The military docks were unlike any other docks in the city. It was a place where rusty ships, relics of the Void Wars, were lined up like gigantic tombstones pulled from the sea. The air was filled with the smell of salt, oil, and decaying metal, a melancholic scent of a war that had long ended but was never truly forgotten. Among the dilapidated ships, stood a battle barge that looked sturdier and more peculiar, with a hull made of dark metal and arcane symbols that still glowed faintly.
Piro, Sophie, and Gareth arrived at the deserted docks. Piro felt the pulse in his finger grow stronger, as if the sea itself was part of the Void's frequency. He stared at the ship, sensing a cold and familiar energy, but could not see anyone there.
"That ship is powered by gravity and mana," Gareth explained, his voice filled with a mixture of pride and sorrow. "It can move faster than any ship in this world. And no one pilots it as well as Rennick."
As they walked closer, a woman in a white medical coat with a large bag on her back stepped out of the ship's shadow. It was Lysandra.
"I've been waiting for you," she said, her voice calm, but her eyes were fixed sharply on Piro. "I need to put this on you." She took out a bandage embroidered with anti-corruption runes and began to wrap it around Piro's finger, ignoring the coldness it radiated. "This will slow the spread, but it won't stop it. Think of it as a pain reliever. You still have less than 72 hours."
Gareth climbed onto the ship. "Rennick!" he shouted, his voice echoing in the empty hull.
There was no answer. However, from below the deck, a small figure emerged. It was a young boy with empty eyes and white hair, as if he had aged backward into a child. It was Captain Rennick, a veteran whose soul was trapped inside an innocent body. He could not speak, but once his cold eyes met Gareth's, there was a flash of recognition, and he nodded.
"He remembers," Gareth whispered to Piro. "He remembers how to sail."
Lysandra, Piro, and Sophie climbed aboard the ship. As they ascended the deck, Piro felt a strange energy from the ship. It was not just mana energy, but also gravity, which made the ship feel lighter, like a bubble ready to float.
Rennick calmly walked to the helm, a gleaming crystal console. He placed his small hands on it, and the runes along the ship's hull began to glow brightly. The ship's engine made no sound. It only vibrated, and the battle barge launched from the dock, entering the vast and dark sea.
Sophie immediately headed to the mapping room, where she opened ancient maps. Lysandra sat beside Piro, watching him, while Gareth stood on the deck, staring at the horizon with vigilance.
"We will arrive at the edge of the western continent in 60 hours if this ship runs at full speed," Gareth said. "That gives us a 12-hour reserve. A tight window."
Piro nodded, feeling the pulse in his bandaged finger. "We will make it."
However, in the middle of their journey, the sky began to change. Thick black clouds gathered, but they were not ordinary storm clouds. The clouds moved in a strange pattern, as if pulled by an invisible vortex. Suddenly, from the thick darkness, another ship appeared. It was not an ordinary ship, but a ghost ship, a relic of the Void Wars, with torn sails and a hull filled with frozen runes. The ship hovered, not sailed, and on its deck, stood figures wearing old armor, with helmets that radiated a strange, cold light.
"That's... a ghost ship from the Void Wars," Gareth growled, his hand gripping his sword. "They are called the Gatekeepers. They won't let us pass."
Rennick, at the helm, did not react. He just held the console, his empty eyes staring straight ahead, as the ghost ship glided closer, ready for battle. Piro knew this journey would not be as easy as they had hoped. They were not just racing against time, but also facing the terrifying ghosts of the past, on a sea filled with scars.