Chapter 943 — Precious Knowledge

He frowned: it seemed that even the most powerful and sensitive custom-built models could not maintain contact with land after crossing the coastal boundary line. If arcane-network communication was to remain functional over the sea, relay nodes would have to be established on the ocean, or some kind of communication facility laid on the seabed.

As for launching communication satellites... it was probably too early to consider that.

The howling sea wind swept past the outside of Metze's protective barrier, and by the time the wailing reached their ears it was already very faint. The sea surface shimmered under the setting sun, displaying a vast and magnificent beauty that those who had lived their whole lives on land could scarcely imagine.

Metze had already lowered her altitude twice; by now she was more or less flying at low altitude.

"The signals are all cut off," Amber said, scratching her hair. "Signal attenuation over the ocean really is faster than on land—the large hub in Northport ought to be able to cover this area, by all rights."

"I can go a bit lower. I am rather good at ultra-low-altitude flight," Metze's voice came from ahead. "Skimming the sea shortens the straight-line distance between your communication equipment and land, and the interference should be a little better too."

"Then I will have to trouble you," Gaoyang said, not declining the other's kindness—after all, he did want to gather more data. "Lower your altitude."

"A trifle—just a flap of the wings."

Metze said casually, and then the mighty dragon spread her wings wide, adjusted her overall flight posture, and brought her altitude down once more till she was almost skimming the surface—the waves rolled and curled beneath her wings, sudden rushing air currents lifting foam and debris from the water and leaving a broken white wake trailing behind the dragon.

A humming sound came from those devices; two of them, designed specifically to detect response signals and identify distant hubs, powered on automatically. Characters flickered onto the holographic projections above them—just as Metze had said, closer to the sea surface the magical interference was somewhat improved. It did not last long, however.

Only a few minutes later, the connection was cut again—and this time it truly could not be reestablished.

"Shall I circle for a while longer?" Metze said thoughtfully. "Perhaps we can find a more precise 'boundary point.'"

"...No need," Gaoyang said after a moment's thought, shaking his head. "The equipment has already automatically recorded the relevant data; the technicians will analyze it once we return. Conditions over the ocean change by the moment—whatever you gather circling here a few times will not be of much use."

"All right, then I will climb in altitude," Metze said, shaking her head. "Once I fly higher I will not have to worry about the sea surface. There are a few islands nearby, and if I keep flying this low I am worried I will crash into a mountain."

As she spoke, the dragon lady beat her wings vigorously, and with a slight tilt and surge of acceleration the ocean and sky in Gaoyang's field of view both began to sink downward—while Amber, at his side, called out curiously: "Hey, have you ever crashed into a mountain before?"

"Of course not," Metze said at once. "My flying skills are the best among my peers!"

Amber leaned close to Gaoyang and whispered, "I do not know why, but I keep feeling she is not telling the truth..."

Gaoyang maintained his dignified bearing and said nothing.

But he thought Amber had a point...

Just then, Verodai—who had been resting with her eyes closed at the back the whole time and had hardly spoken a word—suddenly stood up.

The "Saint Princess" stepped forward, came to Gaoyang's side, gazed off into the distance, and said in a low voice, "We're approaching that storm..."

"Holy crap!!" Amber, on Gaoyang's other side, cried out as well. "Are we seriously going straight through it?!"

Ahead along Metze's flight path, a magnificent wall of cloud already stood at the far edge where sea met sky, and as the distance closed, every detail upon that towering cloud wall was coming clear before each of them—it joined ocean and sky, its surface churning with vast cloud masses that shifted sideways; drawn up by the storm's suction, great volumes of seawater were swept into midair and plunged back down again midway up the cloud wall, forming outside the storm's rim a long-sustained tempest of wind and rain. Even from this distance, Gaoyang could plainly see the astonishing ferocity of that rainstorm and the still-higher storm above it—beyond any doubt, a spectacle of nature that humanity at its present stage could never hope to challenge.

Not even the mightiest, most indestructible warship of the Cecil Empire could.

And at this very moment, Metze's flight was heading dead straight for that storm!!

"Straight through, of course," came the dragon lady's deep, thunderlike voice from up ahead, her tone utterly relaxed. "This storm is tremendous in scale. Going around it would cost enormous effort and a great deal of time."

As she spoke, she beat her vast wings once more; the primal runes along their edges lit up one after another, and driven by magic, her altitude began to climb swiftly, while the distant wall of storm cloud sank rapidly in the eyes of Gaoyang and the others.

"Can we get over this storm by going above the cloud wall?" Gaoyang asked at once.

"Ah... if you wanted to clear the storm ring entirely, we'd have to fly up near the boundary between the turbulent layer and the steady-state limit layer—a height where even dragons can't linger for long," Metze's tone seemed to carry a hint of amusement. "We won't fly that high—just to the middle of the turbulent layer will do."

Gaoyang frowned on reflex; instinct told him that by Metze's account, the structure of the Eternal Storm was rather strange: "At that altitude, the storm's force is weaker?"

"Exactly—the storm's power is weaker up there. Still dangerous, of course, for ordinary flying creatures, but for dragonkind it's already no more than a 'strong wind' we can bear," Metze said rather proudly. "I'll shield you all with magic, so just sit tight. Enjoy the journey ahead—I think it will be spectacular for you."

The wind grows weaker higher up instead? Could the Eternal Storm's "power source" lie not in the upper atmosphere, but... near the sea?!