Chapter 776 — A Gaze Toward the Sea

"I know. But we cannot after all cower forever on this narrow continent," Gao Dai said. "There is a far vaster world in the ocean's depths. The sirens, the dragonkin—you know of these mighty races. It was from beyond the sea that they came. They can travel freely between their realms and this continent, while we humans cannot take a single step beyond. That is hardly a reassuring state of affairs."

This continent... was it so narrow?

For a moment Victoria was somewhat perplexed, but she found herself largely in agreement with the latter half of Gao Song's words.

Those ancient and mighty races could come and go through the human world at will, while humanity could not take one step into the sea. To know that a vaster world might lie across the waters, yet to hide upon the land and merely guess at what was there—such a state of affairs was indeed galling.

Of course, an empire—especially one still in need of development—could not launch cost-blind ocean voyages merely to avoid being "galled." Without sufficient profit to drive it, no matter how great the prestige of the Emperor and the Supreme Chancery, forcing through an enterprise with no discernible future would shake the Empire's foundations. But if it were merely a matter of limited exploration, of accumulating a certain store of technology... that was another matter entirely.

She knew that Gao Song's meaning must be the same.

On that basis, she began earnestly to consider how, given the present strength of the Cecil Empire, the open sea might be explored.

Deep in thought, she said slowly, "Your Majesty, if you mean to explore the open sea, then the northern coastline is likely not a very good 'departure point'..."

Gao Qi raised an eyebrow. "Why do you say so?"

"According to numerous records, setting out from the northern coastline and passing through the sea passage formed by the Kingdom of Violet and the Holy Dragon Duchy, there lies upon the waters an exceptionally vast permanent storm ring. This ring seems never to weaken or shift, year round, and within it there is no safe route whatsoever. No human-built vessel could break through its blockade..."

Gao Yang's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "There is such a storm ring?"

Beyond the continent's far north, beyond the "seaward peninsula" formed by the Kingdom of Violet and the Holy Dragon Duchy—that was the blind spot of his satellite surveillance!

"Yes," Victoria nodded. "In fact, it is not only recorded in ancient texts. When the weather is clear and the arcane environment over the sea is relatively stable, gazing toward the ocean from the heights of the northern mountains, one can sometimes see a hazy 'wall of cloud' surging above the waters—indirect proof that the storm ring exists."

"A wall of cloud visible to the naked eye from the Northern Region?!" Gao Yang was genuinely shocked this time. "How large must that thing be?"

"If the ancient records are accurate, and if the Wilde family's centuries of observation and calculation are accurate, its effective range is larger than the entire Northern Region, larger even than the whole Kingdom of Violet—large enough to cover half the Cecil Empire!"

Gao Yang: "..."

After a moment of astonishment, he could not help muttering to himself, "How did such a thing come to be..."

"No one knows. Neither existing magical theory nor meteorological theory can explain it. There are, to be sure, many folk tales in the Northern Region about an eternal storm upon the sea, but they are either self-contradictory absurdities or wild attributions to the power of the gods—of no reference value whatsoever."

"This storm ring is permanent?" Gao Yang could not resist confirming once more.

"Yes. For at least seven hundred years, the Wilde family has never observed the slightest sign of it receding."

"Can we go around it?"

"Not around it from due north—it completely seals off the northern route. If the northern circumnavigation route could be successfully opened, then it might be possible to set out from the western side of the strait, skirt the western coastal waters of the Kingdom of Violet, and formally enter the open ocean—but that would be very difficult."

"Yes, no small difficulty," Gao Yang could not help sighing. "Setting aside the sheer length of the voyage added out of nowhere, whether the Kingdom of Violet would even be willing to let our exploration ships make a great circuit around their coastal waters is anyone's guess..."

Even as he spoke, another question rose in his mind:

North of the continent... north of the continent there was a vast, ceaseless storm structure—so what else lay in that direction?

The dragons had supposedly come from that direction...

Could that vast storm be connected to the dragons? Or rather... had that storm been created by the dragons to guard their gateway?

If that were truly the case, then exploring the ocean by way of the north would indeed be the worst of all options.

Just then, Victoria suddenly spoke again: "Your Majesty, if the northern route is not an option, then in fact we still have one other choice..."

Gao Yang raised an eyebrow. "One other choice?"

Victoria gave a slight nod. "We do not have only the northern coast as our outlet to the sea. In the northeastern corner of the Eastern Region, near the border with the Duchy of the Holy Dragon, at the end of the cliffs and highlands, there is another, very small outlet to the sea..."

As the Ice Duke spoke slowly, the satellite map in Gao Yang's mind slowly adjusted as well.

He saw that outlet to the sea—the one he had subconsciously overlooked because it lay near the border of the Duchy of the Holy Dragon and the surrounding area lacked any clear landmarks.

Suddenly, he felt the image in his mind shudder.

Fragments of scattered, broken memory surfaced from the depths of his mind!

They were the memories of Gao Yang Cecil!