Lily put the book down, drew aside the curtains, and looked out through the round porthole.
It was still pitch black outside, just like that day.
Only this time, there were no luminous jellyfish to illuminate the sea, and no one knew what was hidden in the darkness.
Maybe there is nothing, maybe there is something else.
Lily closed the novel in her hand, opened the door and walked towards the cockpit.
As she moved, the shimmering hair behind her slender waist swayed gently in the air.
When exploring unknown waters, no one knows whether they will encounter gods, and no one wants to die. The atmosphere on the ship is very depressing, and everyone is very cautious.
The temperature became lower as we got closer to our destination, and everyone put on whatever clothes they could.
Lily didn't feel anything as she watched them shrink their necks as much as possible and exhale white air.
"Captain, how long will it take?" Lily asked Klaus who was leaning against the wall and drinking.
"The daily ship progress and nautical charts are hanging on the wall. Can't you read them yourself?" Klas was always in a drunken state.
Lily walked over and looked at the man who had only gone halfway. She seemed a little anxious. "Can't you go faster?"
"Quick? Don't forget that this is an unexplored area. Can you show me one quickly?"
At this time, the first mate wearing a black eye patch chimed in. "If this was the mission issued by the Explorers Association back then, such a large area would have to be divided into at least five areas. Turning the turbine to maximum here is simply courting death."
Of course Lily knew that the other party was right, but this did not relieve her anxiety.
To be honest, if she could go alone, she really didn't want to walk so slowly.
At this moment, the first mate frowned, clenched his fist and hit his head hard.
His expression gradually became extremely painful, and he reached into his pocket with his right hand and took out a handful of red rectangular capsules.
He tilted his head back, stuffed at least dozens of capsules into his mouth, and swallowed them hard.
"It's okay, it's an old problem. There are other voices in my head." The cheerful first mate explained.
"That's Futan's whisper. You should go ashore and have a rest." Lily kindly reminded.
"My former captain had the same experience as you."
Hearing the advice of others, the first mate showed a self-deprecating smile on his face, "Going ashore, it's easy for you to say, little girl, my home has sunk, where can I rest?"
"The sunken Yingdao Island? Is your home also on Yingdao Island?" Lily asked with wide eyes.
"It's not Yingdao, it's just a small island in the East China Sea."
The first mate's eyes showed a look of reminiscence. "It was a very small island, and although the water on the island was drinkable, it was very bitter."
"It's a remote place with no useful resources. I grew up there. When the sea water rose, it was the first place not to be submerged. But when the sea water receded, it disappeared."
"My two wives, six children, and my mother, none of them came back."
When the first mate said these words, his tone was very calm, as if he was telling someone else's story.
"When I first boarded the exploration ship, I felt very resistant. I always felt like I was imprisoned in a ship-shaped prison."
"But the power of habit is terrible. Now I can't leave it, because only when I float on this sea can I feel that I am still alive."
Lily could sense the strong emotions in the other person's words, and she wanted to comfort him.
"Don't give up, everything will be fine."
The laughter was so harsh that Lily could tell it was a mockery.
The first mate, who was laughing so hard that tears came out, began to see the guest off. "Hey, little girl, go back and stay here. Don't come out to hang around. I'll call you when we get to our destination."
Seeing the other party treating her like this, Lily suddenly felt angry and turned around to leave the cockpit.
"Captain, something's wrong. What's that thing ahead?" The first mate's voice suddenly became serious, causing Lily to stop in her tracks.
The huge beam of light from the searchlight swept over, and a huge white object full of oppression was slowly approaching them.
When the thing was completely presented in front of Lily, she realized that it was a huge iceberg.
This moving mountain floating on the sea gradually disappeared from her sight as the sea flowed.
Before Lily and others could say anything, another iceberg appeared in front of them again.
Although the searchlight is too short to observe other places, it can be guessed that icebergs like this are everywhere.
Lily walked to the side of the boat and stuck her head out, and saw what should have been inky black liquid, with pieces of ice of different sizes bobbing up and down in the water.
The waves that should have been turbulent were calm here. The entire sea surface was as smooth as a mirror, and the salty and humid sea breeze in the air stopped without knowing when.
Without the sound of waves and the whistling of wind, it is extremely quiet here, like a large cemetery.
Everyone on the boat held their breath, as if afraid that the sound of their breathing would wake up the souls buried in the graves.
Although the situation seemed to be becoming dangerous, they continued to move forward under the captain's orders.
The temperature gets lower as you go forward, and all the clothes you wear are no longer enough. The stuffy turbocharger cabin, which no one wants to visit normally, has become a popular destination.
The abnormal environment outside made Krass extremely alert.
He is always prepared for possible dangers.
But he miscalculated. Apart from the icebergs, there was no other moving object in front of him.
Finally, after five days, Girl and Love could no longer operate.
The deck covered with white frost was full of crew members, their mouths wide open, staring at the scene in front of them in amazement.
The extremely low temperature caused the separated icebergs on the sea surface to completely connect together, forming the frozen continent in front of them.
Everyone on this ship is a veteran, but this is the first time they have seen such a scene.
"There is no way. My ship cannot pass through. You can go back and tell the king that my mission has failed."
Faced with such an outcome, Klaus seemed very open-minded and did not even make any other attempts.
The first mate walked over to Lily and reminded her. "In this case, I think you can apply for an airship, but a boat is definitely not an option."
"How come it's frozen..." Lily took out the nautical chart from the cockpit and began to estimate in her mind the possibility of traveling to the destination alone from here.
"Head! Look! We are going backwards! Something is dragging us under the boat!!"
A burly sailor said in horror, pointing at the icy continent that was receding.
When Kras saw the water without any ripples, a different reality appeared in his mind.
"We didn't move, it was these connected icebergs that moved!"
(End of this chapter)