Although the intelligence was incomplete, the information Misha had gathered was already shocking enough:
There was something in the seawater, and it was very likely a humanoid creature. These creatures would attack humans and feed on flesh and blood.
This was truly terrible news. At first, Everly had thought that if a crisis from the ghost ship broke out, she could escape in a lifeboat. And if she couldnât even get a lifeboat, she could at least wear a life jacket, float in the water with her belongings, and maybeâif luck was on her sideâbe rescued.
But the monsters lurking in the water instantly shattered that hope.
If such things really existed in the water, there would be far more than just one. A whole swarm of these carnivorous monsters in the sea could easily overturn even a small lifeboat. The reason they hadnât done so today was probably just because the âmovieâ had only just begunâthere hadnât been a scene yet where they revealed themselves.
So, to survive, it really came down to persuading the captainâto get him to set sail as soon as possible, steering the Mary Jane away from the Golden Anchor.
But was it really that simple�
Everly walked to the window. Through the already gloomy sky, she looked at the outer perimeter of the two cruise ships.
It was still raining, and the weather had grown even worse than in the morning. The sky seemed to leak, pouring down large raindrops. The howling wind shredded the sea into dark, gaping streaks, and occasionally golden lightning struck from above, illuminating the tumultuous waves.
Yet even at the peak of the wavesâ fury, the water surrounding the Golden Anchor remained calm and clear in a circle around the ship.
Around the ghost ship, it was as if a massive glass dome existedâblocking all the harsh weather from the outside while trapping the tiny Mary Jane within it, floating like a speck of duckweed.
Unless one had the courage to challenge the great forces of nature, the captain would never agree to leave the safety of calm waters to sail into a storm.
Everly finished her dinner in a state of anxious unrest.
After dinner, she sat in her room, frowning as she pondered how to escape. Suddenly, Misha at the window pointed outside at the Golden Anchor and let out a startled cry: âEverly, itâs changing!â
âWhat?â
Everly hurried to the window and saw that, on the dark silhouette of the Golden Anchor, bright lights had suddenly turned on.
âWhatâs happening? Whatâs going on?â
âWhatâs that outside? Why is the Golden Anchor lit up?â
The cruise ship didnât have great soundproofing. Through the thin walls, voices of surprise rose and fell from rooms above, below, and beside them.
Everly tilted her head, frowning as she watched.
The ship was unbelievably tall. Her and Mishaâs rooms were on the third deck of the Mary Jane, yet even so, standing at the window, Everly still had to look up to see the lights coming from the decks and portholes of the enormous vessel.
The lights were brilliantâcolorful and dazzling, almost too beautiful to behold.
This was Everlyâs first impression when she saw the massive ship illuminated.
Despite drifting at sea for thirteen years, the Golden Anchor before their eyes appeared brand new. Its hull was painted a pristine white with anti-rust coating, the metal gleaming with a cold sheen. The glass windows along the sides were spotless and intact, and a massive anchor chain hung from the stern, swaying in the air and making a pleasant metallic scraping sound.
Those thirteen years seemed to have left no trace on the ship at all.
As night fell, golden light strips along the edges of the ship turned on. The warm yellow glow traced the shipâs exquisite contours like a masterful brushstroke. Within these outlines flowed shifting lights and dazzling color displaysâa grand, dreamlike forest of light.
At some point, the Golden Anchor began to carry soft, melodious singing and music. Even from a distance, Everly could imagine the brilliance on boardâthe glowing lights, the swirling shadows, the fine clothing and elegance. Were it not for the location, she almost could have believed it was just an ordinary luxury cruise ship.
At that moment, Misha suddenly spoke up beside her: âNo, thatâs not it⊠What I just showed you wasnât the colorful lightsâit was the ship suddenly turning old.â
âTurning old?â
âYes. Just a moment ago, the entire Golden Anchor suddenly looked run-down and ancient. Trust meâit really did!â Misha raised her hands, gesturing excitedly, as if afraid Everly might think she had imagined it.
Horror Movie Survival Rule #1: pay attention to the hints.
Everly didnât think a normal, clear-eyed young girl like Misha would hallucinate. She calmed her friend down and told her to relax and explain slowly.
What Misha called âthe ship turning oldâ had happened just half a minute earlierâaround 19:59:50. She had been bored, staring absentmindedly at the huge vessel outside.
As she watched, she suddenly saw the shipâs snowy white hull age as if an antique filter had been applied: large patches of rust appeared, railings bent, and glass windows cracked. The raging storm poured down around it, wind and rain battering the deck. The ship looked dilapidated, eerie, and as menacing as a massive ghost ship.
âI even doubted myself at first, so I stared at it for several seconds to make sure I wasnât imagining things. Only then did I call you over. But the moment you reached the window, the wind and rain suddenly stopped, and the ship instantly returned to its brand-new appearance, with all the lights on. It was just⊠too strangeâŠâ
âWeâre already encountering a ship thatâs been missing for thirteen years. Isnât it normal for a few more weird things to happen?â
Everly patted Misha on the shoulder, opened the window, and ran her hand over the glass.
It was icy, damp, and wet. When she spread her palm, clear water stains were visible.
Since the Mary Jane had entered the âsheltered zoneâ around the Golden Anchor around noon, it hadnât been exposed to any outside storm. Any rain that had splashed onto its hull should have evaporated hours ago. By all logic, the outside of the ship should have been dryâbut Everly could still feel the water.
So thatâs it⊠itâs time.
Everly had already found it strange: how could the Golden Anchor, missing for thirteen years, reappear looking as if it had vanished only yesterday? The ship showed no signs of wind or rain damageâcompletely new, almost impossibly pristine.
The calm, windless, rainless circle of water surrounding the massive vessel was also unusual. The storm outside hadnât ended, yet not a single drop of rain or gust of wind could breach this âinvisible wallâ to reach the ship.
Everly had originally thought the supernatural creatures on board might possess some special power to control the weather. But now it seemed that what was being affected wasnât the weatherâit was time.
Time around the Golden Anchor had been frozen.
The ship, along with the spherical area of ocean and weather radiating outward from it, had all been fixed in time thirteen years ago. Like an insect trapped in amber, or a plastic ornament suspended in a crystal ball, it drifted endlessly on the seaâbut no matter how long it floated, the interior of the amber or crystal remained exactly as it had been, never changing.
Such âtime stop,â however, should be unstable. That explained why Misha had just witnessed the ship âagingâ briefly and the storm seeming to intrude.
As for why the time-stopped Golden Anchor suddenly lit up its colorful lights and filled the air with musicâthat was beyond Everlyâs current understanding.
She had too little information to figure it out. To investigate properly, she first needed to know exactly what the eight people on board had seen during the day.
Everly planned to send the intelligence-savvy Misha to gather information tomorrow, trying to get something out of George and the others.
But that was tomorrowâs task. Tonightâs main job was to observe the ship.
Everly was very curious about what was happening on the deck at this very moment. Like other bored, sleepless passengers, she dragged over a sofa and, taking turns with Misha, sat by the window. Their eyes stayed fixed on the towering deck above, straining to catch even the slightest clue.
It seemed that a party was happening on the Golden Anchor. From a relatively close distance, they could hear, beneath the layers of singing and music, occasional excited shouts of men and women. Even without seeing the scene, just from the sounds, one could imagine the joy and excitement of the people on board.
And that was exactly what made it so chilling. For an entire day, no one had appeared on the Golden Anchor. The passengers on the Mary Jane had assumed the ship was completely empty.
âSo now, who were these people lighting the lamps, playing symphonies, singing, and cheering on the deck? If the ship had always had people on board, why had no one tried to contact the mainland in thirteen years? If the ship was empty, why were these sounds coming from it?
These questions couldnât withstand careful thought. The more one thought about them, the easier it was to panic.
In the surrounding rooms, some passengers had already started whispering nervously, drawing their curtains and preparing for sleep.
Everly, however, remained at the window, watching the shipâs dazzling lights and listening to the lively sounds from aboard.
She stayed by the window all night. At one point, exhausted, she swapped shifts with Misha for a short break. By the time the early hours of the morning arrived, she slumped back on the sofa, staring absentmindedly at the deck above, where the lights flickered as usual. Then, suddenly, the noise on the ship stopped.
Something felt wrong. Everly immediately straightened her upper body from her slouched position, opened her phoneâs video mode, and tapped record.
On the Golden Anchor, it was as if someone had pressed âpauseâ on a playing tape. The singing, the music, the chatter, and laughter all ceased in an instant.
At the same time, the lights on the ship quickly dimmed section by section. In their place, Everly saw small flickering flames scattered across the deck.
The flames were small, always contained within a certain area, so it was unlikely to be a fireâthey seemed more like torches that someone had deliberately lit. One by one, the torch lights linked together, forming a chain that moved toward the interior of the ship. The deck soon fell into darkness as the light sources disappeared.
Everly held her phone, hesitating over whether to continue recording.
At that moment, she heard a faint song coming from inside the massive ship.
The singing was muffled, like a chorus formed by many voices. The melody was strange and jarringâfar from pleasantâalmost like nails scraping on a blackboard, sending a deep sense of discomfort and repulsion to the listener. Interspersed with it were murmurs and chants, leaving Everly to wonder if some kind of collective recitation or ritual was taking place.
As the song progressed, another sound reached her ears: sharp, piercing screams.
The screams were brief and faint, easily drowned out by the singing. Had her hearing not been enhanced by her lamia motherâs milk, they might have gone completely unnoticed.
Everly held her breath, focusing intently, unwilling to miss even the tiniest clue in the sounds.
The screams lasted only a minute or two before disappearing, but the singing and chanting continued.
After some time, even the singing and chanting stopped. In the resulting silence, Everlyâs sharp eyes caught sight of one figure after another appearing along the edge of the massive shipâs deck.
Because it was so dark and the distance so great, the figures looked like slender matchsticks arranged side by side, their faces indistinguishable.
Just as she wondered why they were gathering along the edge, Everly saw them begin to move.
One by one, they climbed over the railing, released their hands, tilted their bodies, and without hesitation leapt from the deckâseven or eight stories highâplunging like dumplings into the pitch-black water below.