Deep Sea Embers.

Chapter 830: Meeting at the wrong place

In a uniform gray-white "channel" that seemed to fill the entire world, a huge sailing expedition ship was sailing quickly and silently. It was a phantom ghost with an illusory feeling - the illusion of the Lost Homeland covered the Brilliant Star, and dark green flames burned all over the huge hull. With the help of the "mapping relationship" established in this way, the helmsman of the Lost Homeland, Abnormal 077, was controlling the ship towards the boundless sea.

This was a journey home that seemed exceptionally long. The even and monotonous gray-white background passage seemed to have no end. There was not even a sound of wind outside the ship's side. No matter how long they had been traveling through this passage, there was no sign of movement of the ship. Even though they had experienced such a "voyage" more than once, everyone found the monotony of this voyage unbearable.

As a professional "frontier exploration ship" and the "mobile fortress" of the sea witch, the Brilliant Star has countless dangerous laboratories and workshops inside, which is obviously not suitable for playing around in.

Shirley was lying on the railing, bored, looking at the vast expanse of gray and white outside the ship's side, muttering, "When will we arrive? Why do I feel like we've been drifting in this gray and white for most of the time at the border, including since the very beginning?"

"That's not an illusion," Nina leaned on the railing next to Shirley and sighed, "We really are floating in this gray and white most of the time."

"...I kind of miss the captain." Shirley thought for a moment and muttered.

"It hasn't been long since we separated from the captain," Agou's muffled voice came from the deck next to him. He looked up at Shirley, "And weren't you mumbling yesterday that finally no one was nagging you to read and write every day?"

"...That's not the same thing." Shirley glanced at Agou, "And I still feel...I feel...Forget it, I don't have many words."

Agou lowered his head and did not ask Shirley what she "felt".

At this moment, an unusual vibration suddenly came from below the deck, interrupting Nina who was about to speak.

Agou raised his head again in an instant, the dark green flames in his eyes jumping rapidly: "Did you two feel it just now? It seemed like the deck vibrated."

"Could it be that we are almost there?" Shirley said immediately, looking towards the end of the gray-white area ahead - a hazy and strange line seemed to have appeared in the distance, "Hey, it seems like something has really appeared!"

Before she had finished her words, there suddenly came another vibration from the deck that was even stronger than the last one. This time it seemed as if the entire ship was shaking. Under the cover of the phantom of the Lost Homeland, faint alarm sounds seemed to be heard from many places in the body of the Brilliant Star!
Shirley was stunned for a moment, and finally realized that something seemed to be wrong. She looked at Nina and ran to the control panel at the stern of the ship.

The dark iron chain between the deep demons was instantly tightened. Before Agou could get up, he was dragged into the air by the chain. He jumped in the air and shouted loudly: "Hey, Shirley, slow down! At least tell me! Don't be so hasty--"

But Shirley didn't care and dragged Agou across the deck at full speed - Nina was like a leaping flame, one step ahead of her.

When the two arrived at the control panel, Lucrecia had already arrived here. The sailor who was concentrating on steering the ship still had his hands tightly gripping the steering wheel, but now there was a hint of nervousness and helplessness on his face. It was obvious that the situation was not good.

Nina quickly stepped forward: "Ms. Lucrecia, what happened?"

"We are exiting the 'channel'," Lucrecia said quickly with a serious expression, "We are exiting early - we haven't returned to the vast sea yet."

Even with Shirley's knowledge, after sailing at the border for such a long time, she could tell how serious this matter was. Her eyes widened instantly: "...Ah?! Shit...Isn't that the end? If we withdraw from this channel prematurely, won't we fall directly into the turbulence? Who knows how many years it will take to get back..."

Lucrecia did not respond. After a brief thought, she turned to look at the sailor: "What's the situation now? Can it be controlled?"

"No, the passage is still collapsing. We are about to withdraw from the route - it seems that there is some huge 'target' interfering with it," the sailor said quickly, "I can only control the stability of the ship now. Get ready, we are about to withdraw!"

Almost at the moment when Anomaly 077 finished speaking, a shock that was stronger and more sudden than the previous two times swept through the Brilliant Star - it was as if the entire ship was thrown directly onto the sea from a height of more than ten meters in the air. In the loud bang, even Lucrecia almost fell to the ground. At the same time, the uniform gray-white "passageway" seemed to be torn apart by the loud noise and disappeared from everyone's sight in the blink of an eye.

Endless chaotic fog instantly filled the surroundings, and the mirror-like sea surface appeared outside the ship's side. The Brilliant Star fell into a "sea area" shrouded in fog. It could not tell the direction, and without any landmarks, it was unable to determine its own position.

Shirley looked into the distance in shock, and when she saw the thick fog that was a hallmark of the border waters, she sighed, "Oh, it's over. As expected, we're still at the border..."

"What's worse is that we are not only at the border, but even six miles outside the border," Lucrecia frowned. She observed the flow of fog around her and her tone became more serious. "If we were within six miles, we might be able to contact the radio signals of the civilized world, or at least have a chance to rely on 'sailing' to return to the Infinite Sea, but outside six miles..."

The sailor muttered, "Direction is totally useless this time."

Agatha's hazy and illusory figure appeared on the deck. She already knew the current situation and came to ask about the next arrangements: "Ms. Lucrecia, do you want to temporarily remove the projection of the Lost Homeland?"

"...No, maintain it first." Lucrecia thought for a moment and immediately shook her head. "Although it is just a projection, it is the shadow of the Lost Homeland after all. It can provide some protection for the Brilliant Star in this strange sea... Is it a heavy burden for you?"

"There's no problem on my end," Agatha shook her head, "It's easy to keep going for a few more days. But it can't be sustained indefinitely."

"...I understand." Lucrecia nodded slightly, and at this moment, the corner of her eye suddenly caught something.

It was in the depths of the thick fog that a fleeting glimmer of light emerged, seemingly a ship's light... or was it just a false hope?

"There's something over there!" Shirley seemed to have seen it too. She immediately jumped up and pointed excitedly in the distance, "Something is flashing!"

"Move over there." Lucrecia put away her hesitation, and nodded after a brief consideration.

Frankly, she wasn't sure if the decision was impulsive.

After all, this was the border, and it was a border beyond the six-nautical-mile critical line. Without the shelter provided by the Four Gods Nodes, and without the space-time protection brought by the "route", anything that appeared here could be a deadly threat - even if it was just a breeze, a ray of phantom, a quiet call or whisper.

When exploring the border, it is quite dangerous to approach unknown entities rashly.

But now there seems to be no choice - the Brilliant Star has exited the channel ahead of schedule, and the ship has been completely lost beyond the critical line. The endless fog around it and the broken time flow that may appear at any time are as dangerous as those strange "entities", or even more dangerous.

In this case, the entity appearing in the thick fog may be a "drifting object" that has drifted in from within six nautical miles. By coming into contact with it, it may find the entrance back to the Boundless Sea.

The Brilliant Star, covered with the phantom of spiritual fire, slowly adjusted its angle, and under the careful control of the sailors, it began to move almost silently towards the light that appeared in the depths of the fog.

As the distance gradually increased, the faint light in the depths of the thick fog did not disappear, but became more real.

Lucrecia breathed a sigh of relief, but couldn't help but feel nervous.

That light was not an illusion, but an entity—something was indeed floating in the fog in that direction, but an “entity” that could float in the border waters six miles away…

What kind of weird and evil thing could it be?
The witch looked back towards the deck.

I hope that with the help of the phantom of the Lost Homeland, combined with the firepower and various special powers of the Brilliant Star, we can deal with that thing.

The important mission assigned by her father has not been completed yet, and she doesn't want to lose her life on the way home for inexplicable reasons.

Others also came out of the cabin and gathered on the rear deck. With a few words from Shirley and Nina, they quickly understood the situation and began to look nervously at the light that was gradually becoming clearer in the thick fog.

Then, as if the thick fog suddenly became thinner, the light and the outline behind it became clear almost instantly.

With the help of the lens group, Morris was the first to see the outline behind the light, and then the expression on his face instantly became subtle.

That's a ship.

A frontier exploration vessel with a distinctive paddle-wheel powertrain and a ghostly half-body.

That's the Brilliant Star.

The deck suddenly became quiet, and after a brief delay, many eyes around finally fell on Lucrecia.

"...Looks a little familiar." Shirley muttered.

Lucrecia finally recovered from her shock, and suddenly she understood.

"That was the Brilliant Star... that time a long time ago when I crossed the six-mile line."

(End of this chapter)