novelraw Chapter 112 : Mission “Ghost Voyage”
Chapter 112 : Mission “Ghost Voyage”
Chapter 112: Mission “Ghost Voyage”
Since ancient times, the ocean had always been the place that humanity feared the most.
Compared to the forest, the fear brought by the ocean was a full three-hundred-and-sixty degrees.
Even if one got lost in the forest, at least the ground beneath their feet was solid. The sky might not have been without danger, but at the very least, when something went wrong, the fall would still end on land.
Only the ocean was different.
Once something went wrong, it was almost equal to being left helpless, a series of unknowns became the theme. One would not know where they were, nor what they might encounter. If a plane crashed, at least the result was clear—it would fall to the earth. But when one sank into the depths of the ocean, who could know what was really down there?
Or rather, when a ship sank into the sea, where exactly did it go?
No one knew the answer, and so, all kinds of guesses and rumors arose. Or perhaps it should be said—even in modern times, when humanity had already broken through the atmosphere and reached outer space, their fear of the ocean had not diminished. The ocean could be said to be the most unconquerable and unexplorable existence humanity faced.
Walking along the shabby corridor, Levi kept a wary eye on his surroundings while pondering the situation before him.
In Levi’s view, it made little sense for the Arctic Star to have become a ghost ship. It was not some vessel that had sailed for many years and was about to retire. This was a newly built ship, fresh from keel to steel plates. No matter how one looked at it, it absolutely did not fit the definition of a ghost ship.
So, the possibility of age-born spirituality could be ruled out.
And during its construction, there had been no strange rumors either, so that too could be ruled out.
That left only one possibility… something on this ship had been activated by Rosalie’s death.
What Levi recalled was the Imperial Bridge case. At that time, the Imperial Bridge had just been completed, and yet something had still gone wrong. But from that case, one conclusion could be drawn: no matter how much trickery there was, there always had to be some kind of medium. Even those charlatans of the Holy Lord Church required material objects, not mere words and empty air.
Well, that was normal. If simply drawing circles and chanting curses could get the job done, then the Holy Lord Church would not have been directly expelled from the Empire by the Queen.
So then, what was on this ship?
Levi stared at the corridor and cabins before him, then silently activated 【Soul Sight】.
The tones of black and white instantly covered his vision. Levi swept his gaze around, and soon locked onto the target.
Beneath the deck, in the midst of chilling darkness, there was one spot that pulsed with an eerie glow, beating like a heart.
And from its center, threads stretched outward, spreading in every direction.
Down below.
Levi quickly recalled the ship’s brochure that he had read, and confirmed that the location should be… the mailroom.
In fact, passenger ships were originally designed to transport mail. Most ships naturally had mailrooms, serving the same purpose: carrying letters across the ocean, either to deliver or return them.
And in this era, there was basically no inspection of mail, let alone security checks or X-ray scans. If someone wanted to smuggle something in, ordinary people would have no way of knowing.
Especially with matters involving the occult—even if someone saw it, they would not know what it was.
After all, in an age where people casually smoked, drank, and carried guns at their waists, insisting that a letter could be dangerous was something even they would not believe.
Better go and take a look.
Levi withdrew his gaze, gripped the Persuader tightly, and moved forward.
“Tap, tap, tap…”
The cabin was dimly lit. Levi walked forward as if taking a stroll, all the while scanning his surroundings. From the layout, he could still clearly see the design of the Arctic Star, but the state of each place was vastly different. Some areas looked no different from ordinary cabins aside from being deserted. Some places seemed corroded, rust covering them. In some spots, even the walls had fallen away, exposing the keel beneath.
Truthfully, walking there gave Levi the feeling of moving through the body of a massive whale, witnessing its sickness.
And indeed, if one compared the Arctic Star to a living being, then looking at it from within, it was gravely ill.
But how could that be? This was supposed to be a brand new ship.
What exactly was in the mailroom?
Thinking of this, Levi quickened his pace.
“Help me… Detective…”
“Save me…”
Ghostly wails and cries for help echoed around him. Sometimes it was Rosalie, sometimes Elaine, sometimes John. Yet Levi paid them no mind. All three were nothing more than spirits, powerless to change anything. In his view, the priority was still that strange light below.
As for the three of them… they were already dead. Whether they were saved or not seemed to make little difference.
“Detective…!”
As Levi descended the stairs, the screams grew sharper. At the same time, shadows surged below like a tide, drifting upward. Looking closely revealed that it was not seawater, but countless palm-sized crabs!
Piling along the corridor, they climbed and scuttled about, filling the air with scratching noises. Yet Levi walked straight down the stairs as if nothing was there. The next moment, his legs were engulfed by tens of thousands of crabs, as if he had plunged into water.
“Scratch, scratch…”
The swarm crawled up his body. Any other person would already have been terrified out of their wits, but Levi continued forward unfazed. Even when the crabs crawled into his collar, nose, and ears, he felt nothing.
In truth, Levi really did not see them.
With Soul Sight active, all he saw were the cold outlines of inanimate objects and the glowing threads. As for crabs, he neither saw nor felt them. Even the scratching sound at his ears made no difference.
By now, Levi had realized the truth. Whatever this thing was—it was clearly not very strong!
At least for now!
Perhaps not enough people had died aboard yet, or perhaps for another reason. Regardless, Levi saw that it only had a few tricks: manipulating the souls of the three dead, shrieking, and making illusory visions… but Levi had 【Soul Sight】, and so he ignored the illusions entirely.
Now that he thought about it, Elaine and John had very likely drowned on the floor because they had fallen prey to the ghost ship’s illusion.
But in any case, this entity did not seem very powerful. That meant Levi still had a chance!
“Tap, tap, tap…”
His footsteps grew faster. He did not use the lift but chose the stairs instead—after all, the lift could easily be tampered with. Stairs were relatively safer.
Relatively.
“—!!”
Levi suddenly stopped and stepped back. At that instant, a figure lunged from above, pouncing straight at him!
It was none other than John, the one who had “drowned” earlier!
His entire body was dripping wet, as if he had been soaked in seawater for half a year. He looked like a water monkey, letting out a low growl before leaping from the ceiling toward Levi!
Yet Levi did not even halt his stride. He simply raised his gun and fired casually in John’s direction.
“Bang!”
Flames burst forth, instantly engulfing John. He screamed, writhed, lost his balance, and fell headlong into the stairwell’s darkness.
Levi pressed his hand on the railing and vaulted down.
At last, the light was right before his eyes!
But then—
“Wooo—!”
With a deafening blast of the ship’s horn, a surge of icy seawater rushed forward, swallowing Levi whole. The next moment, he felt himself spinning as though flushed down a whirlpool through the corridor… and then—
“Pwah!!”
His eyes shot open as he gasped. He was lying in his cabin’s bed again. But unlike before, his entire body was now drenched, reeking of seawater…
“Ding ding ding ding!!”
At that moment, the urgent clanging of the ship’s bell rang out!
What happened?
Levi’s heart tightened at once. He hurriedly rose, changed out of his soaked clothes into his hunter’s attire, and quickly left the suite for the deck. Sailors were running frantically everywhere, shouting desperately.
“What’s going on? What happened?”
Levi rushed to the forward cabin entrance and asked. The captain turned back to glance at him before replying.
“It’s an iceberg, sir! An iceberg ahead!”
“Iceberg?”
“Yes, we’re trying to steer away—”
“The helm is jammed!”
Before the captain could finish, the helmsman interrupted, face pale as he gripped the wheel tightly.
“The helm is jammed! I can’t control it!”
“What? How could that be!?”
The captain was shocked.
“Slow down at once! Reverse! Stop the ship!”
“No, it’s no use, something seems… stuck!”
“What?!”
Levi immediately dispatched the puppet bird to scout ahead. Indeed, in the distance under the night sky, an iceberg loomed at the horizon of the sea.
Unlike in the movies, this ship had more than enough time to avoid the iceberg!
But now the helm suddenly failed? Wait… could it be…
Levi lowered his gaze to the deck below and activated 【Soul Sight】 once more.
And then, he saw it!
At the mailroom, that pulsing, heart-like glow grew brighter and brighter. The threads spreading from it had already reached every corner of the ship!
So that was it!
Realization struck Levi. He seized the first mate by the collar and glared at him.
“You, take me to the mailroom. Now. Immediately!”
“Eh? Why?”
“Hurry! If we want to save this ship, this is the only way!”
Although the first mate did not understand Levi’s urgency, he still nodded forcefully.
“Follow me!”