Chapter 662 - 551: Space-Time Fragments

Chapter 662: Chapter 551: Space-Time Fragments

"Hey! Boss..."

Holland swung himself down from Black Wind’s broad back, landing on an uneven patch of ground pieced together from countless jagged, interlocking reefs. It was one of the few relatively solid spots in the area.

He steadied himself, raised a hand to his brow, and squinted at the surrounding reef jungle. Shrouded in twilight and dense fog, it resembled a menacing maze. He couldn’t help but speak up.

"Are you sure we’re in the right place? This godforsaken place... it doesn’t look like anything could survive here. Even the seagulls probably think it’s bad luck!"

Hearing this, Roland also dismounted with a light, fluid motion, then shook his head in resignation.

He wasn’t sure when it started, but Holland’s way of addressing him had naturally shortened from "Rudolph" to "Boss," which made him rather uncomfortable.

’It made them sound like a gang of highway robbers.’

So, the moment he was steady on his feet, he corrected him.

"Holland, I’ve told you before. Just call me Rudolph."

"Alright, alright."

Holland shrugged nonchalantly and readily changed his address, but his attention was clearly still on the perilous environment before them.

"So, Rudolph, what direction is this ’thing’ you’re looking for? This whole reef jungle looks the same, and it’s full of fog. We can’t just search it inch by inch, can we?"

He glanced around, his face screaming, ’This is a terrible job.’

"One moment."

Roland gave Holland a concise reply, then scanned his surroundings, his sharp gaze sweeping left and right.

Setting foot here in person felt completely different from looking down from Black Wind’s back.

The desolation and deathly silence were almost overwhelming.

Forget about any signs of the Adventurers he thought they might encounter; even the common seabirds and shellfish that typically clung to reefs were scarce, to say nothing of any trace of overtly aggressive Demons.

Only the unending roar of waves crashing against the reefs and the silent flow of dense fog through rock crevices formed the eternal background noise of this area.

This bone-chilling silence couldn’t help but remind Roland of the perpetually fog-shrouded lands of the River Domain.

However, compared to the mists of the Land of Mist, which were filled with active, even violent, Magic Elements, the fog here was colder, wetter, and more viscous. It was also faintly mixed with a pungent smell of sulfur.

The scent was extremely faint, yet it stirred some rather unpleasant memory fragments deep within Roland’s consciousness.

Taking a long breath to push aside the irrelevant associations, and after confirming there was no immediate danger nearby, Roland held his breath, focused his mind, and slowly closed his eyes.

The next moment, his Perception spread out from him like an invisible, intricate spiderweb, silently expanding in all directions.

At first, the feedback he received from the surrounding space was as chaotic and full of "noise" as the sea itself.

There were the Energy disturbances from the constant motion of the waves, the ancient and silent presence of the reefs themselves, and the intermingling of the Water Element in the sea fog with that strange trace of sulfur...

However, as his Perception filtered out this background noise and began to "touch" the very "texture" and "memory" of space in a more abstract way, a subtle anomaly gradually emerged.

It wasn’t something seen or heard, but more of a "sensation" that reached directly into his consciousness.

Deep within Drowned Man’s Reef, to the northeast, the "texture" of space showed faint, unnatural "creases" and "fades."

They weren’t traces of recent physical damage, but more like a lingering "Echo"—left by some colossal entity that had brutally "embedded" itself in or "pierced" through the area’s spatial structure in a way that defied conventional physical Law, and which had not yet completely settled.

This "Echo" carried a strange, non-native rhythm. It was cold and orderly, completely incongruous with the chaotic Energy Field formed by the natural surroundings.

’It faintly matched the unique Spiritual Energy resonance he remembered from the Shell Ship.’

The threads of his Perception extended along this barely detectable Space-Time ripple, probing and touching, like searching for a slender thread at the bottom of dark water.

It was intermittent, constantly interfered with and diluted by the flow of natural Energy, but its core direction gradually became clear.

Then, the impression gradually transformed into a trend, a residual "trajectory."

It pointed toward the source of the abnormal spatial disturbance, hidden behind several layers of jagged reef barriers in a secret, relatively low-lying area heavily obscured by fog and waves.

A moment later, Roland slowly opened his eyes. His gaze, sharp as a blade, shot toward that specific direction deep within the fog.

’Combining all the clues he had gathered, he could now be certain that the Shell Ship that appeared at the Dark Moon Gathering must be the same one commanded by Duraga at a future point in time.’

’Therefore, the location where it once descended was bound to leave a traceable disturbance in the fabric of Space-Time.’

’That meant the location of that faint yet unique ’Echo’ was very likely the exact spot where the Shell Ship had anchored itself at this ’past’ point in time.’

At this thought, Roland raised his hand and pointed northeast into the swirling fog, indicating the general direction to Holland.

He then turned, about to ask if Black Wind was rested enough, but his gaze fell upon Ellis, who was leaning against a slick reef, his face unusually pale.

The young human Mage’s eyes were somewhat vacant as he gasped for breath. Beads of sweat streamed down his forehead like tiny rivers, soaking the fringe of his hair and giving it a damp sheen in the twilight.