The rumbling of thunder rolled in, causing everyone on the Voice of Dawn to frown.
Everyone on board now ascended to the deck, and at the end of their view lay a murky sea that enveloped the entire horizon.
Rolling dark clouds filled the sky, and blue-purple lightning struck continuously.
The sheer magnitude of the storm made everyone frown.
Everyone turned to look at Pororo at the bow.
As if sensing their gazes, Pororo said, "This is a storm of a higher magnitude, even stronger than the one we encountered before leaving the Home Sea!"
These words made everyone's expressions even more solemn.
They had now passed through the Bright and Confused Sea and reached the final sea area ruled by the Sea God, the route to the Southern Storm Sea.
And ahead lay the storm interception zone they encountered, as they always did in every sea area.
This time, the storm ahead was stronger than any they had encountered before, even stronger than the violent storm caused by the rift in their home sea.
"Looks like this won't be so easy," Alka said.
Then, turning to the others, he said, "Get ready and tie yourselves up."
One rope after another dropped from above, tied around everyone's waists.
As the ship accelerated, the storm drew closer. The lightning, which fell like raindrops, made sweat drip from everyone's face.
A wind they had never felt before blew from the front, intertwining with the relentless forward force to form a vortex.
Before they even reached the storm's core, the swirling winds were rapidly pulling them inward from the outside.
The familiar song rang out again.
This time, Julia revealed her true form, her tail swirling a massive spiral of water, keeping her afloat on the deck.
This time, the singing was even more magical, firmly anchoring everyone and allowing them to weather the raging storm with steady composure.
As they were dragged along, they truly entered the storm.
Several bolts of lightning struck simultaneously, striking the Dawn's shield. The entire shield trembled wildly, even cracking.
In this state, the shield wouldn't be able to withstand many more strikes.
"This won't work. The shield will break in a few strikes, and the lightning will surely destroy the Dawn," Julia exclaimed, watching the madly falling lightning.
But Alka knew better than to unaware, and immediately shouted, "Jason, go to the treasury and recharge more energy stones. Hold on a little longer."
To withstand such lightning, the ship's shield, relying solely on its automatic magic-absorbing spell array, was clearly not enough.
They had to use additional energy to quickly recharge.
Hearing Alka's words, Jason nodded, but the fierce wind made it difficult for him to move.
Dawn's Voice controlled the ropes binding him and flung him into the cabin.
However, the entire shield was already covered in cracks and was about to shatter.
"No, it's too late!" Sofia shouted.
At this moment, Juanlu shouted, "Can we dive? Isn't the ghost ship submersible?"
Dawn's Voice was now tossed up and down by the undulating waters, even being catapulted into the air.
In addition to the lightning, tsunamis were constantly slamming against the side of the ship from behind.
Add to this the already turbulent currents, and Dawn's Voice was constantly swaying from side to side.
At this point, their situation was truly precarious.
"No, you absolutely cannot dive!" Pororo suddenly turned and shouted.
His body was now covered in lines resembling currents of water, constantly blocking the waves crashing down on them.
Otherwise, they would likely be struck by the waves and submerged.
"Undercurrents are more numerous and flow deeper. Once you dive and are caught in them, you'll never surface again."
Although it had become a ghost ship and could submerge, that was only in relatively calm waters.
After all, once the Voice of Dawn sank into the water, its mobility would be greatly diminished, and it would no longer be as free-flowing as on the surface.
As Pororo finished speaking,
The shield above his head shattered.
In the instant of shattering, a bolt of lightning struck through the gap, piercing a large hole in the deck.
The mirror had already appeared on Alka's face. As the shield shattered, countless mirrors began to form and overlap, floating overhead, acting as a makeshift shield to block the incoming lightning.
Two more bolts of lightning struck.
But this time, with the mirrors blocking the attack, they only shattered a large section of it, and the attack ultimately failed to reach the ship.
The shattered mirror fragments dissipated into the air.
A large amount of pink mist surged from Alka's feet, impacting the bottom of the mirrors, as if reinforcing them.
"BOOM!"
A deafening roar echoed, and a thick bolt of lightning crashed down from above them.
The lightning's intense crack and exaggerated flash rendered them unable to hear or see clearly.
In an instant, the lightning completely shattered all the mirrors above Alka's head, as well as the pink mist beneath.
Even Alka herself was struck down by the lightning's impact, sent flying through the air and yanked down by the cable controlled by the Voice of Dawn.
Alka's hair was already slightly curled, a faint mist rising from it.
The power of nature is not so easily stopped by human power.
The shield finally rose again, but before it could hold out for a few seconds, it was shattered by the incoming lightning.
If the lightning's power couldn't shatter the shield all at once, then the energy would continue to flow.
And once shattered, the time it would take to reassemble the shield would be enough for the next lightning strike to pulverize the entire ship.
The sea around the ship began to boil unnaturally, even temporarily suppressing the surrounding waves.
The strange scene left everyone exhausted.
"What's going on?"
However, Jason, who had just emerged, received no answer.
Lightning continued to strike downward.
Two large holes appeared on the deck again.
This time, Alka's body remained unchanged, but he remained standing.
Alka's true form had sunk into the dream.
He had no choice but to resort to his last resort.
He now gazed at the enormous crystal floating in the center of his dream bubble, its scattered points of light dancing like fireflies.
"It's time."
A mirror appeared on Alka's face as he stood in the dream world. Then, with a wave of his hand, a giant circular mirror appeared next to the crystal, slowly floating upward.
At the same time, his outer form also condensed into a circular mirror.
Alka, in the dream world, controlled the energy within the crystal, slowly emanating from it and drifting toward the mirror.
The people outside also noticed that the mirror was flickering, dots of light drifting out, and then, one after another, small, spherical points of light flew out.
The moment these points of light flew out, they gathered together and transformed into something.
It was some kind of iron object, three in total, and with strange structures, they floated around the ship under the control of the double.
They were arranged in a triangular formation, clustered together at the top.
"Simon, help me secure it!"
Hearing this, Simon raised his brass-colored construct arm, and the treasure on his right index finger gleamed faintly.
He threw three balls of metal.
The metal deformed in the air and then attached to the three metal rods, firmly fixing them around the hull.
Lightning struck again.
But this time, the lightning didn't strike them directly. Instead, it curved mid-air and struck the spire.
The lightning could be seen traveling along the three iron pillars before cascading into the sea.
Alka, the stand-in, looked at the group and said, "Try to speed up. We won't be able to hold out for much longer."
The ship sped up.
They had only just entered this stormy sea; leaving it would clearly take more time.
A black pillar of cloud emerged from the surging sea.
Amidst the roar of thunder and lightning, it barreled straight towards them. But this time, its target wasn't the ship itself, but Pororo, standing at the bow.
Pororo stood at the bow, his eyes glowing crimson, his hands raised like claws.
The water tattoos on his body flowed madly, emitting a dazzling blue light.
"This is the final test! Bear witness, the ocean!"
He roared, the water swirling around him as the spiral of dark mist slammed into him.
The Voice of Dawn was swiftly sailing through the stormy seas.
All the lightning and thunder around him suddenly stopped.
"What's going on? What happened to Pororo?"
Alka asked, looking at Pororo at the bow. The spiral cloud, connected to the dark clouds in the sky, still enveloped Pororo.
"Boom!"
An even more intense and exaggerated sound echoed, and a bolt of lightning, like a pillar of light, struck straight down.
It pierced the entire pillar of cloud and struck Pororo directly within.
"What's going on? Why did you go there!"
Watching this, Alka roared with wide eyes.
The triangle formed by the three lightning rods was completely ineffective. As the lightning column descended, the dark clouds enveloping Pororo completely dissipated.
Pororo's figure now appeared, his body covered in marks resembling those of a lightning strike.
He roared in pain.
Then he opened his arms, and the lightning rods, previously fixed on either side, fell upon his hands.
"Full speed ahead! Leave me alone. This is my final test!"
He roared.
The lightning from the sky struck again, but this time, all the lightning surrounding the Voice of Dawn converged on Pororo.
The previously boiling seawater subsided once more, but this time, the surging waves no longer troubled the Voice of Dawn. Instead, they converged on the bow, slamming furiously against Pororo.
If you were looking in this direction from a considerable distance at this moment... The thick, dark clouds that had previously enveloped the entire sea were now slowly spiraling.
"What's that?" Lucilia, who was on the deck, asked, pointing to the side of the ship.
Everyone turned to look.
A strange color appeared there, and then it was as if the sea and space were being torn apart.
Crazy purple lightning gathered there.
A huge hole in space was torn open, even the water on either side was splitting apart.
All the lightning rained down in that direction.
Where Alka and the others were, both the tsunami and the lightning were slightly weakening.
The storm had subsided slightly.
The force of the spatial opening seemed to have interfered with the storm's intensity.
"Isn't that..." Everyone recognized it now.
This was exactly the same passage they had passed through when they left their home sea.
This time, they watched from outside as the passageway ripped open.
As they moved further and further away from the passageway,
Finally, they saw several massive ships breaking through the waves and arriving at the stormy sea.
They witnessed the opening of the gate to the Southern Storm Sea.
They truly encountered everything.
As they sped along, the spatial rift vanished from their field of vision. Even now, lightning still occasionally streamed into Pororo's body through the lightning rods.
The lightning patterns covering Pororo's body flickered continuously, emitting a purple glow.
The water still clung to him.
Though everyone was worried, they could only steady themselves at this moment, blocking the massive tsunami that kept crashing down upon them.
There was nothing else they could do.
...…
"Chief, what's wrong?"
A strange creature with a human body, a snake tail, and four arms asked the person before him.
The person before him was of the same race, though he looked older and more mature.
Hearing this, the old man of the unknown race, who was called the chief, turned his head.
"A new group has arrived."
The chief stood still, gazing at the spiraling dark clouds at the edge of his field of vision.
"Why are the dark clouds in that sea spiraling? This has never happened before."
"So you're still too young. That's the Storm Trial."
"At this time, in this place?" The young man's tone was filled with confusion.
"Perhaps it's a helpless act, or perhaps it's a way of facing the challenge head-on."
The two were conversing atop a mountain towering over the sea.
After sailing for most of the day, Alka and his companions finally passed through the stormy seas.
As the raging wind, rain, and thunder and lightning faded behind them,
Pororo, holding two lightning rods, fell from the bow.
The two iron rods in his hands were completely stuck to his hands, and his body was covered in charred marks.
His entire body was unrecognizable.
The others tried to help him, but they couldn't reach him. A powerful repulsive force prevented them from approaching. They could only watch helplessly.
Ignoring their fatigue, they all gathered around, frowning at the sight of Pororo's injuries.
Several ribbons flew over and wrapped around Pororo's body. As Julia sang, pale green light quickly flowed into Pororo's body along the ribbons.
However, this only healed the cracked parts of his body and had no effect on the burns he had already sustained.
Pororo remained slumped on the deck, his life seemingly in critical condition.
Alka reached out and tapped the lightning rods, which had completely adhered to his hands.
At the tap, the two lightning rods dissipated into golden specks of light, vanishing into thin air.
Pororo's hands were completely devoid of skin, leaving only flesh, which bore numerous charred marks.
Even now, flashes of lightning occasionally flickered across his body.
"As for his other injuries, I can't do anything."
"What's his current condition? Is he in danger?" Alka asked hurriedly from the side.
As long as he wasn't in danger, these injuries could be treated.
There was no way to treat him.
Julia nodded. "Although his condition is very poor right now, his physique is very strong. At least he's not in danger of death for now."
He could feel the life force surging within her, and her soul remained intact.
But this was only the limit of what Julia could sense.
"...That's good."
Alka nodded.
If all else failed, they had one last resort: the effect of the spell that had once caused Simon to fall into stasis.
As a member of the ship, Simon also knew this spell, though he wasn't very good at it.
But Jason and Julia had both learned it during this time.
This was the final safety measure.
He breathed a sigh of relief, and then, along with everyone else, carefully carried him to the infirmary.
Just then, an alarm sounded in the observation room.
Upon hearing this, Alka immediately gave everyone a look, urging them to speed up.
He quickly entered the state of the Dream Death and reached the edge of the ship.
The situation was critical. If there was any danger, Alka would only use his utmost strength.
A voice came to his ears.
"Underwater to the right of the bow."
At this, Alka's figure immediately disappeared and reached the bow.
Then he looked down.
He saw a little girl with tiny scales on her face, curiously gazing at the ship before them.
Seeing Alka's appearance, her eyes widened, a hint of fear in her pupils, and she couldn't help but step back.
The hood on her head disappeared, revealing Alka's mirrored head.
"Who are you? Why are you here?"
Alka asked warily. The person before her looked like a member of an intelligent race.
Seeing that Alka seemed to be able to communicate, she spoke, "@:~&%"
Another incomprehensible language, this time truly baffled Alka; he had never heard anything like it before.
Lucelia, fortunately, arrived beside him, also communicating with the unknown race below in a language he couldn't understand.
After a while, Lucelia turned to Alka and said, "She said she was summoned here. There are people on the ship in need of help. It's the will of the ocean."
Hearing this, Alka's first thought was Pororo. Only Pororo fit the bill at this time.
But the problem was, it was too coincidental.
They had just left the stormy seas, Pororo was in danger, and immediately ran into someone who could help him.
No matter. Time was running out.
Now wasn't the time to dwell on such matters.
"Tell her to come up, but first, warn her not to make any dangerous moves, or she'll pay a heavy price."
The priority now is to treat Pororo. Everything else can be put aside.