Chapter 561: The Mystery Deepens

"Hold on, I have a question!" Zhang Lie declared. "How can you prove that you're not just an illusion the clam made up to mislead us?"

Sheng smiled. "In that case, you're starting to believe my words, aren't you? Or rather, you'd like to believe that what I'm saying is right."

"If Zhu weren't around, I wouldn't believe a word of what you said."

Sheng smiled. "I apologize for the burden of my identity, then. I can't prove that I'm not an illusion; I can't say whether or not I'm an illusion myself. To date, I haven't been able to discover all the mysteries at the heart of the sea of mists. I roughly know that these illusions are created based on one's memories—ah! If there's something I can tell you that neither of you know about, I should be able to confirm whether I'm an illusion or not."

Zhang Lie considered his words. "What do you propose?"

Sheng turned to Zhu. "Zhu, did I tell you about how I met your mother?"

Zhu rolled her eyes at him. "Yes, multiple times, in fact."

"How about the story of your mother's birthday?"

"Yes."

"The story of your birth?"

"Yes."

Sheng rubbed his head. "Ah, what if I really am an illusion...?"

He mulled things over for a bit. "Let me tell you how I died, then. Surely you don't know about that?"

Zhu had only received secondhand information about her father's death when her uncle brought her the possessions Sheng had had on him in death.

Sheng rubbed his head again. "I didn't expect I would die at the time. It was my second time entering the sea of storms."

Zhu's eyes widened. "The sea of storms—wait, the second time? Isn't the sea of storms a forbidden region? Why would you enter such a dangerous place twice?"

𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"I barely escaped from the sea of storms the first time around. I didn't want to return, but I had no choice—I left something important behind."

"What's so important that you would be willing to risk your life to head back in?"

"A companion of mine."

"A companion?"

"To be honest, the first time I entered the sea of storms, I was with two other people. One of them died within the sea of storms, and the other was left behind. I thought that that person had already died, but he managed to contact me through unusual means. For my companion, I braved the sea of storms once more."

"But you died this time around?" Zhang Lie questioned.

Sheng's face fell. "That's right. That was my last adventure. I saved my companion, but I was forever trapped within the sea of mists, soul and all. I expect my companion was the one who brought all my belongings back to the village."

Zhang Lie frowned and began, "It's true that Zhu hasn't heard this story before, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you're the real Sheng. After all, how can Zhu verify the legitimacy of this story?"

"In that case, I can't prove my own identity."

Zhang Lie continued, "There's another piece of information I should tell you. You're not a soul, since souls would possess spiritual essence. You don't have a trace of spiritual essence on you."

"Oh? I suppose that's a good sign—my soul has been laid to rest deep within the ocean, then."

The merpeople believed that, in death, their souls would return to the god of the seas. Sheng didn't believe in sea deities; instead, he believed that everyone's souls would be reclaimed by the sea.

He smiled bitterly. "I apologize. As a human, it must be difficult for you to believe me."

"No, I'm willing to trust you for now."

.

Sheng seemed rather surprised. "Really? Why?"

"Because believing you doesn't cost me anything. Even if something unusual were to happen, I have the strength to handle it."

Sheng smiled gratefully at him. "Thank you for your trust."

"Enough of that. Please, keep telling us about your investigation into the sea of mists."

"Not only do these mists boast the ability to make the illusory real, they can even allow for time loops."

"Just like the story you told Zhu about the ship you were on?"

"Right. After I left the sea of mists, I thought that what I had witnessed was nothing but an illusion. Ever since becoming part of the sea myself, however, I learned that ghosts would take part in these time loops themselves."

Zhang Lie frowned. "Speaking of that, how are you able to leave your own ship as a ghost? I haven't seen any other ghost who was able to do the same."

"I don't understand myself. It does seem to be a unique ability that allows me to wander from ship to ship, unrestrained as the other ghosts are. It's only because of this ability and my ethereal connection to Zhu that I was able to find my way to this warship. Perhaps I was stronger than these other ghosts while I was alive?"

"Can you pass through space?"

The sea of mists was filled with spatial distortions.

"I can't, which is why it took me so long."

Finally, Zhang Lie asked a question he had been intending to ask for quite some time. "Have you ever experienced a time loop from the very start of entering the sea of mists? Not while you were on a ship, but even before it."

Sheng seemed a little surprised at Zhang Lie's words. "It looks as though you've already discovered one of the subtler features of the sea of mists!"

Zhang Lie explained what he had experienced twice by now. Sheng was only a ghost, and the clam would already know this information by reading his memories, so Zhang Lie didn't mind sharing at least this information with Sheng.

If Sheng were a true ghost, he might be able to provide Zhang Lie with some guidance.

Sheng murmured, "Disaster-grade lifeforms, you say... so that's how you humans address these major sea gods."

The marine and seafaring races thought of peak- or higher-grade lifeforms uniformly as sea gods or sea deities, and the strongest among them as major sea gods. These corresponded to the humans' disaster-grade lifeforms.

To be frank, except for Zhang Lie, few were well aware of the distinction between peak- and disaster-grade lifeforms in this era. Even the monarch of stars wasn't aware of the distinction; all those who had fought a disaster-grade lifeform had perished without being able to pass on their newfound information.

Sheng suddenly seemed to think of something. "Have you ever heard of a phrase like 'the ocean isn't the only ocean, the sun isn't the only sun'?"

"What?"

"Multiple worlds coexist simultaneously."

Zhang Lie didn't seem shocked. He nodded.

"It looks like you've heard of the like, have you?" Sheng was impressed.

"Tell me more, please."

Sheng continued, "Parallel worlds exist in our universe, all of which are joined by the sea. These worlds progress along the same timeline as ours, but each with subtle differences."

"Parallel worlds, you say..."