National destiny: Starting with a coffin, building an aircraft carrier is broadcast live globally.

"..." Mountains of gold and silver, you can't move them away!

Isn't this like going to a buffet and finding that the signboard is gone?

"Boss?"

"How is it?"

He casually withdrew his hand and discreetly wiped it on Klaus's clothes.

"It's too big; my system can't process it."

"What should I do?" Klaus stared intently at the wriggling barnacles, torturing himself, but noticed nothing unusual. He just felt like he was suffocating.

"Aurora won't last much longer. If we don't retreat, we might all go crazy."

"retreat?"

He glanced casually at the thick, dark clouds overhead and the light sails that were completely drooping.

This source of mental pollution seems to possess a huge magnetic field; is it trying to escape?

It's probably not that easy.

"Our Dragon Kingdom has a profound saying—"

He casually picked up the long, slender katana in his hand.

Looking up at the dark ship railing, it felt like looking at the gate of a deadbeat who refused to pay his debts.

"Since we're already here..."

"We should at least greet the host."

"By the way, would you mind sending a small gift as a token of our meeting? I think this boat is quite nice."

These words silenced both Klaus and Aurora.

Only Ivan enthusiastically chimed in, "The boss is right!"

But his enthusiasm was quickly extinguished by arbitrarily dismissing it.

"You stay here and watch the house... and Mr. Sato too."

The implication is that if Jiro Sato makes any unusual moves, he should be dealt with entirely.

"Don't worry." Ivan nodded solemnly.

The psychological pollution here has a limited effect; it only amplifies negative emotions and won't cause any problems in the short term.

I wonder if boarding the ghost ship would exacerbate the situation.

Therefore, Aurora must accompany her on this trip.

The seawater had become much heavier, and the ghostly bone boat moved with difficulty inside, like swimming in semi-solidified asphalt.

It took them a lot of effort to row the boat to the thick anchor that was dangling into the sea. Fortunately, the anchor was almost as thick as a person's waist, and the barnacles attached to it became a good grip.

"Xiao Jiu and I will lead the way,"

Randomly hung the birdcage containing Xiao Jiu on his waistband (Xiao Jiu refused to come out no matter what), and grabbed the somewhat slippery anchor chain first.

[The birdcage isn't small either; I hope the boss's pants won't fall down.]

Wouldn't that be even more exciting? (Just kidding)

"Save your energy."

He turned back and told Aurora, "You don't need to keep purifying. Just use it when you feel your spirit can't take it anymore."

Subsequently,

Then, turning to Klaus, who was trying to wrap his hands tightly with strips of cloth, he said, "Protect Aurora."

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of myself," Aurora said firmly.

"Oh?"

He raised his eyebrows slightly and readily changed his tune.

"Then you two protect me."

"..." Klaus took a deep breath and swallowed back the words, "You still need someone to protect you?"

Okay, protect it!

Aurora was amused.

Looking up at the figure climbing effortlessly, the red and white jacket standing out starkly against the somber color scheme,

Like a flame that will never be extinguished,

In an instant, the restless and heavy atmosphere dissipated completely.

......

The climb was more difficult than I had imagined...

To be precise, it was more difficult for Klaus than he had imagined.

His face was ashen the whole time. Every two meters he climbed, he would repeatedly rub his hands on the strip of cloth wrapped around his sleeve, as if that could give him some mental comfort.

The car in front quickly vaulted over the rusty railing and landed steadily on the deck.

"Click—"

A crisp cracking sound came from beneath my feet.

Looking down at random,

It was an accidental breakage of a small section of a weathered human finger bone.

Soon Aurora and Klaus also climbed up.

"May his soul rest in peace..." Aurora instinctively made the sign of the cross. "Amen..."

The skeleton slumped in the corner, one hand weakly reaching for the anchor.

He was wearing a tattered uniform that was so corroded that it was unrecognizable, and a strangely shaped scimitar was lodged in his chest cavity; this was clearly the cause of his death.

Judging from the remaining outlines of his hat, belt, and boots, it should be some kind of old European naval uniform.

"Could this be a warship?"

"But judging from the structure, it looks more like a passenger ship." Klaus observed the layers of cabins above.

"The cabin is very high, and the portholes are designed for sightseeing, not for combat purposes."

Since he didn't know anything about this, he didn't respond.

With a "click",

He pulled out the scimitar with several nicks, tearing off two fragile ribs in the process.

He casually shook off the bone fragments and shoved the hilt of the knife into Aurora's hand.

"Take this, for self-defense."

The knife was a bit too fierce for Aurora, who was tall but slender; the overly wide blade was clearly designed for powerful slashing.

But as she gripped the weapon, the cold touch inexplicably gave her a sense of peace.

They walked around the skeleton and headed towards the front of the deck.

The open deck was scattered with deck chairs that had been glued to the wooden planks. Some were overturned on the ground, but most were in their proper positions, with "guests" lying on them.

Some lay peacefully on their backs, while others had their heads tilted to one side as if they were asleep.

Two others slid off the deck chairs and lay to the side, still in the position of reaching out to grab something.

The entire deck was like a party frozen in time with death.

"...It's been at least fifty years, the air is full of bacteria..." Klaus covered his mouth and nose in disgust.

He squatted down next to the nearest "guest" at will.

Remove the tattered cloth covering it.

It had two obvious notches in its ribs, but the stab came from behind, killing it instantly.

As for the weapon—

"The same one as the one next to the anchor."

He examined another skeleton, in the same position, with the same wounds. There were seven or eight skeletons in a row, all of whom had been killed without any warning.

"Someone climbed up the anchor, killed the guards at the stern, and sneaked in here silently."

Aurora seemed to see a group of ghostly figures reaping lives through the description, and she gripped her scimitar tightly, praying silently.

They then came to the kneeling skeleton.

Its posture was different from the other guests, suggesting that it had struggled before dying.

A circular hole was found in the back of the skull, near the shoulder blade. When the skull was laid down, a flattened lead bullet rolled to the ground.

"These are... flintlock bullets?" Klaus frowned.

He counted them.

There were a total of twenty-three skeletons on the deck, but twenty of them were dead on the deck chairs, and only three were lying on the side.

"Only three people had time to react when the attack occurred, and they were killed immediately."

That means there are many perpetrators, at least twenty.

Of course, it's also possible that it wasn't done by a human...

However, there is still a problem.

Klaus was somewhat confused and conflicted:

"The flintlock musket had a short range and was very noisy, so why were the people in the cabin completely unaware?"

He casually wiped his hands, which had touched the skull, and stared at the dark entrance to the ship's cabin.

"Then we'll have to ask the people in the cabin."