Alka felt himself floating, drifting in a strange world, feeling incredibly light.
He himself… felt incredibly light, too.
Zhou Zhou seemed to have lost all sense of gravity, with no support. He could only drift in the air, following the natural flow, aimlessly drifting.
All around him was pitch black. He wanted to open his eyes, but it felt as if an infinite gravity was pressing down on his eyelids.
He wanted to open them, but there was no way.
His limbs seemed to be out of his control.
He was still floating.
Alka opened his mouth to speak, but only silence remained.
His throat rolled, and even his tongue couldn't make a sound.
The words he spoke couldn't even echo in his ears.
Why couldn't he speak? Where was this place?
Strange thoughts raced through Alka's mind.
Yes, what was I doing just now?
What was I doing just now?
No, I seemed to be sailing on the sea.
No, I seemed to be on an island.
Oh, right, what's my name?
Where is this place?
Countless questions flooded his mind, and he felt his brain empty. Every time a doubt came to mind, it instantly disappeared, and he was no longer confused.
Every thought that emerged would also suddenly disappear in his mind.
His mind was forced to empty, to rest.
His thoughts began to slow, his thoughts became fewer, and his thoughts disappeared with them.
Without thinking, there was no passage of time.
His brain seemed to slow down, until it ceased to function.
Floating like this, Alka was like a corpse, a stone.
I don't know how long they've been floating, it felt like ages, or like they've only just begun.
Suddenly, a force of gravity pressed down.
Alka, floating in the endless sky, suddenly began to fall, his descent accelerating.
The sensation of weightlessness jolted Alka awake.
"Huff! Inhale! Inhale..."
As his eyes opened, Alka stood up, panting, and looked around.
He seemed to have been dreaming, but now he was awake.
They were still on the deck, but everyone around them had slumped over, as if asleep.
The rope of the Dawn's Voice was still tied around his waist.
After taking a few deep breaths, Alka stood up.
Looking towards where the ship was sailing.
At this moment, the sound of the Dawn was surrounded by deep darkness, making nothing clear. The sound of the Dawn seemed to be slowly descending.
Unable to determine where they were, Alka looked around at his companions.
Everyone still seemed to be fast asleep.
Alka nudged Sofia, who was beside him.
However, Sofia didn't wake up; she remained soundly asleep.
The push didn't stir her at all.
Even Er, who sat on her shoulder, looked like he was asleep.
The boat was not moving steadily, still swaying constantly.
Luckily, they were tied by the ropes; if not, they would have been thrown out along with their sleep.
Looking at everyone, seeing no one could be awakened, Alka could only stand there.
"Dawn's Voice, what do you think you're sailing on?"
As Alka asked, a trickle of music began to play.
After listening for a moment, Alka nodded.
"Does it seem like we're sailing on the sea?"
If only Sofia had reminded him right then and there. Perhaps, with the Ring of Light's darkvision, he could have used it to see clearly what was happening in the darkness around him.
After all, her darkvision was highly prioritized.
However, the people on the boat still showed no sign of waking.
Alka pondered for a moment, closed his eyes, and fell asleep, his body sinking into a dream.
But he couldn't sink.
There were no dreams here.
Regaining control of his body, Alka woke up.
There were no dreams here?
This was the first time he had encountered such a situation, and he couldn't help but frown in thought.
Based on his research on dreams, his thoughts, and the information he had recorded,
The absence of dreams indicated that this was not a normal world.
So, where exactly was this place? Was it some kind of interdimensional layer, a layer between worlds?
This place was completely beyond Alka's comprehension; he had no idea where it was.
There was no information to speculate on, so he could only rely on pure conjecture.
Unable to do anything now, he sat on the deck, watching the ship seemingly move forward.
But with no reference points, he could only feel it moving based on the swaying of his body.
If it weren't for the ship's continued swaying, Alka might have thought they were stuck in a dark world.
And the people around him were still slumbering, showing no sign of waking.
So why had he woken up?
It was just like just now, when they were all caught up in the illusion of seeing the dead.
He could also see the phantoms of the dead, but he didn't sink into them.
Could it be that this was all a strange phenomenon, caused by his soul merging with his own, making his soul stronger than everyone else's?
Still without any information to compare, Alka could only make random guesses.
Thinking was a way to pass the time.
He felt it best to do nothing and just wait.
Suddenly, a strong light emanated from the deep darkness ahead.
The light grew brighter and brighter, then drew closer.
The glare was so intense that Alka couldn't help but shield his sight with his hand, blocking the light from his eyes.
As the ship entered the light, the surrounding darkness immediately faded, and they felt as if they had entered another world.
The sound of waves reappeared in their ears, and a salty breeze blew past, filling their noses.
They were once again on the real ocean.
"Hmm!" A hum came from the side.
Alka turned to see Shadaiti slowly opening his eyes, waking up beside him.
The rest of the group woke at the same moment.
It seems that dark world can lull people into a deep sleep.
As soon as he left the others, he immediately woke up.
He just didn't know why he woke up mid-journey.
The only difference between him and them might be that his soul was stronger.
"Where is this? Are we here?" the awakened Sofia asked, sitting on the deck, looking at Alka, who seemed to have already woken up.
The Dawn Voice finally sailed smoothly, and the surrounding waters no longer moved in an eternal slumber.
Without the resistance of the water, the long-lost automatic sails began to adjust to the wind's direction.
They could finally sail freely on the sea.
Alka looked at the vast expanse of water around them.
"We're here."
Upon hearing this, the awakened people looked around.
The scorching sun, the blue sky, the white clouds, and the endless ocean.
This place seemed no different from the sea of home.
"The concentration of magic here..." Julia said, gently waving her hand.
A large cloud of icy mist shot out, freezing the seawater below.
The concentration of magic here was even higher than on the route ahead.
The speed at which one's strength would increase through meditation in this place would be even faster.
"Is this the Infinite Ocean? It doesn't look like anything special," Jason couldn't help but say, leaning against the edge of the boat, observing the current below.
"Yeah, it's pretty ordinary," Alka couldn't help but say.
Perhaps the only special thing is the much higher concentration of magic.
"It's completely different from what I expected. I thought I'd see something beyond my imagination right away," Jason couldn't help but say.
After all, whether it was the writings in "Dreamland," the situations they'd learned, or the warnings they'd just heard, they all hinted that this place was filled with bizarre scenery that might shock their existing world.
However, when they actually arrived, it didn't seem quite what they'd imagined. Sofia looked at the now-useless world map in his hand.
The map specifically depicted the four connected Four Gods Seas, the outer shipping lanes, and a current flowing downwards.
Other than that, there was nothing else on it. In other words, the map contained no information related to the Infinite Ocean.
"So, where are we going now?" He turned to look at Alka and asked.
Upon hearing this question, Alka shrugged helplessly and said, "What else can we do? We'll just go straight ahead."
Then, with a somewhat serious expression, he addressed the group, "Everyone, brace yourself! The Endless Sea isn't always safe."
Looking at the vast expanse of white water, Alka felt a slight sense of wonder.
In his expectation, once they truly reached the Endless Sea, they would be greeted by enemies, not by the emptiness they now faced.
The team that followed the forward route to the Endless Sea and reached the final destination would undoubtedly have treasure on board.
That was almost certain.
For anyone to have made it all the way to the Endless Sea without any treasure, that was something Alka truly admired.
Given this certainty, the entrance to the Endless Sea should be guarded by enemies.
That was a foreseeable scenario.
That was the inevitable greed.
If it were me, if I were a pirate or something like that, I would definitely do the same thing.
However, the reality was completely different from what Alka imagined.
It's impossible that the people of the Infinite Sea are all so morally upright; that's clearly unrealistic.
There are too many scumbags traveling from all four seas to the Infinite Sea.
"Are you wondering why we haven't encountered any enemies?" Sofia asked, standing beside Alka.
Alka nodded.
He certainly thought so.
"Is it possible that the entrance is actually random?" Sofia pointed in the direction they had come from.
Behind them lay the same endless ocean, but they knew they had only just arrived, not even a few minutes.
They hadn't even moved forward a few meters.
In other words, they had appeared out of thin air.
In a situation like this, it's quite possible that ships heading for the Infinite Ocean would land randomly in various locations on the ocean.
Of course, this was just a simple guess.
Ark nodded. It seemed plausible.
"Never mind. Let's not think about it anymore. Stay alert."
Since there were no enemies, that was definitely a good thing.
Just then, as Julia pulled a rope and prepared to head to the watchtower for security, the sea ahead underwent dramatic changes, leaving everyone on the ship frozen in place.
"The sea... the water, floating?!"
Jason asked in surprise and confusion, his tone filled with disbelief.
He rubbed his eyes hard to make sure he wasn't dazzled or hallucinating.
Finally, he even slapped himself hard.
The pain brought him back to his senses.
Suddenly, the sea surface ahead began to rise, spreading upwards.
It wasn't something emerging from the seabed, but rather the surface arching upwards.
Like a piece of silk, it arched across the sky and then fell back down.
The sea in front of them and around them was like a flat sheet of fabric, swaying and becoming uneven due to a slight breeze or external force.
Looking at the sea surface arching up beside them, like a mountain,
Everyone was stunned.
"Is this... the unimaginable change Maldo mentioned?"
Alka couldn't help but mutter to himself.
Even though the waters arched and floated, even spreading toward the sky, the surface remained calm and composed.
It didn't begin to slide due to inertia, as if it were still on a flat surface.
Then, their path forced them to encounter a slightly raised, hill-like surface.
However, sailing on it was no different from sailing on the surface. They even felt a breeze, suddenly blowing upwards from below.
It was as if they were still sailing on the surface, not heading upwards.
It was as if the changes around them were all an illusion.
This change left them bewildered.
They were slightly unsure whether they were hallucinating.
Julia frowned, sensing the strangeness of her surroundings.
Then she spoke, "The rules of the surrounding space have become chaotic. This is the phenomenon caused by chaotic rules."
"The sea we're sailing on is still flat, but the chaos caused by the rules has caused it to appear irregularly convex and concave. Yet, the other rules remain normal and orderly. Why...?"
Julia herself became bewildered as she spoke.
The laws of the world around them were clearly fine just now, how could they suddenly become chaotic?
And how was it possible that only the laws of space were disrupted, and only the sea surface was affected, not anywhere else?
Logically, the sky should also be distorted, and they might even be floating in the air, which would be consistent with the phenomenon of complete spatial chaos.
But now, this situation...
It felt as if this phenomenon was intentional.
But what was the point of such an intentional phenomenon?
Julia's mind was filled with questions.
Had only just arrived at the sea, and the first change she encountered was already beginning to challenge her worldview.
Jason watched as their ship reached the peak of the mountain and began to descend.
However, even on such a gentle slope, the ship's speed did not increase, still as if it were traveling on a flat surface.
Jason stood on the deck, his figure already tilted by the ship's downward tilt, but he remained upright.
There was no sign of the downward force of gravity causing him to lose his balance.
This change filled his face with surprise, and he couldn't help but exclaim, "This is so interesting."
"Look at me, look at me!" Er's voice came from above.
Everyone turned to look.
They saw Er hanging down with a silk thread.
She was falling, but her body wasn't falling downwards, because she was falling diagonally.
This completely defied the laws of gravity in nature.
When this information entered Alka's mind, he couldn't help but pat his head.
Forget it, let's put all this behind us.
This place couldn't be described as a normal world anymore.
I should completely abandon my previous worldview.
As Maldo had said, this place was chaos.
Everything was chaos.
Then the still-rising sea surface beneath their ship suddenly sank, and they were back on the surface.
Then the waters ahead of them suddenly began to curl, carrying them with them into the sky.
This phenomenon caused everyone to instinctively hold onto objects around them, but they didn't feel any sense of weightlessness, their feet still firmly planted on the deck.
The ship continued to sail steadily on the sea.
Until the water completely reversed, forming a cylindrical shape with the surrounding water, and their ship sailed on top of the cylinder, as if it were standing upside down in the sky.
Even so, they remained firmly on the deck, even though they were at a 90-degree angle.
"So... are we up or down now?" Pororo scratched his head and couldn't help but ask.
Because from this perspective, the water was still flowing above their heads, and they didn't feel the slightest bit of verticality.
It was as if they were sailing on flat ground.
If they hadn't just been carried up into the sky by the water beneath their feet,
They might have thought the water was floating above them.
Such a dramatic change had left Julia frozen in place.
This was no longer a matter of the laws of space being disrupted.
It was like a child playing with a flat surface, rolling it up like paper.
Mathesha, who had been following him, saw Julia's utterly dazed expression and couldn't help but pat her gently to offer some comfort.
"What a mess... this is!"
Alka muttered silently, gazing at the water overhead.
The ship continued its march.
Soon, they could clearly see the water returning to normal.
The surrounding sea surface quickly returned to normal, as if the change they had just experienced was merely an illusion.
At this moment...
A dinging sound emanated from the observation room, and everyone looked up.
They had completely accepted the changes here, some even beginning to feel indifferent, keeping vigilant watch from above.
She poked her head out of the window.
"We've spotted an island up ahead? Shall we go over?"
Everyone looked forward upon hearing this. A moment later, a tiny black dot appeared within their field of vision.
I didn't expect to see an island so soon after so long.
"Go over."