Chapter 263: To Edward
The sea surface was very still.
There were no seagull cries, no surging waves, no roaring engine, the entire world seemed dead, shrouded in a kind of terrifying, absolute silence.
Endless dark clouds covered the sky, and between the sea and sky was filled with stagnant thin mist, wispy strands like cracks in space.
But Zhang Qian had no mind to observe these scenes; at this moment, his line of sight was completely occupied by a figure leaning on the deck guardrail.
Clearly that man was standing not far away, yet Zhang Qian couldn’t see his appearance clearly, couldn’t see his clothes.
It seemed this wasn’t a person at all, but the ghost ship itself manifested.
This was… the captain.
His stagnant mind began to operate, Zhang Qian’s eyes moved slightly, and he discovered that Yue Linhai had somehow arrived by his side.
The half-human half-ghost face seemed even more ferocious, the flesh on his face wriggling irregularly.
Obviously, suppressing the captain was not easy for him, to the point that he couldn’t even spare the mind to greet Zhang Qian.
“Must be faster…”
Zhang Qian didn’t dare delay, stepping toward the direction of the captain.
One step… two steps…
Clearly a very short distance, yet it gave a feeling of being impossible to cross.
It seemed close at hand, yet also like it could never be reached.
The stationary captain made no action, but Zhang Qian could vaguely feel a line of sight filled with malice, like a huge vortex on the sea surface, wanting to devour his spirit completely.
Under the immense pressure, Zhang Qian only felt his actions growing slower and slower, even gradually losing the strength to move forward.
The mist in his vision was still suspended in mid-air, time stop shouldn’t have ended, but why…
The surrounding air seemed to be gradually becoming sticky, from formless gas bit by bit turning thick, slowly making even breathing difficult.
Zhang Qian felt as if he were in the deep sea, the immense pressure bending his spine, the extremely dense icy cold seawater making it hard for him to move an inch.
In a daze, his vision gradually turned dark.
All the surrounding scenes were swallowed by the icy cold deep sea, only that figure existing eternally.
The previous instant like an unshakeable mountain peak, the next second turning into a massive cruise ship wanting to crush Zhang Qian…
“Hmph…”
A cold snort came from behind, like thunder from a clear sky, abruptly startling Zhang Qian awake.
The various scenes before his eyes vanished, the captain did nothing, merely standing there.
Only then did Zhang Qian notice that there seemed to be some icy cold liquid on his face—was it tears? Or fresh blood?
He didn’t wipe it, didn’t turn to look, merely lowered his head the instant his consciousness recovered, not daring to look straight at the captain’s figure again.
His stiff body moved again, his right hand slowly shifting, reaching into his pocket to grasp that icy cold envelope.
It was called icy cold, but compared to Zhang Qian’s current body temperature, the envelope’s temperature seemed even a bit higher.
He could even feel wisps of warmth seeping into his body along his skin, along his pores.
Very comfortable, but not a good sign.
This was a precursor to the body nearing death; it was said that every person who froze to death would feel warmth in their final moments before dying, and some frozen corpses would even have a creepy smile on their faces.
Zhang Qian didn’t know what expression was on his face, but he knew he must look extremely wretched now.
True Qi had gone on strike again, but this time not because of fear, but because of utter suppression.
The interior of the ghost ship held absolute suppression over the supernatural, and as the master of the ghost ship, the captain undoubtedly pushed this ability to the limit.
Even in an unconscious state, even in stagnant time, that eerie suppression still broke through the seal of time, slowly seeping in.
At this moment, Zhang Qian felt as helpless as an ordinary person, able to rely only on this frail body that could lift a 500-jin barbell with one arm.
The pressure on his body was still increasing, and Zhang Qian had no doubt that the captain at full strength wouldn’t even need to act, merely relying on this thing akin to a field to crush him to death.
But the current it seemed powerless to stop Zhang Qian’s advancing steps.
Staring at that immense pressure, Zhang Qian finally stood before the captain.
The edge of his line of sight could already see the dull leather boots on the ground, and the two straight trouser legs.
Although not yet face-to-face, this distance was enough.
The right hand grasping the envelope slowly lifted, stiffly pressing that slightly wrinkled envelope against him.
Zhang Qian had thought he would fail, because he could feel some existence locking onto his body, and in this space, the only possibility was the captain.
Had the captain broken free of the restraint?
Zhang Qian didn’t know, and didn’t dare confirm.
He merely strained to extend his stiff arm forward, letting the envelope inch closer to that pure white uniform.
But unexpectedly, nothing happened.
The captain didn’t reach out at the last moment to stop Zhang Qian’s action, and the ghost ship remained obediently in the stagnant spacetime.
Zhang Qian muttered: “Yue Linhai ah… you finally came through once, damn it.”
His taut mind suddenly relaxed, and a smile involuntarily appeared on Zhang Qian’s face.
Although his body was still a bit sore, compared to the major task of imprisoning the captain, this bit of pain didn’t count as a price at all.
The next instant.
“Woo——”
A deafening foghorn sound suddenly rang out, like a bomb, flipping over the surrounding dead-still space.
Zhang Qian’s ears briefly went deaf, then suddenly became “noisy” again.
Gray mist in mid-air slowly flowed, the air gradually taking on a murderous atmosphere.
Perhaps Yue Linhai’s ability had reached its limit, or perhaps the captain’s ability had broken through the seal first; in any case, the ghost ship captain recovered his action again.
But it made no action, not even killing Zhang Qian who was like an ant, merely slightly raising a hand to grab the envelope stuck to its clothes.
【To Edward Smith】
A line of small words popped up one after another, as if locking onto the recipient.
This name had long been buried by history; most ghost controllers were accustomed to the title captain, few mentioning its real name.
The captain lowered his head to gaze at this deep yellow envelope; it had no emotion of doubt, merely trying to destroy this thing.
But it quickly gave up.
Because the brief contact had already let the captain understand the meaning represented by the envelope, and knew that destroying it now was meaningless.
