Chapter 279 - 279 One hundred thirty-six

Words : 1408 Updated : Oct 1st, 2025

279: One hundred thirty-six. Adolescence 279: One hundred thirty-six. Adolescence Why the pain? Why the longing? Lu Li scanned between the pitch-black substance of the rhizomes and the two items he had brought with him. The floor was covered in a complex tangle of vines, layered one upon another. Lu Li inevitably walked over them, but unlike the other parts of this plant that he had encountered, these vines were already dead. Lu Li tucked the crowbar into his back waistband and approached the rhizome. The emotions of pain and longing intensified. He unscrewed his water bottle and poured its contents over the rhizome, aiding in the washing away of the black substance. The black matter near the roots kept getting washed away, revealing the original dark green underneath. The pervasive atmosphere of pain gradually dissipated. After giving the area around the rhizome a brief rinse, Lu Li twisted the cap back on. There was about one-tenth of the water left in the bottle, just enough for him to cleanse his eyes once. He evenly distributed the feces from the iron box around the rhizome. The atmosphere of longing in the basement gradually relaxed, and released a sense of goodwill. Lu Li exhaled a breath of murky air. Now, he should have gained access to the upper deck cabins. Returning to the staircase, the vine eyeballs on the wall still stared at Lu Li, but he felt their gaze was no longer malicious. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly saw something attached to the wall beside the stairs, a yellowed corner peeking out from under the vines. He walked up to the wall and reached out to tug at the edge of the paper. The surrounding vine eyeballs shifted to make space for Lu Li, revealing a map that was almost illegible. Lu Li leaned in to examine it, finding it was impossible to detach, and he could only observe it there. Most of the map was contaminated by the black substance; only a small portion of the outlines could be faintly discerned, with blurred markings. Through the residual characters and contours, Lu Li found the location of the lower deck cabin and then in reverse, located the upper deck cabins. The upper deck cabin connected to the deck, and a particularly wide outline likely represented the dining hall, and a few more meters forward would lead to the deck. The map also showed the top deck cabins, where the captain’s cabin was located. Noting down other outlines not covered by stains and the route to the deck, Lu Li looked around the basement a final time to ensure he didn’t miss any items, and then walked up the stairs. The vines in front of Lu Li parted, and closed behind him. Returning outside the basement door, Lu Li shut the door and directly headed toward the staircase that led to the upper deck. As he ascended the stairs, Lu Li passed some bull-horned shadows that ignored his presence. Entering the upper deck corridor, the vine eyeballs on the walls no longer tracked his movement. Walking past the empty dining hall, a sea breeze carrying a faint hint of ocean waves blew toward him. But gradually, Lu Li’s pace slowed, a feeling of caution rising within his heart. All along, he had only encountered the lower deck’s shadows; the upper deck’s shadows had never appeared. Would they believe Lu Li’s disguise, like those of the lower deck had? Where was the endless meat sent to the furnace taken? But until Lu Li’s sight reached the outer deck, the shadows of the upper deck still hadn’t appeared. It was as if only the lower deck was still operational on the entire ship. The vines on the walls began to thin out; they seemed unsuitable for survival outside. The wooden planks underfoot were becoming icy cold, and a few seconds later, Lu Li reached the edge of the cabin. From here, he could fully scrutinize the external view. A deep black sailboat quietly sailed through the dark, deep sea, its black waters rippling, Dozens of shadowy figures as dark as the deep sea gathered on the deck, standing in three rows, with one wearing a captain’s hat standing opposite them. The wind blowing over from that side carried a deadly silence, making the scene eerie and mysterious. With eight people per row, the first row had only seven, the second space from the left being empty; including the “captain,” there were a total of twenty-four people. Lu Li silently observed these shadows, which possessed completely humanlike features, for a while and then retreated back into the cabin. He found the stairs leading to the top deck cabins. After making sure there was no one on guard, he went up to the top. The door to the captain’s cabin was tightly closed. Lu Li crept to the edge and took a glance down at the deck. The shadows were still there, swaying subtly with the movement of the sailboat, eerily unsettling. Lu Li retreated to the front of the Captain’s Cabin door and stuffed the crowbar into the door gap, forcefully prying it open. Crack— The wooden splinters around the edge burst apart, and the door to the Captain’s Cabin opened slightly. He glanced back at the deck to make sure the shadows were still there before slipping into the Captain’s Cabin and gently closing the door behind him. Dragging a chair over to block the door, Lu Li turned around to survey the Captain’s Cabin. The cabin had also been contaminated by the dark matter, sticky and disgusting substances everywhere. His gaze swept over the items in the Captain’s Cabin, the single bed, the wardrobe, the dining table, the helm, and the musket on the wall. Lu Li first walked over to the clock on the other side. After wiping away the black substance, the clock was still ticking, displaying a possibly accurate time: 1:55. Still more than three hours until dawn. Lu Li turned toward the desk near the helm, which held several books and pieces of paper, one book still open but the text was illegible due to the black matter contamination. He picked up the books next to the desk; the pages inside were surprisingly relatively intact. Lu Li flipped through a few pages and found them to be novels meant to pass the time. Closing the books and putting them back in their place, Lu Li pulled at the drawer. Clang clang— The drawer shook but did not come out. It was locked. Lu Li didn’t have time to look for the key to play a game of escape room, so he inserted the crowbar into the gap of the drawer and forcefully pried it open. Upon opening the drawer, a flintlock pistol, a diary, and a sheet of paper came into view. Due to being relatively sealed and on the topmost level of the ship, the drawer was not yet contaminated by the dark matter, and the three items were well-preserved. He first picked up the flintlock pistol, which resembled the Spirit-Calling Gun with its short barrel and engraved patterns. However, it was not a Homogeneous Item and, surprisingly, still held the old gunpowder bullets. Returning it to its place, Lu Li then picked up the diary. After flipping through, all the pages were blank; the captain had not written anything in it. It seemed the captain didn’t have the habit of keeping a diary. As for why it was in the Captain’s Cabin... perhaps to make others believe he did have the habit. Picking up the last sheet of paper, it finally had some content on it. This yellowed parchment listed each crew member’s name and position. Lu Li first counted them; including the captain, there were a total of twenty-five crew members. He had seen twenty-four shadows because one position lacked a shadow. Captain – Wayne First Mate – Streler Second Mate – Becken Navigator – Lester Sailor – Lee Sailor – Trance ... Sailor – Haben A familiar name caught his eye. Lu Li recalled his neighbor Evelyn and her child. Her husband Haben had gone out to sea and was lost to a hurricane, leaving only his dissipating soul to return to Belfast. Was it the person he knew? Could this sailboat be one of the many fishing vessels that had disappeared in the hurricane?

Chapter 279 - 279 One hundred thirty-six

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