Chapter 319: Chapter 319

For Julia, this was indeed her first time leaving the domain protected by the Divine. Whether it was the Homeland Sea or the Sea of All Beings, both were realms with a Divine presence, safeguarded by the Divine. Though their philosophies differed, in those seas, nature and the environment were exceptionally stable. Everything there was suffused with order. But the outside world was different. To Julia, and to guardians of the sea like her, this place was filled with all sorts of counter-intuitive things.

Alka and the others didn’t feel it as keenly. Apart from sensing a higher concentration of Magic Power, they didn’t have much of an impression. But for Julia and her kind, it was different. This island was even more so. The concentration of Magic Power was higher here than in the surrounding seas, and it was chaotic and disordered. The natural order here was challenged; disorder and chaos were constantly present, blended into it.

As she said this, Julia closed her eyes, sensing the Magic Power and order around her. With her eyes closed, she said, "This monster is formed from negative emotions and the ruin of various primordial intellects."

"It must have been because someone just took the Magic Items from that Treasure Chest. That created a void in the island’s Magic Power, which disturbed him."

Then Julia opened her eyes and briefly explained.

The ’negative emotions’ Julia mentioned likely referred to the bones scattered across the island. Alka figured the primary source was probably that group below who had killed themselves in despair. The negative emotions born from waiting for death, from suicides committed in despair, were beyond imagination.

"What do you mean by ’primordial intellects’?" Chadite asked.

"It’s like an infant that has just gained awareness," Julia replied after a moment’s thought.

Upon hearing this, Pororo nodded. "So you’re saying many babies died here?"

...The air suddenly quieted down.

Julia fell silent at Pororo’s question, then said lightly, "It’s just a metaphor."

"Oh, I see." Pororo’s face lit up with sudden understanding.

Alka furrowed his brow; he had a good idea what might have created these so-called primordial intellects. Many of these wrecks must be Spell Ships, he figured. Just like those people they had encountered at the exit of the Homeland Sea, all trying to get out. Many of those teams possessed Treasures. Naturally, their ships would gain sentience under the influence of such Treasures—they didn’t necessarily have to become Ghost Ships. Even if they hadn’t become Ghost Ships, or hadn’t been fully ’awakened,’ they would still develop sentience over time. Just like the Sound of Dawn in its early days. Over countless years, countless such ships must have been destroyed in storms. These wrecks had all gathered on this island and, as Julia said, melded together into the form they had just witnessed.

But anyway, that problem has been dealt with. Luckily, these ships and people were all from the Homeland Sea. And they were wrecked right after they got out, so their power wasn’t that great. That’s why the monster formed from them only reached Four Spirals, and its strength was limited. The threat it posed wasn’t very high.

Alka continued to scan the wreckage, his gaze eventually falling upon a dim Scepter. It was emitting a faint white light. Ah, there it is. The monster must have swept up the wreckage containing the treasure for the next white spot when it was gathering all these fragments. That saved us the trouble of looking for it. The source of this content ɪs 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩·𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢·𝔫𝔢𝔱

Picking up the Scepter, he wiped the dust and dirt off it, revealing the pure gold beneath. A scepter this large must be worth a small fortune.

"You found another treasure," Chadite said, laughing beside him.

Everyone was somewhat accustomed to this.

Alka smiled but didn’t say much, merely shouldering the Scepter.

"Alright, there’s nothing more to see on this island. Let’s head back to the ship."

With that, he walked directly to the cliff edge they had come from and leaped off. The Sound of Dawn was already waiting for them below.

Seeing Juanlu still standing on the cliff, Pororo paused for a moment, then scooped him up with one arm and jumped down. After all, Juanlu’s strength was only at the Two Spirals level; a fall from this height was still quite dangerous for him.

Alka landed on the deck and dusted himself off.

Once everyone was back on deck, he patted the main mast and said, "Let’s set sail. We’ll follow the current and press on."

At his command, the Sound of Dawn slowly maneuvered, catching the current and moving away from the island.

However, just as they rounded a bend of the island, they realized something was wrong.

Jason suddenly called out, "Everyone, look behind us! Isn’t that a ship?"

Everyone turned to look.

At the very edge of their vision, a tiny black dot appeared.

Alka raised his telescope to look. It was indeed a ship, but it was too distant. Even with the telescope, he couldn’t make out whose vessel it was. As expected, it was likely one of the ships from the same group that had set out with them.

Then, a few more black dots came into view.

"More ships? Are those other teams traveling together?" Chadite couldn’t help but ask.

"I’ll go check it out."

With that, Alka made a few leaps, using the ship’s rigging to ascend towards the crow’s nest. Perched atop the crow’s nest, the skin on Alka’s face shimmered and became a Mirror Surface. The Mirror Surface once again simulated that strange frog-crocodile creature from before. A long snout and a pair of enormous eyes materialized on Alka’s head.

Through these eyes, Alka could clearly see the distant horizon and identify the ships. Predictably, they belonged to the other teams that had departed with them.

However, the condition of those ships looked dire. That must be why they were traveling together.

However, the situation seemed different from what he had initially assumed. Alka frowned.