673: Ashes_1 673: Ashes_1 “Taking a ship would take at least a full day, wouldn’t it be too slow?”
As soon as it was confirmed that Fu Qian was indeed heading for Ye Island, Su Gao seriously began to consider the travel arrangements.
It was clear that she had not forgotten the purpose of her visit, with her Hunter talent naturally kicking in.
“Relax, I said it’s a vacation trip.”
Fu Qian waved his hand, signaling her to put her mind at ease for now.
“Besides, if the two of us rush off in a hurry, are you sure Chief Yuan won’t be alarmed?”
Uh…
Su Gao fell silent for a moment, conceding to Fu Qian’s point.
“So do I need to prepare anything?”
“No need—wait a minute.”
Halfway through his sentence, Fu Qian suddenly remembered something and pointed at the money box that Brother Tyler had brought over.
“Given that the company’s cash flow is tight recently, I’ll need you to front the funds for the trip.”
“…Alright.”
…
“What perfect weather for a trip.”
Not long after noon, Fu Qian, resting his hands on the railing warmed by the sun, expressed his heartfelt sentiment.
The weather was fair, the waters calm, and the sight of the deep blue sea was undeniably delightful.
Separated by a wall, Su Gao acknowledged with a sound, agreeing with the sentiment.
Beneath their feet lay an somewhat aged cruise ship, painted entirely in white.
As a maritime gem, Shangjing always boasted a wealth of shipping routes.
Considering this trip was classified as a vacation, Fu Qian did not use his special pass but instead chose to board the ship as a pure tourist.
Of course, this was also thanks to the fact that it wasn’t the peak season for travel; otherwise, it might have required some extra effort, such as winning a ticket in a card game beneath the deck, for example.
Moreover, although the cash flow was tight, employee benefits were unquestionably maxed out by Fu Qian, who managed to secure two luxury suites, becoming neighbors with Su Gao.
Naturally, as the person who lent the money for the perks, Su Gao herself had no complaints about it.
“For safety reasons, there will be a certain number of Transcendents on board, though their power usually won’t be very high.”
Although not prone to seasickness, Su Gao gazed at the azure blue water, her mood somewhat subdued.
“Understood.”
Fu Qian nodded slightly.
In such a world, it wasn’t strange for passenger ships offshore to employ some Transcendents to maintain order.
As for their not being very powerful, that was simply because it was unnecessary.
Under the strong arm of the Night Watchman, no Transcendent would be foolish enough to think of robbing a civilian merchant ship.
The occupation of piracy, with its long history, was more likely to be pursued by ordinary people than by Transcendents.
In fact, these Transcendents were more for maintaining internal order.
As for Su Gao’s low spirits, Fu Qian could roughly guess the reason—the Rotten Forest was located on Ye Island.
Considering she had spent quite a long time there.
At this moment, she must be experiencing some mixed feelings.
But even so, upon hearing that he wanted to investigate the Native Council, Su Gao had immediately taken leave to come and help, showing full sincerity.
“Here.”
Taking out a bottle of juice from the fridge, Fu Qian casually opened it and tossed it over.
While the ship was somewhat old, its amenities were still comfortably in place.
“What do you know about the Sea of Ashes?”
“The Sea of Ashes? That’s far from here, almost on the other end of the world.”
Successfully diverted, Su Gao exclaimed in surprise and quickly furrowed her brow in thought.
“That’s a fairly large body of water, and although it is defined as a Forbidden Area, the boundaries are not completely fixed.”
“It’s called the Sea of Ashes because its interior waters are all permeated by some substance, presenting a unique grayish-white color, as if it were flowing ashes.”
“According to the analysis, the substance within the seawater itself contains Transcendent powers, but it’s extremely chaotic and fundamentally unusable, like burnt remnants.”
“Or perhaps like cremains?”
Fu Qian nodded; Su Gao’s mention aligned with the information he had received from Yuan Shan.
“Cremains are indeed one of the hypotheses.”
Su Gao seemed not at all surprised by Fu Qian’s thoughts.