echoed in his mind, filled with smugness: "Captain, the Vanishing Sail is the best ship in the world, right?"

"...To be fair, it is."

"So, what's your plan next?"

Duncan looked up slightly, gazing at the Sea Mist, which was getting closer and closer: "...Take the scenic route and discipline some kids, might as well, right?"

…

"Captain! That ship is accelerating towards us!" First Mate Aiden's voice rang out on the bridge, laced with a hint of tension. "Something's not right... Our attacks are even less effective than they were during that hasty engagement half a century ago. More than half of the shells are inexplicably disappearing into the Vanishing Sail's sea of fire!"

"I can see that," Tirian stood ramrod straight on the bridge, his eyes fixed on the ghost ship that was accelerating towards them and had already begun to slightly adjust its course. His hands involuntarily gripped the railing in front of him, his face as dark as an approaching storm. "Half a century has passed, and 'he' has become even more powerful than last time..."

"So, do we still fight?" The first mate asked loudly. "At this rate, it might not be easy to force that ship back into the sub-space like last time! And I think your father must be furious right now... That ship's speed is just damnably fast!"

Tirian simply stared ahead with a grim expression. After a few seconds of silence, he spoke in a deep voice: "...Continue to engage."

As he spoke those words, his gaze remained fixed on the massive, burning sailing warship, on the ship's stern deck.

He knew that was where the Vanishing Sail's helm was located, and in those distant, yellowed memories, his father always stood there.

Was he still there now? Was he watching the Sea Mist?

…A large cloud of smoke rose from the sea, followed by a rumbling that faintly reached their ears.

"The Vanishing Sail is firing!"

A sailor exclaimed in alarm.

Tirian remained steadily in the captain's chair, like an iceberg standing in the frigid sea, but then he frowned slightly.

The Vanishing Sail had not fully adjusted to a suitable firing angle, but rather cut into the Sea Mist's path at a slightly oblique angle, firing as it moved.

This meant that only about a quarter of the ship's side cannons could be used.

Was it just symbolically retaliating? Did it not intend to fight the Sea Mist to the end?

This was not his father's style, nor did it match the experience of the engagement half a century ago – in that skirmish, the Vanishing Sail had fought the Sea Mist to the very last moment, until both ships were severely damaged before the battle ended.

The result of that battle was that the Vanishing Sail's repair capabilities reached their limit, forcing it to temporarily retreat back into the sub-space. The Sea Mist, on the other hand, was nearly sunk, and took a full three years to reappear on the Endless Sea.

But the current situation did not allow Tirian to continue to think.

The Vanishing Sail's counterattack had arrived – compared to the Sea Mist's first and second rounds, which had completely missed, every shot fired by the ghost ship after entering effective range was chillingly accurate.

More than a dozen burning spectral green fireballs streaked across the sky, crashing into the hull of the iron warship like meteors. In an instant, roars erupted, and spectral flames surged.

Layers of radiance floated around the Sea Mist, and the ship's chapel and various holy objects activated automatically, beginning to resist the spread of contamination from the flames. However, large and horrific holes appeared on the hull of the iron warship in an instant – the burning cast-iron shells were like fireballs falling into snow. Everything that came into contact with the flames, whether wood or steel, was melted, consumed, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

(Author's note: By the way, the most convenient app for reading aloud and listening to books at present is Yeguo Reading, install the latest version.)

Even the strongest armor was rendered meaningless – the Vanishing Sail's attacks did not rely on kinetic energy and explosions to take effect, but were based on devouring and transferring at a higher dimension. The Sea Mist was like a pencil drawing being erased by an eraser, constantly being "erased" by the falling shells. Half of its main guns were erased in the first round, and after the second round, several holes appeared on its side, large enough to sink ordinary ships.

The Sea Mist's attack was forced to stop, and even most of its power was lost in the blink of an eye.

Tirian's eyes widened.

Something was wrong... It was different, completely different from last time!

He didn't recognize this ship. This wasn't the Vanishing Sail he remembered!

And in this shock, he noticed that the Vanishing Sail had suddenly stopped firing.

The ghost ship unfurled all of its sails, gathering the massive waves of the entire sea. Its speed suddenly increased to the limit, and it charged straight towards the Sea Mist.

"...Hard to port! Get out of the way! Get out of the way!"

First Mate Aiden suddenly roared, and the helmsman had already begun to frantically turn the wheel, trying to steer the warship away from the impending collision – but all efforts failed.

"The rudder is not working!" The helmsman shouted in terror. "It's turning on its own! We're actively heading towards it!"

As the helmsman said, the Sea Mist was actively heading towards the ghost ship.

Tirian had already noticed the abnormality. He heard the machines beneath his feet screaming abnormally, heard all the windows around him rattling, and saw the remaining turrets on the deck lowering their gun barrels one after another. In the large holes that had been created by the Vanishing Sail, green flames were rising higher and higher.

This was a nightmare that had never occurred even in the fierce battle half a century ago –

The Sea Mist had recognized its flagship.

Deep Sea Embers.

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