Under Percel's guidance, Lin Gui piloted the train along the border of the Silent Sea.
Eventually, several mermaids appeared on the surface of the sea ahead.
They surfaced and waved toward the train.
Percel signaled Lin Gui to enter from that position.
Lin Gui raised an eyebrow, not hesitating.
He steered the train straight toward the circle of mermaids on the water.
Just a moment before they hit the water, Percel began chanting a long, complex incantation in ancient sea folk language.
A massive, transparent bubble instantly formed, completely enveloping the entire train.
The bubble wrapped around the train and plunged headfirst into the sea.
There was almost no resistance as they entered the water, leaving only a circle of ripples on the surface that quickly smoothed over.
The mermaids gracefully flicked their tails, swimming alongside both sides of the bubble.
Their silver-blue scales shimmered in the sunlight filtering down through the water.
Like an escort guard, they guided the train deeper into the depths.
Lin Gui steadily controlled the train, following the guiding mermaids ahead.
They continued to descend.
The surrounding scenery changed as the depth increased.
At first, hazy pillars of sunlight could still be seen penetrating the surface.
The shallow waters were colorful, with schools of fish darting back and forth.
Occasionally, fish with demonic traits could be seen, such as strange fish with bony spikes, or crabs with shells glowing with an ominous red light.
The further down they went, the dimmer the light became.
Colors were gradually replaced by deep blue.
Glow-in-the-dark coral and bizarre jellyfish began to appear around them.
Their light flickered in the dim ocean depths like eerie ghost lights.
Some massive dark shadows cruised in the distance, their full forms obscured, leaving only unsettling silhouettes.
The temperature dropped noticeably.
In the deep darkness, only the faint glow emitted by the train and the accompanying mermaids illuminated a small area ahead.
The depths of the ocean felt like a silent, massive grave, slowly swallowing them whole.
Lin Gui had no idea how deep they had descended.
He only saw that the last light from the surface had long since vanished.
Pure darkness enveloped them.
Only the tiny flecks of fluorescence flickering on the mermaids' tail fins ahead guided their way.
They kept descending.
A sense of oppression rushed in from all directions, as if the weight of the entire ocean were pressing down on their chests.
Absolute silence devoured all sound, and even the hum of the train was absorbed by the thick seawater.
Only the sound of his own heartbeat drummed in his ears.
Finally, the fluorescence in the distance came to a halt.
Enveloped in the bubble, the train hovered above the seabed.
By the faint light emitted by the fluorescence, the scenery of the ocean floor could be vaguely seen.
Beneath them lay a thick layer of silt that had accumulated over countless years.
Occasionally, pale, twisted coral skeletons jutted out, looking like a withered forest at the bottom of the sea.
Further away, some massive, indescribable dark outlines resembled shipwreck debris or the bones of some colossal beast, lying silently in the eternal darkness.
The fluorescent lights began to scatter and swim around, as if searching for something.
Beside him, the scholar Eli explained in a low voice:
“They're looking for the marker.”
“The marker that indicates the entry point to the Silent Sea.”
Theia had hugged Lin Gui's arm from behind at some point.
Her voice trembled slightly:
“We... haven't entered the Silent Sea yet?”
This Ranger, who hadn't batted an eye in the face of a demon riot, now appeared exceptionally fragile.
Her fear stemmed from a profound sense of helplessness.
Everyone's lives depended on this seemingly fragile bubble.
If the bubble burst, she had no idea how she would survive in the deep sea, thousands of meters down.
The scholar gave a bitter smile.
He pointed toward several strangely shaped deep-sea demons swimming in the distance.
“The Silent Sea itself has no demons.”
“Why?” Theia asked, puzzled. “Aren't all Forbidden Zones crawling with demons?”
The scholar thought for a moment and explained:
“Because aquatic demons cannot survive in the Silent Sea.”
“Once they step into that sea, they will keep sinking to the ocean floor and can never float back up.”
“In the end, they all die of starvation.”
“Whether they are low-rank demons or Legendary Rank, it's the same.”
Theia grew even more confused.
“Then once we go in, won't we be unable to return to the surface too?”
The scholar smiled.
“We are different from aquatic demons; we have hands and feet.”
“When the time comes, we can just ‘walk’ up along the seabed.”
“Besides, the goblin chief Stonefang will be ahead, helping us clear out any potential threats.”
Lin Gui was somewhat curious.
“Didn't they scout the route in advance?”
The scholar Eli looked embarrassed.
“Well, mostly because the time we agreed on with them was moved up by a full two weeks.”
“So...”
Lin Gui was speechless.
“So it turns out it's actually my fault.”
The scholar merely smiled, not denying it.
As they spoke, the scattered mermaids sent out a signal.
They had found the most suitable entrance.
Lin Gui drove the train, slowly drifting toward them.
Eventually, they stopped before a bizarre boundary.
On one side was the slightly murky water of the Black Reef Sea.
On the other side was the ink-thick darkness of the Silent Sea, which seemed capable of absorbing all light.
The two were as distinct as night and day, like two completely different worlds.
Lin Gui steered the train, carefully crossing the marker.
The moment the front of the train crossed the line, there was a dull thud as it plunged downward, sinking into the ocean mud!
Lin Gui was shocked to find that no matter how hard he activated Levitation, an even more powerful force pinned the front of the train firmly to the seabed!
Percel's voice came through:
“Alright, we have entered the seabed of the Silent Sea.”
“Everyone, get down now and push the train on foot.”
The beastkin brothers Grom and Magrom were the first to jump off the train.
The barbarian warrior Barton growled, his muscles bulging.
Deputy Captain Aubrey also rolled up his sleeves.
Lin Gui was somewhat surprised; he had always assumed the deputy captain was a mage.
He hadn't expected the man to actually be a shield warrior.
When Aubrey exerted his strength, the robust muscles bulging beneath his pale beard truly gave Lin Gui a shock.
The iron train, weighing hundreds of tons, was slowly pushed forward under the combined effort of several Transcendent warriors.
Their feet sank deep into the silt of the seabed, leaving heavy footprints with every step.
And so, pushing the train, they officially set foot into the territory of the Silent Sea.
Freya ordered everyone to turn on their magic lamps.
In an instant, the originally pitch-black deep seabed was illuminated by a moving beam of light.
Had they been in the Black Reef Sea, such a light would have surely attracted countless deep-sea demons.
But here, just as the scholar had said, not a single demon was to be seen, and even ordinary aquatic life had vanished.
There was only dead silence.
The seabed was covered with a thick layer of pale silt.
Intermittently, twisted coral fossils exposed themselves like grotesque skeletons.
Further away, the silhouettes of shipwrecks were faintly visible, along with the skeletal remains of some unimaginably colossal creatures.
They lay half-buried in the sand, whispering of past horrors.
The North Wind caravan pushed the train, making slow and painful progress across the rugged seabed.
In front of the train, at the edge of the bubble, scout Alvin, Ranger Laisa, and assassin Dulu were constantly tapping the ground ahead with their weapons, confirming whether it was solid and checking for any hidden caves or crevices.
Goblin chief Stonefang's eyes shimmered with a crimson light.
As a cave-dwelling race, night vision was practically their innate talent.
Staring intently into the invisible darkness ahead, he constantly guided the team, leading the train around one bottomless ocean trench after another.
The team made steady progress across the uneven seabed.
Feeling that there didn't seem to be much of a threat, Theia finally let go of Lin Gui's hand, which she had been gripping tightly.
“It looks like... it's not much of anything.”
“Crossing a Forbidden Zone is way too easy, isn't it?”
Lin Gui, however, shook his head and refuted her:
“That's only because the North Wind caravan has fully developed this route.”
“Many undercurrents, traps, and fragile areas have already been mapped out by them.”
“Besides, if not for the sea folk's ingenious water-repelling and walking magic, the deep-sea water pressure and lack of oxygen alone would be fatal. Not to mention this godforsaken place doesn't even have buoyancy. If you slip and fall into a trench, there's no coming back.”
Beside them, Freya also calmly added:
“Six years ago, before I came here for the first time, every transport team that tried to cross the Silent Sea and open up the Golden Route... not a single one made it out.”
Her voice was exceptionally clear in the silent depths.
“Among them were no shortage of prestigious, large-scale caravans.”
“There was even a team led by a High-tier Legendary Archmage.”
“They brought the top-tier alchemical ship and protective formations of the time, even embedding several levitation stones into the ship's hull.”
“But in the end... they too were eternally silenced at the bottom of this sea, leaving not even a trace of their bones.”
Rate on N.U.
