Devil's Bay (20)

Steve shared many stories with Nan Yue, mostly about the strange things he had seen across various oceans.

"I heard that when you first entered the Devil's Bay, you also had a ship full of passengers. Did you never hesitate? What about all those lives?"

Steve's smile vanished, and he stared silently into the distance. It took a long time before he spoke. "They were as obsessed with this sea as I am, and they were willing to give their lives for her."

"Everyone who steps onto the Devil's Bay is like that, aren't they?"

Nan Yue understood what Steve meant. As explorers, they were the same, and so they were expected to give their lives for their own adventures.

It was already dusk by the time Nan Yue left the bridge. After dinner, none of the scavengers returned to their rooms. Everyone arrived at the theater early, hoping to discern something from it.

As the time drew closer, the atmosphere in the theater froze. Finally, at exactly nine o'clock, she heard a click as the theater doors were locked.

Nan Yue wasn't the only one who noticed. Gao Geng and Guo Yi, who were closest to the doors, immediately tried to open them, but they wouldn't budge.

The melodious sound of a harp rang out. Everyone turned to see a massive iceberg appearing on the previously empty stage, though no one knew when it had arrived.

The iceberg was so large that they could feel the chill even from a distance. Everyone was stunned; no one had expected this.

There was no use huddling by the door, so Nan Yue began walking toward the stage. The other scavengers observed for a moment before gradually following her.

The moment everyone gathered beneath the stage, the tables, chairs, and the stage itself vanished. The scavengers found themselves on small boats, with seven or eight of these boats navigating through a vast cluster of glaciers.

"What... what is going on?"

"How did we get here?"

"Where is the Devil's Bay?"

Everyone looked around. Gao Geng suddenly pointed into the distance and shouted, "There! The Devil's Bay is over there!"

A mast appeared among the distant glaciers; it was the familiar Devil's Bay.

Although they didn't know how they had ended up here, the ship in the distance acted like a finish line, drawing them in.

"Quick! We have to get back to the ship!"

"Right, this adventure must require us to return to the ship!"

The small boats were not equipped with engines, only two oars fixed to the sides.

Several scavengers grabbed the oars and began to row. On Nan Yue's boat were Tan Xiaonan and Jiang Siyan.

Tan Xiaonan was indeed a scavenger with a luck bonus; she managed to stay firmly tied to Nan Yue even in a random grouping like this.

Nan Yue looked around. Wen Xiang Yuan and Bi Danyuan were on one boat, while Gu Xiang Kai and Zhu Xi Ning were on separate boats with other scavengers.

Tsk...

Since it wasn't clear what the adventure entailed yet, everyone began rowing toward the Devil's Bay.

However, traveling through glaciers by hand-rowing was very slow, especially since they were all lightly dressed.

The original Devil's Bay was supposed to be located near the tropics, so it hadn't been cold; in fact, it had been quite hot. No one was wearing much.

Now that they had suddenly appeared here, they all began to shiver within moments.

"Twenty minutes. If we can't leave these glaciers within twenty minutes, we'll die of hypothermia."

Jiang Siyan spoke nonchalantly from the side. Nan Yue glanced at him, and he added with a smile, "I'll die too."

Nan Yue rolled her eyes.

Jiang Siyan and Nan Yue each controlled an oar, keeping their small boat in the middle of the main group.

Wen Xiang Yuan's boat was right behind Nan Yue's. Nan Yue turned back to give her a few instructions, but as for Gu Xiang Kai and Zhu Xi Ning, one was at the front and the other at the rear, making it impossible to warn them.

After rowing for a while, Nan Yue noticed something was wrong.

"These glaciers... aren't they getting a bit too close?"

The further they rowed toward the Devil's Bay, the narrower the gaps between the glaciers became. By now, the path had become only wide enough for a single boat to pass through.

The towering icebergs blocked out the sky, making it feel as if they were navigating through a glacier maze.

"Yes, it's as if they appeared specifically for us."

Jiang Siyan added from the side.

Nan Yue glared at him. "Could you stop with the snide comments?"

Many of the scavengers currently had unstable mental stability. If they were frightened further, she was afraid they might cause an accident and drag her down with them.

Jiang Siyan found it interesting. Every time he had met Nan Yue, she had been calm, rational, and powerful. But ever since she had discovered his true face, her attitude toward him had changed.

She seemed... more vivid, as if she had started to categorize him as one of her own.

Jiang Siyan's eyes filled with a hint of a smile, and he truly stopped talking.

Nan Yue breathed a sigh of relief. Could this guy please stop making trouble?

The two of them were each thinking about completely unrelated things as they rowed forward for a few more minutes. Then, Nan Yue noticed that a mist had begun to rise.

The mist came on fiercely, and soon nothing could be seen around the small boat.

Tan Xiaonan had been staying perfectly still on the boat. She was very clear about her role and remained as quiet as a mouse the entire way.

"Heh, it really is a maze."

It was unclear whether they had truly become separated or if the mist was capable of blocking sound. Either way, the teammates they could previously hear and see had now vanished.

The entire world was silent, as if only the three of them remained in the glacier cluster.

"What should we do? Keep rowing?"

Jiang Siyan looked meaningfully toward the mast. Like a landmark, the Devil's Bay remained motionless, waiting for them to find it.

Nan Yue rubbed her hands together. "Keep rowing."

She didn't think the adventure would end just by reaching the Devil's Bay. It was like chasing a mirage; they had been rowing for seven or eight minutes, but the distance hadn't shrunk at all.

According to Jiang Siyan's calculations, they didn't have much time left.

Surely this adventure wasn't just a test of their physical strength.

The two of them weren't in a hurry and rowed the boat slowly. Tan Xiaonan carefully scanned the surroundings, trying to find something to help them leave.

As she looked, Tan Xiaonan's expression turned grim.

"Nan... Nan..."

She stammered as she called out to Nan Yue, though it was unclear if it was from the cold or fear.

"I know. Don't speak."

Tan Xiaonan had noticed it, and Nan Yue and Jiang Siyan had certainly noticed it too.

There was something inside the icebergs.

To be precise, there were people.

There were countless people inside the glaciers.

Like rows of tombstones, they gradually saw countless people with closed eyes, appearing as if they were in a deep sleep within the ice on both sides of the boat.

This made them realize that if they didn't get out soon, they would end up like that too.

And after Tan Xiaonan discovered these corpses and made a sound, those corpses opened their eyes.

Crack.

Crack.

The icebergs...

They were splitting open.

At the same time, the corpses that had been dead for a long time with their eyes tightly shut opened them.

The corpses began to move.