Deep Sea Embers

That is the "captain" of the Obsidian, Christo Barberi - a mess of material that is almost unrecognizable to the "human body", a pile of... fakes that floated up from the deep sea.

He seemed to have no idea about his condition, and... there seemed to be something wrong with his thinking.

He didn't know the passage of time, nor was he aware of the distortion of his flesh and blood. Having lost all vision, most of the sense of touch and being unable to move, he seemed too calm, as if... he was stuck in some weird state of torpor. .

The slightly squirming and shrinking biological tissue was still making a hoarse and low sound. "Christo Barberi" greeted the people who entered the room, asking about the current status of the Obsidian and what happened. .

Nina saw this weird and terrifying scene. She exclaimed in a low voice, but quickly held it back. She covered her mouth with one hand and subconsciously took two steps back.

This scene was somewhat too exciting for her who was only seventeen years old.

"There was an accident on the Obsidian, but we don't know the cause of the accident yet," faced the question from "Captain Christo" in front of him, Duncan answered while thinking about what to say, "We were just passing by."

"Ah, it's so bad... I've been trapped here and have no idea what's going on on the ship." The group of biological tissue adhered to the door panel sighed regretfully. "Is everything okay elsewhere? Crew and passengers What? Have you found them?"

"...No, but no bodies were found. They may have fled," Duncan said casually, "Only the door of this room is locked, and we heard your knocking."

"I've been knocking on this door, it's the only thing I can touch in the dark," Captain Christo said, "Bless the storm goddess Gmorna, and everyone else is safe..."

The northern city-states are the domain of Bartok, the god of death, but on the boundless sea, the authority of the Storm Goddess is undoubtedly the first. Captains, regardless of their origins and beliefs, will pray to the Storm Goddess when they go to sea.

But listening to each other's prayers, Vanna and Morris frowned at the same time.

This... thing that is obviously the product of distortion can actually pronounce the name of the gods correctly, and can even pray in a clear mind?

Duncan obviously noticed this, and he even recalled some information he learned about the Abyss Plan from Tirian during his previous conversation -

When the Abyss Plan went out of control, the clones that came out of the "No. 3 Submersible" that surfaced one after another from the deep sea had no sense at all and no ability to communicate.

Even the original copy, even the "fake" that looked closest to a human, only made a few indistinct whispers!

This was a very important piece of information from the beginning. Tirian had made a judgment based on this. The out-of-control supernatural phenomenon in the Frost Deep Sea could only produce fakes without reason and soul. However, this... twisted thing in front of him, Although there seems to be some problems with thinking and cognition, he apparently has normal sanity and memory, and can even communicate with others fluently.

What went wrong?

Is it because the Obsidian is not the same replica as the "Submersible No. 3" as initially speculated? Is there another reason for the distortion on this ship? Or is it because the out-of-control paranormal phenomenon of the Frost Deep Sea has undergone new changes half a century later, and now the replicas it created have begun to have intelligence?

or……

Duncan quietly glanced at "Captain Christo" stuck on the door panel.

In other words, this mass of biological tissue is really the captain's consciousness - for some reason, his soul was stuffed into this twisted replica.

The more Duncan thought about it, the more he felt that this was the most likely explanation.

"Are you still there?" Perhaps because Duncan had been silent for too long, Christo's voice came from the biological tissue again, "Can you guys help me leave this place? Or...my current Is the situation really bad? Is it...a serious neurological injury?"

Duncan sighed.

He knew he had to tell the other person the truth - even if it was a cruel thing.

There have always been countless cruel things in the boundless sea.

But just when he was about to speak, Vanna's voice suddenly sounded from the side, interrupting his movements: "Mr. Christo, your condition is indeed not good. We can't move you now. You may need to Stay here for a while - we'll find a way to help you after we finish searching other areas."

Duncan conveyed his doubts to Vanna with his eyes, and the latter raised his hand and pointed to the wall on the opposite side of the room.

There was a huge hole in the wall. Opposite the hole was a sloping passage leading to an unknown place. The inside was dark and strange.

Duncan immediately understood what Vanna meant.

There are still too many unexplored areas of this ship - until we understand what happened to the Obsidian, we cannot be completely sure of the status and origin of this "Captain Christo".

It is best to stabilize this strange "replica" first, and then consider how to arrange it after completing the search and investigation of the entire ship.

Duncan nodded slightly.

Professionals are professionals, and this shows that they have professional acumen that comes from having enough dealings with all kinds of heretics.

"Okay...I understand," Christo's voice sounded, with some regret and uneasiness, "I will wait here. But how long will you leave for approximately?"

"It may take a few hours, but we will return as soon as possible," Vanna said. "Don't worry, we will not give up on you, and although your situation is not good, there will be no problems in a short time. Just stay still. Just relax and wait for a while.”

"Then...ok, you go and come back quickly."

The squirming and contracting biological tissue quieted down.

He seemed quite anxious about his state, but after Fanna expressed her attitude, he was quite cooperative and incredibly calm.

Is this the "captain"'s nature? Or is this also the result of his distorted thinking and cognition? Duncan didn't know.

All attention was now focused on the large hole in the wall at the end of the room.

Of course there would not be such a hole in a normal room, let alone a crooked ramp hidden in the hole - this hole is obviously the result of the distortion of the obsidian internal structure.

It looks deep and long, where will it lead?

Duncan walked through the topsy-turvy room and came to the large cave. He peeked inside and saw only the deep darkness inside the cave. A passage that seemed to be made up of a cabin corridor and several twisting stairs extended downwards. There is occasional airflow inside, and it seems that there are more channels or larger spaces at the bottom.

He stepped inside, followed by the others.

Pigeon Aiyi, whose body was burning with spiritual flames, once again became the searchlight for the team's progress, and under the illumination of the spiritual flames, this already deep and gloomy corridor looked even more weird.

"The distortion and chaos down here seems to be even worse than above..."

Morris raised his head, glanced at the top of the passage that was shadowed in the interplay of light and shadow, and said thoughtfully.

Above the passage, you can vaguely make out the chaotic overlapping structures: the handrails of the stairs, hatches from unknown places, mechanical structures, pipes and wires, and even tables, chairs and furniture.

If the upper cabin can still see some traces of normal structure, then the ramp leading to the depths of the Obsidian is simply a pile of debris that can be formed after everything is crushed and glued together, like a chaotic and intertwined Nightmarishly, it continued to extend into the internal organs of this steel behemoth.

"It seems that the closer you are to the center of the 'replica', the lower the accuracy of the replication will be," Fanna said, and then added, "If this ship is really the same replica as the 'No. 3 Submersible' if."

"I'm going to talk to Tirian later," Duncan said casually from the front. "He might be interested in what happened on the Obsidian."

"But I think he will be scared to death by you first," Fanna couldn't help but mutter, "I've talked to him, and I feel like he has quite a psychological shadow."

Duncan slowed down and looked back at Vanna.

Fanna suddenly felt a little awkward: "Did I say something wrong?"

"No," Duncan laughed, "I'm just sighing that you can finally communicate with me normally - this is the right feeling."

Fanna opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something, but at this moment, the firelight emitted by Ai in front suddenly dimmed, and then everyone's vision widened.

The passage has reached the end.

There is indeed an open space down here.

"Is it the cargo hold?" Morris frowned and looked at the open and dim place in front of him. He saw that the space in front of him was flat and open. Compared with the previously chaotic ramp, this place was incredibly "neat", but And there is no way to see the original purpose of this space.

"Could it be that the deepest part of this ghost ship is a cavity?" Nina looked around and muttered nervously, "Is everything piled up on the top two floors?"

No one could answer her questions.

Alice looked around curiously and took two steps forward.

"Why?"

Miss Doll suddenly stopped, let out a short exclamation, and then looked at the ground under her feet in astonishment while rubbing her soles next to it.

"I seem to have stepped on something!" She turned around and said innocently to Duncan, "It's slimy and a bit disgusting..."

"Slimy?" Duncan frowned, quickly came to Alice's side, and looked at the ground where her feet had just stepped.

He saw a dark, sludge-like substance, and Alice's shoe prints could be faintly seen in the middle of the dark, sticky substance.

But the shoe print is disappearing fast.

This "mud" is squirming!

It's alive!