The astonishing scene was witnessed by more than just the residents of Neverwinter.
Earlier, Magli was standing at the bow of the Snow Breeze, gazing at the endless blue sea—it had been the fleet's sixty-sixth day crossing the sea line. The waves always surged in the direction they came from, rising and falling, with a frequency similar to the tidal intervals of the Shadow Sea thousands of miles away, as if all the water came from the same place.
If the Whirlpool Sea truly had a source, it would be the greatest discovery in history.
What filled the merchant with confidence, besides the guiding waves, was the Snow Breeze.
Its hull, propelled without relying on sails, allowed it to travel through gales and waves without fear of capsizing. Its massive cargo capacity could also supply other ships with fresh water and food. This was the first time they had traveled so far from land without a single ship falling behind, all thanks to this iron ship built with great expense.
She had reason to believe that Thunder's journey would not be in vain.
"Did you find anything?" A familiar voice suddenly came from behind.
Magli turned around with a smile, "If there was anything, the lookout on the mast would be the first to notify you, so you should ask them."
The person was none other than Thunder, the leader of the fleet.
"Not necessarily," he said cheerfully, "They might have already discovered something, but were too shocked to speak or move."
"Pfft..." Magli covered her mouth, barely managing to suppress a loud laugh that would damage her image. What he was referring to was the scene that occurred when crossing the sea line—when the sea surface appeared before the fleet like a wall rising vertically, even the most experienced sailors were stunned by this unbelievable sight. When officially crossing, some people even fell off the watchtower due to the sudden inverted environment.
Usually, these veterans could cling to the ropes and masts like geckos even in storms, but this time they lost their footing and fell in calm waters, which showed how shocked they were by the sea line.
Thunder shrugged, "As far as I know, several merchant guilds later replaced their best lookouts with the boldest ones. After all, it's too embarrassing to talk about."
"Is that so..." Magli shook her head helplessly, "But after witnessing such a scene, I don't think they'll lose their composure like before, no matter what they discover."
"Who knows." Thunder patted her shoulder, his voice suddenly becoming more steady, "Don't worry, Joan will be fine."
Magli also put away her smile and nodded vigorously, "Yes, the sea is her domain, and I think she will eventually reunite with us somewhere."
Sailing on the boundless sea, an optimistic attitude was crucial. Instead of pointless worry, it was a mature response to lift spirits and continue towards the goal. Magli naturally knew this well.
"By the way, I came to find you because the navigation meeting is about to begin." After a moment of silence, Thunder tilted his head and gestured, "The other captains have arrived, let's go back to the cabin."
"Okay, I understand."
The navigation meeting was when every captain of the fleet gathered on the flagship to report and communicate about the next route plan, ship status, and resource situation. It was usually held every three or four days and was a key means of ensuring the overall health of the fleet.
The two had just turned around and taken a few steps when they saw an eerie red reflection on the blue sea.
The sailors on deck were all stunned, their eyes looking in the same direction, as if they had seen something unbelievable.
Further away, several people fell from the tops of the three-masted ships, crashing into the stunned crowd—everything seemed to be a repeat of the scene when crossing the sea line, which surprised Magli.
Didn't they say... these people had been replaced with the boldest ones?
The merchant slowly turned her head and immediately felt the blood in her body freeze.
She saw a huge celestial body appearing in the cloudless blue sky, its outline rounded and its entire body bright red, dozens of times larger than the sun. Just a few breaths before, there was clearly nothing there!
"Three Gods... bless," she couldn't help but murmur, "Is this the... Red Moon that His Majesty spoke of?"
But Magli received no response. The scene was so eerie and terrifying that even Thunder was speechless.
"Woo————————Woo————————"
At this moment, the Snow Breeze sounded its whistle.
The sharp buzzing sound broke the silence and jolted everyone back to their senses.
A long whistle meant enemies were approaching!
The two exchanged a glance and ran towards the bridge in unison.
"What the hell is going on!" Thunder shouted as he rushed into the command room.
"There... there are... ships," the first mate stammered, "Southeast direction... heading towards us..."
"What did you say?" Thunder snatched the spyglass from his hand and aimed it in the direction the first mate indicated.
Magli's heart sank as well. They were now thousands of miles away from the Shadow Sea. Not to mention people, even birds were rare. How could they encounter ships?
This was a new sea area that humans had never set foot in!
She asked another officer for a spyglass and looked in the direction of Thunder's gaze—
"My God..."
The merchant gasped. She saw two shadows floating on the distant sea, also without sails, but riding the waves. But this was not the most terrifying thing. The seawater around the shadows seemed to be boiling, as if countless schools of fish were accompanying them forward.
But she soon discovered that the surging things were not schools of fish, but what sea merchants and explorers least wanted to see.
Sea Ghosts.
Their dorsal fins appeared and disappeared, and occasionally they would leap out of the water, the rising waves refracting a strange luster under the red moon, which made Magli think of sharks fighting for food.
"Send my order, all ships turn to full rudder!" Thunder roared, "Raise the sails, full speed ahead! Everyone else, prepare for battle!"
"Yes!"
"We're in trouble..." The captain of the Tuna swallowed.
"May the Sea God bless us," the other captains prayed.
Any Fjordian knew that unless it was a lightly loaded speedboat or a full wind downstream, sea ships usually couldn't outrun Sea Ghosts. This meant that if the other side was coming for them, being chased was only a matter of time.
But the situation was clearly worsening.
As the distance narrowed, Magli finally saw the true appearance of the two shadows—they were half ship and half flesh, like monsters with their skin peeled off, leaving only internal organs and skeletons. Such creations would only appear in the most terrible nightmares. When the ribs covering half of the parts opened, they began to spray balls of dark green objects towards the fleet from a distance of more than ten miles!
The water columns stirred up by the objects falling into the sea terrified everyone. Although no ships had been hit yet, no one wanted to try what those things were.
Thunder's face sank, and he issued a second order, "Abandon all food and exploration supplies, keep only half of the fresh water... no, 30% will do! Increase the fleet's speed as soon as possible!"
Magli was stunned, "This way, we can't go deeper into the sea."
"And with so little fresh water left, even the return trip might be..." The first mate looked troubled.
"Food can be caught from the sea, and we can wait for rain to drink," Thunder took a deep breath, "But if we can't outrun the Sea Ghosts and that damn monster, we won't even have a chance to gamble—the exploration is over, the only goal now is... to survive!"