Somewhere in the Abyss.
A portal several meters high appeared and disappeared intermittently.
Several nearby F-level alien beasts noticed the anomaly and gradually gathered around.
Half a day later, the portal gradually stabilized.
One of the beasts stepped forward and first probed with its claws.
After confirming that the portal would not collapse, it let out a low growl and beckoned the strange beasts behind it to join it on the expedition.
Just then, a long leg covered in black riding breeches stepped out of the portal.
"Be careful, be very careful..."
With a series of muttered words, a woman nearly two meters tall, wearing light silver armor, stepped out of the spatial portal.
The woman had long, slightly wavy chestnut hair, blue eyes, delicate and well-defined features, and fair skin.
A long sword was at his side, and a strangely shaped rifle was slung across his back.
The gun was nearly 1.5 meters long, with a huge canister at the rear and a ring of neatly arranged small holes around it.
The entire rifle was engraved with pale purple runes, which still shone brightly even in the Abyss where there was no sun.
The sudden appearance of the woman startled the strange beast outside the door.
The woman's tense face also froze for a moment.
For a moment, the man and the beast faced each other, staring at each other wide-eyed.
"Roar--"
The beast reacted first, biting down on the woman's upper body and chewing it with a crunching sound.
"Waaaaah..."
The woman's hands and feet flailed wildly in mid-air, like a startled sparrow.
Bang--
With a deafening roar, the lower half of the beast was blasted to smithereens.
The woman fell to the ground and pulled herself out of the beast's mouth.
"Phew~ I'm saved."
The woman collapsed to the ground.
His armor was torn to shreds by the strange beast.
Strangely, however, she had no wounds on her body, and there was no blood.
"Don't just stand there, get started!"
A stern female voice came from the portal.
The woman turned her head and saw a female rider dressed exactly like her emerge from a large cloud of white steam.
She was half a head taller than the woman, and her neat, short silver hair was particularly striking.
The female rider held the strangely shaped rifle in her hand and aimed it at another beast.
Click--
She pulled the bolt hard.
A gurgling sound came from the canister at the rear of the rifle, like water boiling.
Bang--
The female rider pulled the trigger.
A large cloud of white steam suddenly sprayed out from the small holes around the rifle.
At the same time, a black bullet was launched from the barrel, blasting the targeted monster to pieces.
The woman finally came to her senses and drew her longsword, hacking and slashing.
With the help of the female rider, they quickly dealt with the several F-rank monsters nearby.
"It seems I don't need to intervene."
A man carrying a cane, wearing a black top hat and a tailcoat stepped out of the portal.
Compared to the two female riders, the man looked like a dwarf, only a little over 1.5 meters tall.
"Team leader."
The woman with long chestnut hair ran towards the female rider.
The female cavalry captain nodded slightly, then said to the man in the tuxedo, "According to Her Majesty the Empress's decree, I will lead this operation."
The man adjusted his top hat slightly. "Of course, Captain Gwenni."
The long-haired woman looked around and murmured to herself, "Is this the world outside? It's so desolate."
The female cavalry captain said in a deep voice, "After surveying the surrounding terrain and determining the origin of the magical beast, immediately return to report to His Majesty."
The three set off immediately.
The long-haired woman walked at the front, the female cavalry captain in the middle, and the man in the tuxedo at the rear.
After crossing a small hill not far away, the long-haired woman pointed straight ahead and exclaimed, "There's a ship there!"
The female cavalry captain looked over.
There, a "veteran" sailing warship was stranded beside the cliff.
The ship's surface was covered with signs of "battle damage," and the mainsail had several holes in it.
From a distance, it gives off a very eerie feeling.
The long-haired woman murmured, "There's no water here, but there's a boat. Could it be a ghost ship?"
The man in the tuxedo said calmly, "Ghosts are just baseless fantasies; they don't exist at all."
The female cavalry captain made a decision. "Let's board the ship and take a look."
The three men followed the anchor rope to the deck.
The deck was covered with a thick layer of sand and dust, and there was no trace of life.
The long-haired woman shuddered. "It's exactly like the ghost ship in the novels."
The three explored cautiously and soon found the door to the driver's cab.
The female cavalry captain pushed open the door forcefully, and dust rushed towards her instantly.
"My God, what... what on earth happened here?!"
The long-haired woman stared in disbelief.
Nearly twenty corpses lay on the floor of the driver's cab.
They were dressed in uniform and wore all sorts of animal masks on their faces.
The body was also covered in dust, but showed no signs of decay.
After regaining her senses, the long-haired woman curiously squatted down and poked the corpse with her finger; the skin was still elastic.
Rather than dying, these people were more like asleep.
"This man is the Captain."
A pirate-dressed fellow sat in the chair behind the cockpit, completely out of place with the surrounding art style.
The female cavalry captain reached out, wanting to remove the mask from the other person's face.
The moment the fingertips touched the Sidelines of the mask, the "corpse" suddenly opened its eyes.
"Oh?"
"We have a guest."
The female cavalry captain was startled and quickly retreated to create distance, while simultaneously raising her rifle and aiming it at the talking corpse.
"She's a pretty girl!"
Wow! Those are genuinely long legs.
"Why is that guy so short? Is he cosplaying one of the dwarfs from Snow White?"
"Female knight, where's your horse?"
"I suggest we tie the Big Black car to the boat next time, otherwise we won't even know if someone comes."
"..."
The surrounding "corpses" all stood up, curiously examining the three unfamiliar visitors.
Their movements were incredibly stiff, as if they had only just adapted to their bodies.
We meant no harm.
The female cavalry captain was tense, holding her gun firmly in her hand.
Staring at the dark muzzle of the gun, the Ghost Captain grinned. "You call this no malice?"
The female cavalry captain was momentarily at a loss for words.
The man in the tuxedo removed his hat and gave a very gentlemanly bow.
"We are Exploration Team from the Sea of Glaze. We have mistakenly boarded this ship. Please forgive us."
"May I ask which seas you all come from?"
The Ghost Captain scrutinized the three. "So you're newcomers from the Abyss."
The man in the tuxedo frowned slightly. " The Abyss?"
The Ghost Captain slowly rose to his feet. "We are the Abyss Raiders of the Great Circus."
All who come are guests.
"Now that you've encountered us, it's our responsibility to teach you the rules of the Abyss."
"Men, receive the guests!"
Bang--
The driver's cab door suddenly closed.
Paopao appeared from the void, arms crossed, back against the gate.
The sailor clones chuckled wickedly and surrounded the three.
The Captain leaped into the air, activated his Beast Transformation form, and became a genuine Ghost Captain.
He looked down at the three of them and said, "The first lesson of the Abyss: Don't get on a stranger's ship."
"Everyone, hand over your valuables."
The long-haired woman's eyes widened in surprise as she exclaimed, "There really is a ghost!"