Chapter 387 Barracuda Bay

It was like some kind of geographical dividing line.

Ever since Xia Nan had left Sheep Horn Town and ventured deep into Upstream Coast Province at the southernmost tip of the continent, the environment had changed rapidly, the differences distinctly noticeable.

The terrain gradually transitioned from interlacing hills and basins to open, gentle plains where the horizon could be seen at a glance. The sprawling forests and fertile agricultural areas slowly vanished, replaced by ubiquitous ponds, swamps, and wetlands.

Moisture permeated the air. Waterfowl like herons and storks became frequent sights in the sky, and the insects grew increasingly abundant.

Walking through the Wilderness, Xia Nan felt a constant layer of moisture clinging to his skin, leaving it damp and sticky.

Fortunately, his strong constitution gave him high adaptability to environmental changes, so he suffered no symptoms of acclimatization sickness.

"So... you really don't plan on being an adventurer anymore?"

Walking deep within the dimly lit tunnel with a torch in one hand, Xia Nan glanced at the youth beside him and asked.

By now, more than ten days had passed since he helped the villagers resolve their goblin threat.

After receiving supplies from the villagers as his reward, he hadn't delayed any further, leaving the village to continue his journey.

Notably, this time, he had a traveling companion—Colin.

He had learned that Colin had an uncle named Paddy who did business locally in Barracuda Bay. The boy had originally planned to leave home and travel there a couple of days prior, sharing Xia Nan's destination, but had postponed his trip due to the appearance of the goblins.

Xia Nan figured he could use Paddy's connections in Barracuda Bay to learn about the local situation and quickly adapt to the completely unfamiliar environment.

After negotiating with the youth's family, they reached an agreement: in exchange for taking responsibility for Colin's safety on the road, Colin would introduce Xia Nan to his uncle once they arrived.

Truthfully, given the village's remoteness and a world crawling with monsters and wild beasts, an ordinary family wanting to travel could only pay a passing merchant caravan to take them along if they lacked the protection of a powerful adventurer like Xia Nan.

Otherwise, traveling alone meant casually running into goblins or beasts along the way. With a bit of bad luck and an inability to escape, they would likely lose their lives right there. The risk was simply too immense.

No matter how careless a family might be, they would never let their youngest son head out alone like that.

That was exactly why, despite Colin's bitter pleading and his family's inner wavering, they had firmly refused to let him leave prior to the discovery of the goblin tribe around the village.

Now, with the protection of Xia Nan—a powerful adventurer who had single-handedly solved the village's goblin crisis—coupled with the youth's persistence, his family no longer had any reason to stop him.

At the same time, along this journey, Xia Nan noticed something.

It was unexpected, yet perfectly reasonable.

The youth, who had held such beautiful aspirations for the future, seemed incredibly dejected by his own clumsy performance during the battle with the goblins.

He was so disheartened that he even began to doubt whether he could truly become an adventurer.

Xia Nan had casually offered a few words of comfort along the way.

After all, when he first transmigrated, his own performance hadn't been much better than the boy's.

One second he was an office worker in a peaceful, stable modern society, and the next he was suddenly forced to lift a sword and fight a brutal goblin to the death.

It was inevitable to feel maladjusted.

It was only later, after the Ragtag Party was wiped out and he had killed that bugbear and returned to Rivervale Town alone, that he gradually accepted his identity as an adventurer and grew accustomed to combat and slaughter.

Going from an "ordinary person" to a true "adventurer" always required a process of transformation.

It was just that due to differences in psychological resilience and personality traits, this transformation happened at different speeds for everyone.

Whether someone truly possessed the potential to become a qualified adventurer, time would give the answer.

But even if the logic was sound, not everyone could realize it.

A green youth no older than sixteen, brimming with hot blood, would find his interests coming and going quickly, and he was prone to overthinking things.

Xia Nan could sense the internal conflict deep in the boy's heart, as well as his outward disappointment.

When they set up camp at night, Colin no longer begged him to tell stories of his personal experiences or the adventures he had heard about. Instead, he began weighing whether it would be more suitable to become a sailor or start a small business.

To this, Xia Nan didn't say much; he merely acted as a listener.

Just as when they had met for the second time, he had spoken from the heart and clearly pointed out the differences between the adventurer profession and what Colin imagined.

But he wouldn't stop the youth from stepping into that line of work.

Now that Colin had changed his mind, Xia Nan wouldn't demand that he see it through to the end and absolutely become an adventurer.

Everyone had to choose their own path.

Besides, he lacked the experience and life wisdom to go around giving others advice.

Right now, after a half-month journey since leaving the village, the two were about to reach their destination.

According to the route marked on Xia Nan's map, as long as they crossed one more hill, they would be extremely close to Barracuda Bay.

However, halfway through their trek, the two suddenly discovered an artificial tunnel with a rather spacious entrance sitting halfway up the mountain.

Under normal circumstances, since it wasn't a goblin lair, Xia Nan would have no reason to deviate from his pre-planned route and venture deep into an unknown cave.

If a monster with a high Challenge Rating was hiding inside, rushing in blindly would be purely asking for trouble.

However, after carefully observing the entrance, Xia Nan noticed a massive amount of human activity near the cave.

Furthermore, the clearest of those tracks were likely left just yesterday; the timeframe was extremely close.

He could even see many deep rut marks in the soft ground, making it obvious that a large merchant caravan had driven through.

This couldn't help but stir a thought in his mind.

'Could this be some kind of shortcut?'

If the tunnel before them truly led straight to the other side of the hill, it would undoubtedly save them a massive amount of time and energy.

After pondering for a moment, he expanded his mental energy to carefully sense and observe any potential dangers lurking in the cave, confirming that there were no suspicious smells of blood or monster auras present.

Only then did Xia Nan light a torch and lead the youth into the tunnel.

"Mr. Xia Nan, have you ever seen the ocean? I heard from a bard passing through the village that its color is the same as the sky, and its size is tens of millions of times vaster than the pond behind our mountain. Any random wave is taller than our steepest peak."

Perhaps thrilled and excited about arriving at their destination, Colin carefully followed beside Xia Nan. The youth's words gradually multiplied, his tone carrying a trace of helplessness toward the uncertainty of the future.

"Mr. Xia Nan, I really do think 'sailor' suits me better."

"Although what you said is right, and since my uncle does business there, I could just follow him as an apprentice and at least not starve."

"But whenever I think of how vast and boundless that ocean is... I can't help but imagine what a majestic scene it would be to sail across the sea in a galleon."

"However, a ship must be pretty expensive, right? I'd better just work as a sailor first, save up some money, and wait until later..."

The youthful voice echoing in his ears came to an abrupt halt.

Xia Nan knew why the boy had suddenly shut his mouth.

Because just ahead, beyond the glow of the torch's flame, deep in the pitch-black tunnel...

An exceptionally blinding ray of sunlight, like a swaying lamp deep in the night, suddenly fell before them as they rounded a corner.

They had reached the exit.

Unable to suppress his excitement, Colin suddenly quickened his pace, sprinting wildly toward the sunlight.

Then... he came to a sudden, dumbfounded halt.

Xia Nan could even see the youth's arms trembling slightly from excitement, as well as the contours of the muscles tightening on his face as his mouth fell open.

Feeling a stir in his heart, Xia Nan stepped forward to follow him.

Whoosh—

Their vision suddenly cleared!

The oppressive gloom swirling in their hearts—born from the harsh environment of the dark, damp tunnel where they could only hear footsteps and dripping water—vanished in an instant.

The brilliant, radiant sunlight of high noon poured down without any buffer.

Their formerly narrow, confined field of vision rapidly expanded.

Standing at the cave entrance halfway up the mountain, there were no longer any obstructions before them.

Barracuda Bay, their destination.

Like a massive, dynamic panorama, it instantly unfolded before their eyes, bringing a powerful visual shock.

The first thing to enter their sight was, naturally, the vast azure sea that nearly filled every inch of their vision, stretching all the way to the horizon, leaving only a hazy arc connecting with the sky.

It was like an incomparably massive, radiant sapphire with countless facets. As the shimmering light danced and flickered, the undulating seawater crushed the brilliant glow of the scorching sun into scattered strands of dazzling golden light.

Then, set against the crushed white sea foam, was a perfect arc embraced by the emerald-green mountains like the crook of an arm.

Within that embrace, a forest of masts and sails swayed with the waves. Countless ships, large and small and of various styles, packed the entire bay to the brim. Faded tan, freshly dyed bright red, the indigo of merchant fleets, an ominous pitch-black, and even the star-studded silver-gray only seen on exotic vessels... Layers upon layers of flags connected with one another, dyeing the seawater into a brilliant mosaic.

Their gaze continued downward.

Barracuda Bay, this important southern port of the Servia Kingdom, was finally revealed to Xia Nan after a journey of nearly fifty days.

Pressed tightly against the water and the port, located at the lowest elevation, were countless dark wooden buildings clinging to the coastline like barnacles.

There was no meticulous planning to them, and the whole lacked any coherent style.

Dark red, deep gray, and dark green roofs were pieced together densely with almost no gaps. Beneath them lay a labyrinth of winding, narrow streets where countless figures could faintly be seen squirming and shuttling back and forth, hauling cargo between the port and the city district like ants. Even the air seemed to distort slightly from the boiling heat of the noise and bustle.

Moving their gaze upward, the outlines of the buildings and roads grew clearer. The main construction material shifted from wood to light-colored stone and plaster. The arrangement abruptly became orderly, and the streets grew wide and clean. Hanging on both sides were flags and signboards with obscure meanings, though one could guess they belonged to banks, merchant guilds, or trade shops.

Even the posture of the pedestrians walking on the road instantly became relaxed and unhurried. It was as if it were a completely different world from the port below.

And further up, reaching the highest point...

It was an entirely different scene.

The overall appearance of the buildings could barely be seen. Lush, verdant tropical plants used for landscaping walled off all prying eyes, leaving only a few pure white marble pillars and painted glazed tiles "accidentally" exposed to reflect a soft, fluorescent glow under the sunlight.

Quiet and distant, a symbol of wealth and power.

Overlooking the boiling port below.

As for Xia Nan, aside from the visual shock...

There was also the massive wave of sound that rushed into his face after stepping out of the cold, dark cave:

The neat and vigorous work chants of the dock laborers, the crisp and rhythmic striking of the blacksmith shops, the out-of-tune lute music drifting from the taverns, the noisy cries of seagulls circling the sky, the blasts of horns as ships entered and left the port, the booming crash of waves beating against the shore...

They all melded into an endless, unique symphony named Barracuda Bay.

His chest rose and fell slightly as the faintly salty sea breeze surged into his nose with his breaths.

Quietly feeling the spectacular scenery before him, Xia Nan stood in place, finally finding a sense of reality regarding his long journey of over a month.

In his past life in modern society, empowered by advanced technology and productive forces, he had naturally seen countless landscapes millions of times more spectacular than the bay before him. Whether it was steel forests forged from reinforced concrete or primeval scenery untouched by human presence for thousands of years, he could take it all in with a turn of his head out a window or a click of a mouse.

Logically, he shouldn't have been moved by this scene in the slightest.

But he had to admit, after experiencing such a long journey—one he had never experienced in both his lifetimes combined—and walking out of the dark tunnel to see the sight before him...

An inexplicable emotion welled up spontaneously from the bottom of his heart.

"Barracuda Bay... we finally made it."

If it was already like this for Xia Nan, the reaction of the green youth beside him—who had lived in a remote village surrounded by forests since childhood and had only ever seen trees and the sky—could only be described as overwhelmed.

He stood dumbfounded in place, completely motionless.

His pupils shook, and his mouth hung open subconsciously.

He seemed to want to say something to express, or perhaps vent, the shock and astonishment in his heart.

Yet right now, he was like someone who had lost the ability to string words together, only muttering disjointed vocabulary that failed to form a sentence:

"Mr. Xia Nan... the sea... the ocean..."

"It's so big... there are so many houses... people, too many people..."

Xia Nan naturally understood the youth's reaction. He didn't rush him, instead just standing next to the boy, admiring the magnificent scenery beneath the cliff.

It wasn't until several minutes later that Colin finally recovered from the impact of Barracuda Bay.

Carrying a bit of embarrassment, he couldn't help but want to lower his head, yet couldn't bear to tear his gaze away from the beautiful scenery below. As a result, he displayed a stiff and awkward posture as he apologized to Xia Nan, "I'm sorry, Mr. Xia Nan, I..."

Waving his hand, Xia Nan gestured for the boy not to worry about it.

He cast his gaze toward the mountain trail beside them that stretched all the way down, eventually merging with countless roads and vanishing into the city district.

"Let's go. We'll go find your Uncle Paddy first."