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Chapter 103

The other three members weren’t so composed. Marianne and Esther still remembered that day from eight years ago. Lorelei, though she wasn’t at the site of the incident, had lost her master, her family. And Gallano had lost his last remaining relative, his older brother Dentuso.

“So it was the Pequod. I thought it looked familiar,” Marianne said, looking relatively calm. While the incident was like an old scar for the other members, she had witnessed it herself and spent the last eight years persevering through countless struggles. Her situation was different from Esther, who had grown stagnant in her progress due to the trauma, and from Lorelei and Gallano, who were only ever informed of their relatives’ deaths and nothing more.

“Captain Ahab...” Esther recalled the old gentleman’s face, which was growing dimmer and dimmer in her memory. She rubbed her eyes as they brimmed with tears.

While Aquamarine’s three leaders were all moody, Ahab was the only one who could keep them in line. He even scolded Njord. And as exhausting as it was to clean up after Dentuso and Hyne when they caused trouble, he would chuckle and say it reminded him of the vigor and energy he used to have in the old days.

“Sniffle. Master...” After Lorelei lost her parents at a young age and wandered around as an orphan, Hyne took her in as her apprentice. Lorelei’s master was the one who’d told her that she had a gift for magic and that her hair was a golden blonde underneath the dust and ash.

When she heard that Hyne was dead, it didn’t feel real.

Her master had seemed as if she could defeat any opponent in the world. And yet, on one random morning, Lorelei was told that she would never see her again. Even to this very day, she hadn’t been able to fully accept it, but now that she knew what the phantom ship was, the grief swept over her. Teardrops dripped from Lorelei’s big doe-like eyes.

“If the phantom ship had been the Essex instead of the Pequod, maybe I would’ve seen my older brother. You know, the position of captain has never suited him,” Gallano muttered to himself as he looked out across the sea.

As befitting of his name, Dentuso “of the Storm” preferred to run wild on his own rather than stand above others and give orders. So, he would always reject captain and leadership positions and lead the vanguard as a lone spearman.

Gallano suddenly burst out into a short laugh when he tried to picture Dentuso in a captain’s uniform. Then he let out a heavy sigh.

Frances gave the three of them time to process their grief. Lorelei couldn’t stop crying, but Esther was able to compose herself first and comfort the other mage. Only then did the tears stop.

The phantom ship was far behind them now.

“Decelerate. Reset output limiter. Automatic routing.” With a few commands from Frances, the vessel slowed down.

The Aquamarine’s engine wasn’t so fragile as to be overloaded with this amount of strain, but there was no benefit in abusing it. A masterpiece like the Aquamarine required maintenance fees proportional to its value.

Frances checked their course one last time and turned to the others. “Now, allow me to tell you about the phantom ship, the Pequod.

In the case that we need to prepare for something unexpected, I ask for your understanding if we cannot leave the wheelhouse.”

If it turned out that they hadn’t lost the phantom ship and it came after them, they needed to distance themselves from it as fast as possible.

Jack Russell nodded in agreement before raising a question. “Why don’t you begin by telling us why the Pequod came after the Aquamarine as soon as it spotted it?”

“Indeed,” Esther concurred. “There shouldn’t be any reason for the Pequod to seek vengeance against the Aquamarine.”

At that, the other members each came up with their own ideas. In the first place, people were skeptical of the very existence of phantom ships, and there were barely any records they could reference, so a substantial amount of imagination was needed to ponder the question.

Leonard thought back to the memories of his past life.

“Russell,” he said.

“Hm?”

“If I recall correctly, phantom ships are a type of vengeful spirit. In that case, how do they behave when the target of their vengeance is not nearby?” he asked.

The Archmage thought about it for a moment. “There’s a large possibility that they would behave as they did when they were active, particularly right before they sank.”

“On that day, Aquamarine poured all their power into sealing the Rift before they were ambushed, I believe. In that case, it would make sense for the Pequod to not only enter the Corrupted Spirit Legion but also seal it, no?” Leonard pointed out.

“Indeed! You may be right. The phantom ship has no material form, so it would have been able to resist most of the attacks from the spirits. And since it has unlimited stamina, the battle would have been swift,” Russell added.

In murim, supernatural entities weren’t uncommon. Unlike in ancient times, spirits were now much weaker and had far fewer capabilities, so they posed no threat to martial arts masters. Evil spirits that could be dangerous to the living could easily be taken care of by the average martial artist.

From his vagabond days, Yeon Mu-Hyuk had also had experience dealing with supernatural entities When it came to entities such as poltergeists and possessive spirits, the first step was figuring out their pattern of behavior.

Vengeful spirits’ primary objective is exacting revenge... but if they cannot find the target of their resentment, they tend to fixate on their habits and relationships from when they were living.

If Leonard was correct, then the Pequod approaching the Aquamarine wasn’t an act of hostility. He had the most heightened senses out of anyone on the ship, and he hadn’t sensed any malice or bloodlust even though he had sensed someone as powerful as Commander Fabian. If there was even a hint of animosity, he wouldn’t have missed it.

“In that case, it may be that the

Pequod unconsciously followed the Aquamarine and treated it as its flagship according to the memories of its past life,” Russell muttered to himself.

Esther’s ears perked up. “Master! How likely is it that Captain Ahab and the crew kept their memories and consciousness? Can’t the strongest undead entities maintain their ego?”

“I don’t know about the crew, but it’s very possible that’s the case for Ahab. With his level of power, it would not surprise me if he had become a death knight,” her master replied.

Esther was encouraged by his response and took it a step further. “And there’s no black magic that’s controlling or limiting the movements of the phantom ship! If Captain Ahab is still himself and follows the Aquamarine as he did in his past life... don’t you think we can get the phantom ship on our side?”

“...”

It was a dangerous idea, but Russell didn’t immediately refute it. On a theoretical level, Esther’s suggestion was entirely logical. Phantom ships were rare, but they were undead entities and followed the same fundamental principles. If the undead still had free will, it was possible that the phantom ship would assist Aquamarine as an ally from its past life.

“No,” Frances said flatly. “I am not as well-versed in magical theory as you two, but I do know that undead entities are very unpredictable. They are fundamentally tied to the loathing and resentment of the person they were born from. Knowing how powerful Captain Ahab is, we cannot let our guard down. That is why I reversed our course even though I had recognized the Pequod.”

“B-But Fran, we can’t know for sure. Even if they don’t join us, wouldn’t it be okay to talk to them once?” Esther stuttered.

“Like Esther said, it could be fine,” Lorelei added.

“And if it’s not?” Frances said in a low voice.

“Huh...?”

“Captain Ahab and the crew of the Pequod were Aquamarine’s top fighters during our prime. If they suddenly become our enemy, we will suffer great losses or even be eradicated,” she pointed out.

The Aquamarine was a more advanced vessel than the Pequod, but if they were close enough to engage and a battle broke out, the difference between them mattered little. Among the four masterpieces in the Alliance, the Aquamarine already had inferior combat capabilities, and on top of that, its crew was significantly weaker than the Pequod’s. The Aquamarine’s advantages would be reduced, and they could be trapped.

As their leader, Frances was responsible for their lives. She couldn’t gamble with their lives and risk killing them based on some unfounded hope.

“For now, you can return to your quarters while I sort through the situation. If we find a surefire method of bringing the Pequod on our side as Esther suggested, we will discuss this at the time,” the captain ordered.

Esther nodded. Now that she thought about it, Frances should have been most affected by the sighting, but she was the one who had become emotional first. Esther felt embarrassed.

The Pequod

had become a phantom ship. With this revelation in mind, each member seemed to have a lot to think about, and as soon as they dispersed, they all returned to their individual cabins. Only Marianne stayed behind in the wheelhouse to be by Frances’s side.

Leonard glanced at them, then left.

There’s no one better than Marianne at comforting Frances.

He wanted to learn more about this Ahab, whom he’d been able to sense from several kilometers away. But that could come later.

Leonard had become a bit more tactful than he was in his past life.

* * *

It took less than a day for the Aquamarine to return to where they had departed from, Atlantis City, by taking the shortest route. When they docked, the sea looked brighter than before.

The entire crew headed to Bermuda’s headquarters. They had a lot to think about after encountering the Pequod, but their achievements were by no means insignificant. As soon as they restored their Rank A status, they had sealed two Rifts and returned safely, without any casualties.

Naturally, the news turned the entire Alliance upside down.

“Aquamarine has returned to its former glory!”

Eight years wasn’t a short period of time, but it wasn’t too long either. There was no small number of people who remembered Aquamarine’s golden days and yearned for its return.

Above all, it was an emotional occasion.

The daughter of the former captain returned to her rightful place after losing her father and her comrades and toiled for nearly a decade with only her bodyguard by her side.

The younger brother of the Storm had a fresh start after living like a deadbeat.

The successor of “Wave Catcher” Hyne made a comeback.

There were even rumors about the genius swordsman Leonard, who had single-handedly defeated the scumbag Conrad, who’d been harassing Aquamarine.

It had been a while since there was so much to talk about, and gossipers kept chattering even as their voices grew hoarse.

“Captain Njord’s legacy has finally been restored!”

“Apparently, Gallano had been training intensely in secret this whole time to fill his older brother’s position! And for eight years at that!

“Who was the one who’d said the Wave Catcher had no apprentice?! Look at how much that beauty has gone through! She isn’t even thirty yet, but she’s already a Class 6 mage. She’s basically already the second Wave Catcher!”

“I heard that the genius swordsman Leonard was actually a descendant of the Cardenas family. From the moment he locked eyes with Princess Frances, he fell in love and eloped with her!”

“And I heard that the Magic Tower’s Chief Elder officiated their marriage!”

There was no end to the absurdity of the rumors. Ten percent of them were exaggerated truths, another ten percent were truth mixed with fiction, and the remaining eighty percent were completely false. This tended to occur whenever people gossiped, but when there was stirring news, it occurred to an even greater extent.

The expedition team that everyone thought only remained in legend had made a comeback.

Considering how brutally and thoroughly Aquamarine had been annihilated, naturally, the perpetrators were unsettled. Even the top officials of Bermuda were stunned.

“...They have far surpassed our expectations.”

Several members of the Council’s Rift Preservation Faction sat around a table. Gordon Haywood’s seat was empty.

Pablo was the one who’d called the meeting.

“We need an intervention,” he said, eyes glowing blood red in the shadows, unable to suppress his bloodlust.