At first, traveling against the wind, the speed of the gondola wasn’t affected.
But as they ventured deeper into the cloud sea, the wind grew stronger and increasingly violent. Even though Angel activated the gondola’s anti-wind mode, it was still slowed by the raging winds.
Fortunately, although the speed decreased, the stability remained.
Silently, the gondola moved against the wind, as if the turbulent winds around it could hardly shake its steadiness.
This made Jack, who was hanging on the drapery, once again appreciate its choice as correct. If it were him, not to mention flying steadily, the mere presence of fierce winds would be an insurmountable obstacle; with its slender bean vine body, penetrating the cloud sea would be impossible.
Half an hour later, as the sky gradually darkened, the wind showed no signs of subsiding.
In this dark cloud sea, the wind seemed to shift from being invisible to visible, everywhere were scattered strands of cloud vapors, like clawed tentacles, encircling the gondola layer by layer.
Originally sitting beside the sandy cage, Dangross shivered at this time, quietly moving to Angel’s side. Although the interior of the gondola was unaffected by the wind, the wailing cries of wind outside paired with the pitch-black sky and swirling fog made Dangross fearful.
But the little whirlwind Arnott felt nothing, even enjoying the howling winds, the moisture at his eye corners disappearing completely.
"Does everyone face such strong winds when going to Wind Island?" Dangross curiously asked.
Arnott thought for a moment: "Yes, the entirety of the white cloud sea contains many hurricanes, and Wind Island is the eye of the storm. Once we reach Wind Island, it will be much better."
"So, when will we arrive at Wind Island?"
Arnott lifted his head, looking through the sandy cage at the aggressive and shapeless wind outside: "The wind here is actually quite small; when we reach an area where the wind is ten times stronger and pass through it, we will see Wind Island."
Ten times stronger wind? Dangross shivered again; with the current terrifying wind, if it increased tenfold, would the gondola still hold?
Angel, gazing forward, suddenly felt his fingers wrapped in a heatwave. Looking back, he found Dangross staring at him with fearful eyes.
Though Dangross said nothing, Angel understood its meaning, having overheard their conversation.
"As it stands, the gondola can barely maintain balance. If the wind grows just two or three times stronger, maintaining its current state will likely become difficult." Seeing Dangross’s eyes grow even more fearful, Angel thought a moment and added, "However, you don’t need to worry too much; we’ll figure something out when the time comes."
Before Dangross could inquire further, the gondola suddenly jolted, frightening Dangross as it scampered up Angel’s arm to the blood-red protection.
Angel remained calm; the gondola had only jolted because the external wind intensified, needing an adjustment in wind-reception mode.
Now, the gondola had returned to stability.
But Angel also knew this stability wouldn’t last long.
According to Arnott, the wind would only grow stronger, not weaken, meaning at most with another two or three levels of energy, maintaining such stability on the gondola would be challenging.
After another ten minutes of flight, the howling wind intensified, sounding like the screeching clash of metal, ringing incessantly around them.
It was then Angel saw the first wind creature in this "Stormy Cloud Sea."
It was a silver white flying fish ’swimming’ in the hurricane.
The swirling suction of the hurricane didn’t appear as an obstacle to the silver white flying fish; instead, it became its joyful paradise, swimming excitedly around it.
Due to the intimidating exterior wind, Angel hadn’t initially noticed it; it was only as the hurricane began approaching the flying boat that Angel recognized its presence.
Frowning slightly at the silver white flying fish’s approach, Angel pondered.
The silver white flying fish wasn’t the problem, as it was obviously an elemental sprite. Angel was concerned because it seemed capable of manipulating the hurricane’s movement.
Though the silver white flying fish likely meant no harm to the gondola, merely drawn by curiosity, its approach brought the terrifying hurricane closer, subjecting the gondola to the strongest storm since entering the cloud sea.
Now, the gondola was unable to maintain stability, starting to jolt and tremble continuously.
Dangross, hanging on the blood-red protection, grew even more fearful, internally worried: Could this mean the gondola will capsize soon?
Watching items on the gondola begin to tumble, even the sandy cage and the white pigeon struggled to stand, Angel softly called: "Earl Mi."
Upon hearing, a blue lantern flower appeared at the prow, emitting a bubble. The bubble transformed into a cyan light shield, enveloping the entire gondola.
Though the hurricane continued to rage outside the light shield, tranquility was restored within.
"Is this the power of the wind?" Arnott’s voice emanated, perceiving the stable wind force field surrounding the gondola, eyes flashing with confusion. Such power, which Arnott only sensed from mature wind creatures, unexpectedly appeared here? Could there be other wind creatures nearby?
While Arnott pondered in confusion, Angel lightly stepped out of the gondola.
Though Earl Mi had stabilized the gondola, the external silver white flying fish still needed addressing, as its intense curiosity kept it lingering near the gondola. The hurricane power surrounding it wasn’t yet significant, but as they continued deeper, should it continue to follow along, it would soon become the hurricane’s focal point, posing a threat to the gondola.
Earl Mi was currently stabilizing the gondola, thus leaving Angel to deal with the silver white flying fish.
Exiting the wind force field, the external storm immediately surged; even without the silver white flying fish directing the hurricane to attack, the fierce winds already struck like wind blades towards Angel.
Though the gusts weren’t severely harmful, Angel decided against lingering outside.
A flash of light beneath his feet, his figure appeared near the silver white flying fish.
Before the silver white flying fish could react, Angel trapped it with the illusion node woven into an illusionary realm net from his fingertips.
The silver white flying fish was merely an elemental sprite, oblivious and powerless against illusions, easily captured by Angel.
Returning to the gondola, Angel casually placed the silver white flying fish beside the white pigeon; these two elemental sprites were unstable elements, intending them to rest in the illusionary realm. Once at Wind Island, they would be handed over to other wind creatures.
The gondola resumed its journey, now under Earl Mi’s protection, and the speed steadied, accelerating.
Feeling the gondola regain calm, Dangross nervously jumped onto the table, calming its tense emotions, then walked to the silver white flying fish’s side.
It had watched as this small flying fish could manipulate such powerful hurricanes.
Its eyes glowed slightly, contemplating whether to secretly inject some of its own fire while it was unable to resist.
However, Dangross recalled Angel’s previous teaching that using your own strength to win others over is more fulfilling than forcing them to become your subordinates. In the end, it restrained its thoughts of gathering followers.