“It’s not necessarily a divine war,” Luo Wei analyzed. “Jormungandr hasn’t fully emerged yet. We just happened to witness its movement.”

  Hol Felix spoke slowly, “But the awakening of the Behemoth is a fact. A war in the human world is inevitable.”

  Luo Wei agreed with his statement and nodded. “The Western Continent has long shown signs of turmoil. A great war is unavoidable.”

  When the order of the Western Continent colpses, the old kingdoms fall, and new powers rise, that’s when *The Chronicles of Gan* will begin. By then, she might find a way back home.

  Theodore shouted, “What does a war on the Western Continent have to do with us sea folk? Hol, you’re not even fully human, and Luo Wei, you’re not from the Western Continent either. What are you afraid of?”

  “We should focus on figuring out how to escape! Stop talking about all this nonsense!”

  Hol rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. “Why are you in such a rush? Even if you fall into the sea, you won’t die.”

  “Not dying doesn’t mean I won’t get crippled! What if Jormungandr swallows me whole?”

  “There’s no point in panicking. We definitely can’t escape unless you can summon your ancestor to tell Jormungandr to stop.”

  “My ancestor is in the Bck Reef Sea, hundreds of miles away from here. If you’ve got the skills, go call him yourself!”

  “Enough, stop arguing,” Luo Wei said, frowning deeply. “Be quiet for a moment and let me think of a solution.”

  “You’ve got a solution?” Theodore asked skeptically.

  “Hold on to my waist and free my hands. I need to perform a divination.”

  “You? A novice magic apprentice? Divination?”

  Theodore wasn’t trying to doubt Luo Wei, but most novice magic apprentices couldn’t even enter the spiritual realm. Even those with the best talent could only divine whether their next meal would be meat or soup. Performing divination in a life-threatening situation like this seemed like a joke.

  “Shut up and do as I say, or I’ll throw you off.”

  “Fine, fine, go ahead and divine!”

  Theodore quickly turned his two hands into tentacles, one wrapping around her waist and the other pulling Hol over.

  The imbance in weight on both sides almost made Luo Wei fall.

  “One on each side!”

  “Got it, got it.”

  Bancing herself with difficulty, Luo Wei reached into her pocket and pulled out a turtle shell. She held it in her palm and closed her eyes.

  “You’ve got the wrong thing, Luo Wei. Where did you find that turtle shell? I saw you fiddling with it earlier in the afternoon, and now you’re at it again,” Theodore said curiously.

  Luo Wei’s temple throbbed. “This is my divination tool!”

  “No way! Who uses a turtle shell for divination? A turtle shell is just a dead turtle’s bone. It’s disrespectful to keep touching it.”

  Unable to bear it any longer, Luo Wei opened her eyes. “Hol, shut him up for me.”

  Theodore was such a noisy octopus, never saying anything helpful!

  “Alright.” Hol covered Theodore’s mouth with his hand. “Is this okay?”

  “Perfect.” Luo Wei was satisfied.

  “Miss Luo Wei, may I ask what you’re divining for?”

  “Crity.”

  Luo Wei closed her eyes again and began meditating.

  Divining for a path of survival required interpreting celestial signs, which consumed a lot of energy. She often got it wrong.

  This time, she wasn’t looking for a path of survival because she already had an idea.

  Knock on the turtle shell, invoke the four symbols, consult the twenty-eight lunar mansions, and ask whether today is auspicious or ominous.

  The eastern consteltions shone brightly.

  The Horn Consteltion, the second mansion of the Azure Dragon in the east, guarded by the Dragon’s Horn, symbolized a ship’s rudder. Change would bring fortune.

  Luo Wei opened her eyes. “There’s a glimmer of hope. The method is correct.”

  “What method?” Hol asked curiously.

  Luo Wei pointed at Jormungandr’s head. “We go there. The path of survival lies there.”

  Hol was stunned by the boldness of her idea.

  Theodore broke free from Hol’s hand and shouted, “You’ve got to be kidding me, Luo Wei! Going to its head would just get us killed faster!”

  “Do you have any better ideas?”

  “I…” Theodore’s tentacles twisted in frustration.

  If he had a better idea, would they still be stuck here?

  “Since you don’t have a solution, let’s treat a dead horse like it’s alive. After all, nothing could be worse than death, right?”

  “Well, when you put it that way…”

  “I agree,” Hol suddenly said. “I agree to go there.”

  Theodore wore a miserable expression. “Fine, I’ll agree too.”

  Luo Wei smiled, her starry eyes gleaming with a captivating light. “Trust me. This will be the best decision you’ve ever made.”

  She fpped her wings, soaring high above the roaring waves, piercing through the damp mist like a bzing meteor plunging into the heart of the enemy.

  “Ahhhhhh!”

  Theodore screamed at the top of his lungs. This was too thrilling, even more so than when he got swatted by the Behemoth. Back then, he was flying away from the beast, but now he was getting closer to the giant serpent.

  The Colossal Serpent’s eyes were rger than the moon in the sky, giving him the illusion that he was about to crash into its pupils.

  Hol kept his eyes shut, his face pale. The sensation of flipping and weaving through the air was terrifying, making liches feel utterly insecure.

  The giant serpent flicked its tongue, each forked tip over a hundred meters long. The three narrowly soared through the split in the tongue, then shot straight upward through its steam-spewing nostrils, finally nding on the sharp, bck peak of its head.

  The moment their feet touched the ground, Theodore vomited loudly, expelling a pile of half-digested sea fish.

  Luo Wei held her breath, her hands digging tightly into the cracks of the serpent’s nose.

  Hol opened his eyes, his face turning from green to white. His limbs transformed into flexible tree roots, anchoring deeply into the gaps between the serpent’s scales.

  After vomiting, Theodore used his long tentacles to wrap around the peak, his suction cups firmly attaching to the serpent’s nose.

  The sea surged, waves roared, and the Jormungandr Cruise Ship officially set sail.

  Bck seawater cascaded down the serpent’s back as howling waves swept across the ocean, spreading destructive force far and wide, stirring the entire sea.

  In less than half an hour, the rolling waves submerged several isnds hundreds of kilometers away. Sea birds were swallowed by the waves, and weaker sea monsters were obliterated.

  Amid the turbulent sea, a vast isnd surged forward through the currents.

  Three legendary youths clung to this isnd, under the radiant moonlight, slowly heading toward the Northern Sea.

  The serpent’s speed was actually quite slow, barely reaching twelve miles per hour.

  Luo Wei, protected by a tentacle and a web of tree roots, fell asleep on the swaying hill.

  When they woke up, the sun had already risen.

  She saw the winding coastline in the distance, lush forests, and a vast nd glowing under the morning sun. The boundless territory resembled a magnificent painting of mountains and rivers, unfolding before her eyes.

  This wasn’t the Western Continent.

  Luo Wei immediately realized this.

  Could this be the legendary Fog Empire?

  Were there people living in the Fog Empire?

  She turned her head to look at her two companions.

  Theodore and Hol were still asleep.

  Perfect. Luo Wei raised her hand without hesitation and chopped at the back of their necks."""