Chapter 877
“What happened after that?”
“We explored the Lost Nation, trying to find the legendary secret weapon. We found many things, some of which were quite miraculous, but we never found the secret weapon said to be capable of destroying heaven and earth. Perhaps that mysterious, reclusive power had already taken it.”
It seemed the Lost Empire was not an ancient empire, but a civilization of this world. They existed thousands of years ago and seemed to have grown powerful in an instant after accidentally discovering traces of an ancient civilization. But why had they perished? That remained unknown. Shen Lang had never even known of this empire's existence, and he couldn't find any records of it in the libraries of Deepa.
“And then?”
“Then, we became trapped within the Lost Nation. It was a bizarre and unpredictable world. The directions were constantly changing. When you woke up, east was no longer east, and west was no longer west. Our fleet sailed the seas endlessly. We thought we had traveled tens of thousands of miles, but we were always just going in circles. It was like a demonic vortex from which we could never escape. Moreover, countless sea beasts emerged from the depths, forcing us into frenzied battles every day, which resulted in numerous casualties. In the end, all we wanted was to retreat from the Lost Nation, but we were trapped in that strange, ruined country. Our many attempts to leave all ended in failure.”
*How could that be? How could the directions at sea constantly change? You could tell the direction by looking at the sun in the sky or the stars.*
“We tried for a full ten years, but we came to believe we would never escape those waters. It was as if we were being thwarted by an evil spirit, always circling the same spot. No matter which direction we sailed, we always ended up back where we started. Furthermore, every time the fleet set out to sea, we had to face ferocious attacks from sea beasts. We are the strongest pirates of the West, so we feared no monster. We fought and fought, endlessly. In fact, during those years, our Skull Gang pirate legion actually grew stronger. But it was as if we were cursed; we could not leave.”
“What happened next?”
“After my father left, my mother, Angela, was the leader of the Skull Gang. But being trapped in the Lost Nation for so long changed many things.”
“Did someone rebel?”
“My mother's right-hand man, Salombus, the Marshal of the Skull Gang, said that our predicament was because we had angered the Sea God Poseidon.”
In the ancient legends of the Western world, Poseidon was one of the ancient gods of the West. But what did their being trapped there have to do with Poseidon?
“Legend has it that within the Lost Nation lies the tomb of the Sea God, and that it is the final destination for us pirates.”
“What happened then?”
“Marshal Salombus of the Skull Gang kept claiming that we were trapped in the ruins of the Lost Nation, unable to leave, because my mother, Angela, had angered the Sea God Poseidon. He said that we had to offer my mother as a sea burial to appease the Sea God Poseidon, and only then could we leave these waters.”
“So, your mother was given a sea burial?”
“At the time, many of our people were lost in despair. The Lost Nation didn't lack for food, but that was all it had. Everyone wanted to return home, to return to the battlefields of the sea, not be trapped in these ruins that were like a tomb thousands of years old. His false incitement swayed many hearts, and they came to believe that our Skull Gang fleet had been cursed because of my mother. So, my mother defeated Salombus and drove him out of the Skull Gang completely.”
*Hah! It seems Father's female friend wasn't entirely a saint, either.*
“After driving out Marshal Salombus, my mother chose the sea burial.”
Hella spoke in a very calm tone, but Shen Lang could feel her profound grief. Shen Lang went to her and gently patted her back. Hella embraced him, deeply inhaling the scent of kinship from his body. She sighed and continued.
“Of course, my mother, Angela, sacrificed her life to appease the Sea God Poseidon, but it still wasn't enough to save the Skull Gang. On the day of her sea burial, it truly seemed as though the Sea God was displaying his power. You can't even imagine the scene. A monstrous wave over a hundred meters high appeared, and an incomparably massive octopus emerged and swallowed my mother whole. The octopus was as large as a fortress tower. While other octopuses have no teeth, this one's maw was densely packed with them.”
Shen Lang was shocked.
*An octopus as large as a fortress tower? But what kind of fortress tower?*
Hella said with a scornful laugh.
“We thought at the time that the Sea God, having displayed his divine power, would immediately allow the Skull Gang fleet to leave the Lost Nation. But in the end, nothing changed. We sailed for days and nights, only to return to our starting point again. It was as if we were still cursed, completely unable to leave those waters. My dear brother, you can't imagine it. The waters were perfectly calm, with no reefs or treacherous shoals. Looking at the endless expanse of the surface, it seemed as if we could leave with ease. But despite our countless efforts, sailing for hundreds of thousands of miles, we could not escape.”
“What happened after that?”
“After my mother's sea burial, I was in terrible pain. Everyone in the Skull Gang was in pain, and they were deeply ashamed. I knew many of them wanted to apologize to me, but I didn't want to accept their apologies. I couldn't stay there any longer, so I decided to leave. I took a ship and left that place.”
“But you must have been trapped there, unable to leave as well?”
“That's right. I couldn't leave either; I was trapped. But I would rather have died than return to the ruins of the Lost Nation. My brother, you will never be able to feel such despair.”
Shen Lang couldn't feel that despair, but he could imagine it. There was nothing in the ruins of the Lost Nation, not a soul to be found, except for that one mysterious power that completely avoided them, never once showing themselves. Anyone would go mad in such empty, desolate ruins.
“Not only that, the Lost Nation was truly a cursed ruin. It was perpetually shrouded in a dark despair. Anyone who set foot on its land—even if the sun was shining brightly—would find their spirit instantly collapse into darkness, overwhelmed by an incomparable inner suffering. You have no idea how many Skull Gang warriors committed suicide during those years. Every day, someone took their own life, and the number of people attempting to do so grew larger and larger.”
Just hearing about it made Shen Lang's hair stand on end. It was as if the land was truly cursed, causing anyone who landed on it to fall into a deep depression. They had been trapped there, suffering for ten years. It was only because they were the exceptionally strong warriors of the Skull Gang legion that they hadn't all perished yet.
“And so, my sailboat drifted for over a month, returning to its starting point countless times. But I never set foot on the land of the Lost Nation again. I was determined to die in those cursed waters instead.”
“Then how did you escape your predicament?”
“Suddenly, one day, an earthquake occurred on the seabed. I saw a ball of flame erupt from the surface of the sea not far away, shooting hundreds of meters into the sky. The entire sea surface boiled, and even the surrounding air seemed to be on fire. I soon found I couldn't even breathe. I thought I was about to die, but dying like that wasn't so bad. I was ready to welcome the moment of my death. But unexpectedly, when I woke up again, I had already escaped the cursed waters and had drifted into the territory of the Seirun Dynasty. I had finally returned alive.”
“When exactly did the undersea earthquake happen?”
“I don't know how long I was unconscious. But it was probably less than two months ago.”
It was indeed that day. The day the ancient energy sphere in the Nightmare Mountains of the North lost its effect and could no longer suppress the volcano. On that day, a massive volcanic eruption triggered a great undersea earthquake. It nearly destroyed the Amazon Nation, but unexpectedly, it had also caused a chain reaction in the cursed waters of the Lost Nation. Hella's escape was clearly related to the eruption of the Nightmare Volcano.
In any case, those cursed waters were too bizarre. To be able to trap a fleet, making it impossible for them to ever leave, and to completely reverse the cardinal directions... It was truly beyond human imagination.
“Hella, how much of the Skull Gang fleet is left now?”
“Most of it remains, but people are committing suicide every day... Especially after my mother's sea burial, they were overcome with shame and fell even deeper into despair. It probably won't be long before the Skull Gang fleet is completely wiped out.”
“But isn't their combat strength formidable?”
“Of course. They are even stronger than the Skull Gang fleet of over a decade ago. That's because we fought countless sea beasts during that time.”
Shen Lang closed his eyes. If he could help the Skull Gang fleet escape their predicament, could he win the loyalty of that invincible fleet? He was Jiang Li's son, and Jiang Li was the first leader of the Skull Gang fleet. Furthermore, Hella was his sister, and Leader Angela had taken her own life to save the fleet. Although she had failed, and the Skull Gang was now filled with shame.
“Hella, have you ever thought of returning to the ruins of the Lost Nation to save the Skull Gang fleet?”
Hella answered decisively and bluntly.
“No. After returning to the Seirun Dynasty, I no longer had any attachments to this world. But then, unexpectedly, I found you, my brother. I'm no longer alone in this world. From now on, your big sister will live to protect you, forever. Of course, it would be even better if we find Helene. Then the three of us siblings can rely on each other.”
Hella clenched her fists, then wrapped her arms around Shen Lang's neck and kissed his face again before continuing.
“My dear brother, you can't imagine how excited I was when I learned of your existence. My heart had been completely shrouded in darkness, but suddenly, the darkness was torn apart, and sunlight poured in, illuminating my soul. You will never understand the depression, the loneliness, the pain I felt in the Lost Nation. Especially after my mother's sea burial, I truly couldn't find a reason to live in this world.”
Shen Lang could understand her feelings. When a person who has nothing learns that they still have a close relative in this world, they feel as if they have gained the entire world. Even though Hella had never met Shen Lang before, had never even known of his existence, as her blood kin, Shen Lang had become her spiritual lifeline.