Anbaixiu had seen ghost ships before; in fact, he had just ridden in one.
Yet a ghost ship attaining sentience, standing right before him as a formidable demigod, still left his jaw hanging open in astonishment.
No wonder there were no other undead aboard. A self-aware demigod ghost ship probably didn't fancy others constantly entering and leaving her body.
Subconsciously, Anbaixiu floated upward, no longer daring to let his feet touch the deck.
This small gesture drew a faint chuckle from Aige. Anbaixiu was far cleverer and much more observant than the clueless undead pirates under her command. If they hadn't both been members of the Elegy Poetry Society, she really would have wanted to recruit this lich into her service.
Collecting himself, Anbaixiu continued, "A shipwright, a ghost ship... Captain Aige, your true form must have sunk in an accident before becoming a ghost ship, right? Did your creator die in that accident?"
Aige nodded. "Indeed. By the time I developed consciousness, nothing remained of him but bones."
Aige tapped her finger in the air. The cabin door swung open, and a crystal coffin radiating a blue-white light floated out from within.
Anbaixiu peered inside. Lying within was a tall old man with snow-white hair and beard.
"This is his body? As expected, not a trace of an aura of a soul remains."
Aige explained to him, "I tried countless methods, but I could only restore his body. His soul has remained missing all along."
Anbaixiu suddenly felt something was off, thinking to himself, An old man who was both mentor and father figure... whose death led to a new life for you... Wait a minute, why does this plot sound so familiar?
"Captain Aige, please wait a moment. I need to consult someone about something."
Aige watched with curiosity as Anbaixiu retrieved a peculiar gold coin. A palpable divine power lingered upon it, making it clearly an artifact. Why had the lich brought out this gold coin? Could this artifact restore a soul that had already dispersed?
Without any ceremony, Anbaixiu spoke straight to the coin: "Teacher, are you there? I have a very important question for you."
Aige: "???"
A brilliant radiance flared upon the gold coin, and the phantasmal projection of the God of Alchemy materialized above it.
"What is it now..." the God of Alchemy grumbled. Then his eyes fell on Aige, and he exclaimed in surprise, "Whoa, a mighty demigod! Has my troublesome student managed to offend you? For my sake, spare him this once, and I'll have him make amends."
Aige wore a stunned expression. This was a true deity—how could he be summoned with just a casual sentence?
Even a deity's favored son might not receive such treatment.
Anbaixiu hurriedly cut him off. "Don't go slandering me! Am I the kind of person who just goes around offending people? Let me ask you: have you ever built a ship?"
The God of Alchemy shook his head. "Build a ship? How could I? I've barely even seen the ocean. Oh, we're on the seabed? I didn't even notice just now. Have you already found the elven artifact?"
"You truly haven't built a ship before?" Anbaixiu pressed.
The God of Alchemy retorted in annoyance, "Why would I lie to you? I'm an alchemist, not a shipwright! Those are two completely different professions!"
That sounded rather convincing. Anbaixiu could only wave his hand in resignation. "Fine, then it's nothing. You can head back."
The God of Alchemy shot Anbaixiu a disdainful glare before vanishing instantly.
From the moment the God of Alchemy appeared, Aige's mouth had hung slightly agape in shock. Was this a deity? Summoned at will and dismissed with a wave of the hand—was that really a deity?
She reigned supreme across this Silent Night Sea, and even the Raging Tide Kingdom had to bow before her, yet she was only a demigod.
How could a true deity act so humbled? Yet that divine power could not be faked—he was a genuine god.
"Your relationship with this God of Alchemy... seems rather close," Aige ventured.
"It's alright. The old man tricked me once before, so I thought you might have been swindled by him too. Looks like I guessed wrong."
Thinking about it carefully, Anbaixiu realized the timing was off anyway. The God of Alchemy had mentioned that when Anbaixiu buried him back then, he hadn't yet become a god. Meanwhile, the history of Aige's ghost ship likely predated Ryan itself; the timeline didn't match up.
His words left Aige speechless. In all the centuries she had lived, she had never seen a deity so easygoing and accommodating.
Truly, every member of the Elegy Poetry Society was an exceptional talent among the undead.
Aige set aside any thought of recruiting Anbaixiu and returned to her question: "Then do you have any way to help me restore his soul?"
Anbaixiu looked once more at the lifeless corpse and pondered aloud, "If the Wish spell couldn't restore his soul, there are likely three possibilities. First, his soul might not have dispersed at all; he could be living just fine somewhere, which is why Wish couldn't fulfill your request."
Aige shook her head. "That's impossible. I was a pirate ship. By the time I gained consciousness, everyone aboard had been slaughtered and left to rot in the ocean. My creator was merely a mortal; his soul had no way to survive after death."
"Then there's the second possibility: some deity has taken control of his soul, preventing Wish from taking effect. Did your father have a faith?" Anbaixiu asked. The most common scenario was a soul ascending to a deity's divine kingdom. Wish couldn't pluck someone straight out of a divine realm without enraging the god residing there.
Aige shook her head again. "He wasn't a devout believer. I doubt he qualified to ascend to a divine kingdom."
"How are you so certain? Didn't you awaken after his death?" Anbaixiu asked, intrigued.
Aige retrieved a thick booklet and handed it to Anbaixiu. "This is his diary. I learned everything from his diary and the remaining ship logs."
Anbaixiu opened it with curiosity. It was packed with shipbuilding records, starting with drafts of the Aige and continuing all the way until she took to the sea. Throughout the diary, the shipwright consistently referred to the vessel as his daughter; it was evident he held profound affection for this pirate ship. He knew every plank of wood and every single nail intimately, tending to the vessel with meticulous care during every maintenance.
However, he was already well advanced in years. After sailing with the ship for several years, he sensed that his days were numbered.
On the final page of the diary, the shipwright had penned a line in scrawling script: I shall be buried in the deep sea, but my daughter will traverse the Silent Sea in my stead. Aige, you will be a legend of the Silent Sea, and your name will echo forever across the waters.
In a sense, his wish had come true.
This ghost ship truly was the most renowned warship upon the Silent Sea; it was just a pity the shipwright was no longer here.
Anbaixiu quietly finished reading the diary and confirmed Aige's second point was correct. The pages held only the shipwright's deep love for the vessel, with virtually no prayers to any deity beyond an occasional casual remark like "gods bless."
He was indeed not a devout worshipper and shouldn't have been eligible to ascend to a divine realm.
If his soul neither remained intact nor was held by a deity, the failure of Wish to resurrect him was strange indeed.
"Then that leaves only one final possibility: if your father's soul were to be resurrected, you would die. The most fundamental rule of Wish is that it will never kill the caster. No matter how absurd the wish, the laws of the world will only punish you, not kill you."
"What does that have to do with me? How could resurrecting a soul kill me?" Aige asked, baffled.
"It is indeed bizarre; I can't figure out the connection either. But there should only be these three reasons for Wish to fail. Perhaps there's some detail we've overlooked."
Anbaixiu didn't know either; it sounded thoroughly illogical.
"Forget it. I wasn't really holding out hope anyway," Aige said in a calm tone. After all these years, she had long grown accustomed to repeated failures.
Yet Anbaixiu showed no intention of changing the subject. Instead, he said to her, "Captain Aige, what I'm about to say might be a bit offensive, so please forgive me in advance."
"Speak your mind. No need to be so tense—we're both members of the Elegy Poetry Society."
"Alright, then. I'd like to ask: is this shipwright truly that important to you? As far as I know, a ghost ship isn't like a lich; you don't need a specific obsession to sustain your consciousness."
Undead came in many varieties. A lich, for instance, had to possess a powerful desire to keep their soul from dissipating so that it could bind to a phylactery.
Vampires had no such requirement. They could eat and drink, experience sensations, and were little different from living humans except for their aversion to sunlight.
Zombies didn't need it either. As long as they were periodically supplied with flesh and blood, zombies could persist indefinitely, though most were dim-witted and possessed little intellect.
Ghost ships were similar. Based on Anbaixiu's understanding of the undead, a ghost ship didn't require a potent obsession like a lich did. What's more, Aige had only come into being after the shipwright's death, learning about this "father" entirely through his diary. Such secondhand affection shouldn't cause an undead being to pine after him endlessly, going so far as to cast Wish to resurrect him.
It made no sense.
Hearing this, Aige replied nonchalantly, "That question seems rather meaningless. We undead have eternal lives; we always have to find something to occupy ourselves with. Originally it wasn't an obsession, but after dwelling on it for so many years, it gradually became one."
Anbaixiu said helplessly, "Fair enough. If that's the case, I'm afraid I won't be of much help. I could perhaps fabricate a similar soul based on this diary, but that wouldn't be your father—merely a false substitute."
A Simulated Soul could indeed be customized freely. With sufficient detail, he could craft an "elderly father," but a fake was still a fake in the end.
Aige said in astonishment, "You can weave souls to order?"
Such an ability was no small feat; even ordinary deities likely couldn't pull that off.
"Yes. If you ever have a need, feel free to place an order. Members of the Elegy Poetry Society get a discount."
Anbaixiu was more than happy to expand his client base.
"Then I really will have to give it some thought. But for now, let's go retrieve that artifact first." Aige looked at Anbaixiu with utter seriousness. "Going directly to war with a kingdom—are you prepared?"
Chapter 176