Banquets had become a traditional skill for the Quan family.
Taking advantage of this year's bumper harvest, they were preparing a large-scale banquet for the entire city.
Related preparations were also quietly underway in parallel.
When Su Ling'er thought about the upcoming reunion of the entire family, and the fact that they might not be separated again for a while, she couldn't hide the smile on her face.
"That's good. School will be on holiday then, and Xiao Ni will definitely be very happy."
Thinking of Quan Ni, who was still studying at the academy in the city, a sense of longing welled up in her heart.
However, Quan Ni, who was not yet six years old, had to attend school and study harder than others.
Although she felt a pang of heartache, Su Ling'er never let her affection affect her child's education. Sometimes, she would even show a stern side to urge Quan Ni on.
"Knock, knock."
Just as the two were about to chat a little longer, a rapid knock came from outside the room.
They exchanged a smile and sighed helplessly.
"Oh well, let's get back to work."
The sun set on the western horizon, and the streets and houses of Sea Iguana City began to light up with beautiful glass lanterns, illuminating the city in the darkness.
The brightness of the lights covered with transparent glass was greatly enhanced.
On important streets and inside buildings, even soul-guided lighting lamps were installed.
For example, inside the city government, the lights were still brightly lit, and passersby could clearly see the staff working busily inside through the glass windows.
The lonely overseas island was no longer lonely because of the lights that burned all night long.
Sunset, lights on; sunrise, lights off.
As the sun rotated, time slowly passed.
The Gray Whale One had also passed through the three important transit stations of Jinsha, Mo Jiu, and Youling.
These three islands, benefiting from the convenience of transportation and security, were not as large in scale as Sea Iguana Island, but their refinement surpassed it.
The series of unusual things—railways, trains, and high-rise buildings—undoubtedly had a huge impact on the Ye family.
The cultural shock of witnessing a completely different civilization allowed them to see another development process of human society.
As they entered the waters operated and controlled by the Quan family, countless steamships gradually increased in number.
Some of these ships were conducting routine patrols, with not only specialized naval crew members but also powerful weapons on board.
They also witnessed a sea soul beast intruding into the fishing grounds and attempting to capsize a fishing boat.
The patrolling steamship fired a metal spear several meters long from a thousand meters away, piercing and killing the thousand-year sea soul beast in one shot.
In this process, they witnessed another terrifying power besides the steam engine: gunpowder.
Around the deck of the Gray Whale One, there were countless small circles that no one was allowed to approach.
Looking closely at those small circles, one could see that they were passages or small doors sealed by metal bulkheads.
Although they could not see what was inside, considering the uniquely shaped crossbow-like devices equipped on the patrol ships, these positions must have been prepared for equipping long-range killing weapons.
Considering the space on the deck and the number of turrets, this ship possessed the attack power to simultaneously kill dozens of thousand-year or even ten-thousand-year soul beasts.
A ship with such a terrifying carrying capacity could easily be equipped with a large number of spears and gunpowder.
With its powerful defense and maneuverability, coupled with its equally impressive attack power, the Gray Whale One's strength was comparable to a ninety-thousand-year soul beast.
Just as Qi Feng was lamenting the lack of opportunity to see the ship's true power, the ship crossed the three transit islands and officially entered the most dangerous deep-sea area.
For the next thousand kilometers, they were not only isolated and helpless, but the sea route was also fraught with danger.
Here, the crew became solemn, and the passengers who went to the deck for sightseeing were forbidden from leaving their cabins easily.
The weapon devices sealed under the deck were also slowly raised under Quan Ming's control.
The opening and raising of the weapon bays were automatically operated using steam power.
Moreover, it was easy to encounter large-scale sea soul beast groups foraging for food.
If they were to encounter them, the Gray Whale One, alone, would have to avoid their sharp edges.
Throughout the entire journey, Huo Wu did not interfere because actual combat was one of the main tasks of this ship.
She leisurely lay on the deck above the command platform, basking in the sun above.
If one carefully observed Huo Wu's state at this time, one could find that there was no shadow under her at all.
At this time, her shadow had transformed into a martial soul, separated from her body, and entered the shadow space.
Huo Wu's main body used the power of the Fire Shadow to absorb the power of shadow and the power of the sun from the shadow space and transmit it to the main body.
Beside the Fire Shadow was Quan Yi's giant golden furnace. At this time, he was hiding inside, conducting his own experiments and cultivation.
Although no sound came from inside, occasionally yellow, purple, black, and even red lights could be seen reflecting from within.
In the lonely shadow space, no one knew what Quan Yi was doing.
However, the faint light caused by the golden furnace and the sunlight shining in seemed to gradually brighten.
After maintaining a tense and exciting thousand-kilometer long voyage for an entire day, they finally successfully entered the shallow sea area on the eastern side of Blue Silver Island before dusk.
Upon entering this location, dozens of dark shadows suddenly appeared in the calm sea.
The strong aura of soul beasts emanating from this group of shadows once again caused Qi Feng to have an instinctive stress response.
However, this time he learned his lesson and looked at Huo Wu in advance. When he found that Huo Wu had not moved, he immediately lowered his raised arm.
In a few short breaths, many shadows quickly approached, and dozens of black, sharp spikes and ferocious dragon lizard heads suddenly ejected from the calm sea.
Seeing these symbolic features, the ever-vigilant gunners and observers let out a relieved breath.
Quan Ming, who was under the greatest pressure, also showed a smile. He picked up the megaphone beside him and announced to everyone inside and outside the cabin in an excited voice.
"Gray Whale One has successfully entered the Dragon Lizard Sea area on the eastern side of Blue Silver Island and has completed docking with the Sea Iguana Dragon Lizard squad.
Next, the Gray Whale One will sail along the outer sea area of the island to the Gold Jasper Port located on the western side of the island.
Passengers in the cabin can orderly board the deck and enjoy the beautiful scenery of the island."
