Chapter 374 “Going Frosty”

Chapter 374 “Going to Frost”

It was an island with a winding coast and rocky cliffs, the island was covered with a layer of fog, shadowing the situation up there, only vaguely recognizable undulating terrain, as well as hidden in the fog, as if the jagged and strange rocks or collapsed buildings in general, the bizarre silhouette.

It appeared very suddenly, even as if it appeared out of nowhere in the vicinity of the White Oak.

“What’s that?” The first mate looked at the distant island silhouette on the surface of the sea in shock, because the concept of “sun” suddenly returned to the mind and brought a sense of nervousness and fear has not yet faded, at this moment saw a sudden appearance of the island, so that even he is such a veteran seafarer who has been dealing with the infinite sea for many years at this moment his voice a little shaky. “An island …… Is there such an island near Frost? Is there such an island on our intended route?”

“There is no such thing as a scheduled route anymore, the White Oak is sailing on a visionary sea – we are far away from the real world, it’s normal to see anything,” Lawrence’s calm voice came out as if it had the power to calm people’s minds, even though he had been stunned by the “sun” a second ago. Although he was shocked at the disappearance of the Sun a second ago, the old captain seemed to have completely calmed down at the moment, “There’s a ‘Dagger Island’ near the Frost of ……, but I’m not sure if it’s the right one. ‘, but I’m not sure if it’s …… it’s not quite the same as on the identification map.”

“What do we do?” The First Officer turned his head, “Should we lean over? Or stay away from it?”

Lawrence fell silent, weighing the situation quickly in his mind.

The island had appeared out of nowhere, right after he and the First Mate had been alerted to the concept of the sun… was it related to cognitive modification?

The island was shrouded in fog, was it real fog, or was it an illusion created by cognitive bias?

Is the island fixed? Is it really possible for the White Oak to be far from it? If the island’s appearance was somehow “intentional,” then it could continue to appear in front of the ship no matter how far the White Oak ran.

But in any case, it would be prudent not to approach it.

“Go around it,” murmured Lawrence, “to the left, and keep away at full speed.”

“Aye, Captain!”

The first mate darted for the bridge, and a few moments later a loud whistle sounded over the White Oak, and Lawrence felt the ship under his feet begin to turn, and the steam-mechanisms deep in the hull were hissing with a surge of power.

Many of the sailors had noticed the sudden appearance of the island, and some of them drew nearer to the edge of the deck, and gazed with nervous uneasiness at the fog-shrouded island in the distance, which, in full view of the crowd, was thrown little by little behind the White Oak, and faded away.

Lawrence sighed with relief and turned toward the bridge as well.

His steps stopped abruptly.

A figure appeared in his field of vision – wearing a female captain’s uniform, with long, slightly curly hair cascading behind her head, her hands clasped over her chest, and what appeared to be a slight smile on her face.

“Remember what I said?” The figure spoke, his tone thick with helplessness, “You really should retire, don’t wait until I show up on your ship before you start regretting …… Lawrence, you’re already old.”

“Martha ……” Lawrence subconsciously called out the name, and immediately afterward, he quickly reached into his pocket to take out the bottle of potion.

At the same time, a wave of shock filled his mind – why so fast? Why did the effects of the potion fade so early? It had only been a day since Martha’s last appearance…… the duration of the potion already so short?
He felt his palms trembling and his arm trembling as he finally touched the bottle of potion, yet just as he was about to open it, a hand suddenly rested on his arm.

At some point, Martha had already come to his side, and she reached out and pressed her hand against the old captain’s arm, a worried expression on her face.

“The medicine isn’t working anymore, you actually know that,” Martha said softly, “You drink it now, I’ll be gone for a little while and then reappear, you drink the whole bottle, I’ll be gone for a little longer but still appear… …Lawrence, the medicine isn’t working.”

“I …… don’t understand ……” Lawrence blinked hesitantly, he looked at the kindest face in his memory, but felt nothing but icy coldness spreading through his heart, and “I know my state, and that psychiatrist is a highly skilled expert, but why ……”

“Your mind is being affected, Lawrence, don’t you feel it? These waters are affecting you,” Martha said softly – it might have been Martha’s voice, or perhaps Lawrence’s own subconscious speaking, and it was clear that subconsciously, the seasoned old captain had detected some truth, “and as you are stranded here, your mind is deteriorating at an accelerated rate, be careful, Lawrence, you’re already in the middle of the ocean ……”

“How am I supposed to get out of here?” Lawrence subconsciously spoke, without realizing it, he had already loosened the potion bottle in his hand.

The small potion bottle fell on the deck, making a crisp cracking sound, the half bottle of potion inside flowed out, mixing with the standing water on the deck, indistinguishable from each other.

Lawrence lowered his head and stared blankly at the shattered potion bottle.

Martha, still holding his arm, spoke softly, “Go to Frost ……”

Lawrence shrugged, as if jerking awake from a dream, and he looked up, only to see that his side was empty – the only thing left was some residual heat on his arm.

A rush of footsteps suddenly came from a short distance away, and Lawrence looked up to see the First Officer walking briskly towards him. “Captain, we’ve ‘lost’ the island,” the first mate said in a rapid speech, but then he looked up and looked around curiously, as if searching for something, “Where’s the man you were with a moment ago? Was that a sailor on board, too?”

“You’re looking at it wrong, just now I’ve been a ……” Lawrence said subconsciously, but just in the middle of his sentence he reacted and snapped his head up to stare at the first mate in front of him, “What did you say? The person I was with just now?!”

“Yes, standing next to you just now, it looked like a lady – but I didn’t get a good look,” the first mate said in a slightly bewildered voice, “Did I misread it?”

Lawrence’s eyes widened, and the way his eyes were rounded even somewhat startled the first mate, and it was several seconds before he suddenly spoke, “You could see her?!”

The first mate subconsciously gulped, he didn’t know why his captain had such a reaction, “…… I did see it.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, the experienced seaman seemed to think of something and his face tensed up, “Wait, could that have been an illusion just now? I was affected?”

“That was indeed an illusion …… but theoretically it should be an illusion that only I can see,” Lawrence’s face became unusually ugly, he waved his hand, signaling that the other party didn’t need to be overly alarmed, while his own mind was a mess, ” It shouldn’t be, it shouldn’t be ……”

The old captain raised his head and looked around in some sort of trance, as if still trying to find Martha.

And in his mind everything seemed to be mixed up – reality, illusion, memories, delusions ……

Everything that was real and unreal seemed to have no boundaries here, phantoms that theoretically only he could see appeared to others, the false was becoming real, and what about the real?

Is this ocean real? Was the White Oak real?
What the hell is this place?

Lawrence’s mind was in turmoil, but suddenly his rambling thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a sailor’s shout from somewhere on the deck.

A sailor had spotted something on the surface.

Lawrence exchanged a glance with the first mate, and the two darted in the direction of the side, where they soon saw the thing that had caused the sailor to exclaim-

An island appeared ahead of the side of the White Oak, with its winding coastline and towering rocky cliffs, shrouded in mist ……

The island appeared again.

“…… That island is moving ……” the first mate gulped nervously as his worst suspicions became reality before his eyes, “It’s catching up with us It’s ……”

“It’s also possible that we’ve been spinning in place ourselves, and these waters are filled with ‘curtains’ that can briefly cloud our vision,” Lawrence’s voice trailed off, his gaze falling dead center on the island, “It’s even possible that the ‘Frost’ is beside us right now ……”

The first mate gave the captain a startled look, he didn’t know why the old captain suddenly mentioned the word “Frost”, but he soon settled down and asked, “Captain, what should we do this time? Do we continue to go around it?”

Lawrence fell silent, thinking quickly for a moment.

The words Martha had whispered beside his ear still lingered in his mind-

“Go to the Frost.”

The island was certainly not Frost, but its presence near the White Oak time and time again might have been some kind of “guidance”.

Not long ago, he led the White Oak to hastily “escape” from the Frost City State, which revealed a strange atmosphere, but then he was trapped in this unfamiliar sea, and now, “Martha” is guiding him, letting him “go to Frost! Now “Martha” is guiding him to “go to Frost”.

A strange island with an even stranger atmosphere has appeared in front of him – twice in a row it has suddenly appeared beside the White Oak.

What is the right choice?

“…… Let’s approach that island.”

(End of chapter)