Why did this happen so suddenly? Is it the end of the world?
"What kind of situation has the Northern Continent fallen into now?"
The deserted villa was filled with a deathly silence that lasted for a long time. It was unknown how long it had passed before someone asked in a trembling voice, with fear and anxiety in his tone.
"Don't be too pessimistic. The situation has not yet developed to this point."
Qi Ji easily saw the issue that everyone was most worried about, and said in a soothing tone:
"According to the information I know so far, apart from the 'air disaster' whose situation is still unclear, in addition to the 'underwater disaster' we are facing now, the prototype of the 'land disaster' was born in the northern part of the Krestos Dynasty about a month ago.
"Now, the 'Land Disaster' has penetrated the entire territory of the Krestuo Dynasty from north to south, entered the Star Confederation, and is about to cross the wasteland in the middle of the Star Confederation.
"It has been more than a week since the fall of the Iron City, but until now, the Star Confederation has not assembled a suppression and rescue force to quell the unrest. Is it because the Star Confederation is too incompetent?
"No, most of their forces are now frantically devoted to resisting the 'natural disaster on land' that is about to cut through the country vertically. How can they have the time to come and rescue you?"
These words reduced the strong despair at the scene. Meili breathed a sigh of relief and said:
"So... the northern interior is now in the midst of war. We should not run north, but instead try to head west and seek refuge in a relatively stable place like the Glorious Plantagenet Empire?"
"It's right to go west, but we shouldn't go to glorify the Plantagenet Empire." Qi Ji chuckled.
"Ah?" Meili blinked, confused:
"But... to the west, there is only the Empire in the west? If not to them, where else can we go?"
"There are 'natural disasters on land'. As long as you are still in the Northern Continent, you will be affected by the war sooner or later. This is a turmoil that will inevitably cover the entire world. No matter which country you flee to, don't think of completely avoiding it.
"Although there are 'underwater disasters' in the sea, the ocean is so vast that its power is not enough to spread across the entire sea in such a short time...
"That is to say, in the current ocean, only the southeastern sea area close to the Star Alliance is affected by the 'underwater disaster' - of course, this is only temporary."
Qi Ji showed a mischievous smile:
“We might as well think in reverse: since both land and sea are unsafe and neither option is better, why should we stick to the world we are familiar with? Why should we avoid the sea which is full of dangers and unknowns?
“Why not try again and seek refuge in a place that is farther away, more unknown, but more hopeful?”
She looked around, her eyes sweeping across the faces that were either confused or frightened, and she couldn't help but feel a little excited.
She raised her voice slightly, spread her hands, and said in a high voice as if an announcement:
"We are heading west, not to the glory of the Plantagenet Empire, but to the southern continent of 'Giant Island'!"
Chapter 513 Looking for a Boat
"Ms. 105, are you sure there are boats in this place?"
Under the cover of night, a small group of people walked carefully through the dim and desolate abandoned city. They kept their bodies low, walked lightly, and even suppressed their breathing as much as possible.
Someone asked a figure next to him very carefully and cautiously, his tone and expression were full of nervousness, and there was a hint of suspicion flashing in his eyes.
Qi Ji did not walk forward with his body bent like these survivors. He held the joystick straight and walked slowly and naturally, as if he was not from the same world as the others.
Hearing the man's question, she answered in a relaxed tone:
"Don't worry, we are now on the same page. How can I deliberately trick you?"
Strangely enough, the tone of her voice was normal and natural, and her voice didn't sound like she was deliberately lowering her voice, but the volume of the sound coming out of that small mouth was much smaller, as if it had been lowered proportionally, which was a bit strange.
"Uh...Miss, I don't doubt your integrity, but..." The man looked embarrassed and hesitated to choose his words.
"He's right, 105. When the accident happened, the first thing to be hit was the harbor. Even the navy's ironclad ships sank. Logically, there shouldn't be any ships left intact, right?"
Meili listened to the conversation between the two and asked in a low voice. When she talked about the latter part, her eyes dimmed and her face became a little solemn, as if she was thinking of something sad.
Qi Ji knew that she was mourning for her own "Challenger".
After all, the ship was parked in the port. Even if it escaped the first wave of impact when the power projection of the "underwater disaster" arrived, the tens of thousands of sirens that followed like a tide would tear it to pieces in an instant.
As a captain and a navigator, it would be strange not to be sad when the ship on which he depends for his survival and in which he has invested a lot of personal emotions has sunk.
With a sigh of sympathy, Qi Ji said:
"The targets of these sirens are living creatures such as humans and animals. They have no desire to attack ships themselves. If there are no living people on or near a ship when a disaster occurs, then it is very likely that it will survive."
"Right……"
"This is the truth..."
Everyone agreed with this, but she saw that they still had doubts in their expressions, so she added:
"When I came here, I passed by the harbor and saw with my own eyes a relatively intact two-masted light sailing ship. Don't worry, there will be no problem."
Although she had not been to the harbor in person, she had long ago verified through her own perception and the reconnaissance puppets in the city that there was indeed such a ship, and she was not lying.
After receiving such a guarantee, everyone felt relieved. They shut up and stopped talking, groping towards the harbor in an orderly manner.
There was almost no sound of life in the dark city.
Only the occasional squirming and slippery sound that seeped in from the gaps between the buildings and the walls, like the sound of vomit flowing, made people uncontrollably think of some creepy and disgusting images.
The further south they went, the more frequent and louder the vague and intermittent crawling sounds became. Many times, Mary even felt that there was a siren crawling slowly on the other side of a wall.
Fortunately, with Qi Ji around, he was able to escape danger every time and avoid every sea monster by taking a thrilling but appropriate route.
"As expected of an 'Earth' mage, he's really useful... He can heal wounds, attract prey, and sense the breath of life... Having such a person in the adventure team is simply a huge treasure..."
Meili looked at the petite figure leading the way in front of her and couldn't help but sigh:
"And she's so cute. Seeing her anytime can heal my heart and calm my mind..."
A dozen people walked silently for dozens of minutes in the strange and depressing night. After passing a fragmented and dilapidated shantytown, the view suddenly became clear.
The inky black sea surface, accompanied by white waves twisting like maggots, rose and fell in the sound of rushing water, washing the dilapidated port coast again and again, and slapping the broken wooden boards and wood blocks that fell from nowhere.
The once prosperous seaport has now turned into a complete ruin, and even its original appearance cannot be recognized. If it were not for the scattered building fragments, at first glance it would look like just an ordinary natural mudflat.
"The ship is nearby. We can see it in less than ten minutes walking west."
Qi Ji linked to a reconnaissance puppet and confirmed it again, then looked to the right and said.
"Keep up, hurry up..." Meili whispered to everyone.
Taking advantage of the wreckage of buildings, they crept westward along the coastline. Before long, they saw a lone sailboat, lying half-stranded on the mudflat.
Against the backdrop of the cold night and the dark sea, it looks like an abandoned fortress standing in the vast wilderness, revealing a subtle absurd atmosphere.
Meili quickly looked at the half-stranded sailboat from a distance and nodded:
"It is still intact. As long as we can push it back to the sea, we can start it easily with our manpower..."
"But the question is how do we push it back into the sea?" Someone immediately stood up and asked:
"With so few of us, it's unlikely that we can push such a big ship away. The ship should be brought ashore and laid down for painting at high tide. Do we have to wait until high tide?"
Meili obviously thought of this as well and shook her head helplessly:
"This is the only way. Even if we rely on brute force and magic, we should be able to push it back, but it will be too conspicuous and the Siren will definitely notice it."
Qi Ji looked at the two-masted galley half lying on the beach like an isolated island in the moonlight from afar, and suddenly said:
"No, we can try."
After saying that, she didn't communicate much with the others. She just pointed in the direction of the ship. Meili felt a very subtle spiritual fluctuation flash by, and then several vines suddenly grew on the mudflat on the side of the ship.
The vines grew and spread very quickly, and were very smart. In a few seconds, they supported the side of the light sailboat and continued to push towards the other side.
"Squeak-"
The sound of the bending wood was very slight, like a few mice squeaking in the dark.
With the help of the vines, the two-masted light sailing ship was righted in a very slow but fairly stable posture.
While the two masts pointed straight to the sky, several thicker vines emerged from the mudflats surrounding the ship, entwining and supporting it with a very careful distribution of force, pushing it horizontally towards the sea.
"rustle……"
The bottom of the boat scraped through the moist mud of the mudflats and moved towards the sea little by little, leaving behind a strong and thick trace, like a giant brush drawing a powerful stroke on the earth.
Everyone was extremely surprised by this scene. After all, it was truly amazing that one person could push the entire ship.
However, they had never had close contact with an "Earth" wizard, and did not know that a true "Earth" wizard should have such a level and performance. Therefore, they were just amazed at the magic of the "Earth" realm spells and were not too surprised.
They held their breath and looked in all directions intently, fearing that the noise caused by Qi Ji's spell would attract nearby sirens.
Fortunately, the whole process was safe. A few minutes later, when the two-masted light sailboat returned to the sea, it was slightly shaken by the waves, and no accidents happened.
Not to mention rushing up to attack, there wasn't even a single sirens moving in sight.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"Let's go."
Qi Ji withdrew his hand, and the vines all retracted into the soil. He took the first step and walked towards the sailboat with a hazy outline in the distance.
====================
I'm having a hard time with this R final assignment. Each part works fine, but when put together, it doesn't. I fix one problem and another pops up, even though I didn't touch it.
Blood pressure is rising rapidly.
Chapter 514 Drifting
The group tiptoed through the dilapidated port and came to the mudflat where the ship was.
"Try to be quiet and try not to use spiritual power... Those beasts are very sensitive to spiritual fluctuations. I'm a little worried that they have already noticed it."
Meili gestured for everyone to gather in a circle, and she lowered her voice to give instructions, and then gave Qi Ji special instructions:
"One Zero Five, pay attention to the situation nearby. If you sense any signs of danger, use a secret signal to inform us immediately!"
Qi Ji smiled and nodded without saying anything.
At Meili's command, more than a dozen people dispersed and quietly walked towards the sea, letting their trouser legs be soaked by the rising and falling sea water.
At this time, the two-masted light sailing ship had drifted outward for a distance due to the influence of the waves. If everyone wanted to reach its location, the sea level would most likely be above their heads, so they could only swim over.
"Crashing... crashing..."
The slight noises of arms and legs paddling through the water were drowned out by the regular sound of the tide.
Qi Ji stood on the shore, one hand on his waist, watching the group of people swimming cautiously towards the light sailboat that was like an isolated island not far away. While casually sensing the location and movements of all the sirens nearby, he murmured:
"If my main body and they go to the southern continent to open a new map...what should we do about the situation in the northern interior?"
The reason why she suggested that everyone go to the southern continent was, on the one hand, as she said, it was better to escape to a more distant area for refuge than to stay on the coast where the sea monsters were rampant or go to the inland area that was being attacked by "natural disasters on land".
But this was only one of the reasons. Another reason she didn't say directly was that she wanted to see what this new continent called "Giant Island" looked like.
But if she personally went to the South Continent with Meili and the others by boat, what should she do if something happened to the two "natural disasters" in the inland of the North Continent and the Southeast Sea?
The three great natural disasters...are not unprecedented apocalyptic changes for this world or human civilization.
In the Sixth Period alone, which has clear historical records, there have been at least four "natural disasters"... not counting this one.
In other words, the so-called "natural disaster", although it is indeed an extremely horrific catastrophe, is not a completely hopeless situation with no solution.
At least, the creatures in this world are able to overcome difficulties and survive every time.
This is part of this world, just like birth, aging, sickness and death, the alternation of day and night, the rising and setting of the sun and the moon. It is an inherent part of the universe.
Even without the Seventh Season, all living beings would have been able to overcome this disaster, just as they have countless times over the past thousand years.
In other words... she doesn't need to worry at all - the nine righteous gods who sit high in the star realm, the nine major churches that rule the world, the lost ancient ruler Moon Spirit Republic, and the legendary powerful people of various major countries are not in a hurry, so why should she be in a hurry?
It's just...
"...Well, then let's do a good deed again. Who told me that I have a kind heart and can't bear to see others suffer~?"
With a wry smile, she decided not to leave it alone completely after all.
For the entire world and for human civilization as a whole, natural disasters and chaos are nothing more than periodic "labor pains," a disease that will be overcome sooner or later.
However, for hundreds of millions of ordinary people and countless living beings of flesh and blood, this is an end of the world, an end of the world that can easily destroy everything and everyone they care about.
Compared to "everyone"...
Or maybe "everyone" is more important.
At least Qi Ji thought so.
With this in mind, she made up her mind, turned slightly to the side, raised one hand, palm down, and gently pressed it to the ground:
