[Night Watchman: Langya City Mysterious Incident Records (Unresolved Missions)]
[No. 004: Donglong Port Ghost Ship Incident]
Date: 2320, November 16 (half a month ago)
Mysterious Incident Overview: Thirty-two years ago, the fishing boat Windbreaker mysteriously disappeared while out fishing. After half a year of fruitless searching, the local authorities eventually gave up.
On the night of November 16, a mysterious fishing boat approached Donglong Port and docked without authorization. Investigators later searched the vessel and compared it with archived records, learning that it was none other than the fishing boat Windbreaker, which had disappeared thirty-two years earlier.
Known Clue 1: Thirty-two years ago, the Windbreaker disappeared somewhere in the East Sea, roughly at:
23°00′–33°10′ north latitude, 23°00′–33°10′ east longitude.
Known Clue 2: A comparison with historical photographs confirmed that this vessel matched the Windbreaker that had disappeared thirty-two years ago. The objects in the cabin were also arranged just as they were in the archived photographs, confirming that this was indeed the missing Windbreaker.
Known Clue 3: Aside from the condition of the boat, investigators found an unconscious man at the bottom of the cabin, dressed in old-fashioned sailor's work clothes. He was sent to the hospital for examination and treatment.
Known Clue (updated 62 hours ago): The unconscious man woke up and identified himself as Wang Huan, a crew member of the missing Windbreaker. Although thirty-two years had passed, he still looked young. He was later taken to meet his family, who immediately confirmed that he was Wang Heng, missing for thirty-two years, and verified his identity.
Unknown 1: What exactly happened to the Windbreaker before it disappeared thirty-two years ago? Why did it vanish mysteriously, and why did it suddenly return thirty-two years later?
Unknown 2: A bone-age test determined that the unconscious man, Wang Heng, was twenty-four—the same age he had been when he went out to sea. Why hadn't he aged at all in thirty-two years?
Unknown 3: Was this Ghost Ship Incident a case of time travel? Was it connected to the merging of worlds?
Mission Requirements: Investigate the Donglong Port Ghost Ship Incident from beginning to end. If the Night Watchman discovers that the incident is connected to demons or evil spirits, eliminate them on the spot.
Mission Assistance: This system will record all clues and developments uncovered by the Night Watchman during the investigation, search online information in real time, and update the case files.
Mission Reward: Awarded according to the circumstances.
Mission Item: Detection Compass (The compass will react when demons or evil spirits are within approximately ten meters.)
Mission Duration: Three days
Mission Taker: Night Watchman—Tongyou
The mission information that appeared in his mind left Jiang Su utterly baffled.
A ghost ship that had vanished for thirty-two years had suddenly reappeared, and its crewman was still twenty-four years old. The rest of the crew had mysteriously disappeared.
Everything about it seemed strange.
Could the Windbreaker have sailed into some mysterious sea where time had gone awry and traveled through time?
Jiang Su thought it was entirely possible.
Take the mysterious Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Sea, for example.
Ships often mysteriously disappeared in those waters. There were even rumors of vessels vanishing for decades and then reappearing with their crews still young—much like what had happened to the Windbreaker.
But guessing wasn't enough to complete the mission.
He still had to investigate in person.
It was already getting dark. After giving it some thought, Jiang Su decided to go the next morning.
He had a feeling that darkness made demons and evil spirits stronger, though he had no evidence to back it up...
The next morning.
After breakfast, Jiang Su left his residential compound, hailed a taxi, and headed straight for Donglong Port.
On the way there, the driver struck up a friendly conversation with Jiang Su.
They chatted about everything under the sun, from the neighbor, Old Wang, cheating with someone's wife to a wife catching her husband's mistress the night before and the spectacular catfight that followed. They talked the whole way.
When he got out at his destination, Jiang Su still felt like the conversation had ended too soon.
If he hadn't had something important to do, he would've happily listened to the driver go on. The guy was damn entertaining.
After getting out, Jiang Su looked toward the port.
The sky in the distance was overcast, and the sea breeze swept toward him.
The docks were crowded with fishing boats and a military vessel. Three guard booths stood along the road leading to the port, with a group of staff in black uniforms stationed outside.
Jiang Su was at a loss over how to get in and investigate.
If he forced his way in, he'd get shot.
Although he had superpowers, he wasn't strong enough to withstand bullets. Charging in would be suicide.
Then Jiang Su remembered an item in the Game Store: an "Invisibility Talisman."
If he could bring it out of the game, he could easily sneak inside.
As a Night Watchman, Jiang Su had permission to access the game's functions in the real world. He immediately opened the Game Store panel and spent fifty Soul Power to buy a Low-level Invisibility Talisman, then spent another fifty Divine Power to manifest the twenty-minute talisman from the game into reality.
A white talisman soon appeared in Jiang Su's hand.
He raised his hand and slapped it. The talisman instantly turned into faint specks of light and merged into his body.
[Game Notification: You used the item "Invisibility Talisman" and entered an invisible state. Duration: 19:57]
To be safe, Jiang Su wandered around near the docks for a while before going in, making sure no one was paying attention to him. Then, with growing confidence, he ventured inside.
As he made his way to the docks, Jiang Su's attention was drawn to an old fishing boat moored there.
Beneath its moss-covered port side, faded, blurry lettering read:
"Windbreaker."
After stopping on the shore in front of the Windbreaker and examining the boat carefully,
Jiang Su headed for the gangway and climbed onto the Windbreaker's main deck.
The wood beneath his feet had rotted from years without maintenance and was covered in moss. It creaked and sagged under his weight.
After looking around, Jiang Su took out the Detection Compass and went into the cabin.
Light coming through the fishing boat's windows revealed dust motes drifting through the air inside. The stench of rotting wood hit him as he entered.
Even though it was daytime, Jiang Su's muscles were taut, and he was extremely tense.
As he moved forward, Jiang Su kept glancing at the compass, afraid that some evil spirit or demon might ambush him.
The Windbreaker was a deep-sea fishing vessel, forty-seven meters long and with three decks. Jiang Su began searching on the first level and worked his way down.
A short while later, Jiang Su reached the bottom of the cabin, looking awkward.
After making a round of the ship, he found that there were no evil spirits or demons aboard. The compass hadn't reacted at all.
So what am I supposed to do now?
He had no experience with criminal investigations and nothing like Detective Conan's reasoning skills. He had no idea how to proceed.
He'd watched plenty of mystery and detective movies, but only for the thrill. He hadn't learned anything useful from them.
After walking around the Windbreaker, Jiang Su had noticed one thing.
The boat was in terrible shape. If the bottom wasn't repaired soon, it might start taking on water!
As for anything else he'd found... Apparently, there was nothing.
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