Chapter 1 The Upside-Down Corridor

Duncan, with Aery on his shoulder, was the first to step through the large hole, entering the upside-down corridor. The others followed, with Vanna bringing up the rear, guarding against any surprise attacks.

The team cautiously moved through the corridor, each member constantly watching their surroundings and carefully observing the structure of the passage.

Upon entering, they noticed details they hadn't seen at the entrance.

The corridor wasn't just upside-down—it was twisted and bizarre.

Doors of mismatched sizes were randomly embedded in the walls on either side, some right-side up, others inverted. Here and there, circular portholes could be seen, but the windows either faced walls or other doors and windows. Strange geometric protrusions jutted out from the walls or floor, appearing like room structures from elsewhere, wrongly fused into the corridor.

The state of the Obsidian was like the internal organs of a giant beast that had been butchered by a terrifying doctor. All its viscera were stacked and connected in a chaotic, twisted manner. Rooms intersected, doors were askew, and exits and entrances randomly connected to this seemingly main corridor. And at the end of this corridor... who knows what lurked in the dimness.

The interior of the ghost ship was silent, save for the sound of their footsteps echoing against what should have been the ceiling, now the "floor." The sound reverberated through the ship, with what sounded like other noises mixed in.

Nina and Shirley seemed somewhat nervous, but Alice was in good spirits—not out of courage, but from a severe lack of common sense. All her experience with ships and sailing came from the equally bizarre Forsaken, so she didn't find anything frightening about the ghost ship.

They walked forward for an unknown length of time. The long corridor seemed to stretch endlessly into the darkness, and the area ahead grew increasingly dim. Duncan poked the pigeon on his shoulder. "Light."

Aery immediately screeched, "Take up this solar battle-axe! Embrace the glory of battle!"

With the pigeon's squawking, a bright green flame rose from its body, and the blazing fire dispelled the dimness in the corridor.

Vanna stared in astonishment, muttering to Maurice, who was walking in front of her, "That pigeon... it can be used like that?"

Maurice's tone was nonchalant. "Captain often uses it like that—sometimes when the pigeon isn't around, he uses himself for light."

Vanna: "…?"

But before she could further marvel at the vast difference between the "legendary Captain Duncan" and the real Captain Duncan, a sudden sound interrupted everyone's actions.

"Knock, knock, knock…"

The muffled knocking seemed to come from behind a nearby door!

Everyone stopped instantly, their gazes converging on the direction of the sound.

It was a blue door with the words "Captain's Cabin" written on it.

In a normal ship's structure, the captain's cabin wouldn't be in this location. However, on this ghost ship, which was completely chaotic, with various cabin entrances randomly piled together, any door could appear anywhere.

"Knock, knock, knock…"

The knocking sounded again, louder than before and more urgent.

It was as if a survivor of a shipwreck was hiding behind the door, anxiously pounding to attract attention after hearing the sounds in the corridor.

Vanna silently reached for the greatsword behind her, Shirley slightly raised the black chains in her hand, Nina hid behind Alice, and Alice raised her hands to cover her head.

Duncan expressionlessly approached the door.

The knocking continued incessantly.

But Duncan didn't try to open the door. He simply bent a finger and knocked twice on the door himself.

The knocking inside suddenly stopped, as if the person making the noise was stunned. After a few seconds of silence, a hoarse, low voice broke the silence, speaking from behind the blue door: "Is anyone... out there?"

"Yes," Duncan said calmly.

"Ah, that's great! I'm the captain of the Obsidian. I don't know what happened on the ship, but I'm trapped," the hoarse voice immediately said. "Good sir outside the door, what's your name? Can you help me open the door?"

"Just call me Duncan," Duncan said, while pressing his hand down behind him, signaling the others to stand down. "Before opening the door, I'd like to confirm something—are you really the captain of the Obsidian?"

"Of course! My name is Kristoff Barbeli. You can check my name and document number with the Port Authority. My documents are in the room," the voice said immediately. "But… this damned door won't budge for some reason, and I really have no way to get out and prove my identity to you…"

"Next question," Duncan said, ignoring the ramblings of the person inside the door, and continued, "What year is it?"

"This year?" The voice inside the door paused, probably finding the question strange, but still answered, "It's 1894, of course. Is there a problem with that?"

Duncan looked back at Maurice, who nodded slightly.

1894 was the year the Obsidian was wrecked.

Thinking of the shipwreck, Maurice suddenly stepped forward and asked, "Excuse me, Captain, do you know if there was a passenger named Brown Scott on your ship?"

"Passenger?" The voice behind the blue door hesitated. "I can't remember the name of every passenger on board, but… are you talking about Brown Scott? Ah, I remember now. The folklorist? He was a respected man. I spoke with him a few times. As I recall, he was a very thin gentleman, his hair and beard always neatly groomed. He was very interested in the funeral customs of various city-states, and he was also interested in that frozen sea further north of Frostland…"

Listening to the voice coming from behind the blue door, Maurice nodded slightly and whispered to Duncan, "No discrepancies."

"Clear-headed, complete memory, can accurately state his name," Vanna, who hadn't spoken until now, suddenly broke the silence. "But that doesn't rule out an evil creature that has absorbed human memories and emotions to set a trap. Such things are not uncommon on ghost ships."

"Oh, that doesn't matter. As long as it actually possesses the captain's memory," Duncan said nonchalantly. "We can try reasoning with monsters first—if reasoning doesn't work, we'll use force. We can always get through to them."

Vanna was stunned. "…That's true."

Duncan placed his hand on the handle of the blue wooden door.

"I'm going to open the door, Mr. Barbeli," he said to the inside.

Then, he turned the handle—unlike the completely rusted cabin doors they had seen before, this door showed no signs of damage. When he turned the handle, there was a slight sound of the lock turning.

The door opened.

Under everyone's slightly tense gazes, Duncan pushed the door open.

A topsy-turvy room appeared before them.

All the walls were crooked, the ceiling seemed to be collapsing, and the original furnishings in the room were randomly fused into the nearby walls and floor, as if buried in wood and metal, with only incomplete parts such as half a table or half a chair exposed.

The wall directly facing the door had a huge hole, and the darkness on the other side of the hole was bottomless, and no one knew where it led.

And the topsy-turvy room was empty.

Duncan glanced at the empty room, but the next second, he heard the voice of the "Kristoff Barbeli" captain coming from behind the blue door again: "Ah, have you opened the door? I think I felt a jolt, but this door is still unmoving in my hand… Am I having some kind of perception or cognitive problem? Can you help me? I may have been trapped at sea for too long and I'm starting to show some bad symptoms. It would be even better if a priest was willing to lend a hand…"

Duncan frowned.

He walked into the chaotic room and slowly turned the door around, looking at the back of the door panel.

He saw the "Kristoff Barbeli".

A… "thing" like a broken, melted wax figure was attached to the door. In the deformed and collapsed structure, one could vaguely see an arm plastered against the door panel and a few strands of fiber connecting to the arm, as well as a large mass of "body" that was impossible to identify.

The horrible and twisted thing was fused with the door in this way. When Duncan looked at it, it was still slightly swelling and wriggling, and a hoarse, low voice came from some part of its structure.

"Ah, I can't see you. Have you come in? The room may be a bit messy. There was a big tremor before, and I haven't cleaned up the room since… My vision seems to be a little problematic, but it's not a big deal. The most troublesome thing now is that I can't move my body. I seem to have forgotten how to control my hands and feet—by the way, did you bring a doctor with you?"