Chapter 391: A Long Goodbye
Chapter 391: A Long Goodbye
For a long time, Lawrence has been trapped in a “lucid dream” – he knows more than anyone else about what’s happening to him, about his mental illness.
He knew that Martha was gone, that the figure he had spent so much time with was just an illusion, and he knew it all – both subconsciously and subjectively.
But compared with other captains of similar age and experience, his mental state was already considered good, in the vast and boundless sea, the least of which was the captains with distorted spirit and damaged mind, even if there was a shipboard chaplain to share the challenge of the sea profession is destined to withstand far more than the ordinary crew of the spiritual pollution, every captain is in the deterioration of their own mind in the confrontation to complete the ocean voyage. Every captain has completed one ocean voyage after another in a battle with his own deteriorating mind, so much so that captains will often describe their profession with the phrase– “We are not in the abyss.
“We are not sailing on the edge of the abyss, we are sailing our lives straight into that abyss.”
But it was also because of the perennial mental distress that Lawrence had an extraordinarily keen awareness of “Martha”, and at this very moment, he was already keenly aware that the figure in front of him was by no means the same kind of “thing” as the visions he had seen before.
He couldn’t help but recall the “Martha” that had appeared on the white oak deck, and that Gus, the first mate at the time, had seen the figure of that “Martha” – had the change begun at that time? When did the change begin?
Did it all finally cross a tipping point? The things you fantasize about …… finally came to reality? Or did some unspeakable force read his mind and create this actual “person” before his eyes? Was it a gift full of malice? Or is it a trap full of sarcasm?
“Martha ……” Lawrence finally opened his mouth, he felt his throat was a little dry, even his voice was hoarse, “you are in front of me?”
“As you can see,” the adventuress smiled, “Care to touch me? I even have body heat.”
“…… You are a tangible individual,” Lawrence inhaled softly as he restrained his urge to step forward, “but …… this is Why? Could the visions in my mind have been transformed into some sort of entity here? Is this the power of …… this ocean?”
“At least partially right,” Martha shook her head gently, “It is true that this ‘sea’ shaped me and the Black Oak, but I did not come from the visions in your mind- -I’ve been wandering here for many years, Lawrence-I’ve been here with this ship for the past many years, wandering blindly as part of a vast number of ‘fakes’. ”
Lawrence was slightly startled, “Fakes?”
“Fakes – some powerful force located in the deep ocean has caused this, I don’t know exactly what it is, but it has been ensconced here for many, many years, creating untold numbers of fakes, remember the ‘Sea Petrel’ that you just wiped out ‘? And that Dagger Island ……”
“They’re all ‘fakes’?!” Lawrence’s eyes widened as he suddenly realized that this vortex he was sinking deep into seemed to be even more treacherous and terrifying than he had imagined, “Wait, then that Frost City State we encountered before ……”
“It too, everything here is,” Martha said with a calm expression, “that power has long infiltrated the entire ocean, and nothing that wanders and stays in these waters long enough can escape its ‘duplication,’ There are countless blind, empty copies wandering the depths – what you have encountered is only a small portion of them.”
Lawrence seemed to be in a state of stupor, and it was only after a long time that he suddenly snapped out of it, and looked incredulously at the “wife” in front of him: “But …… you don’t look the same… you can even talk to me! This ship has just fought alongside the White Oak …….”
Martha didn’t say anything, just gazed at Lawrence quietly with a calm and thoughtful smile.
The latter stopped speaking and gradually reacted as he lowered his head and looked at his still ghost-like, illusory and transparent body and the ghostly green flames that burned silently on it.
The Black Oak appeared after the White Oak had completed its “transformation” in the spiritual fire.
“You realize, Lawrence,” Martha said softly, “that the only thing that can compete with Greatness is another, more powerful Greatness, and that not even these waters can get their hands on the spoils of the Lost Fleet – not you and not me! ‘His’ spoils.”
Lawrence listened in a daze, feeling a little dazed, and then his face changed slightly, and realized the incongruity of the last few words the other party had just said – that was not something “Martha”, who had said goodbye to him decades ago, should know!
Why would she know about the Lost Country? Why did she know that the White Oak was Captain Duncan’s “trophy”?
“You read my consciousness!” Lawrence’s eyes snapped open, his muscles subconsciously tensing, “You’re not the real Martha!”
However, the figure standing not far away just smiled, as if he didn’t care about Lawrence’s reaction at all, this calmness was the same as decades ago, “If you want a 100% accurate and ‘pure’ Martha, I’m sorry, Lawrence, but I’m not really her! –But ‘she’ is a part of me, Martha’s soul is inside of me, and the other part of me, from your consciousness and memories …… This sea is like a mirror that has been continuously constantly reflecting everything that floats across its surface, consciousness and memory naturally included.
“I didn’t read your consciousness, it was your consciousness that naturally mapped into a part of me – are you unable to accept this?”
Lawrence opened his mouth, and after I don’t know how many times his expression changed, he finally pulled the corners of his mouth bitterly and spread his hands, “I don’t know, I’ve never even thought about how to react after I actually face you, I …… don’t know how I’m supposed to accept this… …’form’ of you, I haven’t even figured out what kind of being you really are until now.” He raised his head, the old captain who had faced countless treacherous horrors on the infinite sea without faltering actually looked a bit bewildered at the moment.
He had not shown his weakness in front of anyone-except in front of his own wife.
Martha quietly looked at Lawrence, who was no longer young, and after a long time, she gave a helpless laugh, “You’re still the same as before, always needing my help at critical moments.”
She walked over and raised her hands, hands with the warmth of a living person on Lawrence’s shoulders.
“You need firmness of self, as well as sober judgment ……”
Lawrence frowned softly, a little puzzled.
“Mr. Sailor, could you please excuse us for a moment?” Martha turned her head again to look at Anomaly 077, who had been quite honest since a moment ago, “The master of the Lost Country Fleet will be satisfied with your cooperation.”
The dryad in the sailor’s smock was instantly galvanized, and without a word he turned and left the bridge.
Lawrence, on the other hand, seemed to suddenly react to something and hurriedly spoke, “Wait ……”
But the door to the bridge had already closed.
Anomaly 077 flew to the corridor outside the door, and he could only faintly hear Captain Lawrence’s last shout from inside:
“Martha – I’m over sixty years old!”
He couldn’t bear to listen to the commotion that followed.
A few moments later there came a creaking sound of a door-shaft turning, and Abnormality 077 shrank his neck and turned his head cautiously to see the adventuress standing in front of the door with an easy, cheerful smile on her face.
Immediately afterward, Lawrence also came out with a grimace, and after seeing Abnormal 077 at the door, he immediately cast a warning glance – then hurriedly covered his head and grimaced even more.
Anomaly 077 immediately withdrew his gaze, trying to lower his presence like a real corpse.
Apparently, a good beating was in order.
“Can you take it now?” Martha turned her head to Lawrence with a smirk.
Lawrence covered the swollen place on his head, he didn’t know why his current form was close to a spirit body but he could still be beaten up so hard by Martha, he only knew that this kind of detail issue had long ceased to be important: “Can accept it, can accept it ……”
Drifting on the infinite sea, still need to think of everything in the mind.
After all, it seems that if he can’t think, Masha will help him “open” – the female adventurer’s bold temperament is the same as many years ago, but he is already more than half a hundred years old… …
“Then it’s time for us to get down to business,” Martha said with a smile on her face, leaning against the door with her arms folded across her chest, “Staying stuck here is not an option.”
Hearing these words, Lawrence immediately collected the complicated thoughts in his mind, and his face became serious: “Martha, I wanted to ask you just now, what kind of state is this sea in the end? Do you know the way to leave this place?”
“…… I’d love to answer you, but I’m sorry,” Martha was silent for two seconds and said with an apology, “Although I’ve been wandering around here for many years, in the end, this ship and I are nothing more than just one of the many trapped one of the many fakes, but one thing is certain …… this entire sea is centered on that ‘Frost City State’, and if a rift that intersects with the real world really exists here, it must also be in Frost. ”
(End of chapter)