Boom! Boom! Boom!!
The muffled drumming mingled with the wailing wind and snow, as if trying to shatter both land and sea.
At this moment, all the rune-covered seaweed in Winterport retracted into their reflections, like a grotesque octopus withdrawing its tentacles. Towering waves erupted dozens of meters into the air, and an enormous black silhouette began to rise from the churning sea.
The distance was too great, and the storm too fierce—Chen Ling couldn’t make out the thing’s appearance clearly. What emerged from the water seemed just the tip of the iceberg, looming like a mountain peak ascending from the ocean depths.
Countless black tendrils stretched from the sea, writhing wildly between sky and water like twisted lightning lashing the waves. Upon closer inspection, these "tendrils" were the same rune-covered seaweed that had slithered from reflections earlier.
Standing atop the train speeding away from Winterport, Chen Ling stared fixedly at the distant leviathan, his mind reeling.
He didn’t know what that thing in the sea was, but its sheer size dwarfed every Calamity he’d encountered so far. Even the colossal fifth-tier bone eagle soaring through the Gray Realm was less than a tenth the size of the portion now breaching the surface...
If size correlated with a Calamity’s tier, then this thing had to be at least seventh-tier or higher?
No wonder Winterport had fallen so effortlessly. With such a monstrosity lurking along the Frozen Sea’s coast, even casually deploying a few strands of seaweed could silently slaughter tens of thousands.
As the waves shattered under the lashing tendrils, the shadows blotted out the sky, streaking toward the train racing away from Winterport. Their speed tore sonic booms through the air, closing two-thirds of the distance in an instant.
With their emergence, a gray hue rapidly spread across the surroundings. The sky visibly darkened to a leaden gloom, all color leaching from the world. The unstable balance between reality and the Gray Realm had shattered—convergence was accelerating!
"Big Brother Zhao Yi... my eyes are broken." Huddled in the corner of the control room, Ling'er rubbed her eyes desperately as she watched the color vanish from her vision, her voice trembling.
"Ling'er, your eyes are fine." Zhao Yi’s world, too, had been reduced to monochrome. Clenching his teeth as he steered the train, he forced out reassurance, "...It’s the world that’s broken."
On the roof, the blood-red coat likewise lost its hue under the Gray Realm’s influence. Seeing this, Chen Ling felt a flicker of confusion.
Back in the Gray Realm before, that red had distinctly remained... Why wasn’t it preserved now?
It suddenly struck him—last time, he’d been wearing the crimson opera robes from his resurrection. This time, it was just a bloodstained coat. So, it wasn’t his color the Gray Realm preserved... but the robes’?
Before Chen Ling could ponder further, the incoming seaweed tendrils were upon them. As the runes on their surfaces flared, an overwhelming pressure crashed down!
Simultaneously, a sharp pain erupted inside Chen Ling. Runes began glowing beneath his skin, threatening to burst forth—
Just as his body seemed on the verge of slipping from his control, the void behind him twisted violently. Pairs of crimson eyes snapped open in midair!
Countless furious gazes locked onto the scene, like children witnessing their favorite toy being snatched away. A warning—laced with terrifying, transcendent might—rippled across dimensions. The airborne seaweed froze instantly.
Before Chen Ling could react, the runes under his skin faded as if never there. The tendrils recoiled into the raging waves faster than they’d emerged, like scalded tentacles jerking back.
By the time Chen Ling turned, nothing remained behind him.
He didn’t fully grasp what had just happened, but he could guess—the "audience" had intervened. But why? They weren’t supposed to interfere with his survival... Was there another reason?
Though puzzled, Chen Ling exhaled in relief. Regardless, they’d survived the Calamity’s assault.
As the train dwindled on the horizon, the colossal shadow in the churning sea still glared fixedly at their retreating path.
Guttural, dissonant whispers slithered from its depths, "That one... from the Abyss of Mocking Ghosts..."
"Why leave... Abyss of Mocking Ghosts... for our Forbidden Sea...?"
"Is it... mocking us...?"
"Enough... We are no match... Let it go..."
"Once we crush... the last human city... the north belongs to the Forbidden Sea... No distractions."
The eerie murmurs faded. Beneath the waves, the leviathan slowly sank back into the abyss. Shattered ice floes bobbed on the surface, reflections of countless seaweed tendrils writhing beneath.
---
The train roared across the frozen wasteland, wind whipping snowflakes into the air.
Dropping back into the control room, Chen Ling found Zhao Yi in an intimate dance with the withered hand on the control panel—gripping, loosening, twisting with practiced ease.
"Chen Ling, are we safe now?" Zhao Yi wiped sweat from his brow.
"For now."
Chen Ling’s gaze fell on Zhao Yi’s back—and his eyes narrowed.
"Zhao Yi..."
"Yeah?"
"Does your back not hurt?"
Zhao Yi blinked, only now remembering the injury. He grimaced. "Hurt? Of course it hurts! I’m in agony... Quick, check how bad it is?"
Chen Ling stood behind him, silent. The wound on Zhao Yi’s back was a gruesome, bone-deep gash nearly splitting him in two—yet no blood seeped out.
Along the torn flesh, inky runes squirmed faintly, as if devouring him from within.
"That’s from the seaweed earlier?"
"Yeah, lashed me right across the back. Almost killed me..." Zhao Yi twisted slightly. "Chen Ling, patch me up before it gets infected."
"..." Chen Ling shook his head. "This wound isn’t normal. I can’t treat it."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
After a pause, Chen Ling said, "There’s a doctor in Aurora City named Chu Muyun. Find him the moment we arrive."
"It’s that serious?" Zhao Yi craned his neck, trying in vain to see the injury. Giving up, he asked, "Alright... So where are we headed now?"
Chen Ling’s eyes slid to the passing landscape, glinting faintly.
"To pick up our ‘audience’... Then, into the city."