Chapter 3: The Captain's Legacy
Lin Yan stepped through the door.
The corridor beyond was unlike anything he had ever seen. Panels of buttons, holographic displays, and blinking consoles stretched along the walls, glowing with a soft blue light. The technology was centuries ahead of anything in known space. Even the most advanced research stations wouldn't have been able to comprehend this.
He stepped cautiously, curiosity mixing with fear. Then he saw it.
A skeleton.
Its bones had rotted with age, yet the frame was imposing. The remains were dressed in what had once been a general's suit, decorated with tarnished gold and silver insignia. A helmet lay crushed nearby. The air was thick with the smell of decay, yet the aura of authority it carried was undeniable.
Lin Yan approached slowly. His eyes scanned the body, and instinctively, he reached out.
The skeleton collapsed to the floor with a hollow clatter as he stumbled backward—but then he noticed a command chair behind the corpse. Without thinking, he sat in it.
Almost immediately, chains erupted from nowhere, wrapping around his neck, wrists, and ankles. Lin Yan struggled, but the restraints held firm. A sudden electric shock surged through his body, sharp and unbearable. He screamed, but the pain forced him to the ground. Darkness overtook him.
When he awoke, gasping, the chains were gone. He sat up, heart pounding, but the chair seemed alive in a way he couldn't explain.
The display panels flickered, and a calm, mechanical voice spoke through the room.
"Galantia Worship System: Body Analysis Complete. AssassinShip Status: Damaged."
Lin Yan staggered back, trying to process the words. The system scanned him from head to toe, and somewhere deep in its processing, it was learning, adapting, recognizing him.
He realized the ship was not just a vessel. It was a guardian, a legacy, a weapon waiting for its captain.
And somehow… it had chosen him.