Chapter 2611: Chapter 2611: The Candle At The Bottom Of The Sea

Dorothy had already told Zen the whole story of the vortex.

She had also told him that, so far, no one had been able to destroy the great whirlpool. And yet, Zen still risked his own life to enter the whirlpool! This made Dorothy soften her expression, obviously touched at Zen's bravery.

However, Zen was not a reckless person. As he swam closer to the edge of the whirlpool, he internally asked No. 9527 for its opinion.

Since he had entered the Sea of Truth with his physical body, the seawater didn't scare him. Moreover, since his Soul of Light had been trapped in the vortex, he really had no choice but to physically dive into it.

No. 9527 had some speculations. “There's no way the vortex could have just appeared out of thin air,” it told Zen. “This was, most likely, deliberately arranged by someone.”

Zen's curiosity grew. Who was powerful enough to control the Sea of Truth? And...why would they do such a thing? To stop warriors from reaching the Other Shore?

Zen could tell No. 9527 knew something more. However, he didn't try to probe any further.

“I'm going to explore the center of the great whirlpool,” he said to Dorothy.

Sitting in the Truth Boat, Dorothy had mixed feelings. She hoped that Zen could somehow make the vortex go away and free them; on the other hand, she was worried for his safety. In the end, she could only say softly, “You...Be careful...”

“Don't worry. In case of any emergency, leave the Sea of Truth first,” Zen instructed.

Dorothy nodded, swallowing her anxiety.

The vortex hadn't stopped whirling since its inception.

In time, the ripples within the great whirlpool would only grow in strength. By then, none of the Truth Boats would be able to resist the waves, and instead they would be sucked into an eternity of swirling around according to the vortex's will. If it ever came to that, there would be no choice but to use the Illusion Breaking Rune to leave the Sea of Truth.

Zen suddenly dove into the water, leaving a trail of bubbles behind.

Dorothy gazed at Zen's receding figure in the distance, falling into a daze.

She knew his success was highly improbable, but, for some reason, Zen gave her some hope.

This unwarranted hope caused conflict with her rational mind.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of rowing.

Not far away, she saw the silhouettes of two Truth Boats approaching. Aboard the boats were human warriors.

After Dorothy had killed that wolf-shaped creature's Soul of Light, all the creatures who witnessed her power were stunned, including the humans.

Warriors with a Soul of Light more or less mastered some soul-attack methods, but it was impossible to unleash a force that powerful.

The two men were cautious as they approached her. However, they supposed that since they were of the same race, this woman would be less inclined to kill them in cold blood.

One of them cupped his hands and bowed respectfully towards her. “I'm a disciple of Delight Mountain. May I ask where you are from, lady?”

Dorothy glanced at the two of them indifferently. “What do you want?”

“Is the man swimming in the water your friend, miss?” the man cautiously continued.

“Yeah. So what?” she said, narrowing her eyes.

The man thought for a moment. “I've never heard of someone being able to swim in the Sea of Truth before. Is he looking for a way to escape the clutches of the great whirlpool?” ɽÄℕο𝖇Ε𝓢

“Maybe,”

Dorothy grumbled, losing patience with every word that left the man's mouth.

However, she understood that these people were also trapped here. It was only natural they'd hope Zen would succeed.

In the outside world, everyone knew the whirlpool was an unbreakable trap. If one were to fall prey to it, they'd have to acknowledge their bad luck and accept defeat. However, previously, it was also believed that no one would be able to swim in the Sea of Truth. Yet, Zen proved them wrong. As he did one unbelievable thing, perhaps it was possible for him to commit another impossible deed—to get them out of the whirlpool.

The two of them immediately sensed Dorothy's growing anger. In fear that they might suffer the same fate as that unfortunate wolf-shaped creature, they hastily took their leave.

Even so, her words had brought a sliver of hope to the human disciples.

Meanwhile, Zen observed the motions of the water as it swirled violently.

Guided by the current, Zen moved towards the center of the whirlpool quickly.

As he went deeper and deeper, the power of the water grew stronger. Consequently, his speed picked up, the closer he got to the center.

About five minutes later, the water began raging, the waves of which were tens of feet high.

The waves of the Sea of Truth were lethal; a Soul of Light would immediately dissolve if seawater was to splash on it.

'No wonder Dorothy says there's nowhere to go except to withdraw from the Sea of Truth if one falls into the whirlpool. Whose Soul of Light would dare to travel in fierce waves like these?' Zen thought to himself.

He tried his best to use the force of the current to his advantage.

Without having to use any of his own strength, he was pulled further in towards the center by the seawater.

After a few more seconds, Zen finally saw the epicenter of the whirlpool. The water here swirled at a higher speed, flushing towards a huge hole.

There was no time for Zen to resist; he was immediately sucked into the hole.

He tumbled downward, pushed around like a ragdoll by the waves.

Zen felt as if he were being dragged down by countless invisible hands.

He kept sinking, deeper and deeper.

After what seemed like an eternity, the falling finally stopped.

Zen tried to steady himself, opening his eyes to look around. His gaze immediately fell on the interesting scene before him.

He could see the silhouette of the whirlpool! The current swirled around like an underwater tornado.

'This is... the huge whirlpool!' Zen quickly realized.

He was sucked in by the tornado. If it had been another Soul of Light, it would have melted into the sea.

However, after his body had been sucked into the tornado, he was thrown out.

Zen's gaze followed the contour of the tornado, until his eyes met the lowest part, where the tornado looked like threads swirling around a finger. While his vision was blurry in the red sea, he could barely make out that there was something flashing at the very tip of the whirlpool.

'There is something down there, ' Zen said to himself.

Mustering his strength, he dove deeper towards the tornado.

The depths of the Sea of Truth was empty. Zen didn't see any other creatures, so he felt rather at ease, not having to worry about other threats.

However, the sheer length of the vortex was beyond his imagination. Several thousand feet down, he still couldn't see the end of the water tornado. After what seemed like hundreds of thousands of feet down, he finally approached the end of the whirlpool.

He was surprised to see it was only as thick as his finger. It boggled his mind to think about how such a tiny water flow could cause such a huge whirlpool as it spread upwards.

After further diving, he found the flashing light at the bottom of the tornado becoming brighter and brighter. As he closed in on the white light, he narrowed his eyes at its source.

“A c-candle?”

Deep at the bottom of the sea, a candle the size of his palm floated almost peacefully. The silver light Zen had seen earlier was the light burning from the candle's single wick.