CHAPTER 213: THE SEA OF THORNS!

The once calm sea suddenly underwent a tremendous transformation.

A fierce wind from nowhere whipped up waves one after another.

The splashing waves froze abruptly at their peak, remaining motionless in their cresting forms.

Like hair sprayed with ultra-strong styling gel, they stayed completely still in place.

The once gentle waves instantly transformed into countless razor-sharp spikes, their glinting surfaces chilling to behold.

A single frozen wave wouldn’t have been noteworthy.

But within Miro’s field of vision, every surrounding wave had solidified in place!

Just before the waves froze, a fish had leaped from the water, tracing an arc through the air.

When it descended, it was impaled by the rock-hard waves, its body pierced through with holes of varying sizes.

Blood gushed out from the wounds, and after brief struggles, it fell silent.

The corpse remained skewered upon the frozen waves.

These could no longer be called "waves"—they were "thorns" now!

The entire sea had become a sea of thorns!

Everywhere one looked, there were spine-chilling thorns that made one’s limbs go numb!

Not only Miro witnessed this scene—Akira and the other crew members saw it too.

"The Sea of Thorns..." Akira murmured under his breath.

Truly befitting of uncharted waters, to manifest such a miraculous phenomenon.

Who could have imagined that the once light, frothy waves would transform into countless deadly thorns in an instant?

In the blink of an eye, the entire sea had become a thorny jungle.

At this moment, Lapras was surrounded by frozen waves.

Naturally, splashing waves had formed around Lapras too, but it quickly sensed something amiss.

Acting before the waves solidified, it used [Freezing Wind] to turn both the waves and the water beneath into ice.

Lapras remained unharmed, and so did the ship.

Built with the finest materials, the vessel had no risk of being damaged by these thorny waves.

But the real problem lay elsewhere.

With the entire sea surface frozen into stationary waves, no one could recognize it as water anymore.

They were trapped as if in a landlocked jungle, completely immobilized.

"Is this what uncharted waters are like? For waves to suddenly freeze solid without reason..." Ging crossed his arms, his eyes fixed intently on the bizarre waves, his tone tinged with surprise.

"Does V5’s records mention anything about this?" Ging asked Beyond beside him.

"No. Although V5 previously sent expeditions southeast, they never encountered anything like this."

"Presumably, with the ’Guide’ leading them, they avoided all dangerous waters and took a safer route." Beyond shook his head, speaking calmly.

Clearly, he wasn’t particularly astonished by the sight before him.

Having been to the Dark Continent, he had witnessed far stranger things than this.

’So they relied on the Guide’s navigation...’

Ging turned his head away, not bothering to ask why they refused to let the Guide lead them now.

He himself preferred not to rely on external help, instead relying on his own abilities to reach the Dark Continent.

Unlike those who sought treasures, Ging wanted to go to the Dark Continent to explore more of the unknown.

There were many "unknowns" on the Dark Continent, but Mobius Lake also held countless "unknowns."

If he chose to seek the Guide’s help just to avoid encountering the "unknown," it would betray his original purpose for setting out.

From the looks of it, this journey wouldn’t disappoint him.

Beyond was different—he was more "worldly."

His goal in going to the Dark Continent was to obtain those treasures.

But if they wanted the Guide to lead them, they would have to pay a heavy price to the Gatekeeper.

And in the end, the decision rested with Akira.

Akira had no intention of letting the Guide lead them and the others had no objections.

What they didn’t know was that the Gatekeeper had even offered to guide Akira for free—but he refused.

"Then how should we solve this problem?"

"Even though the ship isn’t damaged, staying stuck like this isn’t good. What if the sea remains in this state?"

Pariston glanced at Ging’s burning gaze and immediately followed up.

"Should we destroy them?"

"We could try using Golem’s Aura Weapon first. These waves look solid, but an Aura Weapon should be able to shatter them."

"The ship is still rocking slightly, which means the water beneath is fine."

"We just need to break these surface waves to clear a path."

Muherr, who resembled a Western elf with pointed ears, suggested.

Muherr was the captain of the [Stone Wall] mercenary unit.

Not only was he highly skilled, but he was also observant of details.

Having noticed the unchanged water beneath, he proposed this method.

"No, the best approach now is to wait and observe. Since we’re not under attack, doing nothing is the optimal solution."

Beyond didn’t adopt Muherr’s suggestion, even though it sounded reasonable.

He still didn’t feel it was safe.

Due to his experience in the Dark Continent, his understanding of it ran deeper than anyone else’s.

The most profound lesson the Dark Continent had taught him was one thing:

Don’t act recklessly!

Compared to the creatures of the Dark Continent, humans were like invasive species, unable to integrate.

There seemed to be bizarre, unfathomable rules governing them—everything appeared strange, yet it all functioned smoothly.

Many seemingly minor actions could easily trigger terrifying chain reactions.

This happened when humans disrupted certain patterns.

Their world developed in eerie ways, yet there were faint traces of order, maintaining a delicate balance.

Uninformed humans barging in would only break these patterns, bringing disaster upon themselves.

This was a lesson learned in blood!

Thus, Beyond placed great importance on this principle, believing that unless absolutely necessary, humans should not interfere.

No one could predict what kind of chain reaction might occur in these mysterious, unknown places.

The same logic applied to these strange waves.

Shattering them would be easy, but the consequences were unpredictable.

After Beyond’s explanation, Pariston and the others nodded in agreement.

Indeed, when facing the unknown, remaining vigilant and avoiding rash actions was the best choice.

Since the leaders were in agreement, the rest of the team naturally had no objections.

They held their breath and focused, keeping watch.

A few minutes later, to everyone’s astonishment, the frozen waves returned to normal and the sea calmed.

It was as if time had stopped—the waves had been suspended in place.

Now time resumed and the waves returned to their natural state.

After a period of tense unease, Beyond ordered the ship to continue forward.

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