On the fifth day of the voyage, the surrounding temperature had risen considerably again. Irvin Holden’s tank top was soaked through with sweat.
If Flora Bloom hadn’t been on board, he would have gone shirtless by now. It was just too hot—stiflingly so. A faint sll of sulfur lingered in the air, making him feel a little suffocated with every breath.
After a day of practice, Annelise Locke had finally figured out how to use her tail to stand upright. She could now balance steadily and propel herself forward with her giant snake tail. However, she was still terrified and uneasy about the changes to her body.
When Irvin Holden ca out of the wheelhouse, the extre heat had already drained too much of his stamina. Flora Bloom kept giving him spiritual water to rehydrate and help him recover, which was the only reason he’d lasted this long.
"It seems the island we saw before has disappeared; I can’t find it anywhere. The warm currents are converging here, though. With the influence of the currents on the Celestine Bathhouse, this whole area of the sea is like a stear. The temperature will only get higher."
By now, all six of them realized sothing was wrong. The temperature of the warm currents and the Celestine Bathhouse should not have exceeded fifty degrees Celsius under any circumstances.
Superpower users were constitutionally resistant to extre temperatures; fifty degrees Celsius, hot or cold, shouldn’t have been enough to cause them any harm.
But in this region, even Flora Bloom was starting to feel the oppressive heat.
"Master, I think that underwater volcano moved."
Ash sent a signal of extre unease through its ntal link with Flora Bloom. Sothing was clearly terrifying it.
"What’s going on?"
"The underwater volcano I ntioned before should be about twenty to thirty nautical miles away, but it looks like it can move on its own."
"So where is the volcano located now, approximately?"
"Directly on the seabed, right underneath you!"
’No wonder it’s so hot here,’ Flora Bloom thought. ’A volcano has appeared on the seabed.’ Capturing a Sea Serpent in waters this hot would be extrely difficult. After a mont’s thought, she said to Annelise Locke, "Annelise, the temperature here is just too high. The chances of catching a Sea Serpent are slim. I think we should try our luck in a place with a more reasonable temperature."
Annelise Locke flicked her giant serpentine tail and nodded. "Alright, I understand!"
For once, Civet Cat and The Crown Prince weren’t by Flora Bloom’s side. Instead, they were on deck, standing by the railing and staring down at the sea.
They exchanged a look, both clearly recognizing the unease in the other’s eyes.
"Sister-in-law, did you bring that satellite communicator the Boss gave you?" The Crown Prince suddenly asked, walking over to Flora Bloom.
’There’s a familiar presence in the waters below, but I can’t be sure. If it’s really what we think it is, then we can’t stay here any longer.’
’It’s too dangerous.’
Hearing The Crown Prince’s question, Flora Bloom suddenly rembered the satellite communicator stashed in her dinsional space! She quickly took it out and handed it to him.
Irvin Holden had already started the yacht and was turning back. If Sherman Lynch and his father hadn’t used their superpowers to reinforce the yacht after Ash’s attack, the vessel would have succumbed to the heat long ago, rendered inoperable.
Flora Bloom sighed inwardly. ’I keep telling myself to be careful in this apocalypse, to be on guard and wary of everything. But ti and again, the reality of this world after my rebirth completely shatters my understanding and my entire worldview.’
Just now, they had just gotten underway, intending to bypass the circulating warm currents and skirt the edge of the Celestine Bathhouse area. But as their yacht followed the calculated safe route, a powerful suction force suddenly erupted between the current system and the Celestine Bathhouse. A massive whirlpool ford, dragging their yacht toward its center.
Ash agilely leaped clear of the whirlpool’s edge, barely escaping the sudden vortex. At the sa ti, it sent a frantic alarm through their ntal link, urging Flora Bloom to get away fast. ’But where can I go?’ she thought. ’I’m on a boat!’
Civet Cat and The Crown Prince rushed into the wheelhouse to reset the course, cranking the engine to full power to fight against the pull.
"This is bad. I think we’re caught in a maelstrom!" Irvin Holden shouted, carefully observing the scene outside. Inside the Celestine Bathhouse, everything from living sea creatures to marine debris and even fragnts of ancient shipwrecks was being dragged into the vortex from all directions.
Flora Bloom even saw several fish, each about the size of Ash, get sucked in. They spun rapidly in the current for a few circles before vanishing completely.
Although their yacht was being pulled in, it was still on the very outer edge of the vortex. But even out here, the pull was more than the yacht’s engine could overco.
All five of them gathered inside the wheelhouse. Outside, Annelise Locke wrapped the tip of her tail around the tal gunwale to keep from being thrown over the railing.
"The Crown Prince, Civet Cat, Irvin Holden, is there any way to get out of this thing?" Flora Bloom yelled, clinging to a handhold in the wheelhouse passageway as the violent tremors of the yacht threw her from side to side.
"The engine is too weak! All we can do is try!"
The Crown Prince, Civet Cat, and Irvin Holden worked together, frantically adjusting the controls in the wheelhouse, trying to fight the vortex without overloading the engine.
Just then, the satellite communicator in The Crown Prince’s hand, which he had just activated, began to flash a red light. After a few bursts of static, a familiar male voice erged from the device.
"What happened to her?"
The voice was cold, deep, and commanding, and his very first words were about her. It was like a rain-soaked feather, landing with just enough weight to brush against the most vulnerable part of Flora Bloom’s heart, sending an indescribable tremor through her.
"Boss, we were on a mission at sea with Sister-in-law. We’re caught in a maelstrom."
"Coordinates?"
"Coordinates 3-X-X, 1-X. And there’s an active volcano on the seabed that could erupt at any mont."
"Give her the communicator."
The Crown Prince handed the communicator to Flora Bloom, then returned to the controls with Civet Cat.
"Flora Bloom?"
"Yes, it’s ."
"Hold out for two hours. If you can’t, open your dinsional space and pull everyone inside. Do you understand?"
Flora Bloom’s body trembled. ’He really knows! But how? But there’s no ti to think about that now.’ Her only worry was that if she pulled all five of them into her space, its overwhelmingly powerful brand would be seared onto their consciousness.
"But I..."
"I know what you’re worried about. Don’t be afraid. Just do as I say."
Lex Cross’s voice was like a tranquilizer, instantly steadying Flora Bloom’s heart. Sohow, his calm, composed tone allowed her to find her own sense of calm, even as she struggled to remain standing while clinging desperately to a handrail.
"Wait for ."
After his last, brief words, the indicator light on the communicator went dark—he had ended the call. Flora Bloom stowed the device in her space and gripped the nearby handrail with both hands.
"Irvin Holden, how long can we last?" Cynthia Grant asked, wrapping one of her vines around the yacht’s railing as her body swayed with the vessel.
"It’s hard to say. Looking at the situation... an hour at most!"
"An hour?" Flora Bloom’s brow furrowed when she heard his assessnt. ’Am I really going to have to resort to that in the end?’
’If I really pull them into my space, it will be the equivalent of forcing them to recognize as their master. My own moral code will be challenged like never before.’
’But if it cos down to a matter of life and death, then there’s no other choice!’
The Crown Prince, holding a handrail with one hand while tapping at the control panel with the other, suddenly shouted.
"Wait! Irvin Holden, Civet Cat, co look at this! If we push the engine to full throttle and take this path close to the vortex, we might be able to cross over to the outer ring on the far side. Maybe we can hold on for another hour!"
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