Ling Yun glanced at the direction where the aura traced was left, and turned the compass to prepare to detour. Although doing so would take tens of kilometers longer, it would avoid the direct direction of the seamount, and the direction of detour would not change much. Although the seamount was tall and vast, it was only an insignificant dot in the vast ocean.
Xiao Rou stared intently at the towering seamount in the darkness, then suddenly said, "It's moving, and it's moving very fast. It looks like it's heading in our direction."
Upon hearing this, Ling Yun looked up and, sure enough, in just a few minutes, the seamount had grown considerably larger than it appeared in his line of sight, clearly approaching rapidly. After a moment's thought, he switched the panoramic view to a bird's-eye view, where a huge, dark, rounded seamount was moving in a straight line on the sea surface. At first, it moved slowly, but as it continued to move, it began to accelerate. Due to its vast size, the seamount only needed to move slightly to cover hundreds of meters in an instant. Although the ferry was much faster than the seamount, due to the enormous difference in size, the distance between the two was still getting closer and closer. It was as if an unprecedented behemoth was cutting through the waves, chasing a small boat.
As the distance increased, the sea mountain suddenly began to shimmer, as if draped in a layer of bright silver light. In the blink of an eye, the light grew brighter and brighter, forming a huge, bright lighthouse in the pitch-black night, or as if a giant mountain was covered with fluorescent generators. Countless surging lights were flashing violently, like neon lights that flickered on and off, only constantly changing colors.
Ling Yun gave a wry smile. The panoramic view was already close to the seamount, so it was clear that the entire seamount was not shining due to any special reason. Rather, for some unknown reason, the water inside the seamount suddenly began to boil, with intense whitecaps constantly rising, causing the entire seamount to shine. At the same time, a mysterious unknown force was preventing the panoramic view from entering the seamount's interior for exploration. Clearly, this was not an effect that could be achieved naturally, but rather an unknown entity was obstructing it.
"What do we do?" Xiaorou had obviously noticed the abnormality as well, and asked with a frown. In her opinion, it was probably too late to escape now, so it would be better to abandon ship and cross the ocean by themselves. After all, the ferry's speed had reached its limit, and even if they turned around and ran, they would be slowly swallowed up by the sea and mountains. Besides, it was impossible for two people to turn around.
More than ten hours have passed since we set off from the Hong Kong coast. Excluding the time wasted on capturing the pirate ship, we estimate that we have already covered half the journey. This is the deepest and widest part of the Pacific Ocean. If we have to rely on our own strength to get through the rest of the journey, it means that even without any obstacles or shipwrecks, it will take the two of us most of our energy to reach the west coast of the United States.
If there are hurricanes or storms at sea, the physical exertion will be doubled. The greatest danger at sea is whether their superpowers can sustain them. As for the threat from marine life, it is almost negligible. Even a shark's teeth could not bite either Ling Yun or Xiao Rou. Moreover, even if the two of them are submerged in the deep sea, their unique superpowers allow them to use special techniques to absorb oxygen from the seawater through their pores.
In a sense, unless it's the end of the world, any natural disasters that happen to humanity now pose a negligible threat to people with superpowers. However, this is not what Lingyun and Xiaorou are worried about. If they had enough time, the two of them could even swim or walk on the sea to cross the Pacific Ocean, but right now, what they lack most is time.
Ling Yun hesitated for a moment. Abandoning ship was not out of the question, but would they really be able to outrun Hai Shan's pursuit? Probably not. Judging from Hai Shan's movement, it was clearly a targeted move. As long as it was targeted, then Hai Shan must be the result of some intelligent entity. Perhaps the other party's purpose was to force him and Xiao Rou to abandon ship.
The enormous figure of the sea mountain drew closer, its overwhelming white waves clearly visible even to the naked eye. Due to its vast area, the sea mountain completely blocked the view in front of the ferry, appearing as a wall of boiling waves hundreds of meters high, obstructing the ferry's path. Compared to the sea mountain, the ferry was nothing more than a fallen leaf in a forest.
The seamount was moving faster and faster. Although it was entirely composed of seawater, it was no less than a real small mountain moving in the sea, or rather, an enormous ship. Due to its enormous size and increased speed, the calm, rippled seawater was propelled by the immense force, quickly forming one terrifying wave after another, churning the sea surface into a turbulent storm, like a Category 12 hurricane. Near the seamount, hundreds of huge hollow whirlpools even formed automatically, a strange phenomenon created by the seamount pushing the seawater as it moved. Countless marine creatures were startled by this tremendous force, frantically swimming away. Those who could not react in time were instantly swallowed up by the seamount, leaving not even a trace.
Judging from the speed at which the sea mountain was moving, it was no longer feasible to navigate around it by ferry, unless he pushed the ferry himself, which was completely unnecessary. Moreover, even if he turned around now, it would be too late. The sea was no longer calm; it was violently undulating, and seawater was pouring into the cabin like a torrential downpour. It was likely that even without the sea mountain moving, the force of the storm alone would be enough to silence the ferry. Ling Yun sighed and, without further hesitation, prepared to abandon ship.
He was about to turn and leave the cockpit when his body suddenly froze. A deep and distant call rose in his heart, instantly transforming into a giant symbol of consciousness: "Follow me!"
"What's wrong, Yun?" Xiao Rou looked at him with some concern and couldn't help but grab Ling Yun's hand. Xiao Rou could sense even the slightest abnormality in Ling Yun.
Looking at his girlfriend, Ling Yun suddenly made an almost crazy decision. He held Xiao Rou's hand and conveyed his impromptu decision to the girl. Xiao Rou looked at him in surprise, wondering why the usually rational Ling Yun would suddenly want to take such a risk. But seeing his serious expression, the girl just smiled and nodded.
She parted her pretty little lips slightly and said, "As long as I'm with you, anywhere is paradise."
Chapter 292 The Hidden Barrier
Suddenly, a layer of tangible silver light appeared on the surface of the ferry. The seawater that had been poured into the cabin was quickly forced out by an invisible force. In the blink of an eye, the ferry was clean again. Although the waves were still surging and churning, constantly pouring seawater onto the ferry, the seawater seemed to encounter an invisible barrier a few meters above the ferry, diverting the seawater back into the sea like a windshield wiper on a car window, without entering the cabin again.
The silver light gradually brightened and intensified, soon enveloping the entire ferry. From a distance, the ferry appeared as if it had been coated with a layer of silver paint, shining brightly on the dark ocean. Despite the sea's incessant roaring and the deafening waves crashing against the ferry, attempting to completely submerge this tiny vessel, even as it was lifted into the air and flipped at a ninety-degree angle, the ferry, protected by the combined mental energy field released by Ling Yun and Xiao Rou, remained firmly afloat on the sea.
If it weren't for the protection of the mental energy field, the ferry would have crumbled under the seawater with the force of cannonballs. As the sea mountain gradually formed a barrier, the water droplets splashed onto the mental energy fields of the two people, producing a heavy, metallic clang. The enormous noise formed by the seawater was like sharp blades, shooting out in all directions. After being rebounded by the mental energy protection, it mixed with the original noise, forming a peculiar mixed sound wave that turned the water within a radius of several hundred meters into a living hell.
At first, Ling Yun and Xiao Rou felt relatively relaxed, but as tons of seawater poured down on the ferry with increasing force, even though they had grown to the level of colonels, they gradually felt the pressure. The output of their mental energy fields intensified as they struggled against the murderous roar and the waves that had turned into a battlefield. Each wave was equivalent to a violent explosion, and every drop of seawater and every small splash had become indistinguishable from real bullets and shells. With terrifying speed and kinetic energy, even cotton could penetrate steel.
Ling Yun gritted his teeth, treating this as a training exercise in Duan Lie's simulation. The dense attacks and mental field achieved a delicate balance, constantly pushing his already near-limit level of telekinetic control and mental field strength to the maximum. If he couldn't resist even slightly, Ling Yun and Xiao Rou would be shattered to pieces.
Xiao Rou persevered silently. The proud young woman had never known defeat. The storm, though terrifying, was only of above-average difficulty compared to her childhood training. Remembering how each of her mother's solo training sessions felt like a brush with death, Xiao Rou felt a deep sense of happiness welling up within her, especially now that Ling Yun was by her side, fighting the storm together. She didn't ask for much; just companionship was enough. Ling Yun had given her all of that, and the young woman felt she could die without regret.
The sky suddenly turned completely dark. This was not because the sun had set; in fact, the sun had already sunk below the horizon. The sky above the ocean was filled with stars, and it was already dark. The reason Ling Yun felt that it had darkened again was because the moving seamount had reached them. The waves, hundreds of meters high, formed a strange, swirling shape, seemingly unaffected by gravity, transforming into a giant arch that enveloped the ferry where they were in a narrow space that was almost a vacuum. Both above and below, everything was like seawater.
The power of the waves and noise suddenly increased tenfold. If they were just cannonballs before, they were now like missiles fired from a machine gun! The stable glow of the mental energy field on the surface of the ferry began to fluctuate, a sign that the mental energy field protection was becoming unstable. If the pressure continued, the protection would soon collapse, and the backlash and pressure of the telekinetic energy would be added to Ling Yun and Xiao Rou. Even one-thousandth of the power would be enough to crush the two of them into dust.
The most dangerous moment had arrived, but Ling Yun's heart calmed down. He squeezed Xiao Rou's hand, and their hearts suddenly aligned. A gentle warmth slowly rose from the depths of their hearts, instantly dispelling all thoughts and anxieties. At the height of the danger and the fiercest attack, Ling Yun and Xiao Rou's hearts suddenly became incredibly peaceful, and they re-entered that wondrous state.
Many times, it seemed that the more crucial the moment, the calmer Ling Yun's mind became, his heart as still as water, completely devoid of any emotional fluctuations, and his consciousness completely clear. He once again entered the state of emptiness and purity he had cultivated within the yellow book's barrier. Apart from a beautiful figure beside him who had also entered the state of emptiness, Ling Yun could no longer sense anything, not even the noise or the attacks from the waves. His mental energy field, like the radiance of the sun, emanated from his and Xiao Rou's bodies, endless and always maintaining an intensity commensurate with the attacks.
This is a realm that is incomprehensible yet undeniably real. He seems to stand at the center of this world, yet also seems to be gazing across an infinite void, imprinting everything that happens in the world deep within his consciousness, only to have it all flow through him repeatedly.
Countless data points surfaced in Ling Yun's mind, transforming into countless optimized combinations that permeated every brain cell, filling the vast gaps that suddenly appeared from nowhere. Ling Yun's seemingly perfect brain database collapsed instantly with a bang. However, the countless data points did not scatter and flow to some unknown place. Instead, they rebuilt an incomprehensible multidimensional database at the fastest speed. The moment the multidimensional database was established, the data that originally occupied 70% of the space suddenly shrank into an invisible dot, occupying only a negligible position in the new database. In the multidimensional database, this position was merely a drop in the ocean.
What Ling Yun didn't know was that when he and Xiao Rou entered this incomprehensible state at the same time, the Heavenly Eye, which was quietly placed in the yellow book, suddenly began to pulsate violently again. The Heavenly Eye only flashed a faint light, but the sound of the pulsation grew louder and louder, and in the blink of an eye it had drowned out the noise and the sound of the waves crashing. It was as if there was the heartbeat of a giant standing between heaven and earth, emitting a strong and powerful throbbing, which made all beings pay attention to this most powerful note.
Upon hearing the enormous pulsation, the seamount suddenly stopped moving. In that instant, all the noise subsided, and the turbulent sea instantly returned to calm. Apart from the towering seamount, it seemed as if those noisy weapons and cannonball-like waves had never existed. The most powerful weapon in the world had returned to its original form: water.
Ling Yun closed his eyes unconsciously. A moment later, when he opened them again, the world before him had changed completely. It was a colorful world containing countless pieces of information. Two spiral-shaped information bridges extended from an infinitely deep place and led to another infinite colorful void. The bridge surfaces were covered with countless combinations of fragments, each of which could be represented by numerical quantification. Different sequences evolved and generated countless bizarre fragments. Behind each fragment was the original data of all the driving forces. In this world, there were no secrets. Behind every answer was a reasonable explanation. However, this explanation felt strangely familiar to Ling Yun, yet it was also obscure and difficult to understand.
Ling Yun suddenly realized that this explanation was actually the law. His own world was a microscopic genetic world magnified billions of times. While inside Xiao Rou's body, the Eye of Illusion had already glimpsed this microscopic world once, but now, a mysterious force had directly transported Ling Yun to the very edge of the microscopic realm, revealing to him the naked way information was combined. Or rather, this mysterious force had given Ling Yun a key—a key that could unlock the essence of how everything in the world operated. Once Ling Yun mastered its secrets, he would become an omnipotent and omniscient being.
Ling Yun suddenly realized the source of this mysterious power. A tremendous pulsating sound suddenly resounded throughout his consciousness, and the Heavenly Eye appeared before him. He didn't know when, but this inconspicuous black bead had become incredibly large. Golden ripples bloomed on the surface of the Heavenly Eye, forming waves of bioelectricity that rushed towards the Information Bridge. The Information Bridge absorbed all the bioelectric waves like flowing water. As the input of the waves intensified, the entire spiral Information Bridge became shimmering with golden light. Each piece of information was seamlessly connected by the waves, and a powerful energy began to sweep through the entire microscopic world.
The scene before him changed once more. Ling Yun suddenly found himself back in the cockpit, his eyes clear and brimming with vitality. After the storm subsided, his extremely depleted mental energy field showed no signs of exhaustion; instead, it had become stronger and more abundant than ever before. Having just experienced another exploration of the microscopic world, and with the inexplicable help of his Heavenly Eye, Ling Yun's power had once again soared. He had a vague understanding—a grasp of the essence of laws—though still unclear, it had already brought him countless benefits.
A warm and fragrant sensation emanated from his hand. Ling Yun turned his head and saw Xiao Rou's eyes, as bright as stars. Deep within those clear, sparkling pupils, a shimmering galaxy seemed to glow, radiating an unparalleled and captivating light. Ling Yun knew this was a sign of her power rapidly increasing; clearly, Xiao Rou had also undergone a tremendous transformation during her wondrous journey. At this moment, both of them were exceptionally peaceful and reserved, like a vast, shimmering sea. If they weren't completely devoid of emotion, Ling Yun and Xiao Rou wouldn't have been able to enter that magical world.
Ling Yun gripped his girlfriend's hand tightly and said with a smile, "Let's go in and take a look. Perhaps this seamount will bring us an even bigger surprise." As soon as he finished speaking, the ferry, still enveloped by the spiritual energy field, suddenly leaped high from the sea surface, as if it had grown a pair of invisible wings, and traversed a distance of nearly a hundred meters in the air before plunging deep into the dark seamount.
The seamount continued to churn with boiling, snow-white waves, a sign that the temperature had reached 100 degrees Celsius. But strangely, only the seawater above the seamount was boiling, while even a meter away, the seawater remained icy cold. Temperature seemed to be transferable, but this did not seem to apply between the seamount and the sea. Moreover, even though it was boiling water, not a single drop of steam was seen rising from it. This seamount seemed to have defied some physical rule, filling it with a sense of mystery.
Only when they got close enough to the seamount did Lingyun and Xiaorou get a clear look at its appearance. They were horrified to see that the dark surface of the seamount was covered with nearly millions of mutated marine creatures. These creatures looked like octopuses, with bodies resembling inverted iron pots and dozens of black tentacles densely covering the seamount. The sight was enough to send chills down their spines.
Ling Yun scanned the area with his Eye of Illusion and discovered that the mutated creature's body and tentacles were hollow, allowing it to hold large amounts of seawater. Furthermore, the surface of the mutated creature's body had an adsorption function, enabling it to lift large amounts of seawater into the air without letting it fall. No wonder the sea appeared to be bulging high when viewed from a distance; it was merely an illusion created by the mutated creature lifting large amounts of seawater. Ling Yun also observed that the temperature of the seawater immediately changed after being swallowed and exhaled by the mutated creature, and the continuous boiling on the surface of the seamount was a spectacle caused by this strange mutated creature.
Ling Yun and Xiao Rou were quite amazed. The world is truly full of wonders. There was even a marine creature that could boil water without producing steam. They wondered how their skin could withstand temperatures of over 100 degrees Celsius without being harmed. This seemed to defy common sense, but Ling Yun had a sudden thought. Superpowered individuals have strong physical defenses, so they could naturally withstand high temperatures without being burned. Even he himself couldn't be harmed without temperatures above 500 degrees Celsius. It must be a matter of genetic mutation. Mutant creatures are born with genes that grant them immunity to high temperatures. He quickly analyzed the genes of a mutated marine creature using his replication ability, intending to study it later when he had more free time.
The ferry had already passed through the surface of the seamount, which was composed of countless mutated creatures, and continued to advance into the interior of the seamount. Lingyun and Xiaorou suddenly felt a sense of disorientation, but neither of them felt panicked. This feeling of disorientation was a common feeling among people with superpowers, which meant that a huge barrier was hidden inside the surface of the seamount composed of mutated creatures.
Chapter 293 Reversing Time
With a bang, the ferry, enveloped by the mental energy field, fell freely from mid-air and landed heavily on a solid ground. If the hull hadn't been integrated into one piece by the mental energy field, the ferry would probably have been shattered to pieces after the fall.
Ling Yun and Xiao Ru exchanged a glance, then stepped out of the ferry's cockpit and jumped off. Only then could they clearly see the inner world of the seamount before them. Beneath the raised surface of the sea, the interior of the seamount was indeed hollow and devoid of seawater. When Ling Yun piloted the ferry into the seamount, the seawater had not rushed in through the opening that had appeared. It seemed that a strange force was blocking the seawater from entering. This strange force was particularly clear when standing inside the seamount; it was the omnipresent power emanating from the barrier hidden within the seamount.
The hole created by the ferry slowly closed up, restoring the space to its original state in the blink of an eye, forming a vast, enclosed space once more. The sounds of the waves and wind outside vanished instantly. Clearly, this massive barrier possessed the most basic capabilities for isolation and obstruction. However, what slightly alarmed Ling Yun was that the panoramic view couldn't generate an image outside the barrier, and the Eye of Illusion couldn't penetrate the thin inner walls of the barrier. Just like when Ling Yun scanned the seamounts on the sea surface, that strange force blocked all detection, including the Eye of Illusion. Moreover, this blockage seemed more like a silent absorption than a rebound or fusion.
Although the barrier was sealed off, there was no darkness within. The inner walls emitted a soft white light, illuminating the vast space as bright as day, filling it with a luminous yet mysterious aura. Looking through the white light with his Eye of Illusion, Ling Yun was astonished to discover that the source of the light was actually the millions of mutated octopus creatures attached to the outside of the barrier. Because they possessed the ability to boil water, the seawater did not transfer this heat to the surface. Instead, through the barrier's special function, the heat was converted into energy and transferred to the interior, which was the source of the white light.
Ling Yun couldn't help but marvel. When he first saw the disgusting octopus-like mutated creature, he thought it was just that the mutated creature was attracted and attached to the nameless power of the barrier. Unexpectedly, the mutated creature itself was part of the barrier, and the two formed a relationship like that of a hermit crab. Moreover, what the Eye of Illusion noticed was that the mutated creature did not fully display the energy it converted by heating. The white light accounted for less than one-thousandth of the energy, which was obviously only used for lighting. The rest of the energy was stored by the barrier and used as its own kinetic energy. This was the first time Ling Yun had ever seen a way of supporting its operation by relying on the energy converted from the mutated creature's special heating ability.
To some extent, the octopus-like mutated creatures are also biological superhumans. Their way of survival is to constantly heat themselves, and then the heat energy is converted into energy by the barrier. However, the energy supporting the operation of this huge barrier is obviously not limited to this. After entering the huge barrier, Ling Yun's keen senses could feel another, more powerful and mysterious energy slowly circulating inside the barrier. It was an energy so vast that it was unimaginable, and the Eye of Illusion could not see through its true nature.