The four of them continued running towards the east.
Eventually, they reached a distance of 40 kilometers away from the city.
This was now the true unknown.
Suddenly, Carl slowed down.
In front of Nick were grey cliffs, which looked quite different from the beige and brown cliffs everywhere.
In a way, these cliffs appeared "clean".
The smell in the air was also quite different.
For some reason, this smell was very familiar, but Nick couldn't place it.
Carl slowly and carefully approached one of the big cliffs and motioned Nick to come closer.
Mark and Irwin ran towards the side, hiding while surveilling the area.
"Stay close," Carl whispered to Nick, "and don't make any noise. Additionally, do not use your Zephyx in any way. Even if you want to use it to remain quiet."
Nick frowned.
Staying quiet without using Zephyx?
That felt contradictory, but Nick nodded and followed Carl's orders.
Carl slowly and quietly pulled himself up one of the cliffs.
Nick quietly followed him.
The cliffs were only about ten to twenty meters high, and they reached the top rather quickly.
Carl looked at Nick and motioned for him to come closer.
Nick came closer, and Carl motioned for him to look over the edge.
Nick approached and slowly moved his head to look over the edge.
Then, his eyes widened.
Blue waves of water crashed against the cliffs as the familiar scent of salt blew through the air.
Nick could see a two-kilometer-wide body of crystal-clear water!
It was difficult for Nick to come to terms with what he was seeing.
He had heard of the concept of a lake and sea, but he had never really heard of a specific one.
As Nick finally recognized the familiar scent as salt, he also came to another realization.
'Salt? According to Julian, only the biggest bodies of water in the world are made of salt water.'
Nick felt Carl touch his shoulder, trying to gain Nick's attention.
Nick looked back, and Carl gestured for Nick to look more towards the left.
He did just that, and Nick could see the body of water extending.
While the body of water only stretched towards the south for around two kilometers, the same thing wasn't true when Nick looked toward the north.
Endless!
The two-kilometer-wide channel of water eventually expanded further and further until the water was everywhere!
'But if that's the case…' Nick thought as he turned towards the northwest. 'Isn't the Forbidden Zone also covered in salt water?'
'Could it be that the Forbidden Zone is a huge body of water?'
Nick turned towards the northeast again and looked at the endlessness of water.
He was mesmerized by it.
He kept looking at the water.
The water near the shore and the cliffs was almost white.
If one went further out, the water was blue.
But eventually, while the water on the surface still looked blue, there was a murky blackness beneath it.
Nick knew that these parts were most likely so deep that no light reached the bottom, making it look like a black void.
And yet, as he kept looking, he felt like something was moving inside the void.
Carl got Nick's attention again and motioned for him to come down.
Then, Carl started to descend the cliff quietly.
Nick looked at Carl as he was descending.
Then, his eyebrows rose, and he looked for Mark and Irwin.
He couldn't find them.
He looked back at Carl, who was focusing on silently climbing down.
None of the three could see him.
Then why…
'Didn't my ability activate again?' Nick thought as his heart rate increased.
Nick ducked behind the cliff.
His ability reactivated!
Nick started to sweat.
He looked over the cliff again at the huge body of water.
His ability deactivated.
Nick searched desperately for anything moving.
Something was looking at him!
However, nothing had happened yet!
Nick had been looking at the water for over a minute by now.
Anything that could possibly threaten Nick could have easily reached him in that time frame.
And yet, nothing had happened.
'What the hell is going on?' Nick thought as he looked into the darkness of the water again.
'Is something moving in there or not?' he thought.
It didn't look like it.
And yet, Nick felt like something was moving.
The endless darkness in the water.
Was it moving?
After some moments, Nick felt like tentacles made of darkness were squirming below the surface, and the horizon seemed to be darker than usual.
It was almost like storm clouds were appearing.
And then, something caught his eye.
Far away, Nick could see a small object above the surface.
It looked like a long and thin stick.
It was tiny, and it seemed to come out of the water.
Nick looked at the distant stick.
Suddenly, he felt something tap his leg, and he looked down.
It was Carl, who was glaring at him with a serious expression, motioning for him to come down.
Nick held his arm out in a stopping gesture and pointed towards his ears and then to the body of water.
He wanted to convey that he was sensing something.
Naturally, Nick had told everyone that he was a Senser, and one should always listen to what a Senser had to say.
Carl understood what Nick meant and frowned.
After a second, he gestured upward.
Nick nodded and looked back at the ocean.
The stick had grown!
It was over twice as big now!
Nick's heart rate spiked as he focused on the stick.
And then, the stick grew some more, and something else appeared near its bottom.
It was quite wide.
The stick grew even more, and the wide part also became longer.
Nick fully focused on the object.
This was an object from the Forbidden Zone!
And then, Nick realized what was happening.
The object was not growing but coming closer!
Together with the fact that Nick knew that he was being sensed, he realized what was going on.
This object was coming for them!