Chapter 828
Chapter 828
*Rumble, crash.*
The great ship ventured deeper and deeper into the Devil's Triangle, where countless thunderbolts continued to strike with earth-shattering force. But if the ship could withstand the first bolt, it could withstand the second and third. However, lightning was not the only danger within the Devil's Triangle. The waters were also riddled with countless reefs. Here, it was either so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face or so blindingly bright that it was impossible to see the sea at all. Any ship entering these waters, even if it could avoid the lightning, was destined to crash against the reefs.
Yet, for some unknown reason, Mulan had changed after entering the Devil's Triangle. Her senses had heightened dramatically. Though she couldn't see the reefs beneath the sea, she could sense the danger in advance. She navigated the ship, avoiding one reef after another, as if escaping a labyrinthine path within the Devil's Triangle. Besides the reefs, there were also deadly hurricanes, their origins and destinations a mystery to all. Bizarre waterspouts formed constantly, wreaking havoc within the triangle. In the blinding conditions, no vessel could avoid these hurricanes and waterspouts.
But Jin Mulan could. After her transformation, she possessed the sensory abilities of an ancient human, allowing her to guide the ship and evade the hurricanes and waterspouts. Yet, even as she avoided every danger, she was on edge. The great ship not only had to advance but also stop and, at times, even retreat.
The dark zone of the Devil's Triangle stretched for over five hundred li. Every second felt like she was treading on the edge of hell. The slightest mistake would shatter the ship, and everyone on board would meet a watery grave.
After two days and nights, Mulan was utterly exhausted. It felt as if her seemingly endless mental energy had been completely drained, and she could fall asleep at any moment. Sensing danger in advance consumed an immense amount of energy. Her body was as cold as ice, devoid of any warmth. She swayed, on the verge of collapsing at any second.
"I can't sleep. The lives of our entire family are in my hands. The children's lives are in my hands. I cannot betray my husband's faith in me. My husband and I have lost too much. We can't lose anyone else."
Whenever her fatigue reached its peak, Mulan would take out several syringes and inject herself with concoctions, frantically pushing her mental limits. Another two days and nights passed, and Mulan felt she was truly about to break. An endless darkness seemed to surge in, threatening to completely overwhelm her mind.
"Husband, I really can't hold on any longer. I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you. No, no. I absolutely cannot disappoint my husband. I have to protect our family."
Mulan took out another syringe and injected herself, but the concoction no longer had any effect.
"Husband, I... I really can't hold on. What if your Mulan disappoints you?"
The endless darkness rushed in, and she could no longer resist it. She had already exhausted all her mental energy in the first two days; the next two were sustained entirely by drugs, which had drained her completely. Now, her mental fortitude had reached its limit, like a dried-up pond. But then...
*Whoosh!*
The great ship broke through the darkness, and light flooded their vision. Had they finally left hell and entered heaven? The ship had crossed the five-hundred-li dark zone and entered a new world within the Devil's Triangle. This was a realm of ultimate mystery, one of the ultimate goals for adventurers the world over. After traversing the forbidden zone of humanity, this new world burst into view. Everyone was stunned, gazing at it in disbelief. It was a world beyond what even the wildest imagination could conjure. Mulan, too, saw this world and whispered inwardly with a trembling voice.
'Husband, we've really come to heaven.'
As she whispered, an endless darkness flooded her vision, and Mulan collapsed, unconscious.
"Mulan!"
Xue Yin, who was beside her, immediately caught Mulan, feeling as if she were holding a block of ice. A moment later, Xue Yin sensed a deadly danger—a threat more terrifying and unprecedented than the lightning and hurricanes of the dark zone they had just passed through. The hair on her body stood on end as she turned her gaze to the sea. What she saw sent a chill down her spine. Their ship was surrounded by countless bizarre creatures, creatures she had never seen or heard of before. In the silence, the beings emerged from the sea, their eyes filled with utter cruelty.
*Swish, swish, swish, swish.*
The strange creatures instantly swarmed Jin Mulan's great ship, as if intending to tear it to pieces. An astronomical number of them surged toward the vessel like a tidal wave.
* * *
How could one describe the world inside the Devil's Triangle? A city floating on the sea like a mirage? A lost world? Such terms might come close. It was a city on the sea, half submerged and half afloat, so massive it defied all imagination, with endless layers stacked upon one another. The city's architectural style was completely different from the known world, and it looked so ancient that its history was impossible to guess—it could have been hundreds, or perhaps even thousands, of years old.
Everyone on the great ship had imagined what the world inside the Devil's Triangle might be like, thinking it could be an island or a desert. They had considered the possibility of a great city, but when it truly appeared before them, it surpassed all their imaginings. Human thought is limited; no matter how one imagines, one can only model it after existing things they have seen. The floating city before them transcended many of their aesthetic concepts. But even if this was an incomparably beautiful new world, wasn't it just a ruin, weathered by time and left in solitude? However, before they could dwell on such sentiments, the people on the ship immediately faced a moment of supreme shock and terror.
'What are those things bursting out of the water? Sea monsters?'
That was the only way to describe them. The creatures had fearsome fangs, incredibly sharp claws, and astonishing speed. Their bodies were covered in dense scales that looked extremely tough.
*Thwip, thwip, thwip, thwip.*
The Nirvana Army on the ship fired arrows frantically, but to no effect. The arrows couldn't even penetrate their hides. If these creatures reached the ship, they would easily tear countless people to shreds.
"Aaaargh!"
Big Dummy roared, drew his heavy iron sword, and charged forward.
"Mama, Mama..."
Suddenly, Shen Ye ran out from the cabin and rushed toward his unconscious mother.
"Kuaaargh! Kuaa..."
At that moment, a powerful and ferocious sea monster lunged at Shen Ye, about to snap him up in a single bite.
"No!"
Bing'er cried out coldly and leaped toward Shen Ye, shielding him with her own body. She would rather be torn to pieces than let Shen Ye be harmed.
"Die...!"
The entire Nirvana Army drew their swords as one, preparing for a life-or-death battle with the sea monsters. But the monster that was about to bite Shen Ye suddenly froze, as if hesitating.
*Bwoooooo.*
Suddenly, the strange sound of a conch horn echoed. The sound seemed to carry an infinite magical power. Instantly, the sea monsters surrounding the great ship froze in place, motionless.
The conch horn continued to sound, and soon the sea monsters vanished without a trace. They plunged back into the sea as one, as if they had encountered something utterly terrifying. A short while later, someone approached from the distance, walking on the waves. The sunlight shone on their body, making them glow with a golden light. They weren't wearing buoyant shoes; they were truly walking on water.
From such a distance, it was impossible to tell if the person was male or female. Their entire body was covered in special armor. From afar, it was unclear what it was, but as they drew closer, it became apparent that it was bone armor—an armor made from countless bones.
The person leaped lightly onto the ship, walked over to Mulan, and reached out to touch the nape of her neck.
"Don't touch her!"
Big Dummy charged, raising his heavy iron sword to strike, but with a gentle push from the person, his body was sent flying.
"She has expended too much mental energy and needs immediate medical attention."
The person spoke. It was a woman, and she spoke the Han language, but with a very strange accent, like a foreigner speaking it. Then, she removed her skull mask, revealing an incomparably beautiful face.
"Greetings, adventurers from the Eastern world. My name is Helene. My father also came from the Eastern world."
* * *
Shen Lang's Mulan City was completely blockaded. No ship could approach it, and Shen Lang's own ships could not leave. The moment any of his vessels went out to sea, they would be sunk immediately.
The Bloody Baron's pirate fleet and the fleet guarding Azuregold City were all cruising this sea, patrolling day and night. Shen Lang had tried to send a small boat to Volcano Island to transport volcanic ash, but the Bloody Baron showed no mercy and sank it.
This world was truly pragmatic. Just a few days ago, the Bloody Baron had been doing business with Shen Lang, even sending him fifteen ships and thousands of slaves. But after the bell tolled, he immediately became an enemy. It seemed Shen Lang had underestimated Duke Dybas's power. He hadn't expected all the pirates in this sea to bow down so servilely at her command. Of course, this might not have been her power alone, but also due to the prestige of the future Emperor Solon.
Located at the southernmost tip of the Azurebird Peninsula, Shen Lang's Mulan City had only iron mines and no fields for farming. Even if there were fields, it was too late to plant anything now. All their supplies had been obtained through trade. With trade cut off, they were running out of both ammunition and food. All essential supplies for survival had been severed.
* * *
"This is better than expected. I originally thought we'd be blockaded within a month and a half, but it's already been two months, hasn't it? What was truly unexpected was the Bloody Baron sending us eight thousand slaves. We now have thirteen thousand people in Mulan City. How long will our food last?"
Zhang Chunhua replied to Shen Lang's calm words with a smile.
"We can still eat for another three months."
"Three months? That's enough. At most, in a month and a half, Dybas's army of one hundred thousand will attack Mulan City."
"You predicted this situation, didn't you? That's why you used all our ships exclusively for transporting volcanic ash, bringing it in endlessly even if we couldn't process it all daily. And you spent every last gold coin we had?"
Shen Lang nodded and asked.
"How much volcanic ash have we stockpiled?"
"Over three million catties."
"Good, that's enough."
With over three million catties of volcanic ash and millions of catties of lime, they could produce an astronomical amount of cement. They were also continuously making bricks.
"From now on, thirty percent of the workforce will build houses, and the other seventy percent will build the city wall. Within a month, we must build a wall that is fifteen li long, over one meter thick, and over five meters high."
In the past, Zhang Chunhua would have surely said he was sleep-talking like a fool, that a wall over ten li long would take seven or eight thousand people two to three years to complete. But with bricks and cement, anything was possible. Fifteen li was less than eight thousand meters. If each person was responsible for an average of one meter, completing it within a month would be a piece of cake. If laying bricks in the traditional way was too slow, they could simply stack cement blocks.