CHAPTER 487: CHAPTER 374 NIGHTMARE ACT ONE: THE WHITE SHIP INCIDENT

Fortress Bridgehead, Luanyun City, and Chasm Trench together form a huge equilateral triangle.

The ’Living Hatch’ near Fortress Bridgehead is located to the north. Luanyun City, rooted in the northernmost part of the New Continent, is to the southwest. Chasm Trench, adjacent to the Sea of Monsters, is in the southeast.

Just as the two Old God Sects discovered that the Pirate King had set sail overnight, they initiated a sacrificial ritual—Nightmare Triangle—imitating the Devil’s Triangle.

The sea breeze, laden with a thick fishy odor, whimpered over the waters. Countless bubbles rose from the seabed thousands of meters deep, turning into a hazy mist on the surface.

It made this already unfamiliar seascape even more fraught with deadly intent.

Whenever the crew gazed at the sea, it seemed as if a giant eye in the deep waters was also staring at them.

Even without bloodthirsty monsters, this terrifying atmosphere alone was enough to paralyze those with a deep-sea phobia on the spot.

「On the morning of July 1st, during the darkest time before sunrise.」

A reconnaissance fleet composed of three Wonder Battleships, serving as vanguards, silently sailed on their way to Luanyun City.

"Something seems a bit off."

Hawkeye James stood on the crow’s nest of the main mast of the ’Raven,’ looking towards the increasingly foggy sea.

When they had just left Fortress Bridgehead, the fog was not very noticeable. However, as they neared their destination, it thickened to the point it could no longer be ignored.

As far as the eye could see, the part of the sea where they sailed was shrouded in fog. However, a very distinct demarcation line lay not far away.

Inside the line was a world of chilling wind and sorrowful mist, while outside was clear skies for miles.

James frowned and blew a whistle. WHOOSH! A gust of sea wind blew.

The entire ’Raven’ adventure ship beneath his feet was bordered with a resplendent silver glow, faintly taking on the shape of a streamlined giant fish.

Then, with a flick of its colossal tail striking the sea, it carried the whole ship up from the sea surface in a sudden leap.

Heading into the sea breeze at about 15 meters per second—30 knots—it rushed towards that distinct boundary line.

It was as if they had encountered a ’National Border Lock’ that confused space. They flew along the waves for hundreds of meters without being able to break free from the boundary line.

Eventually, it crashed back into the ocean once more.

FLAPPING.

Aboard the accompanying adventure ship ’Ironclaw Vessel,’ Captain Jefferson, the Beast Tamer, waved his hand. Dozens of tamed seagull Messengers then took off from the mast like arrows, heading towards that increasingly visible demarcation line.

Some dived underwater, others shot high into the sky, reaching their flight limits, yet all, like the ’Raven,’ failed to escape.

On the last Wonder Battleship traveling with them was Captain Dickens, a Third Order Spirit Medium of the Graveyard Sequence. He summoned a swarm of eerie green will-o’-the-wisps to fly chaotically, but they too couldn’t break through the boundary line.

"This isn’t good; we seem to be trapped in this area."

All had been handpicked by Barbarossa Hailiding from a group of Adventurers, each excelling in reconnaissance work.

That’s what allowed them to serve as the eyes and ears of the Vanguard Fleet.

After their respective attempts failed, their expressions grew somber.

The main force of the Fleet following behind, as well as the Scouts investigating ’Chasm Trench’ in the other direction, shared the intelligence. All three locations were found to have the same Maze Locks.

Through the group telepathy link initiated by Beast Tamer Jefferson, the Spirit Medium Dickens spoke in a grave tone: "It looks like we’ve somehow entered a huge Secret Realm without noticing, even as Third Order Transcendents. Taking the lead in this Scout mission is certainly no easy feat. The Pirate King said it was just two Secret Realms corresponding to Second-level World Rifts, right? How did it suddenly become so vast? If I had known, I would have demanded that the Ocean Throne pay more for this perilous task."

Of these three adventure ships, the ’Raven’ and ’Ironclaw Vessel’ had their own schemes under Byron’s arrangements. Dickens, however, was involved purely for financial interests.

Most Adventurers of the Great Nautical Age actually had mediocre reputations, only slightly better than Pirates.

And out of ten of them, at least nine were penniless.

’Adventurers’ often wandered between wealthy families, grand theaters, town squares, and even remote villages and towns.

They exuberantly conveyed their grand dreams to those eager to strike it rich overnight but too afraid to risk going to sea. Alternatively, they promoted a treasure map that was just one step away from wealth.

They used their gift of the gab to fund their ventures. They made empty promises or signed contracts, securing funding with the promise of future adventure profits.

In reality, it was no different from Byron’s ’New Continent Expedition, Trade, Tourism, and Fishing Crowdfunding Project.’

Such deceitful financial products were even more unreliable than Byron’s initial virtual stock market.

Nine out of ten of these so-called adventure crowdfunding projects were scams.

Most ’Adventurers’ never actually bought ships or gathered supplies for New Continent expeditions. Instead, they simply used false plans and fabricated Nautical Charts to steal money, which they then squandered.

The remaining ten percent, who truly had dreams, were Adventurers strapped for cash.

But the majority of them were doomed to die on one of their long ocean voyages.