The long line disappeared from sight, and Xiao Rou's smile suddenly vanished. "Isn't he the boy you mentioned who could block my senses?" she whispered.
“Yes, I’ve always remembered him.” Ling Yun’s smile also disappeared. It turned out that the smiles the two of them had just given were nothing but an act. “This young man is very interesting. He was able to shield your senses, and his methods are quite sophisticated.”
"Highly skilled?" Xiao Rou was taken aback, not quite understanding Ling Yun's meaning. Although she could also sense the unusual nature of the young man, his words and actions upon seeing the two of them were perfectly normal, without the slightest strangeness. If it were a superhuman trying to use supernatural abilities without making a sound, she would have noticed.
“Yes, very clever. I almost didn’t see through it myself,” Ling Yun said leisurely. “Moreover, it’s both bold and meticulous.”
"Can you please explain yourself clearly? I don't understand what you're saying. Why are you being so mysterious?" Xiaorou complained.
Ling Yun smiled slightly and was about to speak when the cabin door suddenly made a thud. The two of them turned their heads to look and saw Lao Yu rushing over: "Sir, the ferry has been fueled and the engine is running. It can set sail at any time. I have put a nautical chart of this area in the cockpit. You can refer to it."
"Thank you," Ling Yun said with a smile. "You should hurry up and leave, otherwise you might not make it to America by tomorrow morning."
“I should be the one saying thank you, sir.” Old Yu bowed deeply to Ling Yun. “Meeting you is the greatest fortune of my life.” After saying that, without waiting for Ling Yun’s reply, he strode onto the platform without even turning his head. This was not a sign of contempt for Ling Yun and Xiao Rou, but rather a way of expressing his deepest gratitude and not wanting to waste any more of their time.
As Lao Yu's figure disappeared on the pirate ship, Xiao Rou said softly, "That snakehead is actually a smart man."
“Yes.” Ling Yun also looked at the pirate ship. “If he weren’t smart, he wouldn’t have gotten this pirate ship.”
A moment later, the pirate ship made a "beep" sound. As the iron hooks that had been grappling the ferry retracted automatically into the iron cover on the side of the ship, the huge hull began to move slowly and then slowly left the small ferry, heading into the distance. Although he had never piloted a pirate ship before, thanks to his rich experience at sea, Lao Yu was able to figure out most of the ship's control buttons in the shortest amount of time.
As the pirate ship gradually disappeared into the distance, the thugs standing at the stern who had been watching became tiny dots invisible to the naked eye. Only then did Ling Yun and Xiao Rou slowly walk back to the ferry's cockpit. Ling Yun picked up the neatly stacked sea chart, glanced at it, and memorized the entire chart without missing a beat. In fact, it was unlikely that he would need the sea chart at all. What Ling Yun needed to do was track the traces of the powerful figure's aura. Even if there was lava ahead, he would still steer the ship towards it. However, it would be good to understand the situation of the surrounding sea area.
He casually pressed a few buttons on the cockpit, then turned the compass. The ferry's motor revved heavily, and the ferry slightly turned in the water, heading at full speed in a certain direction. He didn't know how to drive, but what was replaying in his mind was Lao Yu's entire process of controlling the ship before setting sail. His copying ability had recorded the entire process through the panoramic view, and it was incredibly detailed, like a precise textbook. As long as Ling Yun followed the instructions, he would become a complete expert in driving the ferry.
The cloned ability even analyzed the entire structure of the ferry and the principle of its motor rotation. Having studied some engineering machinery, Ling Yun quickly understood the entire internal structure of the hull and the wear and tear on each component. This helped Ling Yun estimate how long the dilapidated ship could last when it reached its maximum speed. Obviously, Ling Yun intended to go at full speed. The power reserve was already full of fuel, and there were also spare fuel tanks in the cockpit, so there was no need to worry about the ferry's energy.
From this perspective, any person with superpowers can be a genius at learning, capable of mastering a large amount of complex professional knowledge in a very short time. Ling Yun, who possesses the ability to copy, is a genius among geniuses. However, the most remarkable aspect of such a genius lies in learning and understanding, rather than creation. True genius is a gift of creativity. Therefore, although there are many people with superpowers in the world, no one has ever invented anything like Edison or Einstein that could change the course of humankind. Firstly, there is no need for it, and secondly, the focus of people with superpowers is not on seeking happiness for humanity, but on power.
"Now you can tell me, right?" Xiao Rou had been quiet until now, when she finally smiled and looked at Ling Yun. She had always been very curious about the boy Ling Yun had mentioned, so she had been recalling all of the boy's actions, but from his initial behavior until he left, she hadn't noticed anything unusual.
Ling Yun released the compass and gently said to Xiao Rou, "Xiao Rou, don't you feel like something's missing from you?"
The girl's expression changed instantly. Ling Yun's words immediately reminded her of something. She quickly grabbed the silver ball pendant, opened the spherical cover, and a look of annoyance appeared on her beautiful face. The Heavenly Eye embedded in the pendant was gone.
"How did he steal the Heavenly Eye?" Xiao Rou asked involuntarily, her mind still reeling.
“That boy’s concealment technique is very special and mysterious. We can’t detect his presence with our senses,” Ling Yun explained. “But that’s not the problem. When he walked towards us, he actually used a mirror image technique. What we see in front of us is just an image of him, while his true body has already come behind you using invisibility and concealment techniques. He used extremely subtle telekinesis to open the box of the silver ball pendant and take away the Heavenly Eye. Of course, he also used an illusion technique. When he took out the Heavenly Eye, it was still a combination of mirror image and invisibility techniques. If you didn’t use your mental field, you wouldn’t be able to detect it. I only saw his true body by using the Eye of Illusion.”
Xiao Rou's face showed a look of realization, but it immediately turned into a look of fury: "Since you knew, why didn't you expose him? Why did you deliberately let him steal the Heavenly Eye? What was your purpose?"
“Wouldn’t it be better to let him take the Heavenly Eye?” Ling Yun smiled slightly. “The Heavenly Eye is a very dangerous treasure. It’s not only useless to us, but it will also bring trouble. Letting him steal it is actually the same as transferring our troubles.”
"Ugh, you're really making me so angry! The Heavenly Eye is my mother's keepsake, we can't just throw it away like this. Besides, what if that boy is a member of the Heavenly Eye Society and it gets snatched back? All our hard work will have been for nothing," Xiao Rou said, stamping her foot.
“It’s alright,” Ling Yun said softly. “Anyway, he doesn’t know that what he stole was just a fake Heavenly Eye.”
"A fake?" Xiao Rou was taken aback.
Ling Yun suddenly opened his palm in front of her, revealing a dark, longan-sized bead in his hand—the Heavenly Eye. He gently stroked her delicate nose with his other hand. "Silly girl, how could I possibly let anyone steal the Heavenly Eye? I've already placed the real Heavenly Eye inside a barrier; it will never be lost."
Chapter 291 Everywhere is Paradise
Xiao Rou was both surprised and delighted. She took the Heavenly Eye from Ling Yun's hand, but remembering how he had deliberately watched her anxiously without saying anything, she became angry again. Her pink fists kept hitting Ling Yun's shoulder. Ling Yun chuckled, finding her pouting face exceptionally cute. He couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion, grabbed her fists, and pulled her into a tight embrace.
"You little rascal, when did you become so naughty? You're just teasing me on purpose." Xiaorou buried her head deeply in his chest. "I thought the Heavenly Eye had really been stolen!"
"How could that be, silly girl?" Ling Yun gently stroked her hair and said softly, "The Heavenly Eye is a keepsake left to you by your mother. I will protect it for you no matter what."
Xiao Rou gently stepped out of his arms, her beautiful face gazing intently at Ling Yun. She said softly, "Yun, you're the fool. The Heavenly Eye isn't important. You are my most precious treasure. What good is the Heavenly Eye without you? I don't want to carry around a useless treasure that could bring us disaster at any moment. But since my mother left it to me with her life, instructing me to give it to my father, I have no choice but to go find him. But the world is so big, and there are so many people. Where can I find him?"
Ling Yun put his arm around her shoulder and said, "Xiao Rou, we will definitely find your father. Maybe it's just not the right time yet. Perhaps a clue will suddenly appear."
Xiao Rou nodded: "Yes, if we find him, we'll give him the Heavenly Eye immediately, and then we can live the life we want."
Lingyun recalled the short time he and Xiaorou had spent living together in the apartment, and couldn't help but feel a warm feeling: "Xiaorou, come home with me for Chinese New Year this year. I want my parents to meet you."
"I'll listen to you," Xiao Rou said obediently, resting her head on Ling Yun's shoulder again.
The two gazed together at the setting sun and the shimmering sea. As dusk deepened, most of the sky had turned dark, with only the afterglow of the sun reflecting off the western clouds. The boundless red light and red clouds mingled together, filling half the sky and creating a breathtakingly beautiful scene.
Ling Yun looked out and saw the trace of the aura less than twenty meters to the left of the ferry. Although it was very faint to his senses, it was exceptionally clear to his Eyes of Illusion. Ling Yun slightly adjusted the direction of his compass so that the ferry and the trace of the aura were roughly aligned.
Just as he was about to turn around and continue talking to Xiaorou, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a fast-moving black shadow flashing past in the trace of its aura, disappearing in an instant like a bolt of lightning. Ling Yun's heart skipped a beat. His Eye of Illusion was always fully open, and nothing could escape his eyes.
However, in his haste, he failed to see the true face of the shadowy figure, which undoubtedly meant that the shadowy figure's speed had reached a certain limit, and even the Eye of Illusion could only capture a faint shadow.
If it were a bird like a seagull or a petrel, how could Lingyun not have noticed it? But if it were a non-living thing, what could be flying so fast?
Xiao Rou seemed oblivious, still leaning lazily on his shoulder as she said, "You said that boy stole the fake Heavenly Eye. What if they find out?"
Ling Yun was taken aback, then laughed and cried at the same time: "So what if he found it? Besides, even if he stole the real Heavenly Eye, does that mean he can tell if the Heavenly Eye is real or fake? I don't think so. When I first saw the Heavenly Eye, I was also a little skeptical. If he took the fake one and couldn't find anything unusual, he might have believed it to be real. After all, it's a rare treasure, so it's normal not to see anything unusual."
As he spoke, he remained intently observing the situation on the sea. The darkness had no effect on their vision; in fact, it was much clearer due to the night. However, Ling Yun did not find any trace of the dark figure throughout the entire ordeal.
“What you said makes sense, but after this incident, it’s better to put the Heavenly Eye inside the yellow book’s barrier.” Xiao Rou said as if she had realized something. She handed the Heavenly Eye back to Ling Yun, who took it and a flash of silver light appeared before the Heavenly Eye disappeared.
"When did you make the fake Sky Eye? How come I didn't know? What bad things have you been doing behind my back? Confess now... Huh, what's that?" Xiao Rou suddenly stood up straight and looked in surprise through the plexiglass in the cockpit.
The moment Xiaorou expressed her surprise, Lingyun also noticed the anomaly. Dozens of kilometers ahead of the ferry, the calm sea surface suddenly rose high and rapidly, as if some enormous creature was about to emerge from beneath the surface. But strangely, nothing emerged from the seawater; it was only the seawater itself that rose, as if a tremendous suction force in the sky was constantly pulling the seawater upwards.
Ling Yun and Xiao Rou exchanged bewildered glances, both utterly astonished. This was the first time they had ever encountered such a bizarre event. Since it was also their first time crossing the ocean, they had no idea whether supernatural phenomena could occur in the sea for some inexplicable reason. Ling Yun's first thought was that the undetectable dark shadow that had flown past earlier was behind it all, but now it seemed the situation was more complex than that.
In less than a minute, the seawater rose nearly a hundred meters high, covering an area of almost ten thousand square meters. This means that just pulling up that much seawater would weigh tens of thousands of tons. Such immense force could only exist in nature, beyond the reach of any living being. Even the most powerful superhuman could not cause such a change in the heavens and earth. No matter how strong a superhuman is, in the face of nature, they are always just a speck of dust.
Moreover, neither his perception nor his Eye of Illusion detected any unusual changes in Ling Yun's aura. If there were any traces of energy fluctuations, Ling Yun would have known immediately. However, both of them were now wearing wry smiles. What Ling Yun needed to do now was not to find out the reason for the formation of the seamount, but to figure out how to avoid this area of rising seawater. Otherwise, if the ferry went straight, it would soon plunge into the seamount.
At the ferry's current speed, they would encounter the seamount in just over ten minutes. Although the seamount was just a high mound of seawater that seemed to pose no threat, Lingyun and Xiaorou, being cautious, still did not want to set foot in this unknown area. The sea was calm, but it was also boundless. It seemed harmless, but it might open its dark maw and silently swallow up those who were unaware.