Mystery: Mr. Witch and Ms. Hunter

Chapter 265 The Boiling Sea
(PS: Actually, many book friends have told me about the problem of short chapters. In fact, I write short chapters mainly to make it easier to modify them in case they are censored. However, the average subscription is a bit dangerous recently, so in the next period of time, I will change it to 4000 words per chapter without any awkward parts. It will be more convenient for you to read and my data will look better.)
The explosive that caused serious damage to the Honeysuckle Queen and pulled up the whaling crane weighing tens of tons like pulling up a carrot and smashed it against the rock wall was none other than the air in this huge underground space.

The rapidly falling Honeysuckle Queen collided with the black water, and the impact caused the strange smell of air here to explode. The blast instantly shattered the glass windows on the ironclad ship, and the flying glass fragments were scattered all over the cabin.

Although Catalina noticed all this at the first time and created a layer of black rock shell on the surface of the hull to absorb some of the combustible gas, the explosion caused by the gas that just flowed in still destroyed the crane that was too high to be covered by the rock shell in time.

However, no one had the energy to care about these things now. The sailors looked at the air rushing in from the breach with horror - different from the air originally in the cabin, this gas had obvious stratification in the process of mixing into the cabin, which made it directly observable with the naked eye.

However, what the sailors feared was not the air, but the long dragon of fire behind the gas that was biting towards the broken window!

The burning air rushed towards the cabin with lower density and was about to crash into the conference room where everyone was!
Correspondingly, all the witches in the cabin moved. Tracy, Adele, Natalie, Aphra, and Lisette, five Beyonders at Sequence 7 or above with frost abilities, reacted almost simultaneously, quickly creating frost and sealing the broken windows with mirrors made of ice, thus cutting the fire dragon in half.

However, the burning gas that was cut off did not stop burning. While the witches were busy sealing the cabin, it rushed straight towards Leila, who was the "instigator".

Leila tried to dodge, but instead it stirred the air, causing the fireball to rush toward her even faster.

At the critical moment, Wendy, who had been inactive until now, gritted her teeth, took out a sleeve-like object made of brass and sealed with solder from her pocket, and threw it fiercely in front of the fire stream.

The sleeve automatically popped open in the air, releasing a large ball of compressed gas, which exploded in the restaurant like another small bomb, and the tableware was swept away by the air flow again.

Unlike before, the airflow explosion caused by the brass sleeve was not accompanied by flames and flashes. Instead, it directly suppressed the flames with the ejected gas and pushed the gas that had entered the room but was not ignited to all parts of the room.

Extraordinary people on the Path of the Universalist can make this kind of small mechanical prop. What Wendy threw just now was a small gadget similar to an air compressor. It can be set in advance to inhale or exhaust air to pull the target closer or push it away. It also has a good effect on resentful spirits and shadows.

However, this kind of thing needs to be returned to the Steam Church to be recharged after each use. After that war, the power of the Steam Church was completely eliminated from military strongholds such as Constantin. In other words, if Wendy does not find a chance to return to Intis, this precious item will be wasted.

Before Wendy could feel sorry for her magical item, Katarina's instructions came through the cabin again.

"Sail quickly! The ocean is about to catch fire!"

Catalina's words were not alarmist. The crash of the Honeysuckle Queen broke the tranquility of this underground world that had been sealed for who knows how many years, and what followed was a series of chain reactions.

Through the newly formed ice porthole, Adele and the other witches could see that the burning air was gradually spreading around, igniting the sky and sea underground, making the black ocean almost boil.

Wherever the witches looked, there was black water and yellow fire everywhere, and the air was filled with the smell of sulfur, as if the end of the world in the church legend had come.

Countless marine creatures covered in black sticky liquid jumped out of the sea, burning with orange flames and making terrible cries. It was terrifying.

Without needing Catalina to remind her a second time, Wendy immediately ran as fast as she could, following the spiral staircase in the restaurant straight to the engine room on the bottom floor. There were no windows here, so there was no need to worry about the flammable gas mixing in and causing an explosion.

Wendy quickly started the engine, and the sailor who was loading fuel into the boiler was even a beat slower than her. Despite the thick iron wall, Wendy could still use her common sense to sense that the steam turbine was already overloaded, and she would definitely have to overhaul it after returning.

"Keep going at this speed until we are out of the ocean!"

Adele and Wendy ran to the engine room together. With Wendy's ability, it might be awkward to deal with the emergency, and Adele was a little worried.

"I'm trying hard, but the sea resistance is so great that I can only reach 20 knots at most, which is less than two-thirds of the theoretical maximum speed!"

Wendy was so anxious that she was sweating all over, but things did not change as she wished, and Katarina obviously did not have any good way to speed up.

Thus, in an underground cavity thousands of meters below the seabed, the "Honeysuckle Queen" began to endure the test of fire.

The Honeysuckle Queen was moving at full speed ahead, and behind her was a blazing flame. The air and the ocean were ignited wherever she passed. Even though the Honeysuckle Queen had left the flame behind by nearly a thousand meters, the heat generated by the burning ocean still affected the ship, causing the temperature in the cabin to reach nearly 40 degrees Celsius.

The witches took off their coats because of the heat, and only wore thin shirts. They also tried to get as close to the windows as possible, trying to use the cold air from the portholes made of ice to cool down briefly. Even so, most of their shirts were soaked with sweat and stuck to their bodies. When you get close, you can even smell the special fragrance emanating from their bodies.

Sailors should have been excited to see this scene, but now no one has the leisure to do so. Even the ironclad ship, which is a huge monster in the eyes of humans, is so small in the face of such a terrifying natural phenomenon.

If Venata were to see a flame of this magnitude, her arsonist potion would probably be digested instantly...

Adele had this thought in her mind. At this time, she was not only responsible for the window, but also had to make ice cubes around Wendy to prevent her from making mistakes due to heat stroke. Under their feet, the melted porthole had formed a small puddle.

My first voyage after becoming a captain turned out to be in such a dangerous place... Adele couldn't help but sigh heavily.

However, even the most experienced captain would probably do the same thing as me in this situation: what else can he do except run away at full speed?
After comforting herself, Adele wiped the sweat from her forehead.

At this time, Catalina came down the spiral staircase. Unlike Adele and the others, as a saint, she maintained her grace and temperament even in the high temperature.

"We are reaching the edge of this ocean."

As if she knew it was not appropriate to keep the secret in this situation, Catalina went straight to the point and said, "It will take at most ten minutes to arrive."

By this time, the cabin ceiling was so hot that no observer could stay there for more than five minutes, so it was Catalina who was giving directions.

"Really? What does the border look like?"

Adele and Wendy were startled and looked at Catalina eagerly.

"See for yourselves."

Katerina took out a small crystal ball from her pocket and placed it in front of Adele and Wendy.

The two of them hurried over to take a closer look, and the next second they were shocked by the scene inside.

At the end of the black ocean is another clear and transparent ocean without a trace of impurities. There is no mixed zone in the middle to separate them, as if someone inserted a piece of glass in the middle, so that the two oceans are independent.

It was not only the sea water that was divided, but also the light emitted by plankton in the black ocean. The faint blue fluorescence was insignificant compared to the sunlight on the clear waters. The flammable gas evaporating from the black water surface was also unable to cross the dividing line. It rose in vain at the border, distorting the light on the other side into a strange shape.

Countless strange creatures that sensed the presence of fire in the distant ocean gathered at the end of the black ocean, fleeing towards the clear sea. Although they had different forms, judging from the remaining alienated parts of their bodies, they were at least once human.

However, their bodies decomposed the moment they were exposed to sunlight, turning into white ash under the scorching sun and mixing into the foam floating on the ocean.

Tens of thousands of former humans were driven by fear and rushed towards the light, then crashed into it and were shattered to pieces. Their ashes fell like a heavy snow.

"The radius of this sea area is thirty miles." Catalina said slowly, "If we take a detour, at this speed, we will be caught up by the flames before then."

"Do you want me to decide whether or not to enter that area?"

Adele asked solemnly, "It's really hard to decide."

"No, I just want to tell you that I'm going to borrow a few of your crew members." Catalina said lightly.

"borrow……"

Adele was stunned for a moment, but she soon understood what Catalina meant. "Are you really... going to pay it back?"

"What do you say?"

In Adele's eyes, Katerina's smile gradually became distorted. "Do you want compensation from me?"

"…No, Ms. Pellet."

Adele opened her mouth but no words came out. In the end, she could only squeeze out these words.

"Which crew members do you plan to borrow?"

"Your first mate or boatswain, the rest is up to you."

Katarina said indifferently, "I want to make sure whether that sea area will only remove polluted creatures, or remove people outside the witch path, or... at worst, exclude outsiders from all paths."

"This is 'underground'... Maybe you don't know what this means, but I don't think any of your people are stupid enough to touch the black sea water here? That stuff contains pollution."

"I don't know if Gagran has told you before, but the starry sky and the underground are very dangerous, even if you just know about them. Maybe this kind of pollution won't kill you on the spot, but sooner or later it will erupt one day."

Catalina explained, "I will throw someone into the sea and let him swim into that area. Then I will throw your boatswain or first mate directly in, and finally throw an ordinary crew member in. As for who among them survives... that depends on the interest of the person who designed the rules for this area."

Adele sighed.

She sighed not because of the treatment of the sailors-in fact, judging by what they had planned, it was enough to send half the men on board to the gallows-but because if the first mate died, she would have to take the helm herself.

"Well, do whatever you think is right."

Adele nodded and watched Catalina walk out of the engine room.

She was not worried that the crew would feel dissatisfied because of this: with Katarina's charm, if it really came down to it, she could make everyone on the ship kill their entire family for her and then commit suicide, and they would not even have any complaints before they died.

But, isn't she really knocking me for not giving her a dedicated cabin?
Adele had doubts in her heart.

……

Soon, Adele's ship reached the dividing line of the ocean.

Catalina had already selected the few unlucky sailors she needed - although judging from their fanatical expressions, they did not think they were the unlucky ones.

The expressions of the sailors on the side were also full of envy for those people, as if they were not drawing death lots, but winning the heart of the noble lady in white in front of them.

"Well, boys, it's time to go."

Katerina smiled charmingly and blew gently into the ear of an ordinary sailor who was selected. Adele could see that the boy's ears turned red all of a sudden, and he was so excited that he couldn't even speak clearly.

"O-Ok ma'am!"

The sailor knelt awkwardly, kissed Catalina's feet, and then jumped over the side of the ship without hesitation.

His body was instantly covered by black liquid, which tightly wrapped around his body like a snake and then slowly dragged it downwards.

Strange cracks began to appear on his body, and it was like a fruit that was still hanging on a branch after the harvest season and then broke apart. What flowed out was not blood, but black liquid.

The sailor opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something to Catalina; however, his body suddenly flew up, as if an invisible thread was tied around his neck, and he flew straight towards the sea, then crashed into the sunlight that seemed to be real, and shattered, and gray dust floated onto the deck.

Catalina's expression didn't change at all, as if she had just picked out a leaf.

"Okay, it's the next one."

(End of this chapter)