Chapter 63: The Wailing Fjord

April 4th, 10:00 AM in reality, 10:00 PM in game time. The night sea was moonless and covered by heavy clouds.

Dachun had rested and eaten several times in the game to restore his stamina, then resumed AFK autopilot. Outside the game, he simply ate a cup of instant noodles and then devoted all his energy to parsing the composition on his tablet.

Initially, he was exhausted and drowsy from the night, but accidental focus suddenly helped him figure out a plugin usage he hadn't had time to study for years. Suddenly, he was full of energy, and his former top-student soul burned fiercely. The more he worked on it, the more enthusiastic he became. One thing led to another, and he actually got the composition running!

Then, after repeatedly adjusting the parameters, the composition still ran! He then sent the design into the 3D CAT software to test it again, and it still worked.

Dachun was wild with joy. Perhaps he wouldn't need to go out and look for an expert anymore; this level of execution, combined with that Qifinda intelligence, would most likely work. Moreover, with his amateur level of composition skills, even if he couldn't make it in the game, when he went out to look for a job again, he might be able to shamelessly add "3D Modeling Master" to his resume!

After the breakthrough, Dachun's spirit surged and all sleepiness vanished completely.

Looking at the map, he was almost there—a narrow channel between two pieces of land.

He had to admit that just unlocking the Soul of the Four Seas took a whole morning and a half. The time cost of normal sailing was probably unimaginable. Venturing out to sea was indeed not suitable for quest-grinding or monster-grinding players. Fortunately, he still had a small alt avatar.

Taking advantage of the time before arrival, he went to the game website to thoroughly review the information about the Howling Fjord.

In the game background, the Howling Fjord was actually similar to the real-world Strait of Magellan. The banks were steep with winding terrain, featuring high winds, fierce waves, heavy whirlpools, and plenty of fog. When the wind was particularly strong, it produced a very majestic howling sound, hence the name.

During the Age of Discovery, there were many powerful sea monsters in various sea areas. By comparison, the fjord was relatively safe, and since it was a shortcut, it had once been busy. However, with the opening of the Golden Great Sea Route which cleared out the sea monsters, this shipping lane became completely unprofitable and was entirely abandoned. Large merchant fleets no longer passed through here, resulting in the absence of pirates as well. Inside the fjord, there were abandoned supply ports and camps left over from the Age of Discovery. That was all the information there was, and there were no related discussions by players on the forums. It felt like a completely barren wasteland.

However, Dachun gained new insights by reviewing the old, and immediately found the subtext from this brief information: it didn't mention anything about shipwrecks! Was it to cover up secrets and prevent later-comers from salvaging them? And besides, harsh environments breed dragons—were there really no sea monsters here? Was that also deliberately omitted to cover up a secret?

In that case, he should contact and consult the mermaid. Would there be any problem having a long-distance conversation with her?

Let's try it. Sea Tribe Guardian skill activated.

Then a buzzing, blind tone came into his ear—System Prompt: Sea Tribe Guardian is connecting, please wait patiently...

Damn it, it required patience even for this? Last time communicating with the whale took 4 hours; how long would it take this time since it was even further?

While waiting and moving forward, the wind ahead began to grow stronger. The sailing mode began to drop sails and switch to rowing, and the small boat rocked more and more violently. In the distance, the howling of the wind truly came over, and the outlines of high mountains in the dark night could even be faintly seen.

——System Prompt: You have arrived at the Howling Fjord waters. This area is not a shipping lane recognized by the Navigation Convention, autopilot has ceased.

He had to row the boat himself now. First, eat to restore stamina.

Then he contacted Eileen: "Eileen, are you free now? I need your radar."

Eileen's slightly exhausted voice came through: "You there? Hurry up!"

Dachun's heart tightened: "How is the situation on your end?"

Eileen sighed: "There is bad news and good news. The bad news is, your six magic stones were found by the lackey's demonic pet."

Dachun's heart twitched. Although he had long prepared himself to give up, actually losing them was extremely painful: "And the good news?"

Eileen laughed: "The good news is that after getting the magic stones, they started setting up a magic array around the crystal bat's hiding spot. So as long as we win, we can still take the magic stones back, and at the same time, it continues to buy time for the crystal bat to hide. I'm still considering whether I should quietly move the magic stones to interfere with the opponent while they are casting the array."

Dachun was very uneasy: "There must be demonic pets guarding the magic stones, right?"

Eileen smiled: "Didn't I previously transform into a toad to attack the lackey's demonic pet? It's nothing more than transforming into a toad again."

Speaking of which, Eileen's radar began to alarm: "Reefs ahead!"

There was no use panicking over there; he had to deal with this side with all his might.

With the radar, Dachun directly ignored the influence of the dark night and fog, and could even see the churning of underwater whirlpools. This feeling of security was simply indescribable.

Entering the canyon, the crashing waves sounded like rolling thunder, the small boat bumped like a drifting leaf in the raging waters, and the howling wind roared like a demon god—Dachun felt that he had severely underestimated the dangers here, or perhaps he was just very unlucky to come here precisely when the wind was strong.

He had no choice but to take a small sip of century-old aged cassava brew to increase his stamina cap and recovery, as long as he didn't get drunk.

——System Prompt: You have gained the attribute bonus of special cassava liquor. Stamina cap temporarily +38%, stamina recovery rate increased, resistance to fear, trembling, and cold. Estimated duration: 1 hour.

Damn it! Just taking a single sip added 38% without getting drunk; the cost-effectiveness was far superior to finishing a whole bottle earlier. However, he had no choice previously since it was for soul projection.

Soon, Dachun's stamina was running low, but the reefs scattered everywhere here instead gave Dachun a breathing spell. He first approached a slender reef and tied his rope to it.

He had to admit that a small boat had the advantages of a small boat; if he had been in a large ship, he probably would have just crashed head-on.

Rowing and stopping like this, Dachun struggled forward in the canyon for an hour, but there was still no asset display from the Black Flag Token. What made him even more anxious was that an entire hour had passed and he still hadn't contacted the mermaid; there wasn't even anyone to ask.

Was it possible that this ship had rotted to pieces and wasn't registered by the Black Flag Token? Or was it sunken too deeply to show up on the water's surface? But since the event had already been triggered, it must exist.

Finally, the sound of water ahead was like a dam releasing floodwaters, and the radar displayed underwater whirlpools like a storm cloud map. At the same time, it indicated that this was the bend of the canyon, where a ship was most likely to lose control, making the possibility of a shipwreck extremely high! Even so, the Black Flag Token still showed nothing.

He couldn't rely on this Black Flag Token. What the old lamp said made sense; experts over the past hundred years must have also used the Black Flag Token to search here, and the reason they didn't succeed was probably because they relied too much on the Black Flag Token.

Dachun approached a reef, tied the small boat securely once again, and retrieved the Soul of the Four Seas from the boat: "Eileen, I'm ready to dive down and take a look."

Eileen also looked quite solemn: "It feels terrifying. Without the Sea Soul, an ordinary person going down would definitely be swallowed by the whirlpool."

Dachun took another sip of the liquor to replenish his condition: "If any sea monsters attack, have your holy artifact ring ready."

"Got it."

Preparation complete, Dachun entered the water. The barrier formed by the Soul of the Four Seas greatly neutralized the impact of the fierce currents and waves.

Diving 50 meters! Professional diver depth.

Diving 100 meters! The limit for an unequipped human dive. At this point, the immense water pressure compressed the barrier, shrinking it by a large margin. The radar was entirely filled with churning whirlpools, making it completely impossible to detect the presence of a shipwreck.

Approaching the whirlpool, a huge suction force stretched Dachun's Sea Soul barrier into a deformed balloon. Dachun panicked, feeling that if he wanted to retreat, he had better do it while there was still time! If he kept moving forward, even if he found the shipwreck inside the whirlpool, he wouldn't be able to come back up.

Then he wouldn't go forward; he would investigate at the edge of the whirlpool. At the very least, he needed to figure out how deep the water was! The appearance of a whirlpool was usually formed by convection; here it might be caused by tides, or perhaps there was a deep pit and fissure on the seabed, and the shipwreck might just be inside that deep pit.

Diving 150 meters!

——System Prompt: ...Your Expert-level Swimming has gained a massive increase in proficiency.

Very good! Nowadays, if he didn't get a skill upgrade every single day, he felt uncomfortable all over.

Diving 200 meters!! The barrier was nearly flattened.

Only then did Dachun realize that the Sea Soul barrier was not an all-powerful underwater tool either; once the water pressure became too great, it would also burst from the squeeze. Was this the end of the line? Or was his judgment wrong from the very beginning, and should he still trust the Black Flag Token and keep searching ahead?

Just at that moment, Eileen exclaimed in surprise: "My Treasure Hunting skill has detected magic reactions inside the whirlpool!"

Oh?

Dachun activated his own as well, and sure enough! This fluctuation reaction was extremely similar to a spatial gate! If there was a spatial gate—damn it! This was no longer just a matter of a boatload of gems; hitting a hidden map meant a major windfall!

The crux was, could he afford to gamble?

Dachun was both excited and conflicted: "Eileen, it looks like a spatial gate—"

Eileen was only excited: "What are you waiting for, rush in!"

I knew you were greedy for wealth! Dachun maintained his clarity of mind: "How about we go back to the boat and wait for the tide to end before going in? By then, the whirlpool might not be so fierce, and we might be able to come back up alive."

Eileen scoffed: "Can you guarantee that the spatial gate will still be there when the tide ends? You must know that the mermaid's spatial magic is cast using tidal force. The whale's is too."

Dachun suddenly woke up with a start! That meant he hadn't come at an unlucky time; he had arrived right on cue!

"Then let's charge in!"

Dachun opened his barrier to the maximum and rushed at high speed toward the whirlpool under its pulling force! This speed far exceeded cognition; the outer edge of the barrier even generated massive amounts of air bubbles—this was clearly a... supercavitating torpedo!

Because the underwater speed of traditional torpedoes had always struggled to break through a certain low value, the greater the thrust, the greater the resistance, resulting in bullets only traveling a meter underwater. However, as long as gas bubbles were installed inside the torpedo to wrap around its surface, the astonishingly fast supercavitating torpedo was thus born...

——System Prompt: Congratulations! Your swimming speed far exceeds the current limit of your skill. Your Expert-level Swimming has increased from Level 1 to Level 5. You have obtained achievements: Weight Capacity +8, Stamina +8, and gained an extra achievement: Health +8!

Damn it, swimming jumped 4 levels in a row! Wasn't this just like when his Intermediate Running was sucked and pulled by a spatial gate, instantly leaping to Expert?

Dachun was energized and went full throttle. Getting closer, he saw it—the fissures deep within the whirlpool were erupting with shimmering spatial fluctuations of water light!

——System Prompt: Congratulations!... Your Expert-level Swimming has increased to Level 10...

Damn it, it leveled up again in just a few short seconds! Might as well just grant me Master rank...

Entering the fissure, the scene shifted—System Prompt: You have arrived at the Abyssal Subterranean Sea. Warning! You are falling from a high place, be sure to respond with all your might.

It really was a hidden map!

Dachun felt as though he had been flushed down from a waterfall. Below, the red glow of geothermal magma illuminated a massive subterranean space—a subterranean sea where seawater and magma steam blended together! Faintly visible amidst the sea were piles of shipwreck debris.

——Black Flag Token Prompt: Merchant association asset Obsidian has been discovered.

Damn it, it finally prompted him. Was there even any point to this prompt now?

Eileen suddenly cried out in alarm: "There's a rock ahead!"

Damn it, Sea Shark Soul, full-speed evasion...