It was the "captain" of the Obsidian, Christo Barberly, a mass of deranged matter that could barely be reminiscent of a "human body", a pile of ...... that had risen from the depths of the ocean Fake.

He seemed to be ignorant of his condition and ...... It seems that something is wrong with the thinking.

He didn't know the passage of time, he couldn't perceive the distortion of his flesh, and with all of his sight, most of his touch, and his inability to move, he seemed too calm, as if ...... It's in some kind of weird sluggishness.

The slightly wriggling mass of creature was still making a hoarse and muffled voice, and "Christo Barberly" greeted the people who entered the room, asking about the current state of the Obsidian and what had happened.

When Nina saw this strange and terrifying scene, she let out a low exclamation, and quickly held back, covering her mouth with one hand, and subconsciously dodged two steps back.

This scene was a little too exciting for her to be only seventeen years old.

"The Obsidian had an accident, but we don't know the cause of the accident yet," Duncan replied as he pondered what to do, "We're just passing by." ”

"Ah, that's too bad...... I've been stuck here, and I don't know what's going on on the ship," the creature stuck to the door panel sighed regretfully, "Is everything else alright?" What about the crew and passengers? Have you spotted them? ”

“…… No, but no bodies were found, and they may have fled," Duncan said casually, "only the door to this room is locked, and we hear you banging." ”

"I've been knocking on this door, it's the only thing I can touch in the dark," said Captain Christo, "Storm goddess Grimona bless, everyone else is safe......

The northern city-states were the domain of Bartók, the god of death, but in the infinite seas, the authority of the Storm Goddess was unquestionably primary—the captains of ships, regardless of their origin and faith, prayed to the Storm Goddess when they went out to sea.

Listening to each other's prayers, Vanna and Morris frowned at the same time.

This group ...... How can something that is clearly a distortion still be able to correctly say the name of a god or even pray sangue?

Duncan had apparently noticed this, and he remembered something he had learned about the Abyss Project from his previous conversation with Tirien—

During the runaway of the Abyss Project, the clones that emerged from the "No. 3 Submersible" that floated up from the deep sea one after another were not rational or capable of communication.

Even the original clone, even the closest "fake" that seemed to be human, only let out a few indistinct whispers!

This was a very important piece of information from the very beginning, and Tirion had judged that the runaway transcendence of the Frost Deep could only replicate a fake without reason and soul, but the mass in front of him was ...... Distorted things, although they seem to have some problems with their thinking and cognition, obviously have normal reason and memory, and can even communicate with people fluently.

What went wrong?

Is it because the Obsidian is not a replica of the "No. 3 submersible" as initially speculated? Is there another reason for the distortion on this ship? Or is it because the uncontrollable transcendent vision of the Frosty Deep has changed after half a century, and now the replicas it has made have begun to gain sanity?

Or......

Duncan glanced silently at "Captain Christo" clinging to the door panel.

Or rather, it was really the captain's consciousness within the mass of creatures - for some reason, his soul was stuffed into this twisted replica.

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

"Are you still there?" Perhaps Duncan was silent for too long, and Christo's voice came from within the mass of creatures, "Can you help me get out of this place?" Or is it ...... I'm actually in a bad situation right now? Be...... Severe nerve damage? ”

Duncan sighed.

He knew he had to tell the other person the truth—even if it was a cruel thing.

The cruelty of the vast sea has always been innumerable.

But just as he was about to speak, Vanna's voice suddenly sounded from the side, interrupting his movements: "Mr. Christo, you are really not in good shape, we can't move you now, you may need to stay here a little longer - we will find a way to help you when we finish searching the other areas." ”

Duncan conveyed his suspicion to Vanna with his eyes, who raised his hand and pointed to the wall across the room.

There was a huge hole in the wall, and across the hole was an oblique passage to an unknown place, and it was dark and eerie.

Duncan immediately understood what Vanna meant.

There are still so many unexplored areas of the ship that until we know what happened to the Obsidian, we can't be entirely sure of the status and origin of this "Captain Christo".

It's best to stabilize this strange "replica" first, and then consider how to arrange it after completing the search and investigation of the entire ship.

Duncan nodded slightly.

A professional is a professional, and this is the professional acumen that can only be achieved after dealing with all kinds of heresies.

"Okay...... I see," Christo's voice sounded, with some regret and unease, "I'll wait here." But how long will you be gone? ”

"It may take a few hours, but we will return as soon as possible," Vanna said, "Rest assured, we will not give up on you, and although your condition is not good, there will be no problems in the short term, just stay still, calm down, and wait a little." ”

"That'...... Okay, go and get back quickly. ”

The wriggling, shrinking mass of biological tissue fell silent.

He seemed to be quite anxious about his state, but after Vanna expressed his attitude, he was quite cooperative, calm and incredible.

Is this "captain" by nature? Or is this also the result of a distorted perception of his thinking? Duncan doesn't know.

Now, everyone's attention was on the big hole in the wall at the end of the room.

There would certainly not be such a hole in a normal room, and there would not be a crooked ramp hidden in the hole - this hole was also apparently the result of the distortion of the obsidian's internal structure.

It looks deep and long, where does it lead?

Duncan walked through the upside-down room to the large cavern, and when he looked inside, he saw that the cavern was deep and dark, and a passage that seemed to be a combination of a cabin corridor and several twisted staircases stretched diagonally downward, with occasional air currents blowing inside, as if there were more passages or more space at the bottom of it.

He stepped inside, followed by the others.

The dove Aid, who was covered in spirit flames, once again became a searchlight for the team, and the already dark and gloomy corridor looked even more eerie under the light of the spirit flames.

"The distorted mess down there seems to be worse than the one above......"

Morris looked up, glanced at the top of the shadowy passage in the interplay of light and shadow, and said thoughtfully.

Above the passage, the chaotic overlapping structures are faintly recognizable: the handrails of the staircase, the hatch from nowhere, the mechanical structures, the pipes and wires, and even the tables and chairs.

If there were still some hints of normal structure in the upper cabins, the ramp to the depths of the Obsidian was a pile of debris that had been crumpled and glued together, like a chaotic nightmare, extending into the steel behemoth's guts.

"It seems that the closer you get to the center of the 'replica,' the less accurate the replication becomes," Vanna said, adding that "if this ship is really a replica of the 'Submersible Three.'" ”

"I'm going to talk to Tirian back then," Duncan said casually in front of him, "and he'll probably be interested in what happened to the Obsidian." ”

"But I think he'll be scared half to death by you in the first place," Vana muttered, "I've talked to him, and I feel like he's not a small psychological shadow." ”

Duncan slowed down and glanced back at Fanna.

Vanna suddenly felt a little awkward: "I said something wrong? ”

"No," Duncan laughed, "just lamenting that you can finally communicate with me normally—that's the feeling." ”

Vanna opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something, but at this moment, the fire emitted by Aye in front of her suddenly dimmed, and then everyone's eyes widened.

The passage has come to an end.

Sure enough, there was an open space down there.

"Is it the cargo hold?" Morris 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 chaotic ramp, this place was "neat" and incredible, but he couldn't see the original purpose of this space at all.

"Could it be that the deepest part of this ghost ship is a cavity?" Nina looked around and muttered nervously, "Everything is piled up on top of two layers?" ”

No one could answer her questions.

Alice looked curiously and took two steps forward.

"Huh?"

Miss Doll stopped suddenly, let out a short exclamation, and then rubbed the soles of her shoes around as she looked at the ground beneath her feet in amazement.

"I look like I've stepped on something!" She turned around and innocently said to Duncan, "Slimy, kind of disgusting......

"Slime?" Duncan frowned, walked quickly over to Alice, and looked at the ground that the other party had just stepped on.

He saw a dark, silt-like substance, and Alice's shoe prints could be faintly seen in the middle of the black, viscous substance.

But the shoe prints are rapidly disappearing.

This "sludge" is wriggling!

It's alive!

(End of chapter)