Mystery: I Married the Queen of Mystery.

Chapter 257: The Trunsoste Empire in the Deep Sea
The scene before him frightened Odysseus.

A dried corpse walked up the dim stairs.

As luck would have it, the light from the "aura tube" was shining on the face of the mummy.

The two ladies behind Odysseus covered their mouths tightly to prevent themselves from screaming.

The mummy wearing the captain's hat seemed to have seen Odysseus and the other three, and suddenly quickened his pace.

Odysseus suddenly had an idea and pushed Fili and Renata back to the room where they had been hiding.

After closing the door again, the footsteps outside were no longer urgent and returned to their normal walking speed.

As the footsteps approached, the two women began to tremble again.

It was really hard for them, as they encountered such a thing just on the second day of going out to sea.

If you just shout, the psychological pressure won't be so great.

But now I can’t scream or speak, I can only sob silently.

At the same time, Odysseus also found that the mummies curled up in the corner began to tremble, and even the one who committed suicide by hanging was shaking as if he wanted to jump down.

It can be seen how much psychological trauma this footsteps brought to them.

The footsteps stopped outside the door, and Odysseus quickly took out an "invisibility scroll", but he suddenly realized a very serious thing: how to use the scroll without reciting the spell?

But he immediately thought that as a "scroll professor", he didn't have to recite spells when using the scroll.

You only need to use your extraordinary power to use the scroll normally.

But if it is an extraordinary person from other paths, in addition to injecting spirituality into the scroll, a spell is definitely needed to open it.

Thinking of this, Odysseus threw out the scroll and silently said in his heart in ancient Hermetic language: Open!
The scroll was indeed broken, first forming a black vortex, and then the figures of Odysseus and the other three disappeared.

Odysseus signaled Fili to turn off the "Aura Tube", and the two sides faced each other quietly across a door.

Finally, the footsteps outside were heard again and the other party left.

The three people inside the door breathed a sigh of relief.

When Odysseus heard the footsteps outside going away, he was about to open the door, but was stopped by Fili and Renata.

The three people who had used the invisibility scroll could see each other.

Odysseus looked back and saw the two ladies shaking their heads desperately with tears on their faces.

Odysseus took out a pen and paper and wrote in his notebook: This is the only mummy on the ship that's still moving. There must be something special about it. I must follow it and see. You can stay here and wait for me.

After the two ladies finished reading, Odysseus closed the notebook and gently pushed open the door. It was still dark outside, and the footsteps of the mummy were still echoing outside.

Odysseus stepped forward and followed. Although he was afraid of something that he could see and touch, he would not retreat.

Because he knew that this kind of thing usually destroyed its existence at the material level, basically destroying the other party completely.

I'm afraid of the kind of thing that would make you look so miserable that you don't even know what the other person looks like.

After a brief struggle, the two ladies chose to follow.

After all, there are four mummies in strange conditions in the room, so it is safer to follow Odysseus.

The mummy wearing the captain's hat did not walk fast, and Odysseus was not in a hurry to chase it. He just followed it from a distance, listening to the footsteps.

When he came upstairs and passed the restaurant, Odysseus noticed that the postures of the mummies seemed to have changed!
Some of the mummies facing the stairs seemed to be looking at the position of Odysseus and others with their shriveled eyes.

But they were destined to see nothing because Odysseus and others were now invisible.

After passing the lighted restaurant, the three men came onto the deck again.

The sea breeze outside was still cold, making them feel as if they had suddenly returned to the normal world.

It was still pitch black outside, and the ship seemed to be sailing in endless darkness.

It seems like we will never reach the next island and will be drifting on the sea forever.

It seems that the ghost ship has reunited with the "Argo" again.

Squeak~Bang~
There were sounds of doors opening and closing from above.

Odysseus saw that lights were on on the second floor of the deck, which should be the captain's room.

Walking quickly up the stairs, Odysseus gestured to the two ladies behind him, asking them to keep some distance.

Then Odysseus slowly opened the door, as if it were blown open by the wind.

But when the door was half open, Odysseus saw a mummy wearing a captain's hat standing just inside the door.

Its dry eyes stared at Odysseus quietly, as if seeing through Odysseus's invisibility.

The two ladies at the back almost turned around and jumped into the water.

But Odysseus was not panicked. He had already reached into his briefcase, ready to give the other party a few scrolls at any time.

After two or three seconds of confrontation, the mummy wearing the captain's hat suddenly turned around and walked towards the spacious chair in the room.

The front of the seat is also the best position on the ship. There is a huge glass window through which you can see the sea in front of the ghost ship.

The captain's room is very large and contains living furniture such as a bed and a wardrobe.

There were three desks placed side by side in the middle of the room. On the desks were a nautical chart, and some surveying tools, notes, books, and apparently a telescope were scattered around.

Odysseus glanced at the motionless corpse sitting on the chair, then walked lightly to the desk.

There was indeed a telescope on the table. The moment Odysseus saw the telescope, his eyes suddenly became very deep, and his "Eye of Prying Eyes" quietly opened by itself.

An illusory corridor first formed in front of his eyes, and then the corridor quickly receded. While Odysseus was feeling a little dizzy, he arrived at the end of the corridor.

At the end is a huge glass window, which is the glass window in front of the mummy wearing a captain's hat.

Odysseus saw a city on the sea outside the glass window.

It was like a mirage, somewhat unreal. Shadows like spirits were walking around in the city, making it look very lively.

There seems to be an extremely huge ship under this maritime city.

It moved forward slowly, carrying the illusory city and wandering on the sea.

Then, the scene in front of Odysseus shattered, his vision recovered, and he returned to the captain's room of the ghost ship.

Odysseus, feeling a little dizzy, quickly took a look at the mummy. Seeing that it was still there motionless, Odysseus breathed a sigh of relief.

He stood for a while, holding on to the table. Feeling that his discomfort had eased somewhat, he immediately went to look at the nautical chart spread out on the table.

Judging from the route marked on the nautical chart, the ship had been constantly wandering in the eastern part of the Raging Sea, as if looking for something.

But now it is in the west side of the Violent Sea, and it is not clear why it came here again?
Odysseus took a quick look at the names of the books, all of which were about the Trunsost Empire. He quietly opened the notes, which were also notes left by the great nobles of the Trunsost Empire.

Finally, Odysseus set his sights on the unfolded logbook.

He didn't turn the pages, just looked at the open page.

Scribbled on it were the words: "...we found it. After three years at sea, we finally found it.

That's the "Trunsoest Empire"! The ship that holds the treasure of the Trunsoest Empire!

No one expected that it was so deep in the raging sea.

The environment here is too dangerous, and many crew members died inexplicably, but it was all worth it...

...This ship is so big, it looks like an island!
It looks very special, but I don't know how to communicate with the ghosts on this ship. If I rashly board the ship, it will be very dangerous...

...I don't know why, but the disaster came just like that. I seemed to hear a majestic voice saying: No talking here!

So, whoever speaks will die inexplicably!

The "Empire" is alive, no one can get close to it!

We have to get out of here fast! Otherwise we'll all die!

The majestic voice said again: The escaped ship will never be able to reach the shore.

The rough seas suddenly got even rougher, but we can make it through!
The solemn voice also said: The people on that ship, although on the sea, will die from dehydration.

We were losing water so quickly, we were dying! We were dying!
The ship had changed, and by the time we found out, it was too late!

We turned into mummies!

We can never leave this ship, and we can never reach shore!"

The last three lines were written in a very messy manner, and just one glance at them made Odysseus feel a little uncomfortable.

He also didn't expect that the ship would actually find the legendary "Trunsoest Empire".

It was said that it was a ship the size of a city, and all the wealth of the empire was transferred to that ship, but no one from the Trunsoest family boarded the ship.

The strange thing is that the ship just disappeared like that and no one knew where it went.

Even now, some people still claim to have seen the ghost ship on a foggy night.

Odysseus never expected that it was the "Trunsoste Empire" that turned the ship into a ghost ship.

However, the magnificent sound coming from the ship seemed to be more than just the ability of the "Arbitrator" path.

"Mute here" is also a capability of this channel.

But the last two sentences sound more like a curse!

Just as he was thinking about this, Odysseus seemed to sense something. He looked up and saw that the mummy wearing the captain's hat suddenly stood up and stared at Odysseus for two or three seconds.

This made Odysseus basically certain that although he was still invisible, the other party could see him.

Odysseus still did not act rashly. He knew very well that in this kind of environment, danger would suddenly erupt if one did something or even said a word that should not be said.

Now, although this ship is also dangerous, the real danger is lurking in the dark.

There is no need to attack rashly at this time.

The mummy came to the desk and stood opposite Odysseus.

This made the two ladies outside the door breathe rapidly, and they were worried about Odysseus, feeling like they were about to faint for the captain.

Odysseus confronted the mummy for two or three seconds, then suddenly picked up the pen on the desk and wrote in the blank space of the diary: Hello.

He wanted to see if the other party had any wisdom.

The mummy picked up a pen and wrote: Everyone must die.

Odysseus was stunned. This sentence looked very familiar. Was there a sentence "including myself" after it?
Odysseus wrote again: What happened to the ship?
When Odysseus saw this sentence in the logbook just now, he realized that this should be a very crucial piece of information.

The corpse wrote: Applying for entry into the port... It is alive...

Odysseus suddenly felt a chill on his back: The ship... is alive?
Then he realized that the mummy before him still retained some intelligence, but not much.

Odysseus also wrote: How to get rid of the ghost ship?
The mummy wrote: We are all dead and turned into mummies. Everyone who comes to this ship will also turn into mummies after a while.

Odysseus frowned, which didn't seem to answer his own question, but also seemed to answer it.

At least a hint is given: this ship is the key!

Odysseus wrote again: What is your last wish?
The mummy wrote: Resurrection.

Odysseus twitched his lips: Let's change to something else.

Mummy: Gone.

Odysseus finally wrote: Thank you.

As he spoke, he carefully walked around the desk and headed towards the door.

During this time, the mummy kept turning its head to look at Odysseus until the door of the captain's room closed.

When they came outside, the two ladies finally breathed a sigh of relief, and at the same time admired the captain's courage.

Odysseus did not leave the second floor immediately, but thought in the cool breeze, should he go back and use the "Spirit Wave Cannon" to greet the ship?

But the mummy's reminder may not be effective, or it is not ruled out that it may lie. After all, these mummies have been on the ship for so long and may have been completely controlled by the ship.

After a moment's thought, Odysseus took out his notebook and wrote: "Let's go find the rest of the crew first." The two ladies nodded, having no objection.

When Odysseus came to the restaurant for the third time, he noticed that the postures of the dozen or so mummies here had changed again.

It was as if they drank and ate heartily as soon as Odysseus left, and then as soon as the door was opened, they pretended to be dead.

After opening the "spiritual light tube", the group came to the floor below the deck again.

When Odysseus was halfway down the stairs, he heard someone running quickly below. He looked down vigilantly and saw Bazel running quickly from the stairs.

It seems that during the "intersection of the two ships" just now, the ghost ship captured Basel again.

After seeing Odysseus, Bazel was somewhat surprised, but immediately raised his index finger to his mouth.

Thanks to the popularization of Emperor Roselle, some gestures that Odysseus was very familiar with had already spread widely.

Just as Odysseus was wondering how Bazel knew not to make a sound, he saw a group of mummies crawling out from the stairs behind Bazel.

These mummies are different from the "Mummy Captain" mentioned above and the mummies in the restaurant. Their clothes are very tattered and they have obvious scars on their bodies.

They climb walls and roofs quickly like geckos, but they never take the stairs.

At that moment, it was as if a nest of reptiles ran out.

Odysseus took out a scroll but didn't throw it out immediately because these mummies didn't seem to be very aggressive at the moment.

Basel made the "silence" gesture again and covered his mouth and nose, indicating that he should not make any sound.

The group of mummies crawled over Basel's head and to his left and right sides at an extremely fast speed, then crawled towards the stairs, almost sticking to Odysseus and the other two, and quickly climbed up.

There were a lot of mummies, probably more than a hundred. Odysseus felt like it took him a long time to crawl past them all.

After these monstrous mummies left, Fili and Renata's legs went limp and they sat down on the stairs.

Bazel tiptoed forward and gestured in front of Odysseus.

Odysseus was stunned for a moment, then quickly took out a notebook and pen and handed them to the other party.

Balzer breathed a sigh of relief and wrote in his notebook: "They chase sounds. As long as you don't make a sound, they won't attack." Yi Laizhe was down there, trapped. I accidentally stepped on something and startled the mummies, so I didn't have time to help him.

Odysseus was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect that making too much noise would not work. He wrote: You lead the way, we will go down and take a look.

Bazel turned around and walked ahead, carefully going down the stairs. The corridor below was even darker and colder.

In the corridor of this floor, there are many remains of mummies. Some of them fell to the ground without a sound, while others only have half an arm or half a leg left, but they are still moving.

Odysseus frowned, realizing that those monster-like mummies were obviously different from the "Mummy Captain" and others.

In one of the rooms, Odysseus and others saw Ilezhe stuck in the hull. This room was a bit strange, with cylinders over one meter high and of varying thicknesses growing on the ground.

The surface of these columns was made of wooden floors, and Odysseus had the illusion that they did not look like something that should be on this ship.

After seeing Odysseus and others coming, Yi Laizhe, who was sitting in the middle of the room, just smiled bitterly because he couldn't communicate. One of his legs was stuck in a cylinder.

At the door, Odysseus gestured for everyone to wait outside. He entered the door and carefully observed one of the columns.

From the outside, they seemed to show no signs of life.

Then how did Yi Laizhe's leg get stuck in there?

Because Yilezhe did not make any gesture to stop him, Odysseus walked around the columns, came to Yilezhe, took out a pen and paper and wrote: How did you get trapped?

Then he handed the notebook and pen to Yi Laizhe, but Yi Laizhe did not reach out to take it, but continued to smile bitterly.

Odysseus was stunned and didn't understand what the other party meant.

Bang~
At this moment, the door was suddenly closed.

Odysseus realized that something was wrong and immediately threw out a "defense scroll".

He saw Yi Laizhe's figure quickly fade and eventually disappear. From the tops of all the cylinders, black, shriveled things covered with tentacles like anemones stretched out.

There are also fang-like barbs on the tentacles, which look very sharp when they grab the defensive magic circle.

If there were no defensive magic circle, these spikes would definitely cut through the skin and flesh, tearing off pieces of blood and blood.

Perhaps the other party's purpose is not to tear off the flesh and blood, but to suck out the blood and water in the body.

At this time, Odysseus realized that this was a very simple trap. After the ghost ship met a new ship at sea, because it captured people in batches, it presented the figure of a companion in this room, using this method to trick others into coming in to rescue.

The opponent's disguise was too real, and Odysseus, who had the "Eye of Prying Eyes", did not even notice it.

But now is not the time to think about this. Odysseus tried to throw out a "Sun Scroll". A strong light filled the room, and those black anemone-like things immediately shrank back into the cylinder.

With the help of the strong light, Odysseus looked inside carefully. The cylinder was surrounded by pieces of wooden floor, like a wooden barrel.

The black, soft, anemone-like creature was hidden at the bottom of the barrel.

But because the light was too strong, it still seemed to make it very uncomfortable, so it moved a little bit and then left from the bottom of the barrel, revealing a layer of illusory white substance at the bottom.

Those substances were flowing slowly like liquid. Suddenly, an eye appeared at the bottom of the barrel, staring at Odysseus coldly.

Odysseus quickly withdrew his gaze, checked his own condition, and breathed a sigh of relief when he found that there was nothing wrong.

While the bright light of the "Sun Scroll" was still on, Odysseus quickly walked to the door and opened it.

The moment the door opened, a mummy slowly approached Odysseus.

Odysseus quickly stepped back and took a closer look, only to find that the walls and ceiling of the corridor were covered with mummies.

The mummy just now was not rushing towards Odysseus, but it was lying on the door. Since the door opened inward, it gave the illusion that the mummy was rushing towards him.

Before Odysseus opened the door, the mummies seemed to be lying quietly in the corridor.

After the door was opened, the strong light inside made the mummies avoid it. Obviously, they also didn't like the scorching light.

But Basel and others have disappeared.

Since these mummies are lying here so obediently, it means that Basel and the others may be hiding.

Odysseus still did not attack these mummies, because although they looked ugly and a little scary, Odysseus wanted to throw a scroll at them.

But they have not shown any aggressiveness, or rather, the conditions that would allow them to attack have not been triggered.

Odysseus held a "defense scroll" in his hand and walked carefully to the corridor. Seeing that these monster-like mummies still did not attack him, Odysseus decided not to continue to meet up with Basel and others, but to explore the situation of the ship first.

Only after understanding the environment of the ship can we find an opportunity to escape from the ship completely.

Continuing forward, Odysseus found that the doors of many rooms on this floor were open, and inside were the cylinders of the previous room.

In one of the rooms, Odysseus saw that several cylinders had been kicked over and there was a large hole in the hull.

Odysseus immediately realized that Yilezhe might have escaped from here, but he didn't know whether he had successfully escaped.

Since the "Wind-Follower" can fly and dive, there is no need to worry too much about him.

Continuing forward, Odysseus saw at the stairs that there was a faint white light coming from the next floor, and it seemed that there were white figures walking around.

He looked down cautiously and saw some pure white illusory figures walking around, or rather floating around.

Those human figures are all spirits!

They walked around the corridor casually as if they were shopping, and their expressions looked very peaceful.

When they meet, they nod and stop as if they are having a conversation.

The doors on this floor are all open, and there are illusory figures inside, some standing and some sitting, which looks like a picture of normal life.

I don’t know if it’s due to the reflection of the light emitted by the spirit, but the walls of this floor seem to emit a faint white light, and there is a layer of flowing illusory liquid on the top.

Odysseus realized that this was exactly the flowing liquid he had just seen in the "barrel".

But there is no eye like before on it.

Odysseus carefully came to the corridor of this floor, nimbly avoiding the spirits and observing the situation here.

Suddenly, he found that there seemed to be a layer of dust on the ground. He squatted down to take a look and found that it was actually a layer of "dust from the vengeful spirits"!
Odysseus looked at the spirits around him. With so many spirits gathered here, it was not surprising to see this thing.

"Dust of the Wrathful Spirits" is a kind of undead, very high-level spiritual material. Odysseus remembered that 20 grams of it was sold for as much as 500 pounds!
Odysseus took a deep breath, quickly took off his coat, tore off the sleeves and scraped it here and there, and soon gathered a small pile of about 50 grams.

There was still a lot of dust on the ground, but Odysseus did not continue to collect it because the most important thing now was to observe this ghost ship.

The spirits around seemed to ignore Odysseus's existence and continued to move around freely.

Odysseus observed for a while but couldn't find the key point at all. He went back to the stairs and when he was halfway up, he looked back again.

Suddenly, Odysseus was stunned. The scene before him was just like... just like the scene on the "Trunsoste Empire"!
Odysseus's thoughts suddenly became clear, and he found the crux of the problem!
The main body of this ghost ship is not those mummies, but this ship!
Because it was influenced by the "Empire", it has certain living characteristics.

It's not that it came alive like a living thing, but rather formed a structure at the bottom of the cabin, similar to the "Soul City" on the "Empire".

These spirits that seem to live freely here should be partly from the crew and partly from the spirits that were "collected" by the ghost ship later when it roamed the sea.

The original crew members appeared in two different states. The spirits of some crew members were completely imprisoned in the bottom layer, so they became monster-like zombies, completely controlled by the ship.

After all, this ship was originally lifeless, so the mummies' senses are different from those of humans. They have no vision or touch, and they will only attack when a sound is made.

Because the "Empire" once stipulated that "no sound is allowed here", anyone who violated this rule would be "punished" by the mummies.

There is also a part of the crew, including the "Mummy Captain" and the mummies in the restaurant, whose spirits are only partially imprisoned on the bottom floor.

So they became beings that were like zombies and ghosts. They were normally in the state of zombies, and they also had a certain degree of intelligence.

After figuring this out, Odysseus looked at the floor below again. This was the crux of the problem!
The first thing Odysseus thought of was to destroy the "ecosystem" that had been formed on the ship, which was composed of zombies and spirits, putting the ship in a state similar to a shutdown, and taking the opportunity to escape.

The "Spirit Wave Cannon" might not be very effective. After all, the current state of the ship is a bit strange, and external attacks might hardly affect the operation of its core parts.

It can only be destroyed from the inside!
Odysseus carefully observed these spirits again. If they were all sent back to the underworld, would the balance of the ship be broken?
As for how to send them to the underworld, Odysseus has the "Soul-Breaking Scroll" that can attack spirits, which can kill these defenseless spirits relatively easily.

If that doesn't work, he has a follow-up plan.

But he was also very clear that the moment he attacked, the mummies lying in the corridor above and the ship would instantly regard him as an enemy.

So he first used an "Invisibility Scroll", then a "Defense Scroll", and finally an "Acceleration Scroll".

He was still a little worried, but this was the only way.

Taking a deep breath, Odysseus took out two "Soul-Breaking Scrolls" from his briefcase and threw them to both sides of the corridor.

But at the moment the scroll exploded, the layer of illusory liquid at the top of the corridor suddenly dropped down and wrapped the two scrolls.

The scroll exploded with pure white light, but any attacks on the spirit were covered in illusory liquid.

Odysseus twitched his lips. He thought the ship would be slow to react, but he didn't expect that after feeling the threat, the other party would react so quickly.

At this time, the spirits on the lower floor looked at Odysseus with indifference, and the mummies upstairs also gathered at the stairs.

The "Invisibility Scroll" is useless!
This is not surprising. After all, the ship seems to have been influenced by a very high level, which makes it appear to be of a very high level in some aspects.

Although surrounded, Odysseus was not panicked at all. He shouted upwards, "Attention! I'm going to drop a 'bomb'!"

This was to inform Bazel and the others so that they wouldn't be in the corridor outside.

Since he has been targeted, Odysseus is no longer afraid of the "no talking" rule.

Almost at the same time as he gave the reminder, Odysseus had already thrown out the "Explosion Scroll".

Boom~
There was a violent explosion in the corridor on the upper floor, because it was a long and narrow corridor.

The flames from the explosion swept through the entire corridor and even sprayed up the stairs to other floors.

At this time, Odysseus was standing on the stairs. Because he was protected by the "Defense Scroll", he was not harmed by the shock wave and flames.

But the mummies were not so lucky. A large part of them were blown to pieces, and the rest were burning with flames.

But the mummies did not retreat. Even though flames were burning on their bodies, they still hit the "defensive shield" in front of Odysseus.

The ship was made of wood, but the explosion did not cause much damage to the hull and the flames were quickly extinguished.

Odysseus felt a chill on his back as the spirits from the lower level rushed up with ferocious expressions on their faces, attacking the "defense shield" like evil spirits.

Odysseus threw out an "Ice Scroll", temporarily freezing the mummies above, and broke through their encirclement.

It doesn’t matter if the first plan doesn’t work, because he has a follow-up plan.

(End of this chapter)