The stern of the assault craft had a rain canopy made from a tarp. Whenever it rained heavily, Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick would stop the boat and take shelter there, only continuing on their way after the rain let up.

The heavy fog over the sea was showing signs of dispersing, with mist swirling all around. If they weren’t fleeing for their lives, one might think they had arrived at The Empyrean Isle.

"Today is the sixteenth day," Evelyn said. "If we haven’t just been going in circles, we must have covered at least a thousand kilometers. Could it be that it wasn’t just Aeridor that was flooded? What if all the rivers and oceans on Azure are overflowing, the mountains are sinking, and the entire world has turned into one vast ocean?"

Evelyn Ford took out a world map and placed it on the folding table at the front of the boat.

On Azure, oceans covered seventy-one percent of the surface, with land making up only twenty-nine percent. If all the oceans flooded their banks and all the mountains sank, it wasn’t impossible for the world to become one vast, deep sea.

"So, even if we keep moving forward, we’ll never reach an end because there’s no land left," Evelyn sighed. ’This is torture. After being on the water for so long, I’ll probably develop arthritis and rheumatism soon.’

’What’s more, the water is irradiated now. Living with this radiation, I’ll probably mutate in a few months and grow three heads, six arms, and a pair of horns.’

"Do you know our current position?"

"The compass is useless; the magnetic field is in disarray. I don’t have an optical theodolite, so there’s no way to know our latitude and longitude."

Evelyn propped her chin on her hands and stared out at the sea, a sudden fancy striking her. "Hey, you think there are monsters in the water? Or what if we run into pirates? Ah, then again, the way the world is now, any pirates have probably starved to death already."

A glimmer of a smile flashed in Ronan Kendrick’s eyes as he reached out and gently tapped her on the forehead.

"You have quite an imagination."

Evelyn chuckled, then took out her phone and began snapping photos and recording videos of the sea. "A spectacle like this needs to be properly preserved."

The phone’s camera quality was too poor, so Evelyn found a proper camera instead.

「Two days later.」

The sea remained calm. Not only had the fog dissipated, but the long-absent sun had finally come out. Evelyn stood on the assault craft, gazing at the boundless ocean, and couldn’t stop herself from cursing under her breath.

"Don’t tell me we’ve ended up in the Pacific Ocean."

In every direction, as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but water.

"Evelyn, the water is becoming clear."

Evelyn looked into the sea and saw that the black water had been left behind them. They had entered a region of clear blue water. A sharp, distinct line separated the black from the blue, and amazingly, the two bodies of water didn’t mix. The magical sight astonished her. But there was more—the blue water was teeming with all kinds of fish. Evelyn thought she must be hallucinating. She grabbed a fishing net and dipped it into the water, and a host of colorful fish immediately swam right in.

"There really are fish."

Dense schools of fish were now swimming all around the assault craft. Evelyn realized these fish were bizarre; they were all species she had never seen before. There were pink, palm-sized fish, as well as translucent ones in shades of purple and red.

"Ronan, did we just enter some kind of illusion?"

Ronan picked up a fish and examined it for a long moment. "I don’t think so. The world is a vast place, full of strange and wonderful things. We’ve probably just stumbled into a different part of the ocean."

Evelyn took out a temperature gauge and saw that the air temperature had risen to twenty degrees Celsius. The seawater was clean and had a salty, fishy smell. Mina and Lola came out from the stern and jumped straight into the water. Evelyn yelped, about to grab them, when she saw Lola snatch a pink fish in its mouth, fly back to the boat, and swiftly swallow it whole.

Mina was still splashing about excitedly, scattering the terrified fish in all directions.

Finally, Mina caught a light-green fish and called out to Evelyn with a series of squeaks. "SQUEAK! SQUEAK! SQUEAK!"

Evelyn scooped it out of the water, and it immediately started wagging its tail wildly, flinging water all over her.

"Mina, are you crazy?"

Mina ate the little fish, and seeing the school gathering below again, tried to jump back in, only to be stopped by Evelyn grabbing the scruff of its neck.

"Hey, you two! Can you just settle down for a minute? These fish could be mutated from the radiation. How dare you eat them?"

"The fish probably aren’t irradiated."

Ronan stopped the boat and walked over. "I smelled them just now. The fish have a faint, sweet aroma. Mina and Lola must have smelled it and couldn’t resist jumping in. An animal’s ability to sense danger far exceeds a human’s. If the fish were poisonous, their keen sense of smell would have warned them. They never would have gone in to eat them."

Hearing his explanation, Evelyn grew curious.

"Why can’t I smell the aroma you’re talking about?"

Ronan chuckled. "It’s very faint. It’s perfectly normal that you can’t smell it."

Unconvinced, Evelyn grabbed another fish. Aside from a faint fishy smell, she couldn’t detect anything else.

"So you’re saying these are edible?"

"They should be... right?" Ronan’s initial confidence wavered slightly under Evelyn’s excited gaze.

"That’s great! I’m going to catch fish! If we can’t escape this ocean, then we’ll just catch every last fish in it!"

The fish in this area were all small, the largest being no bigger than her palm. Evelyn took out a bucket, sat on the edge of the boat, and started scooping them up.

Seeing her so full of enthusiasm, Ronan couldn’t help but smile. He went to her side and started catching fish with her.

"We’ll try eating them in a bit. This one’s pretty fat, let’s save it for grilling."

Ever since entering this part of the sea, Evelyn’s mood had improved dramatically. As she caught fish, she even started humming a little tune. Unfortunately, she was completely tone-deaf, and Ronan was the only one there to be tortured by it.

「That afternoon」

Evelyn took out a grill pan. After cleaning and preparing the fish, she placed them directly on the pan to cook.

Just then, a rich, dense aroma filled the air. It smelled a little like osmanthus, but also like roses.

A sprinkle of salt was all it needed; no other seasonings were necessary.

Evelyn tasted a small bite and was instantly captivated.

"Ronan, I believe you now! A fish that smells this amazing can’t possibly be poisonous."

"Here, this pink one is for you. It really suits your disposition."

Ronan was speechless.

Evelyn was true to her word. Vowing to catch every fish in this part of the sea, she worked almost nonstop, day and night. But her project was cut short.

「Ten days later.」

They entered a new region of the ocean, one with turbulent, surging waves.

The moment they crossed the boundary between the waters, a powerful gust of wind hit them, nearly capsizing the assault craft. Ronan reacted instantly, expertly maneuvering the boat to power right through the gale.

But once they were through the wind, they were met with even larger waves and a series of terrifying, chilling cries.

"There are killer whales in these waters," Ronan said, gunning the engine. Evelyn quickly stuffed Mina and Lola into her backpack and scrambled to Ronan’s side.

"Evelyn, hold on to my waist."

Evelyn immediately threw her arms around him, pressing her body tightly against his back. Ronan’s ears twitched. Listening to the roars of the killer whales, he steered the boat in the opposite direction and sped away.

With the warmer temperature, Evelyn was only wearing a thin sun shirt, and her baseball cap had already been blown off by the wind. She squinted at the monstrous waves ahead, the furious roars of the killer whales echoing behind them. A sudden thought, full of heroic finality, popped into her head: ’This is it. The hero rides off, never to return.’