In a uniform and seemingly world-engulfing grayish-white backdrop of a "corridor," a massive sail exploration ship was silently sailing at a swift pace, a phantom specter with an ethereal sense—Holoss’s illusion overlaying the Brilliant Starship, with ghostly green flas sprawling and burning on its huge hull. Utilizing this thod to establish a "mapping relation," Holoss’s helmsman, Exceptional 077, was steering the ship toward the Endless Sea.
This appeared to be an especially prolonged journey ho, the uniform and monotonous grayish-white corridor seeming to have no end. Not even a whiff of wind could be heard outside the hull, and no matter how long they had been shuttling through this corridor, there was no indication of the ship’s movent, and even after more than one such "voyage," everyone still found the monotony unbearable.
As a professional "frontier exploration ship," and simultaneously, the Witch of the Sea’s "moving fortress," the Brilliant Starship’s interior was filled with countless dangerous laboratories and workshops, obviously not suitable for frolicking.
Sherry, bored to death, lay on the railing, staring out at the expanse of gray, muttering, "When will we ever get there... Why do I feel like we’ve been drifting in this gray space for the majority of our ti since we started out from the frontier?"
"That’s no illusion," Nina leaned on the railing next to Sherry, also sighed, "Most of our ti has indeed been spent drifting in this gray space."
"...I kind of miss the captain," Sherry mused and muttered.
"Haven’t we only been separated from the captain for a short while?" Ah Gou’s muffled voice ca from the nearby deck, as it lifted its head to glance at Sherry, "And didn’t you mutter just yesterday about finally not having soone nagging you to read and write every day?"
"...It’s not the sa thing," Sherry looked at Ah Gou, "And I still feel...feel... Oh, nevermind, I’m short on words."
Ah Gou lowered its head, not pressing Sherry on what she "felt."
Just then, an unusual vibration suddenly ca from below the deck, interrupting Nina who was about to speak.
Ah Gou instantly raised its head again, the ghostly green fire in its eye sockets leaping rapidly: "Did you two just feel that? It seed like the deck vibrated for a mont."
"Could it be that we’re nearly there?" Sherry imdiately spoke, her gaze already directed toward the end of the grayish expanse ahead—a dim and hazy line of sothing different indeed seed to be appearing in the distance, "Hey, it seems like sothing really is appearing!"
Before she could finish her sentence, another vibration, stronger than before, passed through the deck. This ti it was as if the entire ship trembled, and under the illusion of Holoss, multiple areas inside the Brilliant Starship seed to emit faint, distant sounds of alarms!
Sherry was suddenly taken aback, finally realizing that sothing seed amiss. She exchanged a glance with Nina and then ran toward the stern’s control platform.
The pitch-black iron chains between the Profound Demons instantly tensed with a snap, and before A Gou could even get up, he was yanked into the air. While bouncing and hopping in mid-flight, he bellowed out loud, "Hey Sherry, slow down! At least give a heads-up! Don’t be in such a rush—"
But Sherry had no ti to pay him any heed; she dragged A Gou and sprinted across the entire deck—Nina was like a darting fla, already one step ahead of her.
By the ti the two reached the helm, Lucresia had already gotten there first. The sailor, who had been fully focused on steering, still had his hands tightly gripping the wheel, but now his face wore a look of tense helplessness, clearly indicating that the situation was not good.
Nina quickly stepped forward: "Miss Lucresia, what’s happened?"
"We are withdrawing from the ’passageway’," Lucresia said gravely and quickly, "It’s an early withdrawal—we have not returned to the Endless Sea yet."
Even with Sherry’s level of knowledge, after navigating the border for so long, she could tell how serious the situation was, and she instantly widened her eyes in shock: "...Ah?! Damn it... doesn’t that an we’re done for? Exiting the passageway early, wouldn’t that an we’ve fallen straight into chaos? The kind that could take years to navigate back from... "
Lucresia did not respond. After a mont of contemplation, she turned her head to the sailor: "What’s the situation now? Is it still under control?"
"No, the passageway is still ’collapsing’. We’re about to be thrown off course—as if so huge ’entity’ is interfering with it," the sailor spoke quickly, "I can only keep the ship stable at the mont, getting ready, we’re about to be thrown out!"
Almost the instant that voice faltered, a vibration far stronger and more sudden than the previous two swept across the Brilliant Starship—as if the whole ship was thrown onto the sea surface from a height of several ters. Amid the thunderous noise, Lucresia nearly fell to the ground, and at the sa ti, the even gray-white passageway seed to have been torn apart by the noise, dissipating from everyone’s sight in the blink of an eye.
An endless, chaotic mist instantly enveloped all around, and the mirror-smooth sea surface appeared outside the ship’s rails. The Brilliant Starship had fallen into a "sea area" shrouded in fog, with no discernible direction, no landmarks, no way to determine its own position.
Sherry, still shaken, glanced into the distance and let out a long sigh after seeing those characteristic thick mists of the border regions: "Ah, it’s over, we’re indeed still on the border..."
"Worse still, not just on the border, but beyond Six Nautical Miles from the border," Lucresia furrowed her brows, her tone growing more solemn as she observed the flow of the surrounding mist, "If we were within Six Nautical Miles, there might still be a chance to connect to the civilized world’s radio signals, or at least have a possibility of ’navigating’ back to the Endless Sea, but outside Six Nautical Miles..."
The sailor muttered under his breath: "This ti ’direction’ is completely useless."
Agatha’s blurred and ethereal figure appeared on deck, having already learned of the current situation, she ca to inquire about the next steps: "Miss Lucresia, should we temporarily suspend Holoss’s projection?"
"...No, keep it for now," Lucresia pondered for a mont and quickly shook her head, "Though it’s only a projection, it is after all the shadow of Holoss. It could provide so protection for the Brilliant Starship in this eerie sea area... Is it a great burden for you?"
"I’m fine here," Agatha shook her head, "Maintaining it for a few more days would be easy. But after all, we can’t sustain it indefinitely."
"...I understand." Lucresia nodded gently, and just then, the corner of her eye suddenly caught sothing.
It was a fleeting glimr in the deep fog, seemingly a ship’s light... or perhaps just an illusory hope?
"There’s sothing over there!" Sherry seed to have seen it too; she sprang up excitedly, pointing towards the distance, "Sothing is flashing!"
"Head in that direction." Lucresia put away her hesitation, and after a brief weighing, nodded.
Honestly, she wasn’t sure if this decision was a bit impulsive.
After all, this was the border, and beyond the Six Nautical Miles critical line at that, without the shelter provided by the Four Divine Nodes, nor the spaceti protection brought by the "routes". Anything that appeared here could potentially be a deadly threat—even a jest of wind, a filant of illusion, or a stealthy call and whispers.
Dangerously approaching an unidentified entity during a border sea excursion is an exceedingly risky endeavor.
But now there seed to be no other choice—the Brilliant Starship had exited the channel early, and this vessel was now utterly lost beyond the critical line, surrounded by endless fog that was just as perilous, if not more so, than any fractured ti streams and those eerie "entities".
Under such circumstances, an entity appearing in the fog could be a "drift" from within the Six Nautical Miles, and making contact could potentially lead to finding the entrance back to the Endless Sea.
Shrouded in the illusion of Spiritual Fire, the Brilliant Starship slowly adjusted its angle, and under the cautious control of the sailors, it began to approach the light appearing deep in the fog in near silence.
As the distance closed in, the light in the depths of the fog did not disappear but instead beca more and more distinct.
Lucresia breathed a sigh of relief, yet couldn’t help but feel another surge of tension.
The light was not an illusion, but a real entity—sothing was indeed drifting in the mist in that direction, but what kind of damned and devilish thing could it be, drifting here beyond the Six Nautical Miles in the border sea?
The Witch of the Sea looked back towards the deck.
Hopefully, with the phantom protection of the Holoss and the Brilliant Starship’s own firepower and various special abilities, they could cope with that thing.
The important mission her father had entrusted her with was not yet complete; she didn’t want to lose her life for so absurd reason on the way ho.
The rest of the crew also ca out of the cabins, gathering on the aft deck. Through Sherry and Nina’s quick explanations, they quickly grasped the situation and began to look towards the light that was gradually becoming clearer in the fog, filled with tension.
And then, as if the fog suddenly thinned, the light and its outline beca almost imdiately clear.
With the aid of the lens group, Morris was the first to make out the outline behind the light, and his facial expression instantly beca nuanced.
It was a ship.
A border exploration ship with distinctly featured turbine power sets and a spectral semi-body.
It was the Brilliant Starship.
The deck fell silent all at once, and after a brief delay, many eyes finally fell on Lucresia.
"...It looks familiar." Sherry muttered.
Lucresia finally snapped out of shock, and she suddenly realized—
"That’s the Brilliant Starship... from a long ti ago, when I crossed the Six Nautical Miles critical line."
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