The Missing "Cargo"

The ship's bell rang, followed by the chaotic and hurried footsteps of the sailors. Captain Lawrence and the second mate, along with the still gasping priest, stayed in the bridge.

The old captain looked out at the sea through the window. The White Oak was still in the deep of the spirit realm, and the sea outside was covered in mist. The water was still as black as ink. However, the storm had subsided, and the dreadful Phantom Ship was nowhere to be seen. It gave the impression that the storm and the collapsed reality border were brought by the ghost ship. And now that it had left, all the disasters seemed to have gone with it, leaving the White Oak and its crew with a chance to catch their breath.

Captain Lawrence thought of the terrifying legends surrounding the Phantom Ship and Captain Duncan Abernathy. He thought of the fleet that was swallowed by the reality border more than a century ago, and the ships that sank during encounters with the Phantom Ship. It suddenly occurred to him that it was not an impossible thing.

But no matter what, the captain had to determine what the Phantom Ship had taken from or left on the White Oak. And he had to do it quickly. He dared not let the ship float into the real world without ruling out all the risks. Things brought from the spirit realm could cause terrible contamination in the real world. However, if they stayed in the deep of the spirit realm for too long, he and his crew would still be affected in irreversible ways.

As he listened to the noise coming from the deck, Captain Lawrence suddenly lifted his head from his contemplation. He looked at the priest, who was sitting in front of the censer and had recovered a bit, with a serious expression. "Mr. Ron, how is our stability now?"

The priest coughed twice and took out a beautifully crafted, small compass from his pocket. The compass was engraved with many symbols of the ocean and sacred signs. He clicked open the metal lid, and the needle on the compass immediately began to spin rapidly before finally stopping in a certain position.

"We are staying in the surface layer of the spirit realm, slightly closer to the real world. The influence from the deep realm is very weak," the priest looked at the needle's position, suddenly appearing puzzled, "Strange...we are stable here. Even without the relic, we have barely sunk... cough... Perhaps the 'collision' from the Phantom Ship has pushed us onto a safe course. I've heard that there are some subtle balance points in the spirit realm that allow things from the real world to avoid deeper 'pull'..."

"Captain, that joke was too cold," the priest said, coughing twice again. Although he had regained his breath, his condition was far from good. "Cough... Anyway, what happened today must be reported to the Church... The appearance of the Phantom Ship is not a small matter. There have been reports of encounters with the Phantom Ship over the past few decades, but they were all later confirmed to be just the delusions of the crew or the collective illusions caused by hysteria. But today, we really witnessed it... By the goddess, when you return to Prulande, it's better to prepare yourself for not being able to set sail again anytime soon."

"I understand - neither the Church nor the city authorities will allow a ship that has just encountered a vision disaster to return to the open sea, for the sake of everyone's safety. And it's not just the Church, city, and explorer associations that I need to report to... sigh, there's also my dreadful wife..." Captain Lawrence pressed his forehead and let out a long sigh, waving his hand. "Enough of that, you need to rest now. Until we return to port, this ship will need the protection of the goddess."

The priest nodded gently, and soon the first mate, who had just left, returned to the bridge.

"There's no one missing or extra on board," the first mate reported immediately without waiting for the captain to ask. "I personally checked the sailors assembled on the deck and the mechanic in the boiler room, and they can accurately recite the names of the deities they each believe in. They are all alive."

"Not a single person missing?" Captain Lawrence's eyes widened, and he couldn't believe what the first mate was reporting was good news. "What about the holy emblem?"

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

Captain Lawrence listened in disbelief, muttering under his breath again, "Did he really let this ship go?"

"Good luck is on our side, captain," the first mate shrugged. "We haven't lost anything. Perhaps that terrible ghost captain just happened to pass by, or maybe he accidentally collided with us."

"Do you believe that?" Captain Lawrence immediately gave his first mate a sharp look. "If good luck really were on our side, we wouldn't have encountered this at all..."

His words were cut off when a sudden sound of hurried footsteps came from outside the door, followed by a sweating chief mate who pushed open the door of the bridge and appeared in front of Captain Lawrence. The tall man's face was full of fear.

"Captain! Anomaly 099 is gone!"

The bridge instantly fell silent as everyone looked at each other. However, for some reason, Captain Lawrence suddenly felt relieved in the brief shock.

Great, after encountering the Lost Town, we've finally found something wrong on board. This is too perfect!

But then he controlled his facial expression and hurriedly instructed the first mate to take over the helm, and ordered the chief mate to lead the way ahead.

The sound of hurried footsteps echoed through the corridors of the White Oak, and soon, under the guidance of the chief mate, Captain Lawrence arrived at the deepest part of the steamship.

A special cabin appeared before him.

The door of this cabin was covered with densely packed symbols of mystical learning, and the heavy black door seemed to be made of a single piece of black iron. Mysterious symbols extended from the door frame to the corridor, seemingly forming a closed cage to confine the things kept inside the cabin.

Lawrence glanced at the door, confirming that there were no signs of damage to the door or the surrounding symbols. He then looked up at the emblematic "Chamber of Relics" above the sealing chamber. This emblem was the key to ensuring that the ship was not affected by the "deep layers," and it was also the second line of defense to maintain the sealing chamber. Even when closed, it should have ensured the integrity of the chamber's barrier.

However, even in this situation where both layers of barriers were intact, something inside the sealing chamber, the most critical cargo that the White Oak was escorting on this voyage, the abnormality 099, a doll coffin, had disappeared.

Lawrence took a deep breath and stepped forward to open the door of the sealing chamber. He pushed the heavy door with force.

Inside the sealing chamber, the lights were on, and the oil lamps hanging from four columns almost completely illuminated the center of the room. However, the "cargo" that was supposed to be placed there had disappeared, leaving only several intersecting chains and some gray-white ashes scattered on the surrounding floor.

The voice of the boatswain came from behind Lawrence: "According to the sealing requirements of Abnormality 099, the room has always maintained light, and every two hours, a crew member comes in to reinforce the chains around the 'coffin' and sprinkle bone ashes on the floor. But when that... ghost ship appeared, because the situation was chaotic, the crew member who was supposed to be on duty did not enter the room in time. He was about seven minutes late and found that Abnormality 099 had disappeared."

"Being just seven minutes late wouldn't cause that thing to get out of control. At most, the seal would weaken and show some abnormality. The worst case would be a coffin running around in this room. The layers of seals and the imprisonment of the emblem are not just decorations," Lawrence frowned and shook his head. "The current situation is that it has disappeared...the cargo has left this ship, and it has nothing to do with that sailor."

The boatswain's expression became tense: "So, what do you mean..."

"It must be the Wanderer. That 'captain' took Abnormality 099 away," Lawrence said in a low voice. "Speaking of which, we should feel lucky. The Wanderer has always only taken what it wants. That captain came for Abnormality 099, not our lives."

At this, he paused and sighed lightly. "Perhaps we should be grateful. The Wanderer has always only taken what it wants. That captain came for Abnormality 099, not our lives."

The boatswain looked at his captain's face and then at the empty sealing chamber for a long time before hesitantly asking, "So... we lost such an important cargo. How should we report it to the city authorities..."

Lawrence glanced at the boatswain and patted his shoulder hard. "The Wanderer is considered a natural disaster. We have maritime insurance."

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

"If they don't, we'll have the Explorer's Association announce a new reward for the Wanderer..."

"Captain, are you getting a bit anxious..."

"Shut up."