The "Shipyard of Whispers" was not what Kaito had expected. Instead of a bustling dock with workers and the smell of fresh timber, it was a graveyard of broken masts and rotting hulls. The fog here was thick, clinging to the ground like a cold, wet blanket. Every time the wind blew through the skeletal remains of the old ships, it made a sound like a low, haunting whistle—hence the name.
Kaito stepped over a rusted anchor, his eyes searching for any sign of life. "Hello? Is anyone here? Oro sent me!"
"Oro is a loud-mouthed old turtle," a raspy voice echoed from the shadows of a massive, half-finished ship.
An old man emerged. He wore a tattered leather apron and carried a heavy iron hammer. But what stopped Kaito in his tracks was the man's eyes—or rather, the lack of them. A thick grey cloth was tied tightly around his head, covering his eyes completely. Yet, he walked through the cluttered shipyard with the grace of a cat, never tripping once.
"You're the shipwright?" Kaito asked, his voice full of disbelief.
"I am Silas," the man replied, tilting his head as if sniffing the air. "And you... you smell like the deep current. You have the scent of the Tide-Walker's blood. Your father had the same smell before he disappeared into the Abyssal Gate."
Kaito's heart hammered against his ribs. "You knew my father? Did you build a ship for him?"
Silas let out a dry, hacking laugh. "I didn't just build it, boy. I birthed it. It wasn't made of wood and iron alone. We used the bones of a Leviathan and the silk of a Sea-Wraith. But that ship is gone. To follow him, you need something... different."
Silas turned toward the dark water at the edge of the shipyard. "The Forbidden Sea is waking up. The monsters are hungry. If you want to survive the 'Dead Zone', you don't need a ship that floats on the water. You need one that can hide under it."
Kaito looked at the dark, swirling depths. "A submarine?"
"A living vessel," Silas corrected. "But to finish it, I need the 'Heart of the Iron-Whale'. It's a core of pure energy guarded by the mechanical guardians in the Sunken Factory. Bring it to me, and I will give you a ship that can breathe."
Kaito gripped the hilt of his father's old dagger. The challenges were getting harder, but he could feel his power growing. "Tell me where the factory is. I'm not leaving without that ship."