NovelChina Chapter 199: FIRST DAY ON THE WATER
Chapter 199: FIRST DAY ON THE WATER
[Boat — Open Ocean — 7:14 AM]
The main continent had disappeared from the horizon two hours earlier.
Now there was only water. In every direction, no land, no profile of the Temple’s towers that had been part of every window’s background for weeks.
The boat moved well with the north wind.
Maya did not.
---
She was sitting on the gunwale with her knees together and her notebook closed on her lap.
The closed notebook said it all.
Akari on the deck in front of her. Not blinking. With that energy of animals that know exactly what’s happening and wait to see how long it takes the human to admit it.
"I’m fine."
Akari didn’t move.
"I’m not seasick."
Nothing.
Maya looked at the horizon. The horizon moved with the boat. Maya stopped looking at the horizon.
*Three years mapping active volcanoes and uncharted dungeons,* she thought. *And the ocean gets me on the first day.*
"Don’t say anything," she said to Akari.
Akari sat more comfortably. Kept looking at her.
Kira passed by on the deck with her bow on her shoulder and looked at her for two seconds.
"Are you okay?"
"Perfectly."
Kira looked at her for one more second.
"Okay." She kept walking toward the mast.
*She saw me,* Maya thought. *Of course she saw me.*
---
Kira had been at the mast since five in the morning.
Predator’s Sense worked differently on the water — it mapped currents, temperature changes, the density of the water at different depths. Schools of fish eighty meters below visible as shadows in the reading plane.
Four hours and she had already integrated the boat’s movement.
*Maya has been denying the obvious for three hours,* she thought as she looked at the northern horizon. *Which is interesting coming from someone who spends her life measuring exactly what she can and cannot do.*
*Then again — neither of us should be here.*
*And here we are.*
She wondered briefly if Alex had noticed Maya’s condition as well. Probably not — Alex had been checking the Fragments’ status with Grim and talking with Seraph about training since they left the port.
*Always busy with something,* Kira thought.
It wasn’t a complaint. Just a fact.
---
Emily at the stern with her eyes closed.
The ocean’s spiritual plane arrived in layers that the land had never produced. On land, spiritual planes had recent noise — creatures, people, dungeons. The ocean was different.
What lay at the bottom had been there for millennia, spiritual signatures accumulated in layers so dense that trying to read all of it was like opening twenty books at the same time in different languages.
"Are you okay?"
Emily opened her eyes.
Alex beside her with Grim on his shoulder. Grim’s crimson flames looked at her with curiosity.
"Yes." Emily. "The ocean’s spiritual plane is very noisy. I’m learning to filter it."
"How long will it take you?"
"I don’t know yet. Days, probably."
Alex nodded. He stayed there for a moment.
"Seraph starts training tomorrow before dawn."
"I know. She told me last night."
**"The ocean,"** Grim said suddenly. His crimson flames looked at the water. **"Has many old dead. More than any dungeon."**
Emily looked at him.
"Do you sense them?"
**"Yes."** A pause. **"It’s not annoying. It’s interesting."**
*Grim and I have that in common,* Emily thought. *We both read what others can’t see.*
*What we don’t have in common is that he doesn’t have to learn not to read everything at once.*
"When you filter it," said Alex, "will you tell me what’s down there?"
"Yes." Emily looked at him. "Why?"
"Because Soul Sight reads it too. But it’s different from what you see." Alex. "I want to compare."
*Six months ago I was the student with the highest grades in the Purification program,* Emily thought as she looked at him. *I had a guaranteed position at the Temple. My family had paid three years of tuition in advance.*
*Now I’m a fugitive on a boat comparing spiritual readings with my boyfriend who has three active Fragments and an SSS‑rank skeleton on his shoulder.*
*Dad is going to be more worried about what they’ll say at the club than about me.*
"I’ll tell you when I filter it," said Emily.
---
Raven on the left railing with two skeletons in the water.
They were heavy. F3 compensated, but it cost more than on land — no ground, no footing, each movement required active energy.
"They still don’t float," she said aloud.
"Yes, we know," Max answered from the helm without turning around.
"I’m confirming it with updated data."
"Very well. Is there anything you can do about it?"
"Yes." Raven. "I’m already doing it."
She dismissed the two skeletons. Resummoned them five meters deep. Moved them horizontally for thirty seconds. Better — lateral movement was manageable. Vertical was still the problem.
*Three Fragments,* she thought as she watched the skeletons underwater. *Days ago in the plaza I felt all three at the same time from outside. F3 recognized all of them.*
*F1 was always static — present, constant. But now there’s also F4. And F5.*
*And all three are in him.*
Raven dismissed the skeletons.
*I understand the danger this new life entails and... Should I tell him?*
She didn’t finish the thought.
---
[Deck — 4:45 AM — next day]
Seraph on deck before dawn.
Alex was already there.
"Activate F1 at thirty percent."
"Good morning, Seraph."
"Activate F1 at thirty percent."
Alex activated it. The crimson flames in his eyes — not the irisless red of the Harvester, just the Fragment’s tint present without dominating. The pressure started to rise toward where it always rose if he didn’t stop it.
He stopped it.
"How do I know when it’s thirty percent?"
"When it starts to hurt but you can still think clearly."
It started to hurt. A specific point behind his sternum where the channel between Alex and the Fragment tensed up.
He could still think.
"Here."
"Good. Hold it there."
---
Thirty minutes.
The sun rising over the ocean. F1 pushed every three or four minutes — a pulse, testing whether the restriction was still there.
It was.
At minute twenty‑six, blood reached his nose.
At minute thirty, Seraph said "stop."
Alex deactivated F1. He wiped his nose.
[F1 — deactivated]
[F1 Corruption: 95% — unchanged]
"Good." Seraph. "Tomorrow, forty minutes."
"My nose bled at twenty‑six."
"I know."
"So?"
"So tomorrow, forty minutes." Seraph looked at him. "The blood isn’t the problem. The problem is whether you can sustain it when it starts. Today you could."
She went to her cabin.
Alex stayed on deck.
*Thirty minutes and the corruption didn’t change,* he thought. *Seraph said the effects aren’t immediate.*
*It has to work.*
*Because if it doesn’t work—*
He didn’t finish that thought either.
---
[Deck — 7:30 PM]
The sun was setting.
Emily at the railing. She had spent the afternoon filtering the spiritual plane by layers — starting from the surface and going down slowly instead of trying to read everything at once.
Slow progress. But progress.
Alex arrived with two cups of something hot and handed her one.
"What is this?"
"Viktor says it’s tea. I don’t know if I believe him."
Emily tasted it.
"It’s not tea."
"Tastes like Drain Cleaner" Emily let out a small laugh.
Alex also smiled. "Don’t tell him. It might hurt his feelings hahaha."
"No." Alex leaned his elbows on the railing. "How’s the spiritual plane?"
"Better than this morning. I’m learning to ignore the bottom layers and stick with the surface ones for now."
"What’s on the surface?"
"Currents. Small creatures. Something that’s been there for about two hundred years that I still haven’t finished identifying." Emily. "And F1?"
"Same. The corruption didn’t change."
"Seraph said it takes time."
"Yes."
Both looked at the ocean.
From below came Maya’s voice — recovered from her seasickness, with her notebook open, asking Kira about something on the route. Kira’s answer. The sound of Akari.
"Do you think Maya’s okay?" asked Alex.
Emily looked at him.
*There it is,* she thought. *Always keeping an eye on everyone.*
"Yes," said Emily. "She got over it."
"Sure?"
"Alex. She’s had her notebook open for three hours. She’s fine."
Alex nodded.
The sun touched the horizon and the ocean turned orange as far as the eye could see.
"Hey." Emily without looking at him. "Tomorrow training is before dawn again?"
"Yes."
"Then sleep."
"I’m not tired yet."
"I know." Emily. "Sleep anyway."
Alex looked at her.
She was still looking at the ocean.
"Alright," he said.
+++
Exss’s note: I still can’t believe this novel has gone on for so long. We finally reached Chapter 200, yay! Now the One Piece Arc officially begins.
I wanted to call it that from the start, but I’d rather avoid any trouble with Toei, haha xd.
Thank you all so much for your support, especially for continuing to read every Chapter with me.
It truly means a lot and motivates me to keep creating this story, even when things get difficult sometimes 😸.
Creation is hard work, so cheer me and support me. Don’t forget to please VOTE for me!