Chapter 305 – Sludge in the Bilge

Chapter 305 – Mud in the Bilge

That is the Obsidian’s “captain”, Christo Barberi – a mess that can hardly be associated with the “human body”, a pile of fakes floating up from the depths of the sea. …… fake.

He seems to know nothing about his condition, and …… something is wrong with his mind.

He is unaware of the passage of time, unable to perceive the distortion of his own flesh and blood, and, having lost all sight, most of his sense of touch, and the ability to move, he appears to be overly calm, as if …… he were in some kind of bizarrely stunted state.

The slightly writhing and shrinking mass of biological tissue was still making hoarse, muffled noises as “Christo Barberi” greeted those who entered the room, inquiring about the Obsidian’s current state, and what was going on.

Nina saw the strange and frightening scene, she let out a low gasp, and hurriedly held it back, covering her mouth with one hand and subconsciously ducking back two steps.

This scene was more or less a bit too exciting for her who was only seventeen years old.

“There has been an accident on the Obsidian, but we don’t know the cause yet,” Duncan replied as he thought about what to say in response to the questioning of the “Captain Christo” in front of him, “We’re just passing through. We’re just passing through.”

“Ah, that’s too bad …… I’ve been stuck here and have no idea what’s going on on the ship,” the mass of biological tissue clinging to the door panel sighed regretfully, “Is the rest of the ship okay? What about the crew and passengers? Have you found them?”

“…… No, but no bodies have been found either, they may have fled,” Duncan said casually, “Only the door to this room was locked, and we heard you banging on it.”

“I’ve been banging on this door, it’s the only thing I can reach in the darkness,” said Captain Christo, “Gemona, the Storm Goddess, blessed the others are 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 unquestionably paramount – captains, regardless of their origins in the faith, pray to the Storm Goddess as they go to sea.

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

This mass of …… obviously belonging to the products of distortion can still correctly say the name of the gods, and can even pray in a lucid manner?

Duncan had obviously noticed this as well, and he was even more reminded of something he had learned from Tirion when he had talked to him earlier about the Subterranean Abyss Program –

During the period when the Subterranean Program was out of control, those replicas that came out of the “No.3 Submersible” that surfaced one after another in the deep sea had no reasoning or ability to communicate at all.

Even the first replica, 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 very beginning, and Tirion had made a judgment based on it, that the uncontrolled transcendent phenomenon of the Frost Deep Sea could only reproduce fakes that had no reason and no soul, however, this …… twisted mass in front of him, even though there seemed to be some problems with his thinking and cognition, he obviously had normal reason and memory, and could even communicate with people fluently. even be able to fluently communicate with people.

Where is the problem?

Is it because the Obsidian is not a replica of the “Submarine No. 3”, as was first assumed? Is it because the distortion on this ship is something else? Or is it because the Frost Deep’s runaway transcendent vision has taken a new turn after half a century, and now the replicas it creates have begun to take on a spirit?
Or ……

Duncan gave a quiet look at the “Captain Christo” clinging to the door panel.

Or maybe this mass of biological tissue was really the captain’s consciousness – his soul had been stuffed into this twisted replica for some reason.

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

“Are you still there?” Perhaps Duncan had been silent for too long, and Christo’s voice came back from within the mass of biological tissue, “Can you help me get out of this place? Or is …… my current condition actually bad? Is it …… very bad nerve damage?”

Duncan sighed.

He knew he had to tell the other man the truth – even if it was a cruel thing to do.

There had always been countless cruel things on the Boundless Sea.

But just as he was about to open his mouth, Vanna’s voice suddenly sounded from the side, interrupting his movements, “Mr. Cristo, you’re really not in a good state, we can’t move you right now, you may need to stay here for a little while longer – after we finish searching the other areas, we’ll think of a ways to help you.”

Duncan communicated his question to Vanna with a look, and the latter then raised her hand and pointed to the wall on the opposite side of the room.

There was a huge hollow in that wall, and across from the hole was an angled pathway leading to nowhere, which was dark and eerie.

Duncan immediately understood what Vanna meant.

There were still too many unexplored areas of the ship – the status and origins of this “Captain Christo” could not be fully ascertained until he knew what had happened to the Obsidian.

It would be best to stabilize the strange “replica” and complete a search of the ship before considering what to do with it.

Duncan nodded gently.

A professional is a professional, and this is the kind of professional acumen that comes from dealing with all kinds of devils and evil spirits.

“Well …… I understand,” Christo’s voice rang out with some regret and unease, “I’ll be waiting here. But how long will you probably be gone?”

“It could be a couple hours, but we’ll be back as soon as we can,” Vanna said, “Rest assured we won’t abandon you, and as bad as you are, nothing will go wrong anytime soon, just stay still, calm your mind, and wait a little.”

“That …… line, you guys go and come back soon.” The writhing and rising mass of biological tissue quieted down.

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

Was it in the nature of the “Captain”? Or was it also the result of a distorted perception of his mind? Duncan didn’t know.

Now, everyone’s attention was focused on the large hole in the wall at the end of the room.

Surely there would not be such a ragged hole in a normal room, much less a crooked ramp hidden within it – the hole was also clearly the result of a twisted internal structure of obsidian.

It looked deep and long; where could it lead?

Duncan made his way through the upside-down, misshapen room to the large cavern and probed inside, only to see that the interior of the cavern was deep and dark, with a passageway that seemed to be a patchwork of cabin corridors and several sections of twisted staircase sloping downward, with occasional currents of air blowing through the interior, as if there were more passages or a larger space at its base.

He stepped inside, the others following close behind.

Aye the Dove, whose body was ablaze with psychic flames, once again became the searchlight for the group’s progress, and under the illumination of the psychic flames, the already deep and eerie corridor appeared to grow even more eerie.

“The twisted chaos down here seems to be even worse than up here ……”

Maurice said thoughtfully as he raised his head and glanced at the top of the passageway, which was shadowed in the interplay of light and shadow.

At the top of the passage, the chaotic interlocking structures were vaguely recognizable: the handrails of the stairs, the hatch from nowhere, the mechanical structures, the pipes and wires, and even the table and chair furniture.

If the upper decks of the ship were more or less a shadow of normal structure, the ramp leading deeper into the Obsidian was a jumble of everything that had been crumbled and glued together to create a chaotic nightmare that stretched into the bowels of the steel beast.

“It seems that the closer we get to the center of the ‘replicant’, the less accurate the replication becomes,” Vanna said, adding immediately after, “If this ship is truly a replicant of the same as the ‘Submarine 3 ‘ the same replicant.”

“I’m going to have to talk to Tirian later,” Duncan said casually from the front in turn, “He might be interested in what happened to the Obsidian.”

“But I think he’ll be scared half to death of you before that happens first,” Vanna couldn’t help but mutter, “I’ve talked to him and I get the feeling he’s not exactly psychologically challenged.”

Duncan slowed his pace and glanced back at Vanna.

Vanna squirmed a bit, “Am I wrong?”

“No,” Duncan smiled, “Just sighing that you can finally communicate with me properly – it feels right.”

Vanna opened her mouth as if to say something else, but just then the firelight emanating from Aye ahead of her suddenly dimmed, and immediately afterward, the view opened up in everyone’s eyes.

The passageway had reached its end.

There really was an open space down here.

“It’s a cargo hold?” Maurice frowned, looking at the open and dim place in front of him, he saw that the space in front of him was flat and open, compared to the previous ramp that was incredibly messy, this place was incredibly “neat”, but it was completely impossible to see the original purpose of this space.

“It’s not possible that the deepest part of this ghost ship is a cavity, is it?” Nina looked around and muttered nervously, “Everything’s been piled up on the top two floors?”

No one could answer her query.

Alice looked around curiously and took two steps forward.

“Hey?”

The doll lady suddenly stopped and let out a short exclamation of surprise, then scuffed the soles of her shoes against the side while looking at the ground under her feet in shock.

“I think I stepped on something!” She turned back to Duncan innocently, “It’s slimy and kind of gross ……”

“Slimy?” Duncan frowned and quickly came to Alice’s side, looking at the ground where the other party’s feet had just stepped on.

He saw a piece of dark-colored, sludge-like substance, and Alice’s shoe prints were still vaguely visible in the middle of that dark, sticky substance.

But that shoe print was rapidly disappearing.

The “sludge” was writhing!

It’s alive!

(End of chapter)