True Apocalypse Game

The entire world had become an ocean, leaving humanity with nothing but scattered islands and man-made floating islands.

But for humanity, the vast World Sea was not all the same.

The waters that had once been land were where the survivors were most active. These were the seas they knew best.

These areas were generally tens to two thousand meters deep and were considered "shallow seas."

The areas that had always been ocean, however, were considered perilous journeys—the true deep sea.

These regions were all over two thousand meters deep. Four to five thousand meters was standard, and many areas plunged as deep as ten thousand meters.

Many giant Sea Beasts, including the World Beast, lived in these deep-sea regions, their existence far surpassing human imagination.

Beyond the terrifying Sea Beasts and monsters, the deep sea was also home to bizarre natural phenomena like hurricanes, thunderstorms, undercurrents, submarine volcanoes, and massive maelstroms. Within them, a human was like an ant, with no chance of survival.

To say nothing of the colossal World Beasts—a single one of them turning over could trigger a tsunami, utterly destroying humanity's small boats and dinghies.

For humans without large vessels, entering the deep sea was a suicide mission.

Even with a large ship, it would only be a slightly more dignified death.

And the Fog Sea was one such area in the deep sea.

According to the legends of the Sea People, the Fog Sea was perpetually shrouded in a dense fog, a blanket of white where nothing could be seen.

No one knew the full extent of the Fog Sea, only that no one had ever crossed it.

Some speculated that the other side of the Fog Sea connected to the remnants of the old Eastern Continent, a journey of at least several thousand, if not tens of thousands, of nautical miles.

Any lost ships that entered the dense fog would lose their way and never emerge.

A few "lucky ones" who once strayed into the Fog Sea drifted for an unknown length of time. Their crews resorted to cannibalism, and only one or two skeletal survivors managed to escape. They were the ones who described what the Fog Sea was like.

According to these nearly insane individuals, the Fog Sea contained nothing but fog, differing only in its thickness.

In the thickest parts, you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

The Fog Sea was not without wind, but it was extremely faint, and the mist would only occasionally drift.

Some of the fog, they said, was alive.

All the survivors claimed to have heard various sounds within the Fog Sea, even the murmur of conversations.

A few survivors claimed to have seen a magnificent ancient city within the Fog Sea, complete with skyscrapers that pierced the clouds, a ceaseless flow of traffic, and crowds of well-dressed people strolling the streets.

But just as he tried to enter the city, it all vanished without a trace.

Others said that in the Fog Sea, they saw ancients in Holy Armor battling World Beasts. They fought with such intensity that the world grew dark, rocketing into space and then plummeting back to the depths of the sea, nearly shattering Earth itself. The war between the Holy Armor and the World Beasts, they said, had never ended.

These tales filled the hearts of the world's Sea People with both fear and fascination.

But the survivors were mentally shattered. No one could be sure if their words were true or just madness, and most people didn't believe them.

Nevertheless, the mystery and danger of the Fog Sea gradually left a deep impression on the Sea People.

The Sail Warship, the Hope, had been sailing in the direction indicated by Witch Tower for several days. At first, they had occasionally encountered a few small boats, but upon seeing the massive size of the Sail Warship, the other crews had all fled without a second glance.

By now, they were surrounded by the vast, open ocean. There was no sign of any islands or Floating Island Markets, nor had they encountered any other vessels.

The surface of the sea had turned a profound, deep blue.

They had reached the deep sea.

Even aboard the massive Sail Warship, a bone-deep fear began to settle among the pirates.

No matter how large the vessel, being on a boundless ocean of nothing but water instilled a sense of helpless isolation.

Fortunately, the ship was well-stocked, and it was full of novel contraptions the pirates had never seen before. This helped bolster their confidence.

Not to mention the wonderful thing called "wine," a gift from the captain. A single sip could fill a man with a strange excitement and make him forget all his worries.

After several days at sea, their supplies had started to dwindle. At this moment, the Sail Warship found itself in the middle of a massive school of tuna. The pirates scrambled to the rails, frantically casting hooks and nets or firing harpoons, eager to replenish their stores.

Amid the pirates' cheerful shouts, enormous tuna were hoisted onto the deck by whining pulleys.

The Sail Warship was equipped with all sorts of mechanical devices that saved the crew immense physical effort, much to their delight.

The tuna could be dried or cured for their food stores, but they were also delicious eaten raw. They would have a feast tonight.

"Captain, you truly are a mysterious and interesting man…" In the captain's cabin, Witch Tower grinned at Shen Feng as she took a swig directly from the bottle of red wine in her hand.

She still had the Longbow and a quiver of Arrows slung across her back.

Over the past few days, she and Shen Feng had grown quite close. At first, she'd maintained the reserved air of a Minstrel and felt a bit awkward, but now she would drop by the captain's cabin whenever she felt like it to scrounge a drink.

Just a moment ago, Shen Feng had told her a story about the "Sea King"—a tale of a half-blood prince, son of an Atlantean Princess and a human fisherman. After being found by a woman named Meira, he engaged in some passionate cultivation before returning to his undersea kingdom to reclaim the throne.

The story was so complex, bizarre, and full of twists that it could be considered an epic in its own right.

Growing up, Witch Tower had only ever heard the epics of the Minstrels. She had never encountered a saga like this, and she found herself completely enthralled.

Moreover, the story of the Atlanteans living beneath the waves only strengthened her suspicion. This captain, Shen, had to be one of the legendary Undersea People.

Shen Feng smiled and raised the glass in his hand.

"You flatter me. It's only a story, far less exciting than reality…"

Over the last two days, he had, in turn, learned a great deal about this world from Witch Tower. He was particularly pleased to hear about the loose organization of the Minstrels.

According to Witch Tower, before the Savior vanished and the world was completely submerged, the old Salvation Army had carried out a—

BWOOOOOM—! A long, mellow note from a conch horn suddenly echoed from the deck.

Shen Feng and Witch Tower shot to their feet. The tipsy haze in their eyes vanished in an instant. Together, they burst out of the captain's cabin and onto the upper deck.

The lookout in the crow's nest was already sounding the horn a second time. Spotting Shen Feng and Witch Tower, he immediately pointed ahead and yelled:

"It's the Fog Sea! We've reached the Fog Sea!"

Shen Feng followed his pointing finger and saw a vast wall of sea fog on the horizon, shrouding the waters ahead as if it were a solid mass.

The fog bank stretched left and right as far as the eye could see, and it soared thousands of meters high, like a mountain range rising from the ocean.

Shen Feng's brow furrowed as he stared at the dense, seemingly solid fog.

Just then, a silhouette of sails appeared in the distant fog. A large, black ship was emerging from the mist!