CHAPTER 82: CHAPTER 63: WIND HOWLING FJORD

April 4, 10 AM, game time at night 10 PM, the night sea is clouded without a moon.

Chun had several eating breaks in the game to recover his Physical Strength, and continued to idle in Autonomous Driving mode. Outside the game, he simply had a bucket of instant noodles and then focused all his energy on parsing and sketching on his tablet.

Originally, he was exhausted and drowsy from a night of fatigue, but an unintended moment of concentration suddenly helped him figure out the usage of a plugin he hadn’t had time to explore for years, and his Spirit instantly revived, with the soul of a former top student burning brightly, getting more and more enthusiastic, accomplishing breakthroughs, and actually making the sketch run!

Then he repeatedly adjusted the parameters, the sketch still running! He sent the design to the 3D CAT software to test, and it worked.

Chun was overwhelmed with joy, maybe he wouldn’t need to search for experts after all, this level of compatibility with Chifanda’s intelligence should be sufficient. Even with his amateur skill level in sketching, if things don’t work out in the game, he might shamelessly add a line about being a 3D Modeling Master on his resume when looking for a job!

After the breakthrough, Chun’s Spirit increased significantly, and he was no longer sleepy.

Checking the map, they were almost there, on a narrow waterway between two pieces of land.

It must be said, activating Four Sea Souls took him all morning, adding on the time it takes to sail normally is unimaginable. This task clearly isn’t suitable for mission-oriented or monster-fighting players, but fortunately, he has a small clone as well.

While there’s still time, he went on the game website to review detailed information on Wind Howling Fjord.

In the game background, Wind Howling Fjord is similar to the real-world Mazelon Strait. High and steep mountains line both sides, the terrain is winding with high winds, rough waves, many vortexes, and heavy fog. During particularly high winds, it produces a commanding howling sound from which it gets its name.

During the Great Exploration Era, each sea area had many powerful Sea Monsters, but this area was relatively safe and a shortcut, once busy, but after the Golden Trade Route cleared the Sea Monsters and opened, this route’s cost-effectiveness was low and completely abandoned; the major merchant fleets no longer pass through here, thus pirates don’t come here either. Inside the fjord, there are abandoned supply ports from the Exploration Era. That’s all the information available, and there’s no related discussion on the forums, it appears to be a barren place.

But Chun realized anew from this concise information – they hadn’t mentioned any shipwrecks! Perhaps to cover up secrets, they don’t want others to salvage, right? Moreover, where there are desolate mountains and turbulent waters, there might be dragons; are there really no Sea Monsters here? This might be a deliberate omission to hide secrets?

Shouldn’t he contact the Mermaid to inquire? Communicating with her from afar shouldn’t be a problem, right?

Let’s try it, activate Sea Race Personal Guard skill.

Then a buzzing sound emerged by his ears – system prompt: Contacting Sea Race Personal Guard, please wait patiently...

Holy Shit, patience is required, last time contacting the Whale took 4 hours, now it’s further, how long will it take?

As he waits and travels, the wind ahead begins to intensify, sailing mode shifts to lowering sails for rowing, with the small boat rocking increasingly, and the sound of wind howling heard from afar, even vaguely seeing the outline of high mountains in the dark night.

—— System Prompt: Entering Wind Howling Fjord area, this is not a maritime treaty route, autonomous driving stopped.

He’ll have to row himself; first, eat to recover Physical Strength.

Then he contacted Aileen: "Aileen, you got a moment? I need your Radar."

Aileen’s slightly weary voice came through: "Are you there yet? Hurry up!"

Chun’s heart tightened: "How’s your situation there?"

Aileen sighed: "There’s bad news and good news; the bad news is, your six Magic Stones were found by the henchmen’s Magical Pet."

Chun felt a pang, although he was prepared to give them up, actually losing them felt extremely unpleasant: "What’s the good news?"

Aileen chuckled: "The good news is, after they obtained the Magic Stones, they started setting up an Array around the Crystal Bat’s hiding spot, so if we win, we can still retrieve the Magic Stones, meanwhile giving the Crystal Bat more time to hide. I’m even considering whether to subtly move the Magic Stones to disrupt them while they execute the Array."

Chun felt uneasy: "A Magical Pet should definitely be guarding the Magic Stones, right?"

Aileen laughed: "Didn’t I previously transform into a toad to Attack the henchmen’s Magical Pet? It’s no different than continuing to transform into a toad, that’s all."

As she spoke, Aileen’s Radar started sounding an alarm: "There’s a reef!"

Can’t hurry over there, focus completely on here.

With the Radar, Chun directly ignored the effects of the darkness and fog, and could even see the underwater Vortex swirling, a feeling of indescribable reassurance.

Entering the canyon, the waves crashing against the shore were like thundering roars, the small boat pitching like drifting leaves amid the waves, the wind howling like the Demon God roaring—Chun realized he seriously underestimated the danger here, or rather was unlucky enough to pass when the wind was at its fiercest.

He had no choice but to take a sip of century-old Tapioca Burn to increase his Physical Strength limit and recovery, as long as he doesn’t get drunk.

—— System Prompt: You received special Tapioca Burn’s attribute bonus, Physical Strength limit temporarily +38%, Physical Strength recovery speed increased, resisting fear, tremors, cold. Estimated duration: 1 hour.

Holy Shit! Just a sip adds 38% and doesn’t get drunk, cost-effectiveness far exceeds finishing a bottle from before. Though previously, it was necessary for an out-of-body experience.

Soon, Chun’s Physical Strength ran low, but the densely clustered reefs on all sides gave Chun a chance to catch his breath; he first approached a pointed, slender reef to tie the Holy Artifact Rope.

It must be said, a small boat has its advantages too, a big boat could only crash.

Rowing and stopping intermittently, Chun struggled to advance in the canyon for an hour, but never did the Black Flag Order asset display. More frustratingly, after an hour, he still hadn’t contacted the Mermaid, leaving no one to query.

Is there a possibility this shipwreck has deteriorated beyond recognition, not shown by the Black Flag Order? Or sunk too deep to display at the surface? But since the event triggered, it must be here.

Finally, the sound of water ahead is like a dam releasing flood, the Radar displaying like a storm cloud map the underwater Vortex, also indicating this is the canyon’s turn, the boat is most likely uncontrollable in such places, shipwreck likelihood is extremely high! Even so, the Black Flag Order continues without display.

Can’t rely on this Black Flag Order anymore. Old Wall Lamp has a point, surely in the past hundred years, many experts have come with the Black Flag Order, but their failure could be due to relying too much on it.

Chun moves closer to a reef to tie up the small boat again and retrieves the Four Sea Souls from the boat: "Aileen, I’m ready to dive down and take a look."

Aileen is also quite tense: "It feels really terrifying. Without the Sea Soul, an ordinary person diving down would surely be swallowed by the vortex."

Chun takes another sip of spirit to replenish his condition: "If a sea monster attacks, be ready with your Sacred Artifact ring."

"Got it."

Once prepared, Chun dives into the water, the barrier formed by the Four Sea Souls greatly offsets the effect of the raging currents.

Diving 50 meters! Expert diver depth.

Diving 100 meters! Human’s no-equipment diving limit. By now, the immense water pressure shrinks the barrier by a huge circle. The radar is filled with the surging of the vortex, making it impossible to detect the presence of a shipwreck.

Approaching the vortex, a tremendous suction pulls Chun’s Sea Soul barrier into a misshaped balloon. Chun panics, realizing if he needs to retreat, now is the time! Should he continue, even if he finds the shipwreck in the vortex, he won’t be able to surface.

Then don’t advance, just investigate at the edge of the vortex, at least figure out how deep the water is! Vortexes usually form due to convection; here, it might be caused by the tides, or there might be a deep pit or crevice at the sea floor, the shipwreck could be inside it.

Diving 150 meters!

——System prompt: Your expert-level swimming skill has gained significant proficiency improvement.

Great! Can’t go a day without a skill upgrade.

Diving 200 meters! The barrier is almost flattened.

Chun then realizes that the Sea Soul barrier isn’t all-powerful underwater, once the water pressure is too great, it could burst. Is this the end of the line? Or was his initial judgment wrong, should he trust the Black Flag Order and continue forward?

At that moment, Aileen exclaims in surprise: "My treasure hunting skill detected a magic response in the vortex."

Huh?

Chun follows suit, and indeed! This wave reaction closely resembles a Spatial Gate! If there’s a Spatial Gate—Holy Shit! This isn’t just about a ship full of gems anymore, it’s about finding a hidden map!

The key question is, is it worth the gamble?

Chun is both excited and conflicted: "Aileen, it seems to be a Spatial Gate—"

Aileen is simply excited: "What are you waiting for, rush in!"

Just knew you’re greedy for treasures! Chun remains alert: "How about we go back to the boat and wait until the tide ends before going in? By then, maybe the vortex won’t be as strong, and we could return alive."

Aileen chuckles: "Can you guarantee there’s still a Spatial Gate after the tide ends? You know the mermaid’s Spatial Magic is powered by Tidal Power, right? So is the whale’s."

Chun suddenly realizes! It means I’m not unlucky to be here, I’ve arrived at the right moment!

"Then let’s rush!"

Chun fully engages the barrier, speeding towards the vortex under its pull! The speed far surpasses all mental models, with large bubbles rising from the barrier’s periphery, clearly showing... a supercavitation torpedo!

Because the speed of traditional torpedoes underwater struggles to break a certain low limit, with increased thrust resulting in greater resistance, bullet speed even underwater only reaches a meter. But with bubbles installed in the torpedo, wrapping it in a coat of bubbles, the astonishing speed of a supercavitation torpedo is born...

——System prompt: Congratulations! Your swimming speed far exceeds the current skill limit, your expert-level swimming has increased from level 1 to level 5, achieving: Load +8, Physical Strength +8, and an extra achievement: Life +8!

Holy Shit, swimming leveled up 4 times! It’s just like when Intermediate Running was pulled by the Spatial Gate and flew up to Expert level!

Chun gets even more motivated and pushes his speed to its maximum. Getting closer, seeing it, the fissure at the vortex’s depth bursts with shimmering spatial waves!

——System prompt: Congratulations! Your expert-level swimming has risen to level 10...

Holy Shit, it leveled up again in just a few seconds! How about gifting me a Master title...

Entering the fissure, scene switch—system prompt: You have reached the Secret Abyss Underground Sea. Warning! You are falling from a high place, prepare with all your might.

Indeed a hidden map!

Chun feels as if he is flushed down from a waterfall, with a vast underground space illuminated by the red glow of the geothermal and magma below, it’s an underground sea of intertwining seawater and magma steam! Among the sea lies a faint pile of shipwreck debris.

——Black Flag Order prompt: Discovered trade guild asset Obsidian.

Holy Shit, finally prompted, is there any need for a prompt now?

Aileen suddenly exclaims: "There’s a rock ahead!"

Holy Shit! Avoid full speed ahead with the Sea Shark Soul...