She had only ever seen such a beautiful moon in photos or films.
It was just a pity that Azure Star had long been surrounded by dense memory substance mist, making it difficult for even sunlight to penetrate.
She hadn't expected to see true moonlight in Fog City, which was born within the Labyrinth Zone of the Yi Zhi World.
Right then, the night sky shattered as if struck by a giant hammer, splitting apart rapidly as the weightlessness unique to spatial teleportation washed over them.
Herta instinctively squeezed her eyes shut, and after just two seconds, a deafening roar crashed into her eardrums.
The mixture of the raging waves' fury and frequent thunderclaps was enough to make one's heart tremble.
Herta opened her eyes; a biting gale rushed at her, and heavy moisture dampened the hem of her skirt.
Looking around, she realized the scene before her was enough to make anyone without a sufficiently resilient mind weak in the knees.
The ocean was vast and boundless, with the gale whipping up waves dozens of meters high in the distance.
At this moment, she and Qi Zhimu were standing atop an iceberg floating on the sea.
Where the sea met the sky was nothing but pitch black; no outlines of islands were visible, let alone a coastline.
The sky above hung extremely low, with thick bolts of lightning constantly snaking through the heavy dark clouds, casting a rather oppressive light on the dim surroundings.
In such a perilous natural environment, human existence seemed insignificant.
Herta frowned, casting her gaze below the iceberg.
A small private boat was moored there, tossing violently in the raging waves and rocking along with the iceberg.
"I have no impression of this place; the environmental features are too broad to determine which work this world was manifested from."
Could it be that they had to rely on that boat below to leave?
Qi Zhimu let the gale blow his long hair into a mess, a nonchalant curve tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"What a coincidence; I don't know anything about this world either."
Herta wasn't surprised; she focused her attention and began analyzing the spatial coordinate data.
A moment later, a flash of excitement crossed her small face.
"I've sensed the spatial coordinates of Azure Star."
She turned to look at Qi Zhimu, her speaking pace quickening.
"Though it's a bit blurry due to interference from the Yi Zhi World's coordinates, the direction is definitely correct."
"Perhaps after leaving this sea and passing through a few more worlds, we can leave the Labyrinth Zone."
"Once we pass through the final No-Man's Land of the memory substance mist, we'll see the Equatorial Defense Line and truly return to Azure Star."
Hearing this news, Qi Zhimu waved his hand decisively, and his Staff automatically floated before him.
"Time waits for no one. Let's go; the sooner we get back, the sooner we can get things done."
He reached out to wrap his arm around Herta's slender waist, intending to board the Staff and take flight.
Herta shook her head, her gaze falling once more on the violently rocking boat.
"Let's take the boat instead, to save as much energy as possible."
Having said that, she looked up into Qi Zhimu's eyes and asked rationally.
"Using magic to control the Staff to carry me on a long-distance flight across the entire ocean—the consumption couldn't possibly be low, right?"
Qi Zhimu raised an eyebrow, his eyes darting as a smile tugged at his lips.
"It's indeed not low, but I'm in a hurry... brat."
He leaned in close to Herta's ear and whispered:
"I've wanted to 'devour' you for a long time. Now I just want to cross this damn sea as fast as possible, return to Azure Star to help you fulfill your wish, and then dig in."
"That crappy boat down there probably can't even match a fraction of my flying speed."
Hearing these blunt words, Herta nodded calmly, not intending to say more.
She knew Qi Zhimu's personality; once he set his mind on something, it was hard to change, but she didn't expect him to suddenly change his tune.
"But—"
Qi Zhimu reached out and pinched Herta's cheek, saying with a smile:
"Since this world is manifested from an Original Human's work, there must be some underlying settings."
"Perhaps this crappy boat, which looks like it could fall apart at any moment, has some key role we don't know about."
"Maybe it's the only vehicle allowed to leave as per this script's settings."
"If we just ignore it and leave, we might trigger restrictions like in previous worlds, where we can't leave without meeting specific conditions."
With that, he put away his Staff, pulled Herta close, and leaped, landing steadily on the boat.
"..." Herta was speechless.
He was humoring her again, in his typical duplicitous way.
The engine started, and they set sail.
Luck seemed to favor them slightly; the sea breeze happened to be blowing toward the coordinates of Azure Star.
However, a tailwind didn't mean a smooth ride.
The waves on the sea were often over ten meters high; every time the boat climbed a crest, it would plunge down the next second.
The violent jolting far exceeded the physiological limits of an ordinary person.
Herta couldn't steady herself on the deck or a seat at all; she could only lean tightly into Qi Zhimu's embrace, her arms wrapped around his waist.
The massive spray and waves crashing toward them were all blocked by the Wind Wall Qi Zhimu summoned the instant they were about to touch the two, sliding off after the impact.
Before long, the weather at sea became even more extreme.
The gale grew more rampant, and deafening thunder scared the sky into a sudden change of mood, bringing a torrential downpour in an instant.
A small boat's drainage efficiency couldn't handle this level of rainfall.
Coupled with the seawater occasionally flooding in from the deck, the water level at the bottom of the cockpit was rising at a visible rate.
If they didn't drain it urgently, it would sink within minutes.
Qi Zhimu tightened his hold on the girl in his arms with one hand while his other hand quickly performed a series of gestures.
Wind Magic instantly took shape around the hull, the airflow rotating at high speed to form a massive, streamlined Wind Wall.
It forcibly pushed away the seawater flooding in from all directions, sealing off the front, left, right, and top, perfectly isolating them from the torrential rain.
In the natural environment of constant massive waves, the boat was as tiny as a withered leaf, rising and falling incessantly.
It felt as if it could be swallowed by the ocean at any moment, facing the danger of capsizing.
Fortunately, the boat held up and continued its lonely journey across the ocean.
In such an extremely oppressive environment lacking points of reference, it was very easy for a person to lose track of time.
After an unknown amount of time, the dim sky turned into a pitch black where one couldn't see their own hand.
In the ultimate darkness, only the flames summoned by Qi Zhimu burned quietly in the cockpit, serving as the sole light source.
The sense of loneliness silently surging from all directions was enough to make anyone with thalassophobia suffer a mental breakdown over time.
Herta pressed her cheek against Qi Zhimu's chest, listening to his steady, powerful heartbeat to suppress the chill in her heart as if being stared at by the abyss.
"Sleepy?" Qi Zhimu asked.
"...A little."
There was a hint of fatigue in Herta's voice, and a slight sound suddenly came from her stomach.
Qi Zhimu was quite speechless.
"You little brat, I haven't even said I'm hungry yet."
Despite his teasing words, Qi Zhimu's actions were quite different as he immediately took out some portable food.
He also knew that Herta had only eaten in the morning and at noon, spending the rest of the time on the move.
"Here, eat."
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
Read Ahead & Support
Read up to 458 chapters ahead with daily updates at 02radnovel.com.
Connect & Updates:
(Twitter) • x.com/02IsmetHQ
Instagram • instagram.com/02novelofficial
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯