That was the "captain" of the Obsidian, Cristo Barberi - a mass of disordered matter that could hardly be associated with the "human body", a pile of... fakes that floated up from the deep sea.

He seemed to be completely clueless about his condition, and... there seemed to be something wrong with his thinking.

He was unaware of the passage of time, nor could he perceive the distortion of his own flesh and blood. Having lost all vision, most of his sense of touch and unable to move, he seemed too calm, as if... he was trapped in some strange state of inertia.

The mass of biological tissue that was slightly wriggling and expanding was still making hoarse, low sounds. "Crysto Barberi" greeted the people who entered the room, asking about the current status of the Obsidian and what had happened.

When Nina saw this strange and terrifying scene, she let out a low cry of surprise, but quickly held it back, covered her mouth with one hand, and subconsciously took two steps back.

This scene was a bit too exciting for her, who was only seventeen years old.

"The Obsidian had an accident, but we don't know the cause yet," Duncan answered while thinking about what to say in response to the question from "Captain Crystal." "We were just passing by."

"Oh, that's too bad... I've been trapped here and have no idea what's going on on the ship," the biological tissue stuck to the door sighed regretfully, "Is everything else okay? Where are the crew and passengers? Have you found them?"

"...No, but we didn't find any bodies either. They may have fled," Duncan said casually. "Only the door of this room was locked. We heard you knocking."

"I've been knocking on this door. It's the only thing I can touch in the dark," Captain Crystal said. "May the storm goddess Gemona bless you. I hope everyone else is safe..."

The northern city-states are the domain of Bartok, the god of death, but on the vast ocean, the authority of the Storm Goddess is undoubtedly paramount - captains, regardless of their origins and beliefs, will pray to the Storm Goddess when they go out to sea.

While listening to each other's prayers, Vanna and Morris frowned at the same time.

This... thing that is obviously a product of distortion can actually say the name of God correctly and even pray conscious?

Duncan obviously noticed this, and he also remembered some information about the Abyss Project that he had learned from Tirian during his previous conversation.

During the period when the Abyss Project went out of control, the clones that emerged from the "Submersible No. 3" that surfaced one after another from the deep sea had no reason and no ability to communicate.

Even the original replica, even the "fake" that looked the closest to a human, only uttered a few indistinct whispers!

This was a very important piece of information from the beginning. Based on this, Tirian made a judgment that the out-of-control supernatural phenomenon in the Frost Deep Sea could only replicate a fake without reason and soul. However, this... twisted thing in front of him, although it seemed to have some problems with its thinking and cognition, obviously had normal reason and memory, and could even communicate with people fluently.

What went wrong?

Is it because the Obsidian is not a replica of the Submersible No. 3 as initially speculated? Is it because the distortion on the ship has another reason? Or is it because the out-of-control extraordinary phenomenon of the Frost Deep has undergone new changes after half a century, and now the replica it has created has begun to have intelligence?

or……

Duncan quietly looked at the "Captain Crystal" stuck on the door panel.

In other words, this mass of biological tissue really contains the captain's consciousness - for some reason, his soul was stuffed into this twisted replica.

The more Duncan thought about it, the more he felt that this was the most likely explanation.

"Are you still there?" Perhaps because Duncan had been silent for too long, Crystal's voice could be heard from the biological tissue again, "Can you help me get out of this place? Or... is my current condition actually very bad? Is it... severe nerve damage?"

Duncan sighed.

He knew he had to tell the other person the truth - even if it was a cruel thing to do.

There have always been countless cruel things happening on the vast ocean.

But just as he was about to speak, Vanna's voice suddenly sounded from the side, interrupting his action: "Mr. Crystal, your condition is indeed not good. We can't move you now. You may need to stay here for a while - after we finish searching other areas, we will find a way to help you."

Duncan conveyed his doubts to Vanna with his eyes, and the latter raised her hand and pointed to the wall across the room.

There was a huge hole in the wall, and opposite the hole was a sloping passage leading to somewhere unknown. It was dark and strange inside.

Duncan immediately understood what Vanna meant.

There are still too many unexplored areas of this ship - until we figure out what happened to the Obsidian, we can't be completely sure of the status and origins of this "Captain Christo".

It would be best to stabilize this strange "replica" first, complete the search and investigation of the entire ship, and then consider how to arrange it.

Duncan nodded slightly.

Professionals are professionals. It’s obvious that they have the professional acumen that comes from dealing with all kinds of heresies and evil spirits.

"Okay... I understand," Krystal's voice sounded, with some regret and uneasiness, "I'll wait here. But how long will you be gone?"

"It may take several hours, but we will be back as soon as possible," Vanna said, "Don't worry, we won't give up on you. Although your condition is not good, nothing will go wrong in the short term. Just stay still, calm down, and wait for a while."

"Well... OK, you guys go quickly and come back soon."

The mass of squirming and expanding biological tissue became quiet.

He seemed quite anxious about his condition, but after Vanna expressed her attitude, he was quite cooperative and incredibly calm.

Is this the Captain's nature? Or is this also the result of his distorted thinking and cognition? Duncan doesn't know.

Now, everyone's attention was focused on the large hole in the wall at the end of the room.

Of course, there would not be such a hole in a normal room, let alone a crooked ramp hidden in the hole - this hole is obviously the result of the distortion of the internal structure of the obsidian.

It looks deep and long, where will it lead to?

Duncan passed through the upside-down and disordered rooms and came to the big cave. He stuck his head and looked inside, only to see that the interior of the cave was deep and dark. A passage that seemed to be made up of a cabin corridor and several twisted stairs extended downward at an angle. Occasionally, there was a flow of air inside, as if there were more passages or larger spaces at the bottom.

He stepped inside, and the others followed.

Ai, the pigeon with spiritual flames burning all over his body, once again became the searchlight for the team's progress. Under the illumination of the spiritual flames, this already deep and gloomy corridor looked even more eerie.

"The distortion and chaos down here seem to be even more serious than up there..."

Morris raised his head, glanced at the top of the passage which was dimly lit by the interweaving of light and shadow, and spoke thoughtfully.

Above the passage, one could vaguely make out the chaotic and overlapping structures: stair railings, hatches that came from nowhere, mechanical structures, pipes and wires, and even tables, chairs and furniture.

If the upper cabins still had some semblance of normal structure, then the ramp leading to the depths of the Obsidian was simply a pile of debris formed by crushing and gluing everything together. It was like a chaotic nightmare that continued to extend into the bowels of this steel behemoth.

"It seems that the closer you get to the center of the 'replica', the lower the accuracy of the copy," Vanna said, and then added, "If this ship is really a copy of the 'Submersible No. 3'."

"I'm going to talk to Tirian later," Duncan said casually in front, "He might be interested in what happened on the Obsidian."

"But I think he will be scared to death by you before that," Vanna couldn't help but mutter, "I talked to him and I feel that he has a lot of psychological trauma."

Duncan slowed down and looked back at Vanna.

Vanna suddenly felt a little awkward: "Did I say something wrong?"

"No," Duncan laughed, "I'm just sighing that you can finally communicate with me normally - this is the right feeling."

Fanna opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something, but at this moment, the fire emitted by Ai in front of her suddenly dimmed, and then everyone's vision widened.

The passage has reached its end.

There is indeed a wide open space below.

"Is it the cargo hold?" Morris frowned, looking at the open and dim place in front of him. He saw that the space in front of him was flat and open. Compared with the extremely chaotic ramp before, this place was incredibly "tidy", but he could not tell the original purpose of this space at all.

"Could it be that the deepest part of this ghost ship is just a cavity?" Nina looked around and muttered nervously, "Is everything piled up on the top two floors?"

No one could answer her questions.

Alice looked around curiously and took two steps forward.

"Why?"

Miss Doll suddenly stopped, uttered a short cry of surprise, then rubbed the soles of her shoes against the ground below her feet in astonishment.

"I think I stepped on something!" She turned around and said to Duncan innocently, "It's sticky and a bit disgusting..."

"Sticky?" Duncan frowned, walked quickly to Alice's side, and looked at the ground where she had just stepped.

He saw a dark, mud-like substance, and in the middle of the black, sticky substance he could vaguely see Alice's shoe prints.

But the shoe prints are disappearing fast.

This ball of "mud" is wriggling!

It's alive!