Chapter 381 - 378: The Changing Sea

Chapter 381: Chapter 378: The Changing Sea

Mo Ling stared at the shark carcasses on the metal floor, somewhat dazed.

’So... were these the sharks from my dream?’

He stepped forward and picked up one of the shark carcasses.

Squeezing it, he felt a rubbery texture. It was very strange.

As his palm tightened, the shark’s body unexpectedly let out a SQUISH SQUISH sound, just like a rubber toy.

At the same time, a foul stench assaulted him, like the smell of low-quality plastic.

The disgusting smell was too much for Mo Ling. He immediately threw the shark carcasses into the nearby sea.

Even after tossing the carcasses, a disgusting, sticky feeling lingered on his palm.

Mo Ling’s thoughts returned to the dream.

’Teleportation can even happen in a dream?’

Sharks, spiders...

’The spiders were the robots on the ship, and the sharks were those strange Sound Sharks.’

A robot on the ship was still diligently recording something. As Mo Ling continued to watch, he discovered it was actually composing a new notice.

The robot stood before the control panel, scrolled the notices page to the very end, and after a series of operations, a new line of text was added:

"Boarding with handbells is prohibited..."

Only then did the robot return to its post.

’So that’s it. The robots write the notices.’

’Or rather, the robots are constantly refining them.’

’Perhaps there were only a few notices in the beginning. They slowly grew to their current state after the Tiansuo’s repeated voyages.’

It dawned on Mo Ling.

’No wonder there are so many rules, and they’re so illogical.’

’The robots probably don’t modify previous rules. Or perhaps they don’t have the authorization to.’

’They can only keep adding new ones, trying to make the notices more comprehensive.’

’It’s like some kind of AI training—using repeated voyages to build the most "perfect" set of rules from one experience at a time.’

Suddenly, it all seemed very reasonable to Mo Ling.

’After all, isn’t the ship run by a group of intelligent machines?’

’It’s just that while these notices might be easy for robots to understand, they seem utterly chaotic to a human.’

’A robot’s logic is built from one "statement" after another. The more statements there are, the more thorough they can be.’

’Humans, on the other hand, have no choice but to memorize such statements by rote.’

However, Mo Ling breathed a sigh of relief after figuring out the origin of the notices.

’These rules aren’t set in stone. Violating some might only attract a bit of danger; maybe some aren’t even fatal.’

’The Sound Sharks from before didn’t seem all that powerful.’

’The notices are just about mitigating risk as much as possible. They can’t guarantee absolute safety.’

As Mo Ling pondered, the bow of the Tiansuo slowly began to spin again. The entire vessel gradually resumed its original speed, rising and falling with the waves as it sailed onward.

’Looks like the ship only stops between 3:00 and 4:00 a.m.’

’That must be to avoid the Sound Sharks’ attacks.’

’Once that window passes, it can proceed.’

The hull vibrated. A humming once again filled the cabin as the Tiansuo accelerated, plunging into the current.

Mo Ling had gone to bed early, but after the Sound Shark attack, he was now wide awake.

He looked outside the ship.

The water outside the porthole was frighteningly black. It no longer had the sparkling quality of the daytime, but instead looked like a thick layer of oily grime.

As the Tiansuo rose and fell, the waves slapped against the hull. For some reason, Mo Ling felt the sound was much more muffled than during the day.

The rhythmic, muffled sound of heavy bubbles popping mixed in, their source unknown.

Mo Ling observed carefully for a long time before reaching a stunning conclusion—

The sea... had become viscous.

’This isn’t my imagination...’

At first, Mo Ling thought the pre-dawn darkness was playing tricks on his senses, but after careful observation, he realized the seawater outside had truly changed.

Not only had the "feel" of it touching the hull changed, but even the sounds had become muffled.

The drill at the bow of the Tiansuo seemed to speed up its rotation, as if to cope with this increasingly viscous water.

With the change in the seawater’s texture, the Tiansuo was no longer as nimble. Its movements became slow and ponderous.

Gradually, the Tiansuo’s movements grew sluggish, as if it were mired in thick sludge.

And yet, because of this very viscosity, the Tiansuo’s drill-like bow seemed to gain even more power.

’The thrust is getting stronger.’

Mo Ling suddenly realized that the Tiansuo’s strange method of propulsion was probably designed to cope with the changes in the seawater here.

Under the effect of the accelerating drill, the Tiansuo’s speed didn’t slow in the slightest; instead, it quickened considerably.

The Tiansuo’s long, narrow hull also played its part, minimizing drag.

At this moment, the Tiansuo was like an earthworm, burrowing through the increasingly viscous sea.

The current began to stick to the hull like sludge. The film of water outside the porthole grew thicker and stickier.

Before long, it became like glue. He could clearly feel the change in texture.

This time, Mo Ling no longer doubted his own judgment.

’The sea has definitely gotten a lot thicker. Is this a precursor to ’solidification’?’

The console data had clearly stated: "The center of the Sea of Creation is a solidified landmass."

Perhaps this solidification didn’t have a clear boundary but was a gradual process.

The sea becoming viscous was part of that process.

As the Tiansuo slowly advanced, the sky began to brighten. A faint light shone upon the viscous sea.

When the texture changed, the way the light behaved changed wondrously as well.

The faint light on the current made it seem almost translucent and crystalline.

As the sun climbed over the horizon and rose slowly, its rays pierced the sea, revealing a sight Mo Ling had never seen before.

Countless small, sparkling crystals drifted in the seawater, striking the hull with the waves.

They were scattered like stars in the seawater, shimmering under the sunlight. The surfaces of the shining crystals constantly reflected light, like brilliant diamonds.

The viscous seawater, carrying these diamond-like crystals, surged and rolled onto the Tiansuo’s surface, as if covering it with a coat of diamonds.

The drill on the bow mercilessly shredded this beautiful diamond sea. Shining little crystals were flung into the air, glistening as they bathed in the sunlight.

The sea hadn’t just become viscous; it had become brilliant...

The light from outside the porthole filled the room with dazzling colors. The flashing light seemed to disturb Li Luo, whose eyelids twitched as they slowly began to wake.