Chapter 25: Naval Battle and Spiritual Realm
Rosen lay on the new bedding and quickly fell asleep. Over the past few days in Blackstone Port, he had spent nearly all his energy gathering intelligence on spiritual realms, leaving him exhausted without proper rest for three days. With the Black Shark's voyage set to take six to ten days, he now had plenty of time to recharge.
As he dreamt peacefully, Rosen was suddenly awakened by a violent jolt.
His Main God Computer interface appeared instantly, showing that he had only slept for about three hours. The cabin continued to shake intermittently, making Rosen realize that the Black Shark was likely engaged in a naval battle—probably the crew was hunting one of the extraordinary sea beasts that had been mentioned by other passengers. To stay safe, he opened the door to the Mysterious Study Room within the cabin, ready to escape inside if the situation worsened.
A sudden, more intense shake made part of the cabin wall bulge inward as if struck by a powerful force.
Rosen immediately retreated into the Mysterious Study Room and looked out the window. What was once complete darkness now had a faint light shining from about a dozen meters away. Rosen summoned his Godslayer Crossbow and activated the Hunter's Magic Eye to focus on the source of the light.
He saw that a part of the Black Shark's hull had been breached, with the cabin wall showing signs of minor damage. Fortunately, the damage was mostly absorbed by the ship's structure, preventing a full breach into the passenger cabins.
The breach was about three meters long, covered by a glowing blue light that kept seawater from flooding in.
As the water subsided and the ship momentarily surfaced, Rosen caught a glimpse of the stormy sea, where an enormous sea beast resembling a whale was rampaging. It seemed as though the Black Shark was leaping out of the water, allowing Rosen to see the ocean through the hull breach.
After careful observation, Rosen confirmed that the Black Shark was indeed repeatedly breaching the surface.
From his vantage point, Rosen saw other pirate ships, some firing cannons at the whale-like beast, others dragging nets to restrain it, while still others transformed into sea monsters themselves, leaping from the ocean to attack the giant whale.
Given the name of the Black Shark, Rosen suspected that this ship, too, could transform into a black shark, either diving or leaping from the sea to fight.
Though none of these pirate ships exceeded Sequence 7 in power, the destruction they unleashed left Rosen astounded.
The World Government, despite having the Artist Sequence filmmakers, ensured that any movies seen by ordinary people avoided showing extraordinary events. Therefore, a battle of this magnitude—where dozens of pirate ships surrounded and attacked a giant whale—was something regular people could only imagine.
While some might complain about such censorship, most ordinary people accept it. This was because much of the information involving extraordinary events contained spiritual pollution, which could be deadly to the common folk. Too much exposure to such information could result in spiritual damage, leading to madness or even leaving someone in a vegetative state.
The battle to subdue the giant whale lasted most of the day, and it was only near dusk that the beast finally stopped struggling.
At that point, the Black Shark's damaged hull began to repair itself. Rosen's last glimpse was of the whale being divided among the various pirate ships.
For the next week, the Black Shark sailed without further incidents.
Then, one afternoon, the energy seal locking the cabin suddenly released, and a loud pounding came from the door. Rosen quickly strapped on his backpack, opened the door, and followed the sounds to the stairs leading to the deck. A pirate was shouting for the passengers to gather on deck.
The deck had been set with tables, and not far away, pirate chefs were grilling meat. The aroma of the sizzling fat filled the air. The Black Shark was surrounded by a thick, black fog that blocked all light. This fog wasn't the ash found far from human settlements; it seemed to be a disruption caused by the Black Shark itself, preventing the passengers from making any outside contact.
Judging by the timing, the Black Shark had reached the spiritual realm.
If any passengers carried extraordinary items for tracking or communication, the coordinates of the spiritual realm could be leaked.
This measure by the Black Shark was clearly to ensure that the realm's location remained secret.
"Welcome, my passengers..."
The Black Shark's captain, dressed in a pirate's uniform, greeted them with a laugh as the last passenger arrived. "I know the commotion from a few days ago might have frightened you, but I've prepared a feast of grilled Sequence 7 extraordinary sea beast—Fog Whale—for you all. Once you're full, the spiritual realm should be ready to open."
After finishing his speech, the captain returned to his quarters, and the pirates began serving the grilled whale meat.
Each person received a single serving, but the portion was large—about the size of a soccer ball.
Rosen cut off a piece and took a bite. The meat was incredibly tender, almost melting in his mouth, with the rich flavor of fat but without any greasy aftertaste. It was easily the best meat he had ever tasted.
This was a simple roast made by ordinary chefs, so Rosen couldn't even imagine what delicacies a Gourmet Sequence extraordinary might create.
Besides its taste and texture, whale meat also has some physical benefits. Though the effects were limited, consuming large amounts regularly could strengthen the body. Moreover, the recovery rate of one's spiritual energy saw a slight improvement after eating the meat.
Overall, while the gains were small, who could complain about a free meal?
After they had eaten, the figurehead at the bow of the Black Shark suddenly came to life, spitting out a blue beam of light. The beam hit a point in the black fog, and as spiritual energy continued to pour into it, a blue vortex began to form in front of the figurehead.
"The entrance to the spiritual realm is open," the captain called from the bow. "I wish you all good luck in making it back alive."
Several experienced passengers, familiar with this process, led their teams to the bow and jumped into the vortex, instantly transported into the spiritual realm. Rosen followed suit, stepping into the vortex.
The sensation was akin to being tossed into a washing machine, with the world spinning around him.
Once the disorienting experience ended, Rosen found himself on a cliffside overlooking the ocean, the edge of an island surrounded by sheer drops. Below was the sea, and above him, strange and exotic plants covered the island as far as he could see.
"Spiritual Realm—Forest of Death..."
Rosen recalled the information he had gathered about this realm.
The realm consisted of an island about several dozen miles in circumference, teeming with all sorts of dangerous extraordinary creatures. Whether through killing these creatures or gathering rare plants, whatever was obtained in the spiritual realm could be taken back as spoils.
Few spiritual realms offered as much potential reward as this one.
Spiritual realms didn't generate resources from nothing. They depended on the Spiritual World to produce resources by drawing from its energy, and only a limited amount of material could be sustainably harvested.
Only during the initial exploration of a realm, when it was rich with untapped resources, could so many extraordinary items be taken out.
Of course, this reflected the danger level of the realm as well. Otherwise, the Black Shark wouldn't have opened it to outsiders, suggesting the Black Shark Pirate Crew had suffered heavy losses here and abandoned the idea of fully exploiting the realm themselves.
(End of Chapter)