For too long, Lawrence was trapped in a "lucid dream"—he knew better than anyone what was happening to him, and what was going on with his own psyche.

He knew that Martha was no longer there, that the figure he was with day and night was actually just an illusion, and he knew all of this - whether it was on a subconscious level or a subjective level, he was very conscious.

But compared with other captains of the same age and similar experience, his mental state is actually good, in the vast sea, the most important thing is the mentally distorted, mentally damaged captains, even if there is a share of the ship's priest, this profession that challenges the sea is destined to bear far more than the mental pollution of ordinary crews, each captain is in the deteriorating mental confrontation with his own ocean-going voyages, so that the captains often use one sentence to describe their profession.

"We are not sailing on the edge of the abyss, our lives are sailing straight to the abyss."

But it is precisely because of the perennial mental distress that Lawrence has a particularly keen perception of "Martha", and at this moment, he has been keenly aware that the figure in front of him is not the same "thing" as the illusion he has seen before.

He couldn't help but recall the "Martha" that appeared on the white oak deck earlier, and the first mate Gus at that time had seen the figure change of that "Martha" from that time?

All this has finally crossed a certain tipping point? Something in your own fantasy······ Finally come to reality? Or was there some ineffable force that read his mind and created this "individual" that actually existed before his eyes? Is this a gift full of malice? Or is it a sarcastic trap?

"Martha......" Lawrence finally opened his mouth, he felt his throat a little dry, and even his voice became hoarse, "You're in front of me?"

"As you can see," the adventurer laughed, "are you going to touch me?" I even have a temperature."

「······ You're a real being," Lawrence took a light breath, resisting his urge to take a step forward, "but····· Why is that? Could it be that the illusion in my mind has been transformed into some kind of entity here? It's... … The power of this sea?"

"At least partly right," Martha shook her head slightly, "it's true that this 'sea' shaped me and the Black Oak, but I don't come from a vision in your mind - I've been wandering here for years, Lawrence—I've been here for many years with this ship, wandering blindly as part of a huge number of 'fakes.'"

Lawrence was slightly stunned: "Fake?"

"Fakes—some powerful force in the deep sea caused all this, I don't know what it is, but it's been here for many, many years, making countless fakes, remember the 'Petrel' that you just wiped out, right? And that dagger island......

"They're all 'fakes,?! Lawrence's eyes widened, and he suddenly realized that the vortex he was sinking into seemed even more terrifying than he had imagined, "Wait, the frost city-state we encountered before·····

"It's too, everything is here," Martha said with a calm expression, "that force has already infiltrated the entire sea, and everything that lingers in this sea for enough time cannot escape its replication, and there are countless blind and empty replicas wandering in the deep sea—only a small part of what you encounter."

Lawrence seemed to be in a state of stupor, and it took a long time for him to suddenly come to his senses and look at his "wife" in disbelief: "But····· You don't look like you, you can even talk to me, this ship was fighting alongside the White Oak just now......

Martha didn't speak, just looked at Lawrence quietly with a calm and meaningful smile.

The latter paused to speak, and gradually reacted, he lowered his head and looked at his body, which was still as unreal and transparent as a ghost, and the faint green flames that burned silently on it.

The appearance of the Black Oak came after the White Oak completed its "metamorphosis" in the spirit fire.

"You realize

Now, Lawrence," Martha whispered, "there is only another, more powerful power that can rival the might, and even this sea cannot touch the spoils of the Lost Fleet—you and I are both ', the spoils of war."

Lawrence listened in a daze, feeling a little dazed, and then, his face changed slightly, and realized the inconsistency of the last few words that the other party had just said - that was not something that "Martha", who had said goodbye to him forever decades ago, should know!

Why did she know about the Lost Country? Why did you know that the White Oak was Captain Duncan's "trophy"?

"You read my consciousness!" Lawrence's eyes widened suddenly, and the muscles in his body tensed subconsciously, "You're not the real Martha!"

However, the figure standing not far away only smiled, as if he didn't care about Lawrence's reaction, as calm as it had been decades ago: "If you want a 100% accurate and 'pure, Martha, I'm sorry, Lawrence, I'm not her—but' she is a part of me, Martha's soul is in me, and the other part of me is from your consciousness and memory...... This sea is like a mirror, constantly reflecting everything that floats on its surface, including consciousness and memory.

"I didn't read your consciousness, it's your consciousness that naturally becomes a part of me, can't you accept that?"

Lawrence opened his mouth, and after a few changes in his expression, he finally pulled the corners of his mouth bitterly and spread his hands: "I don't know, I never even thought about what to do when I really face you, I ...... I don't know how I'm going to accept this ......' form, you, I still haven't figured out what kind of being you are."

He looked up, and the old captain, who had never wavered in the face of countless treacherous horrors on the boundless sea, seemed a little dazed at this moment.

He never showed his weakness in front of anyone but his wife.

Martha quietly looked at Lawrence, who was no longer young, and after a long time, she smiled helplessly: "You are still the same as before, you always need my help at critical moments."

She walked over, raised her hand, and put her hands on Lawrence's shoulders with the warmth of a living person.

"You need to be firm in yourself and clear in your judgment......

Lawrence frowned slightly, a little confused.

"Mr. Sailor, could you please leave first?" Martha turned her head again and looked at Anomaly 077, who had been quite honest since just now, "The master of the Lost Fleet will be pleased with your cooperation."

The dry corpse in the sailor's overshirt suddenly became agitated, and without saying a word, he turned and left the bridge.

Lawrence seemed to suddenly react to something, and hurriedly said, "Wait......

But the gates of the bridge were closed.

Anomaly 077 sped down the hallway outside the door, and all he could faintly hear was Captain Lawrence's final shout from inside, "Martha—I'm over sixty!"

He couldn't bear to listen to the movement behind.

A moment later, there was a creaking sound of the doorway turning, and Anomaly 077 shrank his neck and cautiously turned his head to see the female adventurer standing in front of the door, with a lighthearted smile on her face.

Immediately afterwards, Lawrence also walked out grinning, and after seeing Anomaly 077 at the door, he immediately cast a warning gaze, and then hurriedly covered his head, grinning even more.

Anomaly 077 suddenly withdrew his gaze, trying to lower his presence like a real corpse.

Obviously, the beating was severe.

"Can you accept it now?" Martha turned her head and said to Lawrence with a smile.

Lawrence clutched the swollen spot on his head, he didn't know why his current form, which was almost a spirit, could still be beaten so hard by Martha, he only knew that this kind of detail was no longer important: "Can accept it, can accept it......

Drifting on the boundless sea, you still need the mentality of thinking about everything.

After all, now it seems that if she can't think about it, Martha will help herself

"Open" - The bold temperament of the female adventurer is the same as many years ago, but she is already an old man over 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 hands on her chest, "It's not an option to stay stuck here."

Hearing this, Lawrence gathered the complicated thoughts in his heart, and his face became serious: "Martha, I wanted to ask you just now, what is the state of this sea? Do you know how to get out of here?"

「······ I'd love to answer you, but I'm sorry," Martha said apologetically, after a two-second silence, "I've been wandering here for years, but at the end of the day, this ship and I are just one of the many fakes trapped here, but one thing is certain...... This entire sea area is centered around that 'Frost City-State', and if there really is a rift here that intersects with the real world, it must be in Frost."