“I saw with my own eyes that they used the finest, rustproof refined steel to make utensils and cans, filling them with just a little food, then casually throwing them away after eating.”

“I saw with my own eyes that they used giant beasts as tall as mountains to devour soil and rocks, digging out underground cities, just to park their steel carriages beneath the surface.”

“I saw with my own eyes that they fed glowing ores into an everlasting stellar furnace, unleashing a radiance brighter than the sun.”

“I saw with my own eyes all those indescribable things.”

“Their iron birds covered the sky, their steel ships filled the ocean, their war machines tore the earth asunder, and their gods walked upon the world.”

“You must think I’m mad.”

“But it doesn’t matter.”

“It has already seen you.”

***

Oil is Its blood.

Thick smoke is Its breath.

Ore and steel are Its food.

The countless cargo ships in the harbors are Its myriad offspring.

The place of origin stamped in the corner is Its silent mockery.

They claim they are mere mortals.

Child, you’d best not argue.

You must understand:

Their technology is beyond comprehension.

Their production capacity is unimaginable.

A mere glimpse of their creations will drive you insane.

Their morale surpasses even the most fanatical worshippers of dark gods.

How will you stop them?

With your sword, child? Or your flesh and blood?

You should be grateful that they still consider themselves mortals.

***

“I’ve finished building my factory, and now you’re telling me this world runs on idealism?!”

“Wait, then what the hell did I just create?”

When you wake up from your sleep to find yourself in a damp, dark, muddy trench, surrounded by soldiers trembling and praying, clutching crosses. —"The Second Battle of Ypres? No problem, just put on your gas mask, you'll survive!" —"The Somme? We can only leave our fate to God." —"Is it the Verdun meat grinder? Oh well, God's useless now, dying is just a fresh start." —"Wait, what does it mean that Duke Constantine led the last of the New Antiochian Knights to resist the attack of the demonic army from hell? What the hell timeline did this put me in?"... In 1099, the Crusades conquered Jerusalem, inadvertently opening the gates of hell. From that moment on, the timeline changed, and human civilization entered a thousand-year dark age of fighting against the demonic army of hell. And Liston, who traveled to this timeline, was clearly a doctor saving lives, but...

On that day, the fog blocked everything.

On that day, he became the captain of a ghost ship.

On that day, he stepped through the thick fog and confronted a completely subverted and fragmented world— the old order had vanished, strange phenomena dominated the endless seas beyond civilized society, and isolated island city-states and fleets of ships challenged the sea that had become the last ember of lights for the civilized world. All of this while the shadows of the old days were still stirring in the deep sea, waiting to devour this world that was about to die.

But for the new captain of the ghost ship Vanished, there was only one question he had to consider first — Who knows how to drive this ship?!