Chapter 675: Chapter 19: The Changes of Time

"Just leave without hesitation, how carefree..."

The purple-haired goddess, resembling a mature woman, held a habitual wine bowl, inspecting the distant scenery with a sighing expression.

A long gust of wind happened to blow, stirring her hair and clothes. Nearby, the lake water rippled gently, sparkling in the sunlight. The distant lake surface was smooth as a mirror, quietly reflecting the faraway mountains and the pure blue sky, spotless.

"He was never one of us. After staying so long, he should be content..."

The golden-haired girl squatting by the lakeside, enthusiastically teasing a frog from nowhere with a twig, replied casually upon hearing the statement.

"Moreover, he hasn’t truly left; he’s just gone on a trip, at most taking the house with him... Besides, the wine he left should last you a long time. Is there a need for such worry? You seem to be sighing all the time these days..."

"It just feels insufficient..."

Kanako’s mouth twitched slightly, and her face was filled with gloom.

Previously, she had unlimited access to wine, but now it suddenly became finite. Every sip reduced the stock, and the disparity brought her a deep insecurity from the heart, even though someone generously left her a house full of wine.

"Then why not brew it yourself? You know the recipe..."

Suwako waved her hand, letting the fearless frog hop away. She stood up and casually said as she discarded the twig.

"Mostly, there’s not enough grain to waste... Wondering where he got the materials?" Kanako sighed long again. If it were truly that simple, it would be fine, but ultimately she couldn’t accomplish such a feat, using excessive grain to brew wine in this age.

Although, in recent years, this land was blessed with good weather, and with Suwako possessing the powers of the ’God of Fertility’, barren lands were easily transformed into fertile soil producing abundant grain, so resources were plentiful.

It was really a puzzling matter how that guy brewed wine... Seemingly, he didn’t use grain, was it created out of thin air?

"That’s your issue now. Come help me hide this big guy; it’s time to conceal it..." The golden-haired girl said indifferently, not too fond of drinking. She clapped her pink hands and then looked towards the colossal steel puppet by the lakeside.

In the next moment, she raised her eyebrows and turned to look behind her.

Coincidentally, another gust blew, causing her golden hair to shine brilliantly in the sun. Wearing a lavish dress beneath an equally luxurious purple parasol, a monster maiden not seen for some time stood behind the two, her long hair and skirt fluttering. She hesitated while asking:

"Excuse me, why is the house on the mountain gone?"

......

...

Far apart, the weather varied by location.

An extraordinary ship sailed amidst the distant black clouds.

Black clouds covered the sky, lightning filled the air, and black rain poured down like blood, resonating with thunderous roars, startling the distant villages below on the ground. People watched anxiously from their homes as the world appeared misty through the rainstorm.

Despite the torrential black rain, it only fell in a specific range.

The blending of wind and rain made it hard to see clearly.

People looked shocked, yet clueless about the happenings, only relying on wild guesses to fathom explanations... Fortunately, the roar resonated once, then vanished, even after the storm ended and the skies cleared, it remained the case.

It’s a monster dwelling in thunderclouds, unable to escape.

From the moment it attacked the magic ship, the outcome was already sealed.

It couldn’t penetrate the ship’s defense barrier; the energy barrier withstood the electronic storm’s onslaught. The puppet crew onboard remained calm, retaliating with cannon fire at the enemy. Although the ship had a sailboat aesthetic, its cannons resembled smooth bore styles.

However, as the ship didn’t rely purely on sails for movement...

The same applied to its cannons, viewed humorously if considered as true 17-18th-century artillery.

Externally appearing as smooth bore, they load from the muzzle, firing solid rounds... These aspects are correct, except it doesn’t solely rely on gunpowder propulsion. The barrel, seemingly smooth, is actually processed with talisman and enchantment, resembling parallel mysterious rune rails.

The alchemy array on the base ignites, generating interacting magnetic fields and currents... An upgraded railgun, fearsome electrical propulsion combined with the mysterious rune rail’s acceleration at launch, the shell screeched out at over seven times the speed of sound.

Moreover, the shell itself is an enchanted cannonball...

A single shot heavily damaged the mysterious creature appearing amidst the thunderstorm, and after a round of counterattack volley, not even a trace was left, with not even the usual post-battle ecosystem sample collection task being completed.

"So weak, where did it get the courage to launch an attack..."

Gu Mo looked out of the porthole at the massive Thunder Beast that had turned to dust, shaking his head in disappointment and frustration, supporting his chin with one hand and tilting his head.

This thing looked imposing, large in size, surrounded by lightning, active in stormy weather, and attacked the Magic Ship as soon as it appeared from the thunderclouds—

He subconsciously thought he was encountering a sudden BOSS battle.

Well, in a sense, it was probably an indication of the player’s good and stable mindset.

Unexpectedly, it was just something that appeared strong but was actually weak, disappearing after one round of volley from the Magic Ship’s firepower without even needing him to take action... ummmm, or maybe his firepower was just too strong? After all, since this Magic Ship was created, several years have passed.

During this time, it wasn’t just idly sitting there; whenever he had time or acquired new technology, he tried to make some improvements.

"It doesn’t have wisdom, probably a demon born from people’s fear of thunderstorms, possibly a reflection of people’s most primitive impressions of lightning disasters, so it’s violent and primitive, very domineering and ferocious, just a pure destructive image..."

The silver-haired girl leaning at the window said, casting a glance at the young man.

Wearing a moon-white Daoist Robe, naturally graceful, the young man lazily supported his chin, gazing at the stormy weather outside. His long black hair fell smoothly, and unconsciously, the other hand was held upright, wherein a small, shiny metal ball spun around his slender, powerful forefinger.

Hovering near, spinning around the fingers.

This was the Flying Sword that Gu Mo had previously forged, to be precise, a Sword Pill made using a more traditional Ancient Technique. He just thought he was about to fight a BOSS battle, at least a mini-BOSS, so he was prepared to hold the line.

Therefore, even if that thing could withstand the Magic Ship’s firepower, it would stand no chance of victory, even if it were the pure fear of thunderstorm’s most primeval fear image reflection; it still hadn’t undergone any transformation. Essentially, for now, it was just a negative emotional aggregate of humanity’s fear.

And not a true God of Thunder, or the pure embodiment of destructive lightning disaster...

At most, it could be said that the associative fear gave it similar traits and abilities, charging forward recklessly, naturally leading to an outcome of self-destruction.

"It seems like in recent years, there’s an apparent increase in supernatural occurrences..." Gu Mo, hearing Shenqi’s words, thoughtfully remarked, watching the world outside, contemplating what impact this seemingly growing trend might bring.

In a way, this also reflects the trend of change in the Human World.

The more prosperous and seemingly bright the human order, the easier it is to breed a lot of shadows and dark things.

Light and shadow have always been relative.

"Yes... It used to be rare to see demons, now they seem to be becoming noticeably more." The silver-haired girl nodded, then slightly furrowed her brow. Just then, she noticed a dark rift appearing in the air of the large cabin of the ship designed like a living room.

"How sudden, how did it leave all of a sudden, taking the whole house along..."

Walking out from the rift was Yakumo Zi, smiling as she curiously surveyed her surroundings.

She was seeing this Magic Ship for the first time.

Though it had been parked for several years in the backyard of that deep mountain residence, serving as a workshop and test site for the Magic Ship, that space was also expanded through spells, invisible from the outside.

Like a phenomenon in a game...

Viewing the house from the large map was one thing, but once inside, the loaded space and map modeling were entirely different.

And naturally, Yakumo Zi wouldn’t rudely wander around the ever-growing, maze-like mansion. Despite the growing familiarity and goodwill, having visited each other several times, it was indeed her first time seeing this Magic Ship.

"When venturing out, one must be prepared, and I am rather lazy, too lazy to pack things, so I simply decided to take the whole house along..."

Gu Mo smiled slightly, responding, and then glanced at the silver-haired girl nearby.

"That’s quite a strong reason, not wanting to pack things, just taking the whole house along?"

The Monster Maiden closed the parasol in her hand, unfolded a folding fan, covering the lower half of her face. Her expressive eyes were full of amusement: "But didn’t even notify me before leaving, that’s going too far."

"Didn’t I leave a locator with Suwako and Kanako? Besides, I specifically waited until now to set off, but I didn’t expect you wouldn’t come over."

Gu Mo shook his head, also curiously observing the Monster Maiden.

"Speaking of which, Zi, this time you seem to have hibernated for quite a while, sleeping through the whole spring..."