novelraw Chapter 225: Growth
Chapter 225: Growth
"Is that all?"
"That's all."
Lu Li fell silent, his eyes fixed on the shadow beneath the woman's hood.
The method seemed unreliable, but Lu Li could see no reason why she would lie to him.
"Could you be more specific?" Lu Li asked.
"And why do you ask so many questions?" the woman countered.
"Because you seem to know a lot."
"That sounds logical. Fine, I'll tell you: when the ship flips over to the surface, you'll understand everything yourself."
"What do you mean, 'flips over to the surface'?"
The woman in the black cloak tilted her hood up slightly, and from beneath the shadow, her gaze seemed to land on Lu Li."Haven't you noticed yet? We're not sailing on the surface of the sea."
Lu Li froze, staring through the porthole. Beyond the glass, the dark sea swelled with waves, but it looked like neither the open ocean nor the seabed.
"It's sailing on the other side of the surface," the woman's voice came from behind him.
Lu Li gazed at the sea, as dark as night.
"So we're upside down, and the bottom of the ship is the surface of the sea?" he asked.
"Mhm," the woman in the black cloak confirmed, leaning back in her chair.
It was incredibly strange, even stranger than anything else Lu Li had experienced on this ship. But if this vessel was truly the "ship of returning souls," then it didn't seem so impossible.
This also explained why the shadows were so weak. Perhaps they were just ordinary souls that appeared unusual and could regenerate.
Lu Li waved his hand, then blew on it. Feeling no air resistance or seeing any bubbles, he couldn't verify if the woman's words were true.
A soft, curious chuckle came from behind him. Lu Li turned around.
"What happens if we don't jump off the ship at dawn?" he asked.
"You'll become passengers on this ship, sailing to the Underworld, and you'll never return."
Lu Li looked at her again.
"Then why are you on this ship too?" he asked. Lu Li had ended up here because he had fallen into the water and nearly drowned. But what about the woman in black?
"As I said, your job is to investigate, and mine is to protect you," she answered casually. "So I'm here to bring you back. No need to thank me."
"Thank you."
"What a dull personality," the woman remarked with a hint of irony, but a few seconds later, her voice turned icy. "But I've changed my mind, because... only one of us can leave this place alive."
Lu Li watched her in silence.
The silence in the wheelhouse lasted for about fifteen seconds before a carefree voice emerged from under the hood: "Just kidding."
Lu Li nodded without a word.
Suddenly, a noise echoed from the deck outside the porthole. On the deck, coated in a black substance, the shadows that had been dispersed earlier began to rise from the floorboards.
Among them was the captain's shadow. It raised its head, looked at Lu Li standing by the porthole, and lifted its hand...
The shadows on the deck began to slowly encircle the wheelhouse.
"They might get in our way," the woman in black said, approaching Lu Li.
Listening to her, Lu Li pulled ten bullets from his pocket and held them out to her.
"Conserve them," he said.
A bandaged hand took the bullets from Lu Li's palm.
"How else can I conserve them? Take out two shadows with one shot?"
"I'm talking about the Spirit Guns."
The woman used the Spirit Guns far too lavishly, as if they were common consumables.
"Got it."
She opened the door, stepped out of the wheelhouse, stood by the railing, and raised a Spirit Gun. Shots rang out.
Bang!
Bang!
The captain's shadow and another one instantly dissipated.
The woman holstered the two Spirit Guns and drew two more.
Bang!
Bang!
Two more shots.
Beside the woman, Lu Li smashed the shadows emerging from the floor with the butt of his Spirit Gun. These incorporeal figures, rising from the floorboards, dissipated with each strike.
"How do we make them stop attacking?" Lu Li asked. Although these shadows posed no significant threat, they were still a nuisance. Even the improper use of a Spirit Gun drained Lu Li's Mind Level.
"When the captain's shadow is dispersed, along with half of the others, the rest will return to normal," the woman replied, drawing two more Spirit Guns and eliminating two shadows climbing the stairs. It seemed she had an endless supply of weapons hidden under her cloak.
The gunfire on the deck continued unabated. A minute later, the second wave of the attack was repelled.
4:23.
An hour remained until dawn.
Lu Li returned to the wheelhouse. He had only destroyed two shadows that got too close; the woman in black had done most of the work.
"Are you going to ask more questions?" the woman asked, standing in the doorway.
Lu Li nodded. He disliked acting without understanding the situation.
"How will we know the exact time of dawn?"
"We can talk on the way," the woman replied, gesturing with her head for him to come out onto the deck. She was going to collect the Spirit Guns scattered across the floor.
Lu Li followed her down the stairs. The woman said casually:
"There's no way. That's why we'll only have one chance. If we don't leave the ship the moment the first ray of sunlight appears, we'll be pulled back."
"And what if it's cloudy?"
The woman turned her head toward Lu Li.
"Then you can take a stroll through the Underworld."
The shadows on the deck ignored the two figures walking past.
"What do you know about the ship of returning souls?"
"Quite a lot."
According to the woman, the ship of returning souls was originally just a legend among sailors. Most sailors, when starting their careers, knew two things: never say words related to sinking on a ship, and never insult the goddess of storms. They also knew the legend of the ship of returning souls.
It was a vessel that transported the souls of the dead to the Underworld. If one encountered it, they had to sail away immediately and never, under any circumstances, look at it. A long or intense gaze could result in the person finding themselves aboard that very ship.
According to the legend, the ship of returning souls had no fixed form. Some saw a small wooden boat, others a sailboat, some a metal vessel, and still others a paper boat. Most witnesses swore they had seen it with their own eyes, and that the souls of the dead were indeed standing on its deck.
However, as the world's situation worsened and the number of strange and dangerous phenomena grew, some legendary beings began to appear in reality—for example, the ship of returning souls.
Lu Li asked a few more questions, and the woman answered them all. Her answers weren't overly detailed, but they seemed truthful. The woman knew far too much about everything; her erudition was... unsettling.
The woman knew Lu Li was testing her, and Lu Li knew that she knew. They silently agreed not to acknowledge this game.
Together, they collected the Spirit Guns scattered across the deck, fending off the third wave of resurrected shadows along the way. They appeared every ten minutes.
This meant that before dawn, they would have to endure at least six more waves of attacks, and their bullets were running low.
Despite this, the woman still refused to return to the cabin.
This puzzled Lu Li.
"What's in the cabin?" he asked.