The White Oak had come to a halt on the ocean's surface, and along with it, the "Black Oak," shrouded in thick fog like a shadow, too had ceased its motion. Within the blurry, elusive silhouette of the latter ship, there lingered an invitation as if hidden in the obscurity.
Lawrence looked at that ship with some hesitation.
"Should we... send someone to check it out?" the voice of First Mate Gus came from beside him, rousing Lawrence from his contemplation.
Lawrence turned his head to look at his first mate, who had been through thick and thin with him for two or three decades: "You recognize it too, don't you?"
"The last time we saw it was also near Frost," the first mate said while looking at the sea not far away, his tone as complex as Lawrence's. Like Lawrence, he was still enveloped in burning green flames, his body presenting a ghostly, ethereal posture, "All these years, our old crew knew of your condition, but no one dared to speak of it..."
