Same time, Eastern Domain of the Whirlpool Sea.

A massive fleet, arranged in five columns, floated outside the Umbra Islands.

The most striking vessel was the Snow Wind. Its black steel hull and the billowing black smoke rising from its top distinctly set it apart from other seagoing ships.

At this moment, the deck of the Snow Wind was a scene of bustling activity.

Sailors hurried back and forth, making final preparations for entering the islands.

Leiting, on the bridge, was relaying important information to everyone. "You are the most outstanding explorers in the fjord. Many of you have been to the Umbra Sea before, so I won't waste words. The position of these islands is erratic, and a thick fog rises during low tide. Therefore, you must not be careless at any time, understood?"

"Boss, rest assured," a lieutenant patted his chest, "We've been with you for so many years, when have we ever made a mistake? It's the four major merchant guilds insisting on sending a large ship along, any problems will be on their side."

"That's right, a few small boats would be fine, but trying to navigate this reef-filled area, a three-masted ship is not a good choice."

"They probably think their ships are as agile as the Snow Wind, right? When they run aground, don't expect us to turn back!"

This remark elicited a burst of laughter from everyone.

"If they're worried about us hiding any discoveries, why not just have the captain ride on our coattails?"

"Those merchant guilds clearly want to have a greater say in this expedition."

"I told you their funding isn't easy to get."

"But if we want to go further east, we need a large-scale fleet, there's no way around it."

Watching the noisy crowd, Camilla Dary sighed softly. After nearly a month of sailing, she had gained a basic understanding of the Umbra Sea. This place seemed to be the heart of the Whirlpool Sea, where every tide began and ended, and where the rise and fall were most pronounced. The difference could even turn thousands of underwater reefs into an archipelago. Compared to it, Sleeping Island was nothing.

What was even more incredible was that the Umbra Islands had been discovered for more than a decade, but there was still no accurate chart. The reason was that the reefs here were not fixed - all the objects hidden underwater seemed to be constantly moving, even the huge ruins were no exception. To traverse the sea, one had to wait until all the reefs were exposed. Because of this, the difficulty of navigating was unimaginable.

But the people in front of her didn't seem like well-trained professionals at all, more like a bunch of...brave and fierce bandits. The identity of an explorer did indeed hold considerable prestige among the people of the fjord, but among her peers, she didn't see it at all. Apart from a few who could command respect like Leiting, most of them did as they pleased.

For Camilla, who was once a noble, such a chaotic scene was inherently repugnant to her. If it weren't for Princess Tilly's request, she really wouldn't want Joan to work with this group.

Sighing, she found herself missing the First Army of Neverwinter - at least they wouldn't be as noisy as monkeys while on a mission. The straight, spirited ranks were always so pleasing to the eye.

Suppressing the discomfort in her heart, Camilla left the bridge command room and came to the aft deck of the steel ship.

She immediately saw Joan playing at the stern, accompanied by Ms. Margie.

Seeing her appear, Joan immediately shrank behind the merchant woman, only showing half her head to look at her.

She had heard that in Neverwinter, Joan was able to interact normally with many witches, and even made friends with Maisie and Lightning. Camilla couldn't help but feel a little deflated, was she that difficult to be accepted? In terms of time spent together, she could be considered the second person Joan had the most contact with, besides Margie.

The merchant woman smiled, "What's wrong? Not in a good mood?" She pointed to her own lips, "It's written all over your face."

"No," Camilla was taken aback, "I'm just..."

"Don't like the atmosphere in the command room?" Margie seemed to see through her thoughts, "I told you, let those men worry about exploring, you just focus on enjoying the scenery of the sea, treat it as a trip."

"How can I do that," Camilla frowned, "If I stay out of everything, wouldn't that be the same as entrusting my life to them?"

"Don't you trust Leiting?"

"I..."

Margie took her hand and walked to the railing, "Your sense of responsibility is admirable, I think if it weren't for that, Lady Tilly wouldn't have entrusted Sleeping Island to you. But sometimes, it's not bad to trust others a little more - not just Leiting, but Lady Tilly as well..."

How could I not trust Princess Tilly - Camilla thought to herself, but found that she couldn't easily say the rebuttal. She had never really agreed with the relocation of the witches to Neverwinter.

"Besides, staying at sea for too long and constantly tensing up can easily drive you crazy," Margie continued, "Don't look at them as a bunch of uncultured bandits, their navigation skills are still top-notch."

Camilla finally found a place to speak, "I have to state, I didn't say that..."

"But that's what you think, right?" The merchant woman's words quickly left her speechless, "Hahaha, it's nothing new, the nobles of the Four Kingdoms see us as barbarians, just like we see the Mojin desert people as barbarians. Honestly, I've only met one noble who doesn't discriminate, or whose reasons for discrimination are unrelated to origin."

Roland Wimbledon.

Although she didn't want to admit it, that was the only name she could think of.

After all, that man had publicly extended a helping hand to the witches four years ago.

If she had previously thought that he might have ulterior motives, that excuse no longer existed, because the rescued witch had become the queen of Graycastle.

A little more... trust?

As Camilla remained silent, a faint muffled sound suddenly came from the distant sea, as if a giant wave was sweeping towards them, or as if countless fish were rolling restlessly on the surface - but she knew it was just her imagination, the sea was still calm as far as she could see.

"The tide is starting to go out." Margie whispered.

"A... a..." Joan nervously grabbed the corner of the merchant woman's clothes.

A quarter of an hour later, Camilla saw the change.

A sharp stone emerged from the sea... then a second, a third... it was more like a stone forest than an archipelago. They were slowly rising from the water, and soon occupied a large area of the sea. When the water level dropped more than five meters, the thicker reefs below the stone pillars gradually revealed themselves.

Camilla couldn't help but hold her breath.

It was the first time she had seen such an incredible scene - because the entire sea was falling, the horizon at the end of her vision "floated" up, as if it had risen to the middle of the archipelago. But that was just an error caused by vision, the accurate description should be "slope": the original horizon became the top of the slope, and the Umbra Sea became a slightly inclined gentle slope.

Yet even so, there were still no waves on the surface of the sea, and if you covered your ears and looked back, you could still describe it as calm and tranquil.

This scene lasted for about an hour, and then a mist rose between the reefs. The Umbra Sea finally lived up to its name.