Chapter 392 – Reflections

Chapter 392 Reflections
Go frosty.

Lawrence instantly thought of the words that “Martha” had told him before – he could not tell whether the Martha at that time was his own hallucination or the “presence” of the “Martha” in front of him, but the only thing that was certain was that he should go to Frost. He could not tell now whether Martha was his hallucination or the “presence” of the “Martha” in front of him, but only one thing was certain, he should go to the frost.

But how to get there?
“We’ve been searching here for a long time,” said Lawrence, frowning, “and the White Oak hasn’t been able to find the Citadel since the last time we left its harbor at night – we’re going back the way we came, and there’s nothing but ocean. back, and there’s nothing but a sea there.”

“You won’t find it that way,” Martha laughed and shook her head, “Lawrence, Frost is hiding from you.”

“Hiding from me?” Lawrence stuttered, “Why?”

Martha didn’t say anything, she just raised her hand and pointed at the Ghostly Blaze that was silently burning on Lawrence’s body.

Lawrence instantly understood, he looked down at his spirit-like arm, his tone thoughtful, “That’s why …… we weren’t stopped in any way when we left the city-state harbor before …… It wasn’t that we sailed away from there, but rather that the city-state moved away from the White Oak?”

He looked up, his expression becoming a bit more subtle, “So what’s this supposed to be? The White Oak is now much closer to the Lost Country than it was when it left the harbor, so how can I possibly find it if that city-state has been consciously moving away from me?”

“I’ll find it.” Martha said calmly and briefly.

“You’ll find it?” Lawrence didn’t respond for a moment, “You can find it?”

“Of course I can, both my ship and I have always been a part of these waters for the past many years, and even now that I’m out of the vast swarm, it won’t realize it anytime soon – and on the other hand, the Black Oak exists today in a way that is closer to the White Oak’s ‘reflection’, I have not established a direct connection with the Lost Country, at least not yet, and Frost is not going to hide from me …… It’s not as ‘smart’ as you think. ”

Lawrence nodded his head half-understandingly, but a little puzzled, “But then you’re the only one who can get close to it – what about me and the White Oak? All we have to do is show up, and it’s sure to ‘run away’ again ……”

Martha smiled.

She took a half-step forward and gently pressed her hand against Lawrence’s chest, her face wearing an expression full of deep meaning as she spoke softly, “It’s simple, let’s swap places – the line between the body and its reflection isn’t so distinct here.”

Lawrence was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously then wanted to open his mouth to ask the other party the meaning of these words, however, before he had the chance to open his mouth, he felt a slight push coming from his chest.

The force was gentle, yet it made him instantly feel like the sky was spinning in general, he only felt like he was falling on his back, and in the moment before he lost consciousness, he felt like he was being supported from behind, and Martha’s soft voice rang in his ears:

“Take a nap, my love – it’s an incredible journey ahead.”

Lawrence drifted off to sleep, but he felt that he had only been asleep for a moment before his eyes snapped open again and he subconsciously cried out, “Martha!”

Yet it was the voice of First Mate Gus that reached his ears, “Captain, you’re awake?”

Lawrence finally came to his senses completely, struggling to prop himself up, gasping for air as he jolted out of his slumber, then looking around, he realized that he was lying on the bunk in the captain’s cabin – First Mate Gus stood with a worried expression on his face, and there were a few sailors nearby.

And a little further around the corner he saw a familiar figure – it was Abnormality 077, the dryad who was taking advantage of the lack of attention to take a noose and gesticulate around his neck, but after realizing Lawrence’s gaze, he instantly put away the rope and pretended that nothing had happened.

“What am I ……” Lawrence gasped for breath and grunted while rubbing his forehead, for a moment unable to distinguish whether he was in a dream or in reality, the events of a short time ago ebbing and flowing in his memory like a vision.

“You are back aboard the White Oak, it was the ‘Sailor’ who brought you back,” the first mate said at once, and lifted his hand to point to the dry body not far away, “You have been asleep for several hours. ”

“I remember …… I remember exploring the Black Oak and seeing Martha on it …… Did these things really happen?” Lawrence rubbed his forehead hard, then raised his eyes again, “Where is the Black Oak? Where is it now?”

“There is nothing wrong with your memory, you did go to that ship, and the ‘sailor’ told us that you saw Ms. Martha on it,” First Mate Gus reached out to help Lawrence to his feet, but his face went a little odd again in the middle of his sentence, “The Black Oak is the ship that you went to, and the ‘sailor’ told us that you saw Ms. Martha on it. “As to where that ship is now …… Captain, there is something odd about the situation, and I don’t know how to explain it to you ……”

“Odd?” Lawrence frowned, “What do you mean?”

“Our ship is now out of control, the rudder and propeller don’t work, the White Oak is drifting like a ghost ship, as for the Black Oak …… I’ll show you.”

Listening to the first mate’s worried words, the expression on Lawrence’s face had become instantly grave, and he pushed away the other man’s hand that was assisting him, and stepped behind the sailors toward the door.

And at the same time, he noticed a change in himself as well as in the others- the

The ghostly burning spirit flames had gone out at some point, everyone’s bodies were now back to their living-like state, and the floor and walls around them no longer presented that flame-burning state like that of the Lost Country ship – everything here seemed to have returned to normality.

The first mate noticed the captain’s gaze and opened his mouth to explain, “The flames subsided several hours ago, shortly after you returned.”

Lawrence nodded in silence, more concerned now about what had happened than the spectral flames that had subsided, so much so that his own ever-composed first mate was wearing this stumped, clueless expression.

Soon he left the cabin with the sailors and made his way to the deck of the White Oak. In only an instant, he realized the …… strangeness of his surroundings.

Damp, cold, as if soaked by seawater, the sky has been completely unable to see a bit of light, only such as weird shadow like clumps floating in the sky, no wind around, but there is a cold sense of flow touching every inch of the skin on the body, and from time to time, you can see strange traces of turbulence appearing in the vicinity, as if the air is flooded with tiny bubbles.

Lawrence was dismayed to feel the incongruous environment around him, and vaguely realized what was happening, and when First Mate Gus led him to the edge of the ship’s side, he further confirmed his suspicion.

“There’s the Black Oak.”

The first mate said as he stood at the edge of the ship’s side, pointing to the water directly below.

Lawrence lowered his head and saw the “sea” slowly undulating, the ripples caused by the White Oak’s traveling slowly spread around with a twisted and strange texture, and on the surface of the sea, like a twisted mirror, he saw the “reflection” of the White Oak.

It was a dark ship wrapped in thick fog and shadows, with a few ghostly lights on board, which was “reflected” below the White Oak, riding the wind and waves.

At this moment, Lawrence finally understood what Martha’s parting words really meant.

Now, the White Oak is the reflection of the Black Oak.

“Captain …… “First Mate Gus paid attention to the change of expression on Lawrence’s face, his years of following experience made him keenly judge that the old captain might have known what the hell was going on, “What’s going on? Why does our reflection in the sea look like the Black Oak? And the ship’s out of control ……”

“We’re not out of control – we’re just following the Black Oak,” Lawrence exhaled softly, a faint smile on his face, “Let’s get everyone rested and refreshed, we’re on our way to a place where we can fix everything.”

“The place that will solve everything?” The first mate blinked in confusion, “Where are we going?”

“We’re traveling to Frost.”

……

Night was settling over the city-state.

Two figures were quickly walking through the streets that were already under curfew.

One figure was extraordinarily tall and lanky, wearing a long black trench coat reminiscent of nightfall, while the other figure was extraordinarily short, and despite having a thick winter coat over his body, one could still see a rather thin figure underneath the winter coat.

A cold wind blew, and the skinny, short figure stuttered and sneezed, “…… Achoo!”

Duncan lowered his head and looked at Shirley, who was rubbing her nose, “You don’t wear a scarf when you’re told to – a frosty night can be a lot colder than Prendergast.”

“It’s cold ……” Sherry subconsciously tightened her clothes, despite the fact that they were actually enough to protect her from the surrounding temperature, she still felt the cold wind stinging her bones, having been born and raised in Prand as a child, it was clear that she wasn’t very well adapted to the climate of the Frost, yet. “I kind of regret coming out here ……”

Duncan looked at the girl with a wry smile, “Wasn’t it you who said you’d let you do whatever you wanted as long as you didn’t do your homework?”

Shirley craned her neck at this and stiffened her mouth in the cold wind, “Yeah, I said that!”

“Out of all of you, you have the stiffest mouth,” Duncan sighed helplessly, then lifted his head, his gaze cast to the alley in the distance, “Let’s go, I don’t want to deal with the guardsmen patrolling the night just yet.”

Shirley hurriedly scrambled backwards on her short legs to keep up with Duncan, struggling to move forward while unable to help but ask curiously, “What the hell are we going to do?”

“Checking on someone.” Duncan said casually as he walked forward.

“Someone’s status?” Sherry tilted her face up and looked at the lanky captain beside her, “Who is it?”

“The Gatekeeper, Agatha.” Duncan said lightly.

His eyes then gazed beyond the night to the end of the street ahead.

A small cluster of ghostly green fires burned in his vision, flickering and flickering as if through a thick mantle.

(End of chapter)