Chapter 2359 Chains <TOC> Chapter 2361 Time Changes the World
Translator: SumTLMan
At sea, the distant sky began to stack layers upon layers of dark clouds.
A cargo ship bearing the Blue Tongue Shipping emblem suddenly slowed down.
“The danger index of the waters ahead is starting to rise. Judging from the surging of the clouds and the degree of the sea breeze, there’s a certain chance a Reverse Sea Wall could form,” said a navigator dressed in blue and yellow, standing on the top deck, gazing into the distance while muttering under his breath.
“Should we still go through it?” the captain asked.
The navigator hesitated for a moment: “If it’s just the wind and waves acting up, we should be able to get through without a problem. But if a Reverse Sea Wall really forms…”
The navigator also began to waver. After all, it was the treacherous sea, and even though their ship had been through countless battles, facing a disaster like the Reverse Sea Wall, which could spell doom, was still a gamble. However, the Reverse Sea Wall wasn’t so easily formed. While there was a certain probability of its occurrence, it wasn’t high, estimated to be about one in thirty. It was actually worth taking the risk.
The navigator shared his thoughts with the captain.
However, the captain was also somewhat indecisive. After a long period of indecision, the captain bit the bullet and knocked on the door of the guardian’s room.
Blue Tongue Shipping, as one of the few shipping companies able to trade back and forth across the treacherous sea, naturally had extraordinary powers backing it. And on this cargo ship, there was a guardian, a male wizard revered as Sea Dragon.
“Lord Sea Dragon…” the captain said with trepidation as he explained the situation.
Sea Dragon, annoyed at being disturbed from his meditation, showed a face full of impatience. But since it concerned the safety of the cargo ship, he still stood up, opened the balcony door, and looked out.
With just one glance, Sea Dragon said to the captain, “Go through it.”
The captain was stunned: “Did you see if the Reverse Sea Wall is there?”
Sea Dragon glanced at him: “Whether the Reverse Sea Wall is there is no longer important. Come here and see for yourself.”
The captain went to the balcony, looked up, and saw the dark clouds accumulating not far away, spreading towards their location at a rapid pace.
By then, the captain understood Sea Dragon’s meaning. Whether the Reverse Sea Wall appeared or not was no longer important because they had already been ‘targeted’ by the sea area about to be hit by the storm.
The captain hadn’t expected that in just the few minutes it took to seek out Sea Dragon, such a change had occurred outside. Now there was no choice; they couldn’t escape even if they tried, and they had to take a chance.
“I understand.” The captain signaled to the sailors not to stop, to go through the sea with the storm imminent!
Minutes later, the storm arrived, and the wind surged violently.
Half an hour later, the torrential rain not only weakened but also became denser. The storm showed no signs of abating; instead, it grew more ferocious, comparable to a major hurricane. The cargo ship swayed incessantly, and despite its massive size, under such weather conditions, it was no different from a flat boat on the verge of capsizing at any moment.
Nearly all personnel had moved inside the hull, yet even distanced from the outside, they could hear the wind’s tearing sounds. Such sounds, even to men accustomed to life at sea, caused their faces to turn ashen.
It was like a deathly wind heralding the apocalypse.
At this moment, the captain, the two deputy captains, and the two navigators all gathered in the guardian’s room, observing the distant sea through a glass wall, their faces uniformly pale.
For the waves in the distance began to rise, climbing higher and higher until they reached the sky.
It was like a towering water wall connected to the clouds.
This was the Reverse Sea Wall, drawn into the high skies by a very peculiar wind, its descent powerful enough to overturn the ocean itself.
“What we fear, comes upon us,” a navigator muttered as if in a dream, resigned.
“A single Reverse Sea Wall, as long as we navigate timely, we should be able to withstand it,” one deputy captain said.
No sooner had he spoken than not just one, but several Reverse Sea Walls rose in the distance, as if to slap his face with reality.
“Even with so many Reverse Sea Walls appearing, as long as we follow this route, there’s still a way to circumvent them,” the same deputy captain insisted.
Right after his words, another Reverse Sea Wall surged up a dozen nautical miles ahead, blocking all possible routes for the cargo ship.
Deputy Captain: “It’s okay…”
“Shut up! Do you believe I will throw you out?” Sea Dragon roared.
The deputy captain, seemingly cursed with the ability to jinx their situation, silently stepped back, attempting to hide behind others. Everyone else was equally speechless, dodging him as if to avoid bad luck.
Sea Dragon snorted coldly, choosing not to deal with him but instead, with a grave expression, retrieved an item from a hidden cabinet in the room.
It was a transparent glass bottle, not filled with liquid but a peculiar white smoke, resembling a miniaturized cloud.
“You should recognize this; it’s the Floating Cloud Bottle issued by the higher-ups.”
Everyone nodded. The Floating Cloud Bottle was a treasure provided by the shipping company to all cargo ships, capable of temporarily lifting the ship into the air to avoid danger.
In the past five years, this cargo ship had never had to use the Floating Cloud Bottle. However, this time, with the appearance of numerous Reverse Sea Walls cutting off their retreat, they had no choice but to rely on the Floating Cloud Bottle for a glimmer of hope.
Holding the Floating Cloud Bottle, Sea Dragon approached the window, gazing at the dark clouds above, and sighed deeply, “Even with the Floating Cloud Bottle, safety is not guaranteed.”
Given the gravity of their situation, unaware of the exact height of the Reverse Sea Wall and whether it surpasses the altitude limit of the Floating Cloud Bottle, they find themselves navigating through uncertainties and unknown dangers. Despite these, the immediate peril necessitates the use of the Floating Cloud Bottle.
Without hesitation, Sea Dragon removes the stopper, releasing a torrent of cloud vapor that seems to possess its own consciousness, gathering beneath the cargo ship’s hull. This cloud soil lifts the vessel from the ocean, propelling it upwards into the sky.
As they ascend into the cloud layer, Sea Dragon senses the activity of electric particles around them, with lightning serpents weaving through the clouds. A single strike to the cargo ship would spell doom for everyone aboard. Thus, they have no choice but to climb higher.
Fortune smiles upon them as they ascend, avoiding the gaze of the lightning serpents and successfully navigating through the first layer of low clouds. However, to their dismay, even after passing this layer, the Reverse Sea Wall’s end remains out of sight, stretching even higher.
This realization dawns on them that even at this altitude, they cannot evade the Reverse Sea Wall. They must ascend further.
Reaching the second layer of clouds, everyone holds their breath, anticipating the moment they break through. They manage to pass through the cloud layer, but the Floating Cloud Bottle’s vapor is depleted, indicating they’ve reached their maximum altitude and cannot ascend any further.
Yet, even from this vantage point, the end of the Reverse Sea Wall is nowhere in sight.
“This is it, we’re done for,” the crew despairs at the sight, with some collapsing to the ground in a daze.
“The Reverse Sea Wall, if it falls, could crush even a whale into pulp,” they reason, realizing their ship would stand no chance and would be utterly destroyed.
Sea Dragon turns pale, his concerns shifting from the safety of the ship to his own survival. Although he possesses a flying carpet, his magical power as a second level apprentice is insufficient for sustained flight over the open sea, necessitating landfall for rest and meditation. Without the cargo ship as a refuge, his chances of survival are uncertain.
“Lord Sea Dragon, what should we do now?” the crew looks to Sea Dragon, their last beacon of hope.
Without a word, Sea Dragon silently moves to the side, pulling down the magic carpet from the wall. This action, understood by all, underscores the severity of their predicament.
With even their guardian at a loss, their doom seems inevitable.
“The magic carpet can carry at most four people; I can take you away from here,” Sea Dragon said, looking at the group. “There are five of you right now, which means one person will have to stay on the ship.”
“Choose among yourselves, or I will make the choice.”
“Even if you are chosen, don’t think it will be easy. Because even if you leave now, there’s no guarantee you’ll survive what comes next.”
Sea Dragon presented this deadly choice.
Everyone looked at each other, completely silent. They were comrades in arms on ordinary days, but now, faced with a matter of life and death, they were utterly dumbfounded.
“There’s no time to waste. If you don’t decide in half a minute, I will choose,” Sea Dragon said, glancing at the increasingly turbulent wave wall in the distance.
At this moment, the captain stepped forward: “I’ve worked on this cargo ship for twenty years, and I’ve come to see it as my home. If my home is gone, what’s the point of me living? I’ll stay.”
The others remained silent.
Sea Dragon gave the captain a deep look: “Alright, you stay. The rest of you, get ready to leave with me.”
With a gentle wave of his hand, the magic carpet was laid on the ground, signaling the others to come aboard.
Just as the magic carpet was fully occupied and Sea Dragon was about to lead the others away from the cargo ship, a flash of light suddenly streaked across the sky.
Looking up, they saw a dreamy flying boat, adorned with the colors of the galaxy, appearing in the sky above them. This vessel, woven from the fabric of the starry night, approached from afar and slowly hovered directly above them.
The others couldn’t see inside the flying boat, but Sea Dragon, as an apprentice wizard, could clearly feel the presence of a terrifyingly powerful being on board, whose gaze swept over them.
Even more, the being’s gaze locked onto Sea Dragon.
This kind of gaze, capable of making one’s skin crawl, could only belong to a formal wizard!
Sea Dragon was well aware of the terrifying nature of a formal wizard. Moreover, formal wizards were generally known for their bad tempers. Being noticed by a formal wizard often meant trouble was brewing.
Was this what it meant to go from the frying pan into the fire? Had they just escaped one disaster only to immediately face another?
Sea Dragon felt a sense of despair.
“It’s coming down, it’s coming down… The flying boat is descending!” the two sailors beside him exclaimed.
Trembling, Sea Dragon looked up to see the dreamlike flying boat slowly descending from the sky.
One hundred meters, fifty meters, thirty meters… until it stopped about ten meters above them.
Sea Dragon sneaked a glance at the person on the flying boat.
It was a young man in a loose robe, lazily reclining in a chair, with somewhat disheveled red hair casually falling over his forehead. His slightly listless golden eyes conveyed a world-weary lethargy.
Sea Dragon dared not look any longer, offering only a respectful glance before lowering his head again.
Searching through the depths of his mind, he was certain he had never seen the other party before.
Yet, it was also possible that the other had disguised themselves.
“Can these humans actually sit on a blanket and fly?”
A crisp voice tinged with youthfulness emanated from the flying boat, and Sea Dragon sneaked a peek, discovering that the speaker was a hand… hanging on the back of a snake.
A hand that could speak? Sea Dragon was astonished, and the speaker continued.
“My goodness, am I seeing things wrong? That ship over there is huge? A ship that big can fly in the sky, terrifying!”
“Damn, compared to the Gondola, we’ve lost.”
Sea Dragon thought: Is this sarcasm or sincerity? Just by looking at the appearance, it’s clear who the loser is.
Everyone lowered their heads, not daring to speak, the only one making bold claims was that incessantly chattering hand.
“Enough, talk any more, and I’ll continue to keep you locked up,” the green snake spoke.
“There’s no fireplace here…”
“I can still lock you up in solitary confinement like a fireplace, want to try?”
“Alright then.” The hand murmured in grievance, “I was just stating a big truth, we’ve already lost.”
“Shut up,” the green snake said irritably.
The hand fell silent, and Sea Dragon on the magic carpet also breathed a sigh of relief because, although the hand’s words were ignorant, from a certain perspective, they were also putting them on the spot.
However, the hand, though now quiet, wasn’t completely at ease. It directly jumped onto the magic carpet, circling around like an inspecting general, and looked the people on the magic carpet up and down.
Facing this bizarre hand, everyone was completely immobilized, neither daring to move nor to make a sound.
“This blanket is quite comfortable, soft and warm, much better than the Gondola!”
Sea Dragon: …Please, no more talking.
“Dangros, contain your flames!”
A sharp rebuke came from someone on the flying boat, and everyone’s gaze shifted to the hand that was rolling on the magic carpet, which, unbeknownst to them, had become surrounded by flames. The carpet beneath it had already been scorched with a burnt hole.
After being sharply reprimanded, Dangros came to his senses, but by then, the hole in the magic carpet had begun to widen.
Dangros hadn’t reacted before he fell through the burnt hole, landing directly on the top deck of a cargo ship.
And the magic carpet, having lost some of its flying capability due to the hole, descended with a series of exclamations as everyone on it tumbled down.
“Fool, you’re going straight into confinement when we get back,” scolded the sharp-voiced individual, jumping down from the flying boat.
At this moment, everyone else was stunned, with only Sea Dragon trembling in fear.
Sea Dragon had already guessed that this hand probably belonged to a fire elemental creature. The unintentional release of fire that could burn through a magic carpet indicated immense strength, likely too much for even ten of him to handle.
Faced with this hand, he felt powerless. Not to mention there was also a more powerful formal wizard present.
With a towering sea wall ahead, a fire elemental creature and a formal wizard behind, and their only means of escape, the magic carpet, now ruined, were they truly doomed to fall here?
Chapter 2359 Chains <TOC> Chapter 2361 Time Changes the World