We agreed to set sail, so you'd become the ruler of the deep sea?

Chapter 156 The First Submerged Voyage on the Frigid Sea

"This is...the Frozen Sea?"

After calming himself down and looking around, Xia En quickly came to a conclusion.

The noticeably lower temperature in the air, the white mist exhaled through the mouth and nose, and the floating ice that appears and disappears on the sea surface all prove this point.

However, it should be noted that the Chaotic Sin Islands are quite far from the Cold Sea.

Even if the Black Swan travels at full speed, it will still take half a month.

but now……

"The real purpose of that vortex... is spatial teleportation?"

Xia En suddenly realized.

After being swallowed by the deep whirlpool, the Black Swan seemed to pass through an invisible barrier, then experienced violent turbulence before finally arriving at this sea area.

Looking back now, that turbulence was probably what's known as "space turbulence"!
Such extraordinary techniques involving space were indeed astonishing, but Shane had no time to ponder them further at the moment.

He quickly looked towards the deck, searching for the crew members.

"Joey! Faye! Anne!"

"Captain, I'm here..."

Not far away, Joey stood up, leaning on the mast, and asked groggily, "My head is spinning. What just happened?"

Soon, Fei Ya and the others arrived in front of Xia En from various parts of the Black Swan, and even Miss Ghost Vivian came to join in the fun.

After confirming that all the crew members were on board, Shane breathed a sigh of relief.

Thanks to the barrier created by the ship's hull, the Black Swan was almost completely unharmed by the whirlpool, losing only 3 points of durability.

With the Black Swan's current self-healing ability, it will recover in less than half an hour.

"This is the [Frigid Sea]? It's certainly cold enough."

Feiya stood on the deck, looking out at the sea, and couldn't help but shiver.

He analyzed from a professional perspective: "In this environment, even with insulation measures, the efficiency of the steam turbine will be reduced significantly."

"Moreover, it is essential to ensure that the steam system is always operational, otherwise the pipes and gears are very likely to freeze."

Xia En had anticipated this and said, "Feiya, you'll have to work hard during this period."

"give it to me."

Feiya's attitude remained as reliable as ever: "I usually try to connect with them every day."

"Captain, look! What kind of animal is that?"

Just then, Joey's exclamation caught Shane's attention.

He turned his head and saw a black and white, fat bird lying on its side on a piece of ice floe in the sea.

"That's... a penguin?"

Xia En's eyelids twitched.

He suddenly realized an important problem.

That deep vortex did indeed send the Black Swan to the Frigid Sea in the north, but here... isn't it a bit too far north?
Xia En pondered, "The most important task now is to find an island or a landmark to pinpoint the location of the Black Swan."

However, these are things that Captain Shane needs to consider.

Joey and String Song, like children on a trip, curiously looked around this unfamiliar sea and were secretly amazed by the creatures they had never seen before.

"Oh? So those chubby birds are called penguins?"

Vivian appeared out of nowhere beside Xia En, smacking her lips and saying, "I remember this bird tastes pretty good, how about we go catch one?"

Xia En's lips twitched slightly.

Sister, are you a ghost? Why are you so obsessed with eating?

After complaining, Xia En suddenly had a thought.

How could Vivian, who was imprisoned in the misty sea for hundreds of years, have ever seen a penguin?
unless……

This comes from her more distant memories.

Combined with the information about Vivian's connection to the destruction of the Elven race, the credibility of the legend that "the Cold Sea was once the territory of the Elven race" seems to have increased even further.

……

……

Because of the cold weather, the crew needed to change into thicker, warmer clothes, and Shane took the opportunity to return to the captain's cabin.

Since we're just killing time anyway, why not take a dive and test the waters in the deep, frigid sea?

With that in mind, Xia En opened the panel.

The projection will be based on the ship's current position.

[Shall we begin submersible navigation?]

"Yes!"

As Xia En's mind stirred, his consciousness gradually sank into the cold seawater.

That chilling feeling seemed to seep into his soul little by little.

Strangely, in this cold depths, there seemed to be a faint but indomitable vitality.

"……This is?"

Before Xia En could fully perceive it, the world before his eyes suddenly opened up.

A deep, dark blue sea came into his view.

Perhaps because it is remote and far from pollution, the seawater here has a clear and bright feel, like a clean sapphire.

Thanks to the protection of the [Ship Soul Power], the biting cold of the seawater was kept out of the projected body. Xia En only felt a slight chill and was not affected by the water temperature.

After confirming this, Xia En first looked up at the sea.

Many ice floes floated above, their light and shadow shifting in the hazy light, creating a rather dreamlike scene.

There are also small, pale icebergs drifting and moving along with the sea.

To be honest, judging from this scene alone, the view beneath the surface of the Frozen Sea is the most beautiful that Xia En has ever seen during his many dives.

Just quickly.

Xia En looked down and was momentarily stunned.

Because the depth of this sea area far exceeded his expectations.

Within sight, the seabed was completely invisible, only a dark, blurry outline.

This means that the seawater here is even deeper than that of the Rusty Ruins!

"As expected of the [Cold Sea]..."

Xia En was filled with emotion, but his eyes shone slightly.

"However, this also means that the strength and experience of the monsters in this sea area will increase accordingly."

"I wonder what characteristics the monsters here will have?"

While pondering these questions, Shane swam deeper into the ocean.

Similar to the feeling in the Rusty Ruins, the deeper you sink, the greater the pressure from the seawater, and the faster the power of the ship's soul diminishes.

However, Shane's strength is no longer what it used to be.

With a [Durability] attribute of up to 53, it can last for at least two or three hours even on the seabed in this area.

As the depth increased, Shane gradually saw the scene in the deeper parts of the sea.

The seabed here is covered with fine sand and pebbles, and there are some seabed plants that look like trees growing there.

Large and small sea creatures are swimming in the seawater.

They may have sensed Shaen's arrival, but the powerful aura Shaen exuded made them unwilling to provoke this unfamiliar visitor.

Shaun's gaze swept across the seabed.

Before long, he came to see a town of moderate size in the southwest.

The town's architectural style is neither like that of Coral City nor Rusty Ruins.

The houses are predominantly white and most have their own courtyards and gardens, resembling small estates.

The manors were all quite far apart—a phenomenon only seen in sparsely populated areas. Under normal circumstances, such small towns would certainly not have been Shain's target.

But today's "submarine voyage" was just an experiment, mainly focused on exploration, so the amount of gains was not that important.

But as Shane approached the town, his gaze froze for a second.

He saw that all the buildings and roads in the town were covered with a layer of light blue ice!
Shane initially thought it was a naturally formed block of ice.

But after careful observation, he quickly rejected this conjecture.

because……

Within that layer of solid ice, flowers, birds, beasts, and even human figures shaped like ice sculptures are frozen in place!
Xia En swam into the town's streets.

Before him stood a boy dressed in thick cotton clothes, staring in terror in one direction, as if he had witnessed something extremely horrific.

The boy's terror and shock remained forever frozen in that moment.

Compared to others on the street, he was perhaps still lucky.

Because at least, he saw why he died.

Many more people, without even realizing it, were frozen into eternal ice sculptures.

"Was this town frozen in time before the great flood?"

Watching this scene, Xia En's thoughts were in turmoil.

Without a doubt, this ice, capable of freezing an entire town for thousands of years, is no ordinary thing and must contain extraordinary power.

The question is, is this a natural disaster or a man-made one?
What is the underlying purpose?
But is its influence really limited to just this small town?
Xia En let his thoughts wander for a moment, then stopped thinking about it.

He wasn't an archaeologist after all, and he wasn't particularly interested in uncovering the secrets behind it.

"but……"

Xia En thought to himself, "If freezing the existence of this town has affected other areas, then following this direction might lead to some new discoveries."

Even so, Shane was not in a hurry to leave the town.

He reached out and gently stroked the ice sculpture in front of him.

The feel of it is no different from that of ordinary solid ice.

Cold and hard.

But the next moment, something unexpected happened!

The ice, tinged with a faint blue hue, suddenly seemed to come alive, spreading along Xia En's palm towards his body.

A thin layer of ice crystals formed on the surface of the projected body.

Xia En frowned slightly and clenched his fist tightly.

The muscles in his arms bulged, and a faint aura of blood appeared on his body, easily shattering the layer of ice crystals.

With his current strength, he can easily deal with this level of taint.

What truly frightened Xia En was the significance behind this attack—

Even after hundreds or thousands of years, this layer of solid ice still retains a vigorous secret power that exudes a strong desire to attack.

If it is a natural disaster, it is still within the realm of understanding.

But what if this was the work of a secret guide...?

Click... Click!
Just as Xia En was pondering, several extremely faint cracking sounds suddenly came from the seawater not far away.

Xia En immediately turned to look.

In the ice-covered town, a huge and obese creature gradually awoke.

It was a gray-black seal, but its size far exceeded what Shane knew of such creatures.

It is nearly ten meters long and more than five meters in diameter, like a thick and huge pillar, with an undeniable presence.

Its body surface is covered with crisscrossing, ice-blue patterns.

The patterns were intricate and beautiful, like a meticulously crafted work of art, as if illusory ice crystals were condensed within them.

Xia En was no stranger to this pattern.

He had seen similar patterns on Ann's armor and the [Magic Cannon].

But unlike the magic patterns that Xia En knew, this pattern exuded an eerie attraction that made it hard to look away.

If you gaze at it for a while, you can hear some faint, indistinct murmurs.

It's like singing or praising something.

"Is this really a magic rune?"

"If that's the case, then it's not just equipment, but even living things can be engraved with magic runes?"

Xia En was extremely surprised.

But soon he discovered that the magical runes were not engraved on the giant seal's body, but rather something that grew out of its body!
Upon waking up, the first thing the giant seal did was open its mouth wide and gnaw on the ice and ice sculptures around it.

As those ice crystals rich in mystical power were swallowed into its belly.

The magical patterns on its body surface visibly brightened, emanating a chilling magical power.

That distorted, frenzied texture also became increasingly apparent.

"Did this guy turn into this state after eating these ice cubes?"

Xia En increasingly felt that the origin of this light blue solid ice was not simple.

But at that moment, the seal, which had already eaten a bellyful of ice, suddenly moved its body and swam toward him.

A glint of greed and savagery flashed in those small eyes.

Despite its bulky appearance, this creature is surprisingly fast and agile in the sea.

It only took two breaths.

The shadow, imposing and powerful, enveloped Xia En's figure.

At the same time, a terrifying icy power traveled along the seawater.

In a mere instant, the deep, shadowy projection was covered in solid ice, frozen into a single ice sculpture along with the surrounding seawater!

at this time.

An even greater, more powerful force erupted from Xia En's body.

Countless cracks appeared on the ice, and then it shattered.

A blood-red greatsword appeared in Xia En's hand as he muttered to himself, "Such a big seal should be enough to feed us for many days, right?"

"To deal with you, the second stage is enough!"

……

……

Xia En wasn't exaggerating.

The ability to freeze seawater directly is indeed a tricky thing, but in the face of absolute numerical superiority, it is ultimately no match.

In just two or three minutes, the crimson greatsword cleaved through the ice layer frozen in the seawater time and time again.

Finally, with a full-force strike, the greatsword pierced through the seal's thick layer of fat, tearing open a huge wound.

With the help of the Blood Demon Sword's ability to draw blood, the seal quickly lost too much blood and fell silent.

Kill the Demon-Striped Seal

[Loot Obtained: Fresh Seal Carcass]

[“Secret Sea Crystal” (Special) detected within the corpse. Absorb?]

"special?"

Xia En's heart stirred; the special [Secret Sea Crystal] meant that he could unlock a new talent.

And this seal's special ability is...

Xia En no longer hesitated: "Absorb!"

[Ship Soul Experience +3%!]

[Unlock Talent: Chaos Runes!]

(End of this chapter)