A massive magical train, burning with otherworldly magical power, advanced like an iron beast.

Tree shadows kept flashing through white gaps, their rapid flickering seeming to flow endlessly forward.

The train sped along the tracks, with howling wind mixing with clanking mechanical sounds, creating a roar-like, thunderous noise.

Viktor and Henie were riding the train together, sitting opposite each other.

In her seat, Henie was extremely nervous, her hands clenched into fists, tightly gripping her loose robes.

She completely ignored even the scenery outside the window.

Traveling alone with the professor...

This was something Henie had never dared to imagine.

Because of this, Henie couldn't even sleep well last night.

Of course, it wasn't actually a vacation, but just being able to go out with the professor already made Henie extremely excited.

She secretly glanced at Viktor in front of her.

At this moment, the man in the black coat was sitting quietly in his seat, holding a book.

Every time he finished a page, he would turn it over.

Extremely focused.

The crow that usually stood on the professor's shoulder was now standing on the table, dozing off.

Looking at the sleeping crow, Henie also felt drowsy.

Just as her heavy eyelids were about to close completely, Viktor suddenly spoke:

"Henie, come here."

"Take a look at this."

In her daze, Henie, who was almost asleep, was startled and opened her eyes.

She watched as Viktor placed the book on the table, feeling somewhat confused.

So, she stood up and sat down beside Viktor.

Looking at the question in the book, Viktor asked:

"If it were you, how would you handle this?"

At this moment, Henie hadn't realized that she was already sitting next to the professor.

She was even less aware of how close they were to each other.

She was just filled with curiosity about knowledge, blinking as she looked at the opened book, trying to solve the problem on it.

However, the text on the book suddenly began to twist strangely.

As if becoming alive, it gradually began to dance on the pages, making it impossible for her to read clearly.

The next second, Henie felt a strong wave of dizziness, then, uncontrollably, her vision went black, and she fell asleep.

In her last moment of consciousness, she seemed to feel herself falling into a warm embrace.

Then, complete unconsciousness.

She quietly lay sideways in Viktor's arms, her eyes gently closed.

Her slightly chubby face was pressed against Viktor's chest, her warm and steady breathing rising and falling continuously.

Her reddened cheeks looked particularly adorable in the sunlight.

Viktor's other hand hovered over Henie, pulling a thin blanket and laying it over her.

Then, he just held Henie like this, letting her lie in his arms.

His other hand picked up the book and began reading again.

......

After an unknown amount of time, Henie opened her eyes again.

The scenery outside had completely darkened, and bright lights had been turned on inside the train, making Henie, who had just opened her eyes, feel somewhat dazzled.

Henie held her forehead, feeling as if she had mysteriously fallen asleep, and had slept for a very long time.

She had slept very soundly and peacefully, as if she had had a very sweet dream.

Feeling a blanket covering her body, Henie turned over and accidentally bumped her face into something.

She looked up and saw Viktor's face.

Huh???

Henie blinked blankly, seemingly unable to fully process what was happening.

Then, Viktor's voice sounded.

"Awake?"

Henie instantly jolted awake, frantically scrambling to stand up.

As soon as she stood up, she repeatedly bowed to Viktor in panic, apologizing.

"S-s-sorry, Professor!"

"I accidentally fell asleep, and even slept on... on your..."

Viktor didn't say much, just nodded casually while looking at the book in his hand.

Henie stood there, too embarrassed to sit down again.

She could only lower her head, like a child being punished for doing something wrong.

But in her heart, she was thinking about something else.

Did she drool on the professor while sleeping? Would the professor find her disgusting?

So what she bumped into was the professor's abdomen, it felt so firm...

Hehe, the professor's embrace was so warm...

Thinking of this, Henie quickly shook her head.

The front compartment was very quiet, with only the sound of Viktor's fingers sliding across the book pages.

Even with her head lowered, Henie could hear Viktor putting away his book.

She looked up and saw Viktor standing up.

The crow conveniently flapped its wings and flew up, landing on his shoulder.

Viktor walked to the window, looking outside, and spoke softly:

"Get ready."

"We're almost there."

Henie was somewhat confused but still walked forward.

Through the window, she looked at the scenery outside.

Instantly, her eyes widened.

Because the train had unknowingly been traveling in the air.

The surrounding darkness was dotted with starlight, illuminating the nearby area.

Henie was extremely surprised, unable to understand how the train could travel in the air.

So, she looked down through the window.

She saw it.

There were two rows of magically constructed tracks, laid in the air, twinkling with otherworldly starlight in the darkness.

It was like various colored gems were inlaid in the air, appearing extremely mysterious and elegant.

The tracks continued to extend forward.

Below was an endless ocean, appearing extremely transparent under the illumination of the track lights.

It was like fluorescence had been poured into a cyan mirror.

The colorful fluorescence merged with the ocean, transforming into countless star lights.

This beautiful scene left Henie slightly dazed.

Viktor explained to Henie:

"This is the magic train."

The reason it's called a magic train primarily lies in the word 'magic'.

The normal rails in the Empire were simply for the convenience of trains moving back and forth within cities.

But in reality, magic trains could travel to any place in the world.

Otherwise, it wouldn't have been acclaimed as one of the greatest inventions of the Mage City.

The magical tracks gradually descended to the water's surface, flickering with waves of starlight, and the train followed, entering the water.

Looking from afar in the darkness, it appeared like a dreamlike train emitting otherworldly fluorescence traveling on the sea surface.

Raising waves several meters high.

The waves that collided and shattered in the air also became extremely gorgeous at this moment.

Viktor calmly said to Henie:

"Ahead is our destination."

"The Sea City."

Henie looked forward along the train tracks.

A huge bubble floated above the sea surface, with towering buildings within it appearing as if awakened by bright pearls, floating with foam-like illusions.

The shells along the road emitted fluorescence, and the walls of the high-rise buildings displayed fantastic ink marks, like a stream of water winding around giant pillars, meandering and endless.

Henie opened her mouth wide, her eyes filled with colors of amazement, looking at the huge city ahead.

"So... so amazing."

Viktor looked at the Sea City ahead, thoughts flashing through his mind.

The Sea City belonged to the map outside the Empire, and players could explore the Sea City through various means between the oceans.

Whether by boat, swimming, or even flying from above, there were chances to encounter the Sea City on the map.

But initially, players without invitation credentials to enter the Sea City couldn't enter at all.

Even if they forced their way in, they would be fiercely pursued and attacked by the city guards.

They wouldn't even give players any time to return, killing them on the spot.

Finally, the train's head blew out a stream of white steam, gradually coming to a stop in front of the huge bubble.

After Viktor and Henie got off the train, it turned around and left again.

After all, they were the only two passengers on this trip.

The Sea City wasn't built on a huge landmass floating on the sea surface, but rather within an enormous bubble, divided into two parts.

Half exposed above the sea surface reflecting the sky, while the other half hidden in the vast ocean.

At this moment, they stood in front of the bubble, with a road made of water under their feet.

Like a water bed, standing on the water surface wouldn't sink down, only feeling a sense of softness.

This was the 'land' of the Sea City.

At this time, the two standing in front of the Sea City were stopped by guards.

They wore blue armor, wore shell necklaces, and even their torsos were painted with ancient patterns.

Rolling water surrounded their bodies, wrapping around those patterns like silk.

"Welcome to the Sea City."

Sea Cities were scattered throughout the world's oceans, existing in different sea areas.

And the Sea City Viktor came to was in the Padalenbu Sea area, the closest to the Empire.

The name of this Sea City was also taken from this sea area - Padalenbu Sea City.

Even though this was the Sea City closest to the Empire, it still required a full day's journey by magic train to reach here.

"It seems you are from the Empire."

"Please extend your hand, I need to register you."

Henie nodded, obediently extending her hand.

The guard also extended one hand.

A slender stream of water appeared in his hand, then automatically attached to Henie's arm, gently wrapping around it.

Being wrapped by the water flow, Henie could feel as if she was bound by a thin rope.

Even though her movements weren't restricted, having a stream of water on her arm felt like handcuffs, making Henie feel uncomfortable.

The guard turned to look at Viktor, but Viktor hadn't extended his hand, still keeping both hands in his pockets.

This made the guard's brow furrow slightly, his emotion showing slight displeasure.

"Sir, to enter the Water City, you must cooperate."

Viktor's eyes calmly gazed at him, his face showing almost no fluctuation as he casually said: "I have a small problem."

"I don't really like others touching me."

The guard was stunned for a moment.

As soon as the words fell, violent flames suddenly surged from Viktor's side, quickly dancing in the air behind him.

Along with the red light and the interweaving of magical power, a huge lava arm carrying scorching heat appeared beside Viktor, seemingly threatening the guard.

Feeling the nearly burning temperature, the guard's eyes widened, his voice trembling:

"Fire... this is fire?"

The next second, the lava giant hand directly grabbed the guard's clothes, lifting him up forcefully.

At the same time, the lava slightly contracted, suppressing the scorching temperature somewhat.

But when the flames collided with the water flow, the water elements on the guard's body still evaporated rapidly as if burned by a giant furnace.

This made the guard feel immense fear, his eyes flowing with terror, his body trembling.

"No, don't..."

When the water elements on his body were completely burned away, Viktor expressionlessly threw him onto the soft sea surface.

The guard landed on his bottom on the sea surface, his eyes wide.

Before he could look up, a badge with three broken human head marks fell onto the water surface.

It gently floated up, then floated in front of the guard.

The guard's eyes widened as he picked up the badge, examining it with inner trepidation.

"This... this is..."

"I'm giving you time to notify your city lord here, tell him."

Viktor's cold gaze fixed on him as his calm voice sounded again:

"Councilor Kravina has arrived."

Thank you all for waiting! I took a month-long break to take care of some other matters, but now I’m back. I’ll be gradually catching up on updates for this series. I truly appreciate all your comments and support—it means a lot to me.