webnovelfull Chapter 205 Ghost Ship
Chapter 205 Ghost Ship
Chapter 205 Ghost Ship
The melodious singing echoed across the sea, but sadly, no one appreciated it.
Those who hear these notes are all uncultured and have no understanding of appreciation.
Knut said to Henry, "That thing is coming towards us!"
If it were an ordinary ship, Henry would have certainly given it a good beating.
Unfortunately, it wasn't; it was a ghost ship.
The ghosts on the ship were the ones singing those crude lyrics.
If those were truly ghosts without bodies, Henry couldn't help but wonder what made them make sounds.
Henry countered with a question to Knut: "What do you want me to do?"
"Of course, we should avoid it!" Knut said matter-of-factly. "I don't want my ship to be sunk!"
The two Gold Coins had rams, so Henry did not believe his ship would be at a disadvantage in a collision.
However, he wasn't an expert at dealing with ghost ships, so he immediately issued orders:
"Left rudder thirty."
"Around 30 degrees."
The response came a moment later; if Mico had been the helmsman, Henry would have heard the report at least a second earlier.
The ship turned and began circling on the sea.
The ghost ship quickly followed suit and changed direction.
By the light of the ghost ship, Henry could see the undulating trenches on the sea surface.
But Henry had a growing unease; he had discovered that the crew on that ghost ship were far stronger than his own.
He could only console himself that tonight's competition wasn't just about the cockpit crew.
Henry asked Knut, "What's next?"
"Let's get closer to the ship little by little."
There was not a trace of panic in the old man's eyes; he said seriously,
"I don't want to lose my life at sea. Your sea god will not protect the followers of the ancient ice spirits, so I must first test whether the methods I have learned can really deal with ghosts."
Henry nodded, then walked to the deck and took the helm from the old sailor.
Approaching another ship safely is not a simple matter of technology.
This old sailor is unreliable; he has to do it himself.
"Hmm—"
Henry sighed, increasingly missing Miko's cockpit skills.
The two gold coins and the ghost ship circled on the sea.
Everyone held their breath, not daring to disturb Henry.
Henry glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw that the small boat that had brought Cnut here was moored in the more distant sea.
This was a wise move. Henry could foresee that a major battle was about to take place, one that the small ship could not withstand.
Benson had already come up to the deck and stood under the mast so he could hear the jellyfish's report immediately.
But this was unnecessary; the Two Gold Coins were no ordinary ships.
As long as Henry activates the power within him, he can hear everything that is happening on the crow's nest.
Using magic requires effort, and under normal circumstances, Henry wouldn't bother with it.
However, now was the time to use this power, so Henry activated his magical ability, which flowed through the cabin and climbed all the way to the top of the mast.
Then, Henry could even hear the jellyfish breathing clearly, but the jellyfish didn't speak, indicating that it hadn't noticed anything unusual.
The two ships chased each other on the sea. After a while, the ghost ship and the two gold coins were only two ship lengths apart.
Henry asked Knut, "Is this distance enough?"
"Barely—" Knud nodded.
He then walked behind Henry.
Henry felt a continuous purple light shining from behind him, but in order to keep the deck as stable as possible, he had to carefully control the rudder and therefore had no time to look back.
But not long after, he suddenly discovered that the sea, which had been green because of the ghost ship, had turned completely red.
At this moment, he could no longer suppress his curiosity and quickly turned around.
Henry then realized what had happened; the flame-shaped green light membrane that had enveloped the ghost ship had now turned blood red.
The flickering red light was like the fury of ghosts, and the melodious songs they had sang had turned into angry roars.
Henry's eyes couldn't help but show a hint of surprise. Even those sea divers who could control the ocean couldn't do this!
Knut was walking towards him when Henry asked, "What did you do?"
"I attacked them," Knut's face crinkled with a deep smile. "Clearly, I succeeded! Good heavens, the ghosts' emotions can be judged by their colors! Green seems to indicate pleasure, while red signifies rage!"
Henry was unable to empathize with him, and simply asked coldly:
"So, what are you planning to do?"
"Of course, we'll board the ship!" Knut said with a laugh. "To catch a ghost, getting close to it is the prerequisite."
"Are you kidding me? How are we supposed to step on souls?!"
"Can't you see? The only thing that isn't a ghost is that ship!" Knut said. "According to the records, a soul cannot exist alone in the world; it must find a place to reside, and that ship is where the Ghost Corps resides."
Henry nodded: "Then how can we catch the ghost?"
"They also rely on something else; if you control their thing, you control the ghost, and that thing—"
"—On the ghost ship!"
Henry guessed the answer halfway through Knut's sentence and then continued the conversation.
Knut smiled and nodded, and Henry understood what to do.
He began to steer the ship and continue approaching the ghost ship.
When the ships behind him were close enough, Henry intended to give the order—
Just as I was about to shout, I heard a clear call:
"Ready—"
That was Benson's voice.
Henry turned his head and saw that Benson had already led a row of men and was standing beside the fender.
And in the hands of those shrimp, they all held hooks and ropes.
Then, Benson gave the order:
"put!"
All the pirates threw out their grappling hooks, which landed on the deck instead of continuing to fall.
Old Knut was right, the ship is a physical object!
Then, the ropes tightened, and the boat began to shake.
Before long, the two gold coins and the ghost ship successfully docked.
Benson stepped forward, bowed, and asked:
"Boss, leave the ship to me."
Henry grinned. When did he and Benson become so in sync?
That's right, Benson is no longer that little shrimp who just swaggered around Henry.
Henry could indeed rest assured that the matter was in Benson's hands.
Henry handed the helm back to the old sailor, then patted Benson on the shoulder and nodded.
Then he walked toward Knut: "You said that ghosts can attack a person's soul."
"Therefore, my people will shield your soul."
"And my men."
But Knut said, "I don't recommend you bring too many people up."
Why?
"Because they can't help," Knut said. "Only supernatural powers can harm ghosts; others will only cause chaos."
Since Knut had said so, Henry had no choice but to nod in agreement.
As far as Henry knew, he seemed to be the only one on the ship who possessed extraordinary powers.
Henry had Knut's men cast a shield around himself.
The young man's hand was enveloped in a ball of white flame, and then he pushed forward, striking Henry in the chest.
Henry immediately felt a warmth emanating from his soul, and he knew that this ability was useful.
With everything ready, Henry went to the fender, grabbed the rope, and swung onto the deck of the ghost ship.
Cyril then summoned Miko and had all the wizards who had boarded the ship sent to the ghost ship as well.
Micoe was a strongman, but never underestimate the strength of an archer's arms; Cyril lifted Knut with one hand.
He swung onto the ghost ship with his other hand.
After the delivery was completed, Henry sent Micocilier back to the Two Gold Coins.
Losing two key players here is a bad deal for Henry.
At this moment, the battle had already begun.
Those red, transparent ghosts also held soul-shaped weapons in their hands.
There were axes, longswords, and even war bows—
Soul-shaped arrows shot from those warblers, flying straight toward Henry.
Henry swung his axe just in time, trying to cut the arrows down into the air.
He was not a powerful martial artist, and had hardly trained his physical skills in recent years.
Henry had experienced no fewer than a hundred battles, both large and small, and his combat experience was definitely on par with that of a mid-level warrior.
His axe struck the ghost arrow with pinpoint accuracy, however—
The axe blade easily passed through the ghost arrow, but Henry didn't feel like he had hit it.
Then, he saw the red spirit pierce through the axe and head towards his chest.
The arrow struck him in the chest, and he felt intense pain.
But the pain disappeared the next second.
Henry looked up at his chest, but there was no wound, no blood, and even his clothes were intact.
He also learned a few things from this experience.
The soul cannot directly harm physical objects through simple means.
However, spirit objects can harm the human soul.
The protective spell the wizard cast on him should have taken effect by now, otherwise the pain in Henry's chest wouldn't have disappeared so quickly.
But a wizard's defenses can't be without limits, and Henry can't take all the attacks head-on.
Henry began to observe how the wizards attacked.
Knut waved his hand upwards, and white shards of light appeared from his fingertips.
With the other hand pushing forward, a layer of light blue light film appeared, sending the light fragments forward.
Each time a speck of light struck the ghost, the red glow emanating from it became even more dazzling and vibrant.
Hearing the ghost's screams, Henry knew their attack had been effective.
The remaining wizards also seemed to have mastered this magic, and their attack methods were almost identical.
Henry deduced from this that this was a power they had specifically learned to deal with ghosts!
As he dodged the ghost's attacks, he ran towards Knut, and upon getting close, asked:
"Tell me, how can I deal with the ghost?"
Knut glanced at Henry and said, "Ghosts can be injured by supernatural powers, and any unmaterialized supernatural power is an effective means of attack."
"Not materialized?"
"For example, the magic circle being constructed, and the magical power being condensed in one's hands. However, this kind of attack method causes very limited damage."
"But it's better than nothing—"
As they were talking, Knut complained:
"Damn it!"
Henry asked, "What's wrong?"
"Even the special attack spells we've learned are far less effective against these ghosts than we imagined!"
"I don't want you to kill them all."
"This method cannot completely kill the ghost unless its possession is destroyed, but this spell consumes a huge amount of magical power; we can't hold out for long, listen, Navigator!"
Henry frowned: "What is it?"
"We're not very familiar with the ship's environment and can't move freely on board. We'll hold off these ghosts for you. You go into the cabin and find the objects the ghosts are attached to. As long as you inflict slight damage on those objects, the ghosts should return to them!"
Henry understood that there was very little he could do to help if he stayed on deck.
Since Knut had said so, Henry didn't waste any more words. He nodded slightly and then ran down to the cabin.
Several ghosts tried to follow, but the wizard blocked them all for Henry.
Upon entering the cabin, Henry began to scan the surroundings, pondering what those ghosts were attached to.
But there was nothing special about the things in the cabin, and Henry couldn't tell the difference.
Since that's the case...—
Henry sat down on the ground, then gathered his inner magic, and blue tentacles spread out from Henry's palms.
He kept looking into his palm and injecting magic, causing the tentacles to grow rapidly.
These magical tentacles should have been able to easily crawl across the surface of any inanimate object, but suddenly they encountered resistance.
Henry looked over there and saw a silver goblet standing on a beer barrel.
This is it! Henry was certain.
Henry withdrew his magic and ran towards the wine glass.
Knut said that even a slight force is enough to render a ghost that is out in motion inactive.
But Henry's goals went beyond that.
He boarded this ship in order to obtain the final power in "Stars, Moon, Night and Enchantment".
Right now, he has to give it a try no matter what.
Henry extended his blue tentacles again and wrapped them around the beer barrel beneath the glass.
The tentacles began to draw a magic circle. Henry had tried this enchantment countless times, so there was no way it could go wrong.
The magic circle was only half-completed when a ghost scurried into the wine glass.
This means that his magic has already affected the object the ghost is attached to!
Ha! Henry was overjoyed! There was hope!
Henry became more focused, and the magic circle made no mistakes.
Finally, the magic circle was completed.
It started flashing blue light, and the flashing became faster and faster.
"Keep it bright! Keep it bright!" Henry encouraged himself. "If I can become constantly bright, it means the enchantment is successful, and I will finally have the face to see the curator!"
As Henry held his breath, the magic circle—
Broken—
Henry stood there, stunned.
What's going on?
Henry was momentarily speechless; he didn't know why this was happening.
He frantically searched for other objects to attach to and conducted more enchanting experiments.
I tried again and again, but it all ended in failure. Why? Why is this happening?!
Henry couldn't understand it at all.
The fact that all the wizards had somehow entered the cabin meant that the ghosts had all been dealt with.
But I, Henry, am extremely distressed as to where I went wrong.
Could it be that our previous assumptions about the thoughts of stargazers were also wrong?
But if that's not the case, what is the stargazer afraid of? Why doesn't he tell his assistant all the details?
Henry couldn't figure it out, but he didn't have time to think about it anymore.
Cyril, who was supposed to stay on the Two Gold Coins, also ended up in the ghost ship's cabin.
He stood before Henry and bowed: "Chief."
Henry mustered his strength; Cyril wouldn't have approached him for no reason, there must be something new going on.
"What's wrong?"
"maritime."
Henry climbed onto the deck and looked in the direction Cyril was pointing.
It was a ship, and Henry exclaimed in surprise:
"Oh my god—"
It was an old ship; Henry could tell at a glance that it had been in service for many years.
And he could not forget the statue on the prow.
Cyril asked, "Chief, do you recognize him? Who is he?"
Henry never imagined he would have that name mentioned again:
"Loyal dog—"