Tens of thousands of scout bee insects flew rapidly across the sky.

Their bodies were covered in light-colored scales, blending in with the sky, soaring through the clouds.

Beneath the ocean's surface, an even larger number of bee insects, disguised as common fish, scattered and swam.

From time to time, soldier insects leaped out of the water, snatching pieces of wood and planks floating on the surface, before sinking back into the sea.

A sailing ship had indeed recently passed through this sea area.

Fragments of wooden crates and ceramic shards remained on the surface and seabed, appearing to be items left behind by a cargo merchant ship.

However, the current condition of the merchant ship could not be determined.

"The initial island is surrounded by a ring of thunderous storms,

While outside the thunderous ring is a windless zone,

Where there is always a light breeze or calm wind, the sea is calm, and the seawater flow is slowed down.

For marine life, the windless zone is naturally not a problem,

But for ancient sailing vessels like mast sailboats, entering the windless zone is more troublesome."

Li Yi silently pondered.

Historically, the area near the equator in the real world, between 5° north and south latitude and 30° to 35° north latitude, was known as horselatitudes, another name for the windless zone.

Specifically, this area is a high-pressure windless zone.

Sailboats trapped in the windless zone cannot rely on wind power to navigate and can only be stuck in place, waiting for ocean currents or intermittent breezes.

Over time, the ship's water reserves become insufficient, prioritized for the sailors, and the horses carried on board die of thirst and are thrown into the sea, hence the "area filled with horse corpses."

"Did this ship enter the windless zone unintentionally, or were they intentionally heading there, confident and capable of crossing the windless zone?"

Just as Li Yi was thinking, the scout bee insects discovered another anomaly: a strong scent of blood was drifting from the sea ahead.

––––

This was a large four-masted sailing ship, its wooden hull painted with waterproof and corrosion-resistant brown paint, its mast sails pristine white, reflecting a fish-scale-like texture under the sunlight.

The sails used on the ship were indeed biological materials.

They were the skin of a white giant bear that lived in the Caravelle Mountains. Those bears could grow up to seven meters tall and were at the top of the mountain forest ecosystem.

Their skin was divided into three layers. The outermost layer was tough, light, and waterproof, making it the finest sail material. Only a few ships were qualified to purchase and use it each year.

This ship, named "The Atocha," was one of them.

The Atocha originally belonged to the Goode Navigation Company, under the Duke of Atocha.

A year ago, the former Duke of Atocha, Roy Goode, was accused of treason, and most of his property was confiscated by the state.

His younger brother, Edward Goode, took over his brother's remaining property.

He only left his nephew a four-masted sailing ship as a privilege for a noble relative—according to current noble rules, family members who failed in the inheritance struggle usually carried a severance fee and sailed to the New World.

In name, it was to develop new industries for the family,

In reality, they were left to fend for themselves in the New World.

At this moment, the deck of the Atocha was filled with sailors.

These sailors looked somewhat scruffy.

They emanated a body odor from not bathing for a long time, and greasy yellow marks appeared on the collars and cuffs of their clothes.

Their beards were messy, and their eyes were bloodshot.

Johnson Goode stood in front of the sailors.

A year ago, he was the only son of the Duke of Goode, inheriting his ancestors' blond hair and handsome appearance. He was of noble birth, received the best noble education, was engaged to the daughter of another Duke of the Empire, and was a leader among the younger generation of the Empire.

However, a sudden change shattered the noble son's life trajectory.

His father was convicted of treason, the evidence was conclusive, and he was imprisoned.

He and his mother were kicked out of the castle that had been passed down in the family for more than two hundred years, and they were left to wander the streets, forced to sell jewelry and rent a hotel.

His fiancé, the Duchess, also sent a letter of annulment with a check for one thousand pounds to pay for the annulment fee.

And his uncle, Edward Goode, whom the elders described as uncultured and a rogue, relied on his good private relationship with the Imperial Bishop,

Intercepted the remaining property of the Goode family.

He went from a branch family without inheritance rights to the leader of the Goode family.

Although the title of Duke of Atocha was still being held in the Imperial Archives due to various matters of treason, it was estimated that it would not be long before Edward Goode could formally become the new Duke of Atocha and continue the Goode family.

"Huff..."

Thinking of this, Johnson Goode couldn't help but take a deep breath. His face was thin, and his hair and beard were messy. He looked nothing like the blond noble son he once was.

He endured great humiliation and cashed the one thousand pound check that came with the annulment letter.

He used the money to hire sailors, buy goods,

Using the only property he had on hand, the Atocha sailing ship, to engage in shipping trade between the New World and the Old World, slowly accumulating wealth.

He wanted to take back everything that had been taken from him by his own uncle.

Family honor, company property, personal reputation...

And even the truth about his father's treason.

Johnson Goode silently clenched his fist and looked ahead.

At the bow of the Atocha sailing ship, there was a wooden statue of the sea goddess, which sea ships traveling to and from used as a way to pray for safety.

The captain of the Atocha sailing ship, a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties with a full beard and dark skin, ordered his crew to lead a horse out of the cabin.

The horse was one of the merchant ship's cargo, with a blindfold on its face and cloth tied to its feet to prevent it from moving around.

Zheng—

The captain drew a saber from his waist. As if sensing an ominous aura, the packhorse uneasily stomped in place, but was firmly held down by strong sailors on both sides, unable to move.

Amid the sailors' awe, the captain loudly recited a mantra to worship the sea goddess, and with a wave of his hand, decapitated the horse.

A stream of blood spurted from the horse's body, splashing on the statue of the sea goddess on the bow.

A large amount of blood flowed down the statue and into the sea, the red halo slowly spreading in the windless seawater.

The headless horse's body twitched a few times.

The sailors on both sides squeezed the horse's carcass until all the blood had been squeezed out before throwing the horse carcass into the ocean.

"...How much longer?"

Johnson Goode took a step forward and asked the captain in a low voice.

"If everything goes well, half an hour."

The captain wiped the blood off the saber with a cloth and replied softly, "If this ritual fails to summon a deep-sea beast to carry us out of the windless zone,

We'll have to wait half a month to perform the ritual again."

Half a month...

Johnson Goode was silent. As the ship's owner, he had been traveling with the ship for the past year.

A month ago, the Atocha sailing ship accidentally entered the windless zone due to a storm surge and was trapped here.

They were running out of freshwater supplies on board. Not to mention waiting another half a month, even a week, some of the sailors below might go crazy and riot.

Imperial ships were not without means to withstand sudden disasters, whether it was a magic scroll that could release a gale out of thin air or a magic orb that could filter seawater into fresh water.

The Goode Navigation Company used to have them, and they could solve the current predicament.

But those things were also taken away by his uncle, leaving only an empty ship.

Now, he could only pray that the exotic captain he had hired at a high price could really do as he said,

To summon a deep-sea beast through a special ritual,

And let the deep-sea beast carry the ship through the windless zone.

Johnson Goode drew a six-pointed star on his chest, silently praying to the goddess in the dark,

The mission of reviving the family had not yet been completed, and his father's grievances had not yet been cleared.

The duchess who annulled the engagement, the uncle who took away his family property, and the so-called friends who kicked him when he was down,

He wanted to take back everything he was supposed to have...

Just as Johnson Goode was immersed in the imagination of thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, do not bully the young man for being poor, the sea surface where the blood had settled suddenly boiled.