Chapter 364: Reasonable Doubt
Humans... not just an ordinary group of humans but figures of the shackled realm.
Seth squinted suspiciously at the sight, the group walked out of the cluster of trees and into the clearing.
Uriel, Dorian and Lukas, standing before eleven individuals, stared in astonishment.
It wasn’t a trick?
Everyone thought, fixing their gazes on the newcomers who came to a gradual halt the moment they finally got a clear sight on Seth and crew.
Both sides stood stunned and unmoving, observing one another in scrutiny.
On Captain Zoan’s side, she and her crew members scanned the crowd of fellow humans in awe more than anything else.
They could feel the threatening aura shrouding the atmosphere, an influence stemming from their presence and that was separate from the chill of corruption lingering in the atmosphere.
For a few seconds silence reigned, as Seth’s side tried to deduce a possible explanation for the sight before them.
Shackled realm humans stood unharmed in a zone that mired far stronger beings with its sickening claws of corruption digging into their souls.
And the blightful force brought disadvantages and debuffs.
Yet somehow these guys were fine...
Seth simply couldn’t get over the sight, he had come to understand how strict the hierarchy of power was.
Yet for the first time he was witnessing something that directly defied all principles he had come to accept about this new reality.
Uriel glanced his way, throwing him a worried look, and Seth responded with a subtle nod signaling that he’d handle it.
With that swift communication, the three stepped back and Seth stepped forward towards the shackled realm newcomers.
Glancing at them Seth’s eyes couldn’t help but light up with fascination, he wondered what secrets these guys would hold...
Meanwhile the crew of eleven stood frozen, not even knowing what to say or how to begin some sort of communication process.
To them it had been months since their last interaction with any human outside their circle.
And now communicating with strangers seemed to have become a difficult task.
Leaving the crew to hold their breath silently and watch as Seth stepped forward.
Some even subconsciously taking a step to fix themselves behind their captain nervously.
They had been so excited at the possibility of meeting other humans they never considered how the interaction would go.
After all there was no telling, it wasn’t like all humans were saints.
"Good day, I am Seth Duskreaver, a soldier from the USA, and these are my men and colleagues. It is a rare encounter to meet people out here in the midst of nowhere. Could I burden you with the request of introduction?" Seth greeted as he stood before the group.
Ending with a request, visible interest written across his face as he scanned through the bunch.
All eleven individuals remained silent the moment Seth’s voice rang out, their gaze unanimously shifting towards the figure standing before them all, a woman with bright, damp orange locks running down her shoulders, bright, entrancing jade green eyes that remained locked on Seth the whole time.
Captain Zoan’s whole world seemed to have come to a freeze, as she stared at Seth, her heart stirred and her soul reacted.
The uncontrollable magnetic pull, the ethereal attraction pulling her towards the unknown, the same reaction from her sixth sense that led them to this island, it all subsided and vanished the moment she laid eyes on Seth.
Everything seemed to go silent, and she realized... This man was the source of it all.
For some reason she had been drawn to him, and she wanted to know why, could he have the answers she needed?
Was he the key to keeping her powers in check?
Her mind spun with a whole lot of questions, but she still remained composed, failing to let her inner thoughts affect her expression, she masked the racing pump of anticipation surging through her heart with confusion.
And her lips finally moved as she attempted to speak...
"I am Zoan, a marine life treasure hunter, and these..." she gestured as she pointed to her crew standing behind her. "Are my crew mates... it’s nice to meet you Mr. Duskreaver..." she ended with greetings.
Seth nodded, then froze. He was just about to ask them how they got here, after all this was far too deep and far away from land for him to overlook a random encounter.
"Don’t tell me you guys have been stuck in the sea since the descent of the origin?" Seth asked in concern.
This was the only assumption he could come up with for why they would encounter such weak humans so far away from land.
Zoan and her crew mates blinked in astonishment, surprised that Seth could deduce this so easily, but regardless she felt the need to reply, so she nodded wearing a wry smile.
"We were unfortunate enough to have set out for a voyage long before this whole mess began, ever since we’ve been stuck out in the sea..." before she could ask how Seth had arrived at this conclusion she noticed the expression of disbelief on Seth’s face.
She blinked, thinking she might have said something wrong, but thinking back on her words she didn’t find anything wrong in what she said.
’You’re telling me a crew of eleven shackled realm evolvers survived a voyage through the sea,
For months?’ Seth thought inwardly, finding it unbelievable despite the evidence standing before him.
From behind, Uriel, unable to keep quiet, blurted out in disbelief, "That doesn’t make any sense."
And he was right, the sea was rife with corruption zones, zones about 10 times more difficult for humans to clear since it wasn’t on land.
Not only that, the ocean storms, especially since Earth’s upgrade into being a tier 1 world, these natural effects had become stronger and harder for ordinary evolvers to resist.
Yet these guys were expecting them to believe they survived through all that, as shackled realm evolvers?
Even Seth would have to agree this reasoning was sound but...
Seth glanced at the group once more in silence. His piercing purple gaze washing over them, he wanted to agree it was impossible and it didn’t make sense but the sight before him supported their claim.
These guys were in an abyssal zone, yet bore no signs of the abyssal force affecting them, just like Seth they stood unfettered, as though a thin veil surrounded their frame isolating them from the reach of this energy.
Except Seth’s veil was made up of divine energy, but he had no idea what made up theirs, his curiosity burned brighter, these guys definitely had something special about them.