Chapter 36: Teleportation Scroll

The pale blue force field, flickering like a candle in the wind, barely managed to protect a small area around the core helm at the bow, holding the frenzied, swirling red and blue mist just inches away.

She could feel Lorin’s overwhelming grief; it permeated the air along with the biting chill of the rain. She, too, had lost cherished companions, and the pain of it was etched deep into her bones. But now, succumbing to grief would be the death of them all. The hissing sound of acid rain corroding metal served as a grim reminder that the danger had not passed—the storm had merely receded for a moment.

"Lorin!"

Su Liu’s voice was not loud, yet it cut clearly through Lorin’s sobbing and the howling wind. It carried a strange, piercing quality and an unquestionable calmness. "Hold Little Moon tight, but tuck it inside your coat, right against your chest! Use your body heat... stay with it a little longer."

She offered no empty platitudes, choosing instead to give Lorin a concrete command that would serve as a temporary emotional anchor. "The hull is corroding! The lamp oil is running low! We need to protect it, just as Little Moon protected us!"

These words were meant for Lorin, but they also served as a warning to the others—the defensive core was in critical condition, and there was no time to lose.

Lorin raised her tear-blurred face, meeting Su Liu’s steady, clear gaze. That look was like a beam of cold, unwavering light, piercing through her chaos. Though massive waves of grief still surged in her chest, Su Liu’s command gave her a focal point for her actions. Almost reflexively, she carefully unbuttoned her coat and, with trembling hands, tucked Little Moon’s cold, small body against her heart, enveloping it with her own warmth as if she could reclaim a flicker of its life. Her sobbing shifted from sharp, broken cries to suppressed, intermittent whimpers.

Su Liu’s words immediately drew everyone’s attention back to their situation. Chen Wu also realized what was most urgent. Suppressing his rage, he grabbed Luke like a chicken: "Want to live? Open that damn pack of yours! Hand over all the materials! The lamp oil! The repair supplies!"

Aya stepped forward immediately, searching Luke’s packs and pockets without ceremony. Luke looked pained and unwilling, but seeing Chen Wu’s hand—strong enough to crush his throat—he could only yield in humiliation, watching helplessly as Aya roughly rummaged through his belongings. Just then, as Aya moved his arm, she touched an inner pocket.

A flash of sharp light ignited in Luke's eyes!

*Teleportation scroll! Powerful spatial fluctuations!*

In Su Liu’s mental space, the Hourglass of the辰 (Chen) Hour seemed to sense the violent spatial disturbance, and a tiny, subtle tremor rippled through the flow of sand!

Su Liu’s pupils contracted, and she barked without hesitation: "Watch out!"

But it was too late!

Luke’s face was instantly consumed by extreme malice, his eyes burning with deep-seated hatred for Su Liu. He roared with every ounce of his strength:

"It’s all your fault! Su Liu! If it weren’t for you, the scroll would still be here! My loss—ah!!!"

As he roared, his left hand managed to break free for a split second. A palm-sized parchment scroll, shimmering with brilliant silver light and covered in arcane spatial runes, was ripped from his inner pocket and torn apart!

"No!!!" Aya cried out, reaching to snatch it, but she grasped only air.

*Hum—!!!*

A dazzling, blinding silver radiance, as if tearing the very fabric of space, erupted violently from Luke! An overwhelming spatial repulsive force sent Chen Wu and Aya flying backward!

"Su Liu! I will remember you! Next time! I will make you pay a hundredfold!!!"

Wrapped in the brilliant silver light, Luke’s figure began to turn transparent and distorted. He stared fixedly at Su Liu’s face, his voice laced with infinite spite and resentment.

The next second!

The space rippled like water, and the torn scroll dissolved into silver dust, vanishing into the air. Luke’s figure was erased as if by an eraser, disappearing completely from the deck. All that remained was an imperceptible scorch mark where he had stood, proof that the precious scroll had been burned there.

It all happened too fast! From the moment Luke tore the scroll to his disappearance, it had been a mere blink of an eye!

"Damn it!" Chen Wu looked at his empty hands and slammed his fist against the sodden deck in a rage.

Aya was also pale with anger: "That was a life-saving treasure... he actually... he actually used it just to run away?!"

Her heartbreak was not just for Luke’s escape, but for the fact that such an incredibly rare teleportation scroll had been wasted on such a despicable person—a trump card that could have ensured their survival throughout the entire game phase!

Su Liu stood her ground, her expression grave. Luke’s final, hate-filled roar seemed to echo in her ears. She did not fear his hatred, but she realized clearly that Luke was different from the likes of Guo Ping or "Long Aotian My True Self" whom she had encountered before. Those two were defined by mindless greed and arrogance. Luke, however, was calculating and sinister, possessing the [Analyst] spirit beast. More importantly—his "hatred" and "loss" were deeply concretized. He was as vengeful as a viper; he would surely lie in wait, biding his time to strike back.

If they ever happened to cross paths again...

The acid rain hitting her face, mixed with the briny scent of the sea and the strange, exotic aroma of the red mist, pulled Su Liu back to reality.

Now was not the time to analyze Luke!

"Chen, Aya! There’s no time! Check the bow lamp!" Su Liu’s voice once again became the anchor in the chaos. "Leave his affairs for later; let’s save our ship first!"

Mo Yu’s black raven flew into the rain and mist ahead: "The bow lamp is dimming. Behind us... the intensity of the blood-sea tide is weakening, but a new whirlpool is forming a thousand meters off the starboard bow. Intensity unknown."

He reported the critical information concisely.

Chen Wu took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing his anger. He knew Su Liu was right. He strode to the helm and said in a rough voice: "Right! Aya, consolidate all materials, use everything to keep the bow lamp lit! Mo Yu, guide our path! Su Liu, you..."

He glanced at Lorin, who was still huddled in the corner, soul-lost and clutching the rabbit’s shell. "Look after Lorin. She is currently... sigh!"

Su Liu nodded and walked quickly to Lorin’s side. She offered no hollow words of comfort, simply crouching down to keep her company in silence. Meanwhile, she keenly observed the changes in the concentration of the red and blue mists and the flickering, precarious halo of the kerosene lamp, ready to react to any sudden emergency at a moment’s notice.

Her mind was highly focused, her consciousness sinking into her mental space, where the Hourglass of the辰 Hour floated silently. She had clearly sensed the subtle disturbance in the hourglass caused by the activation of the spatial scroll, and her understanding of spatial energy seemed to have deepened a layer.

Faintly, she felt her control over the hourglass—particularly her subtle perception of "gaps"—had become sharper. Perhaps this was the only, albeit minuscule, "benefit" gained from Luke’s farce.

"Give me the materials!" Aya’s voice carried the resolve of someone burning their bridges.

She spread the supplies scavenged from Luke’s pack and her own remaining items at her feet. Su Liu immediately stepped forward, handing Aya the lamp oil found on the Abyss Reef and the dry lamp-grass that could serve as wicks.

"Use the oil sparingly. These grass fibers will burn slowly once soaked, helping it last longer," she said in a low, rapid tone.

Aya’s eyes brightened: "It works!" The two worked with seamless coordination, quickly stabilizing the base of the kerosene lamp.

In the wind and rain, the Symbiotic Boat drifted like a lone leaf, navigating with difficulty around the new whirlpool and undercurrents under the guidance of Chen Wu and Mo Yu.