Over the Devil’s Sea, layers of dark clouds began to pile up in the distant sky.
A cargo ship bearing the Blue Tongue Marine emblem suddenly slowed down.
"The danger index of the waters ahead is starting to rise. Judging from the swirling clouds and the degree of sea wind, there’s a certain chance of forming a sea wall," the navigator in a blue-and-yellow uniform mumbled quietly as he gazed at the distant sky.
"Should we still sail through?" the captain asked.
The navigator hesitated for a moment: "If it’s just strong winds, we should be able to make it through. But if a sea wall really forms..."
The navigator also became indecisive. After all, this was the Devil’s Sea. Even though their ship had weathered many battles, they would still be doomed if they encountered a sea wall, a catastrophe capable of capsizing them. However, sea walls were not so easily formed. While there’s some chance, it’s only about one in thirty. Perhaps they could take the gamble.
The navigator communicated his thoughts to the captain.
However, the captain was also uncertain at the moment. After a long deliberation, he gritted his teeth and knocked on the guardian’s door.
As one of the few shipping companies that could trade back and forth in the Devil’s Sea, Blue Tongue Marine was naturally supported by extraordinary forces. On this cargo ship, there was a guardian, a male Wizard respectfully addressed as Sea Dragon.
"Lord Sea Dragon..." The captain nervously explained the situation.
Sea Dragon, annoyed by the interruption of his meditation, was visibly impatient. But as it concerned the safety of the cargo ship, he stood up and opened the balcony door to look outside.
With just one glance, Sea Dragon said to the captain, "Sail through."
The captain was taken aback: "Did you see that there’s no sea wall forming, my lord?"
Sea Dragon gave him a glance: "Whether or not a sea wall forms is now irrelevant. Come see for yourself."
The captain stepped onto the balcony, looked up, and saw the accumulating dark clouds not far away, rapidly expanding toward their position.
By now, the captain understood Sea Dragon’s meaning. Whether the sea wall appeared was no longer important because they were already "marked" by the sea areas about to rage with storm.
Unexpectedly, in just the minutes he spent explaining to Sea Dragon, such dramatic changes had happened outside. With no options left, escape was futile; a desperate attempt was their only choice.
"I understand," the captain signaled the crew to keep pushing through the sea where heavy rain was imminent!
Minutes later, the rain came pouring down, and fierce winds began to howl.
Half an hour later, the rain not only showed no sign of weakening but became denser. The storm raged on relentlessly, growing increasingly violent, akin to a hurricane. The cargo ship rocked continuously. Despite its large size, it was no different than a small boat on the brink of capsizing in such weather.
Almost everyone was transferred to the interior of the vessel. Even distanced from the outer world, they could hear the shredding sound of the wind. That sound, terrifying even for seasoned seafarers, drained the color from their faces.
It was like a deathly storm from doomsday.
At this moment, the captain, two vice-captains, and two navigators were all gathered in the guardian’s room, staring at the distant sea surface through the glass walls, their faces a pale shade of gray.
Because the waves in the distant sea began to rise higher and higher, until they reached the sky.
Like a towering wall of water, connected with the clouds.
This was the sea wall, drawn to the sky by extremely peculiar cloud winds, with enough power when it fell to overturn the entire sea.
"What you fear is often what comes true," the navigator muttered helplessly, as if in a dream.
"With just one sea wall, as long as we maneuver in time, we should be able to make it through," said one of the vice-captains.
No sooner had he spoken than more sea walls rose from the distance, brutally slapping him in the face.
"Even with that many sea walls, as long as we stick to this route, there should be a way to avoid them," he continued confidently.
Just as he finished speaking, another sea wall rose up about ten nautical miles directly ahead of the cargo ship, blocking all paths.
Vice-captain: "No problem..."
"Shut up! One more word and I’ll throw you out!" Sea Dragon roared in anger.
The vice-captain, with his ’crow’s mouth’ trait, quietly retreated a few steps, trying to hide behind the others. But everyone was speechless at him. Whatever he said, it came to pass, and they all dodged, fearing his bad luck might infect them.
Sea Dragon snorted coldly, not dealing with him, but solemnly retrieved something from an obscure cabinet in the room.
It was a transparent glass bottle, but instead of liquid, it contained a curious white mist, like a miniature cloud.
"You should recognize this; it’s the Floating Cloud Bottle issued from above."
Everyone nodded. The Floating Cloud Bottle was the bottom-line treasure allocated to all cargo ships by the shipping company. When used, it could temporarily make a cargo ship float high into the sky to avoid danger.
In the past five years, this cargo ship had never used the Floating Cloud Bottle, but this time, with so many sea walls blocking their path and no retreat in sight, they could only turn to the Floating Cloud Bottle for a slim chance of survival.
Sea Dragon walked to the window holding the Floating Cloud Bottle, gazing at the blackened clouds above, and sighed heavily: "Even with the Floating Cloud Bottle, it’s not necessarily safe."
Because they still didn’t know how high the sea walls reached, whether they exceeded the Floating Cloud Bottle’s height limit.
Above the clouds, there might be lightning and thunder; could the cargo ship safely pass through?
These were uncertainties they couldn’t calculate at the moment, unknown dangers promising doom. Yet compared to these unknowns, the immediate threat demanded resolution; thus, the Floating Cloud Bottle had to be used.
Sea Dragon didn’t hesitate, directly removing the stopper, letting a massive swirl of cloud mist pour out, as if with its own consciousness, coalescing under the ship’s hull.
Like cloud soil, it lifted the cargo ship from the sea, ascending constantly toward the high sky.
Soon, they entered the cloud layer. Upon reaching this point, Sea Dragon sensed the movement of electric particles around them, lightning serpents gliding through the clouds.
If those lightning serpents struck the cargo ship, they’d all be doomed. Therefore, their only choice was to continue ascending.
Fortunately, they were lucky. During the ascent, they hadn’t encountered any lightning serpents observing them, passing through the first low cloud layer smoothly.
Unexpectedly, even after clearing the first low cloud layer, the end of the sea wall was still nowhere in sight. The sea wall had already connected to an even higher place.
This meant that even at this height, they still couldn’t avoid the sea wall.