Pirate Kingship-Chapter 621 - 442 Warning, We’ve Entered the Intertidal Zone!
As soon as Teris's words fell, the Decryption Rate of the Resurrection Prophecy immediately jumped from 52% to 54%.
Byron suddenly heard this level of secret, and his eyelids involuntarily twitched.
All the named gods from the Mythological Era drowned in a flood? In the end, only the singular god, The Shackled Creator, has lived from the Mythological Era to the present. Does that mean the spark that ignited the War of the Gods was indeed that world-ending deluge? They fought for a chance to survive the flood, with the victor living and the vanquished dying? Moreover, the Creator is unlike any deity worshiped by any other groups. Before Him, nearly every civilization was polytheistic, with different gods presiding over different Divine Positions. Only the Creator truly achieved being one of a kind, supreme, Omniscient and Omnipotent, governing everything that should have been managed by other gods in the same divine system! Even that was not enough, as He bound all mortals with the Silver Law, creating an unprecedented collective Transcendent System. What were they fighting over?
That piece of the puzzle of the Twilight of the Gods had finally lifted a corner of the iceberg for Byron, yet it remained shrouded in mystery, its true face hidden.
It is known that an influence over 30 could affect the entire world, so this top-secret matter concerning the death of all the gods is indeed worthy of an influence as high as 69.
But the revival of the Bayfolk? How the heck am I supposed to achieve that! If the hint on the note 'The Great Flood never receded' is right, then the Great Flood might be a harbinger of the Era change, with the premonition being the increasingly intense Source Tides. The Luanyan Epoch that the Kin speak of might be more terrifying than any limit I've imagined. Looking at it from a different angle, since a portion of the Kin are already preparing for the revival of their gods, then wouldn't the Church, with its more orderly heritage and clearer understanding of past secrets, have any response? Those Cardinal Bishops and Saints who cooperated with Edward IV and the Bloodthirsty Cult, attempting to become Angels in the Mortal World, could they really be doing it purely for the sake of eternal life? Even the ring representing the Pope's supreme authority is called the Fisher's Ring of Authority. It's terrifying once pondered!
Byron inevitably bore the brunt of it. His primary Trait, 'Historical Reviser,' passively drew him into all sorts of vortexes.
Without even thinking, he knew that no matter which of the two camps made a move, he simply couldn't escape.
So not only can I not run, but I also must prepare in advance. Even though I myself don't know what good method there could be against a future flood that will drown the gods.
For now, he could only hope to get a lead from his father-in-law, the Whale Hunter, who had cleared the Bayfolk's Valhalla Hall of Valor and clearly knew more secrets.
No matter what dangers lay at coordinates 57.3 degrees south latitude, 66 degrees west longitude on the Glacial Archipelago at the Edge of the World, they had to go and see for themselves.
He simply gave the order, "No need to fish for more drift bottles. Proceed at full speed! Little Snail!"
SKREEE—!
With a piercing cry, Little Snail summoned a huge vortex, and the Golden Deer dashed into it.
After several Vortex Transmissions, when they reappeared, they had already reached the vicinity of the target island.
The closer they got to the Antarctic, the fiercer the cold wind became, and the sea surface was dotted with huge icebergs.
Hugin and Munin, responsible for scouting ahead, had discovered an extremely vast frozen continent even farther south.
There, the temperature had terrifyingly reached -90°C, continuously blowing out an endless, frigid wind.
Wind speeds suitable for warship navigation are generally between 10 and 40 knots. With wind speeds over 50 knots, the main sails had to be completely furled to prevent the masts from breaking and the sails from ripping in the strong winds.
The current wind speed of 37 meters per second was already a standard hurricane, with the wind force soaring to a staggering 71 knots!
It was only thanks to the Figurehead, the South Wind Maiden, and Byron's Storm Admiral ability that the Golden Deer managed not to capsize on the spot.
Countless Storm Elves were summoned by Byron, surrounding the warship as it slowly advanced among the icebergs.
Though very dangerous, the scene was also exquisitely beautiful.
Violet's blue eyes sparkled like starlight.
Byron felt that at this moment, he should be standing at the bow, letting Violet spread her arms while he encircled the girl's slender waist—that would be the most fitting scene. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺
However, considering the current grim situation, he regretfully abandoned this Titanic... *cough*, romantic notion, which was even riskier than tempting fate.
Then his spirits lifted again. Pointing at the vast body of water in front of them, he asked his Navigator, "Miss Delia, has the strait between the Southern Continent and that icebound continent been named yet?"
The Navigator, Delia, immediately became excited. She connected to the Law Network to obtain the corresponding annotations from the collective subconscious of the Old Continent and soon shook her head in regret. "Unfortunately," she said, "after we arrived here, the fog of war dissipated, allowing access to private nautical charts uploaded by others. It's a pity this place was named ten years ago: Harold Strait! Harold isn't a common surname, but I know that the former North Sea Pirate King, Captain Jack Harold, the Whale Hunter, bore this surname."
At this, the girl's face lit up with the adoration of a young fan meeting her idol. "The one who named it ten years ago must have been His Excellency the Whale Hunter! Even my father was merely a Legendary figure, yet Captain Harold was one of the rare Fifth Order Kingly Titles in our Lighthouse Sequence! I have a portrait of Lord Harold; do you want to see it?"
Violet's lips curled slightly. She hadn't expected this well-born Navigator to be an admirer of her father.
And by naming this strait, her father had already secured his place in history.
He would not only receive rewards from the collective subconscious, but the many sailors, Navigators, and Adventurers who recited the name 'Harold Strait' would also provide him with a strong Anchoring effect.
If there were enough of these individuals, the Anchoring effect wouldn't be much less powerful than that of a large group of believers.
It also made his personal safety much more secure.
Byron, standing beside her, shrugged. Although they had lost the naming rights, the benefits remained within the family, so he wasn't too disappointed.
But then he picked up a skull emblem marked with the number ten—the Southern Goddess, Heno Clora—and frowned. We should be right in front of the Glacial Archipelago at 57.3 degrees south latitude and 66 degrees west longitude, but where has it gone?
The notebook of the Father of the School of Sharks stated that the Glacial Archipelago was the southernmost island cluster of the Southern Continent, located between the Stormy Ocean and the Sea of Monsters. It was vast in area and lay opposite the icebound continent.
But now, where the islands should have been, there was only a vast expanse of open sea.
Never mind human settlements, not even a single rock could be seen.
The only thing was that the Source Tides seemed unusually strong.
The Succubus Teris hesitated before guessing, "I've heard from the elders among the succubi that three continents are distributed at the three points of the Erkadna Triangular Circulation, connected by three Circulation Zones. The Old Continent has the highest terrain, followed by the Southern Continent, with the Eastern Continent having the lowest. Harold Strait and the Glacial Archipelago are the starting points of the Second Circulation Belt, while the North Sea region and Iron Anchor Bay are the endpoints of the third circulation. At their other end, they both face the Eastern Continent, where the terrain is lowest and the Source Tides are most violent. Thus, these two locations act like canaries in a coal mine; if there are changes on the other side, these two places are likely to be affected first. Is it possible that a new cycle of rising tides has actually… already begun?"
As soon as she finished speaking, not far from the bow of the Golden Deer,
THUD.
Another drifting bottle suddenly floated up from the Deep Sea.
Byron hastily retrieved it and opened it.
Although the writing on this drifting bottle was almost like a child's doodle—even his tentacles wrote more neatly than this—
the content, besides the usual coordinates, included several new lines.
"Remember, the Great Flood has never receded. Make sure to tie your Anchor tightly! Warning, we have entered the Intertidal Zone! Hold fast to the ropes around you and brace for… the eternal fall!"
A tide carrying a fishy smell then hit them squarely in the face.
