In the thick fog that seemed to have substance like some kind of viscous fluid, the white hull of the Sea Song moved like a ghost, as if it would disappear in the endless fog at any time.
I don't know when it started, but the roar of the steam core turned into a strange, low whimper mixed with layers of echoes. Sharp whistles could be heard from the pipe room from time to time, and mixed in with those whistles were the murmurs like people talking in their dreams.
"The machine is beginning to be possessed..." The technical priest returned from the engine room and came to the bridge to report to the captain, "The effect of the soothing incense is becoming less and less."
"Disconnect the differential engine's power shaft, switch all machines to manual control, and depressurize the steam core to the yellow zone. Replace the boiling gold catalyst in two hours," the captain said calmly. "The rotation of personnel in the engine room will be shortened to every three hours."
"Yes, Captain." The technical priest lowered his head, and for a brief moment, his voice suddenly became extremely hoarse and low, as if there was a big hole in his chest, and uncontrolled air flow blew out of his lungs, but no one seemed to notice this - the priest left, and the captain's wife with a stern face stared at the other's back, and then retracted her gaze.
Out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly saw a patch of rust on the railing on the side of the captain's seat. The rust marks were slowly expanding, just like the passing of time and the melting of years.
But the next second, the rust disappeared from her sight like a phantom. She was stunned for a moment, and before she could react, she heard a low, vague voice in her mind, a kind but chilling voice, whispering to her:
"Ah... there you are... my little fish... swim, swim... back into the current..."
The gentle sound of waves echoed in her ears, and the cool touch as if she was immersed in the sea water wandered on her skin. The captain felt a trance, but suddenly she woke up from the trance.
Someone shouted in the distance. It was the first mate on the ship: "Captain! There is something in the fog!"
"…Send a light signal and ask the other party's intentions," the captain hesitated for a moment and immediately ordered, "Everyone be on alert, pressurize the church boiler - this is the border, don't rashly believe anything you see, it may not be the 'Lost Homeland' we know."
Everyone on the bridge was watching nervously as the ship approached in the thick fog, but suddenly became increasingly vague after a certain distance, like a ghostly phantom. After a while, the captain suddenly saw a dazzling fire appear near the bow of the Lost Hometown - the fire flickered in the fog, repeating regularly.
The first mate immediately took the order, and then the lights on the side of the Sea Song began to send out a series of signals. The regularly flashing strong lights penetrated the thick fog, calling out silently in this unknown waters at the border.
"It's the Lost Hometown!" the captain exclaimed, "How did it appear here?!"
"That ship is coming!" "The Lost Hometown!?" "Isn't it in Breeze Harbor?!" "It's approaching!"
There were several exclamations from the bridge, and then the first mate quickly came to the captain's seat: "Captain, that ship is approaching us."
The captain woke up instantly and immediately turned to look at the side of the bridge. Her eyes passed through the wide cabin and suddenly saw a faint green light gradually rising in the fog, like a huge beast slowly walking towards her. The outline of the light gradually solidified and outlined the silhouette of another ship in her eyes.
"Little fish... You are all great. Now it's time to rest. Don't be afraid... Every tired soul has a home. If you can't go back, this is your new home..."
The captain frowned, and for the first time there was some confusion on her stern face, but this confusion was soon interrupted: out of the corner of her eye she noticed that the large ship in the thick fog was speeding away.
Did the ghost ship really respond to the light signals and send communications
Many eyes were fixed on the flickering fire, and the captain gradually frowned as he looked at the light signal. After a while, the first mate came over quickly: "Captain, the Lost Homeland signaled to salute us... That's all."
The captain did not respond. She just stared straight ahead, as if she had suddenly seen a distant destiny through the gap in the fog at the moment when the "Lost Homeland" left.
A huge ship of astonishing size, with a towering bow and translucent sails, came out of the fog. It appeared from the side and rear, as light as a gust of wind, and easily caught up with the Song of the Sea, whose steam core was running at full power. It was always shrouded in a vague "sense of distortion", so that people could not see the details of the ship clearly, but the captain of the Song of the Sea still instantly recognized the distinctive features of the large ship -
"That direction is..." The first mate beside him suddenly reacted and immediately exclaimed softly, "Captain, the 'Lost Homeland' is heading towards 'Him'!"
A low, gentle whisper echoed in her ears—
The spiritual sails of the Lost Homeland were inflated high, and it accelerated silently in the thick fog. Almost in the blink of an eye, it passed the Sea Song and sped towards the unknown waters farther away, and its huge ship shadow quickly disappeared in the flowing fog.
A kind of tranquility that seemed to well up from the soul descended. With a slight tremor in his heart, the captain slowly closed his eyes: "... Please witness..."
She suddenly opened her eyes, and her eyeballs, covered with a layer of deathly gray, seemed to reflect an endless storm: "... Witness my return - my mission is not over yet."
The fragmented memories suddenly revived in her mind, and the journey that was lost in the dislocated time flow returned to her memory. She remembered the long time after crossing the border, all the trials and darkness, the lost sea at the end of the fog, the isolated island that was stagnant in eternal time, the huge temple, the cemetery of giant beasts, and the dead gods in the temple - and her hometown shrouded in night.
“… You must cross that border… Cross the six-mile threshold… They are calling out to the world, go find them… Bring our greetings, bring back their news…”
Her Majesty Helena's instructions still echoed in my ears, but it seemed like it happened centuries ago, and now only vague impressions remained.
The captain shook his head and slowly walked towards the driving seat. The captain's uniform on his body had weathered into messy rags. The once clean and bright bridge had been turned into a decayed ruin by the erosion of sea breeze and time. All the lights were off, and sticky fog came in from the broken portholes, flowing all over the bridge.
There was no one anywhere, not a single crew member was to be seen, and everyone seemed to have left long ago - they all stayed with the Lord, in that eternal and peaceful home.
The captain walked past the empty spaces, staggering on the ship that seemed to have been drifting for centuries, but suddenly she noticed that there seemed to be a figure swaying next to the bridge.
The figure heard the noise and slowly turned his head.
He was shriveled and ugly, like a corpse that had been weathered in the sea breeze for a century, his face shrunk and distorted into a horrifying appearance.
It was an ugly, mummified corpse—but the captain soon recognized it as his first mate.
The mummy spoke, his voice as hoarse as the friction of gravel: "Captain, welcome back to this ship - it seems that it is not time for you to retire yet."
"... You stayed too," the captain said - and only then did she realize that her voice had become just as hoarse and horrible.
"Yes, I still have work to do," the first mate muttered. "Everyone else rested, but I had a dream. In the dream, a ghost ship with green flames appeared, and you asked me to give it a signal... Alas, I was awakened by the signal. I don't like that ship, the Lost Homeland, it even broke the peace given to me by God... Those damn green flames, now I can no longer rest."
The captain paid no attention to the first mate's mumbling. Although she found that the first mate seemed to have changed a lot, her groggy mind made it difficult for her to concentrate on these details. She just walked to the bridge with difficulty and watched the first mate busying around there. "Can this ship still be sailed?"
"No," the first mate turned his head and grinned, "The steam core has been shut down for a long time, and the hull has been corroded into a pile of ruins. There is no power at all."
“…So what are you doing?”
"Get this ship moving, Captain," the first mate said slowly, "Hold the wheel and think like a ship... It will move, Captain, and sooner or later we will pass through this endless fog and return to the damned endless sea..."
The captain sat down slowly. She listened to the first mate's nagging for a long time before she spoke softly as if talking to herself: "Then I should find something to do."
"Then I suggest you leave some records," the first mate said. "I don't know what will happen after crossing that border again, but there will definitely be changes. You may no longer be yourself, and I may continue to become another person. We may not even remember who we are and what we have done. Only sacred texts can leave precious guidance..."
The sacred text...
The captain blinked slowly, her mind became clearer again, and after a moment's hesitation, she finally reached out and touched something in her tattered coat pocket.
That was her log book—every captain had one.
It has also been baptized by the years, but the divinely blessed paper has survived weathering and corrosion, and the words on it are still recognizable.
She lowered her head, took out a pencil from another pocket, and slowly made a note on a new page—
“I am Captain Kalani of the Sea Song, and this is the record I left on my way back home…
"We found Him - about half a century after crossing the six-mile line."
(End of this chapter)