Chapter 104: Cruise Ship: [8W Nutrient Solution Bonus Chapter]

Chapter 104: The Cruise Ship: "8W Nutrient Solution Bonus Update"

At the same moment Everly saw the name of the giant cruise ship, several crew members inside the wheelhouse of the Mary Jane were also reading out the giant vessel's name in voices filled with shock and disbelief.

"Golden Anchor... God, this is actually the Golden Anchor?!"

"Didn't they say this ship had already sunk?"

"No, it wasn't that it sank—it's just that the Canif Cruise Company tried every possible means at the time but simply couldn't locate the vessel. Backed into a corner, they had no choice but to announce to the public that the ship had sunk..."

Even someone as unfamiliar with the industry as Everly might have heard the name "Golden Anchor" at some point in their life, and to the cruise industry professionals aboard the Mary Jane, the name "Golden Anchor" carried even more weight.

It was a massive cruise ship owned by Canif Cruise Company, the largest cruise company in America, specifically operating the long-distance ocean route from the West Coast of the United States to Aodalia.

Thirteen years ago, this ultra-luxury cruise ship, built at a cost of 2.5 billion Mido, completed its trial voyage and was officially put into service. However, less than two days after departing from the port of Yanifley State, the Golden Anchor suddenly disappeared during its voyage, along with its 1,831 crew members and 2,850 passengers, all vanishing without a trace.

Among the passengers aboard the Golden Anchor at the time were popular actors and celebrities, some of the wealthiest names on the rich lists, and even a number of government officials. As a result, the moment the ship was declared missing, it immediately sparked an uproar worldwide.

Theories about the Golden Anchor's whereabouts were endless. Some said it had tragically sunk due to extreme weather; others claimed the crew had fallen into internal conflict and destroyed the vessel; still others believed that because there were so many wealthy people on board, it had been ambushed by pirates lying in wait... Because no evidence of the ship's destruction could be produced, the Canif Cruise Company failed to receive full insurance compensation and suffered heavy losses—the long-established company was nearly brought to its knees by this disappearance case.

Unexpectedly, this massive cruise ship that had vanished in the Pacific Ocean actually appeared thirteen years later in the Atlantic, across an entire continent!

Everyone in the wheelhouse was rendered speechless by the discovery.

After nearly half a minute of silence, it was finally the Captain who made the decision: "We can't just let it sail away like this. We need to follow it and board it to take a look!"

He had good reason for this decision.

The Meihe Cruise Lines, to which the Mary Jane belonged, was a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Canif Cruise Company, specializing in premium cruise routes along the East Coast of the United States. And the disappearance of the Golden Anchor was the biggest crisis the Canif Company had faced since its founding.

If the crew of the Mary Jane could investigate and clarify the full story behind the Golden Anchor's disappearance, they would surely receive commendation from the parent company, with promotions and raises just around the corner.

Even setting all that aside, driven by natural human curiosity, the Captain couldn't possibly pass up the chance to get a close-up look.

The other crew members shared similar thoughts.

Under the Captain's direction, they carefully maneuvered the Mary Jane closer to the massive ship as it moved. When the distance between the two ships narrowed to within twenty or thirty meters, something incredible happened.

It was as if they had broken through an imperceptible transparent membrane and entered another world—the Mary Jane sailed straight into a stretch of calm, tranquil sea.

Around the Golden Anchor, the ocean was extraordinarily peaceful. There was no gale, no torrential rain, no rough, rolling waves—only the salt-tinged air and the deep, silent sea below the ship.

"What's going on—did the rain finally stop?"

Sensing the change in their surroundings, passengers inside the cruise ship opened their windows one after another, curiously sticking their heads out to look around. Some who were closer to their cabin doors had already opened them and rushed out onto the decks and balconies, gathering in small groups and peering down at the lower decks.

"Hey, look at the deck—they're lowering the lifeboats!"

"Are they going to explore the Golden Anchor? I've heard about that ship for years—my favorite actress, Nika, disappeared on that ship!"

"So the Golden Anchor really didn't sink... that's amazing. I want to go aboard and see it too. I wonder if paying some money would get us permission."

"..."

Everly's breathing grew quick and shallow.

From the moment she saw the Golden Anchor, she had felt a powerful sense of unease.

She knew she must have stumbled into some horror film again. Given the Golden Anchor's bizarre history of vanishing, maybe this was a maritime horror movie about a "ghost ship"?

But knowing that didn't help her at all.

The Mary Jane was now more than ten kilometers from shore. Although the storm around them had stopped after approaching the Golden Anchor, the sky outside remained dark and overcast. Looking into the distance, she could still see huge waves and relentless wind and rain.

This meant the weather outside was still very bad.

Under such circumstances, even if Everly were resourceful enough to somehow get her hands on a lifeboat, food, and drinking water, getting safely back to land in a small boat would still be extremely difficult. Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, her best bet was to stay put on the Mary Jane and not think about running off.

This also meant her fate was now tied to the Mary Jane. If the crew didn't do anything stupid, she'd be safe; if the crew brought calamity upon the ship, Everly would suffer along with them.

But could the crew resist causing trouble? They were about to go exploring on a ship that clearly spelled danger!

Everly couldn't recall ever having seen a horror film featuring the "Golden Anchor" in her past life—this was most likely another movie she'd never encountered—but she had watched two horror films about ghost ships.

One had vampires aboard the ghost ship, hiding in the dark cabins. By day the ship was empty; by night they would emerge and tear through the protagonist's group.

The other was more supernatural: someone had murdered an entire shipload of passengers, and the vengeful spirits aboard refused to disperse, turning the vessel into a ghost ship drifting across the sea, haunting the protagonist. Only when the protagonist uncovered the truth through clues and brought the culprit who had escaped justice to account did the ghost ship finally vanish.

Anyway, based on the pattern, ghost ships most likely had monsters on board, and anyone who boarded them would almost certainly meet with misfortune.

For the sake of her own life, Everly decided to try to dissuade the crew members who didn't realize how dangerous it was. However, as an ordinary passenger, she couldn't really talk to the ship's crew. If she rushed over and tried to stop them from boarding, she'd probably just be treated like a crazy person.

Just as Everly was racking her brain, trying to fabricate an excuse to persuade them, Misha suddenly pointed at the deck outside and said excitedly, "Everly, look—CrazyDog and his group are going too!"

"What, George and the others are going too?"

Everly quickly hurried to the window and, together with Misha, stuck her head out like two meerkats.

Sure enough, down on the lower deck, among the crew members assembled and ready to depart, there were three young people who clearly stood out from the rest. The photographer George had hired had even set up his camera early, since the rain had stopped, clearly intending to record the entire exploration from the very start.

Seeing that camera, a flash of inspiration struck Everly, and a thought crossed her mind—wait, could this horror film be shot in a mockumentary style?!

In her past life, there was a time when it was very popular to have the protagonist or their companions hold a camera and record the entire process of encountering ghosts. The downside was the handheld footage—the camera would shake from time to time, and some parts were pitch black, which became tiring to watch after a while. The upside was the intense sense of immersion, and the recording style also enhanced the film's realism, further enhancing the horror effect.

If it really was in mockumentary format, then George, the protagonist being filmed, had a good chance of being the male lead. His cameraman, Gigi, as the one holding the camera, also had a high probability of surviving into the latter half of the film—provided he didn't drop the camera...

For a film to be made, it needed a protagonist. Didn't this mean that if she could convince George, the film's male lead, to give up this expedition, she could avoid the subsequent chain of dangers?

At that thought, Everly's spirits lifted.

Forgetting about making up excuses, while the crowd on deck was still regrouping and hadn't set off yet, she quickly pushed open her door, ran down the corridor, and raced all the way to the lower deck.

"George! George! Wait for me, George!"

She shouted at the top of her lungs as she ran, terrified of being too slow to catch up.

At the edge of the deck, George, who was about to descend the ladder, turned around and, along with the surrounding onlookers, looked in surprise at the young woman running toward them.

"Everly, what's wrong? Is something the matter?"

Everly ran up to him and got straight to the point: "Don't go—that ship is very dangerous!"

"What?"

"Hey, young lady, you shouldn't say things like that—it's very bad luck." A crew member waiting nearby frowned in displeasure at Everly's words. Everly guessed that if it weren't for the fact that she was a passenger, he might have already snapped at her.

But she wasn't intimidated by the crew member's stern expression and continued, "Actually, I have a bit of witch blood in me. Just now, in a daze, I saw some visions—the ship you're about to board is a ghost ship. There's not a single person on board, yet all sorts of bizarre things keep happening. Everyone who sets foot on that ship will be cursed, haunted relentlessly by the vessel. If you want to avoid misfortune, you must stay far, far away from that ship—the farther, the better..."

"Gulp..." George was clearly a timid person. After hearing Everly's words, he swallowed hard, a look of nervousness creeping onto his face.

But that flash of tension was quickly smoothed over by the nearby crew member's words: "Pfft, ridiculous... George, you're not really scared by a couple of nonsense lines from this little girl, are you? This is a world-shaking discovery—we've found the Golden Anchor, missing for 13 years, and we'll be the first ones to set foot on her in all that time! Such a rare opportunity, and you want to back out?"

George shook his head quickly: "No, of course I won't back out."

Then he turned to Everly, looking apologetic: "Everly, I'm sorry. I know you're just saying that because you're worried, but this is also my job. The Captain hopes I can board with a few other crew members to document this memorable moment, and later we'll put it into the cruise company's promotional video. I'm also eager to use this chance to really lock in my account's popularity for good, so I have to go on this trip."

After speaking, he smiled and waved at Everly and Misha, who had caught up from behind, then turned and walked down the gangway past Everly.

Perhaps worried that Everly might follow, the crew member from before quickly snapped the chain across the gangway as soon as George left.

Everly: "..."