The Pacific Ocean was the world’s largest and deepest body of water. With an area of more than 100 million square kilometers, it contained countless islands and trenches. Finding a ten-meter-long object within it was far worse than looking for a needle in a haystack.
Dozens of meters under the Pacific Ocean, a golden dragon suddenly opened his eyes. Fishes panicked to escape it, but they were downed by the creature in a single gulp.
Shutting his mouth, Louie tasted his prey. He no longer needed to worry about stomach aches as his digestive system was now extremely powerful. He could even digest inorganic substances if he wished, and he had lost most of his aversion to food that humans couldn’t eat after initially becoming a Jesus Lizard. His palate had changed, and so he no longer needed to cook things to find them tasty.
Slowly, his body floated up to the surface, and he pulled out several magic scrolls from his scales.
“After repeated trials, this shipping route should be fine. Now, the survival of my Dragon City depends on whether I can accomplish this.”
Louie’s eyes looked straight into the distance like a thief who was about to carry out a big heist.
And indeed, he was.
He looked down at the high-rank spell scrolls in his hand. If Marches were here, he would have bemoaned how wasteful Louie was being.
But Louie himself couldn’t help it. Before this, his body was just a baby dragon with no spell-casting ability. It took a while to evolve into a juvenile dragon that could cast spells, but because of the plight of Dragon City, he had to leave San Soliel and come back to Earth to make plans.
Time simply did not give him the opportunity to learn many spells.
“When this task is over, I will definitely go back to San Soliel and properly learn magic. I won’t ask to learn high-rank spells, but at least I want to learn low-rank spells,” Louie muttered.
Louie was able to taste how delicious it was to cast magic on Earth. He now had a great desire to learn magic.
“Here it comes!”
Louie’s pupils shrunk for a moment and saw a dark shadow in the distance.
……
The ocean freighter, the Neversnar, belonged to the American Shipping Company, a business that was, confusingly, first listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. The Neversnar itself was registered in the British Virgin Islands.
Although aircraft were faster, in terms of cost and carrying capacity, sea transportation was still the world’s leading channel. Freight companies all over the world carried out the important task of importing and exporting.
According to the classification, this ship was a class VI ship, carrying between 200,000 to 300,000 tons, which took about a month to arrive from North America to Asia.
And this time, the Neversnar’s cargo was grain.
The United State is the world’s largest exporter of food, exporting nearly 100 million tons per year. Its total export of food was about a quarter of the total global exports.
Most large farms in the United States have about a hundred hectares of land. Due to successfully mechanizing its agricultural sector, it could provide a surplus of food for its citizens and export the remainder. So, it was said with some exaggeration that farmers in the United States of America were a group of rich landowners.
The main export of food was corn and soybeans. Of course, wheat, pork, and other essential goods were also exported to Asia, Africa, and even Europe.
These man-made steel structures could even make blue whales in the ocean look small.
On the ship’s deck, a few sailors were breathing in the ocean air while chatting.
In the past, sea voyages were deadly endeavors where the slightest slip up could lead to a watery death. In modern times, however, ships were able to skirt most natural disasters. The greatest dangers lay with man-made threats such as piracy.
But the Pacific Ocean had always been the main sphere of influence of the United States Navy. Unlike places like the Caribbean, Malacca, and Somalia, pirates were relatively scarce here. Compared to the dangerous Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean was quieter, making work there quite comfortable. The only problem was the long distance.
“Lee, do you see? It’s only been a day, but this video has traveled all over the world. It’s amazing how the U.S. Army was able to find such a creature like a dragon in the Amazon jungle.”
A sailor nibbled on fruit and joked with his colleague.
Voyaging in the sea for a month could drive a person crazy, but thanks to modern technology, everyone was connected to the internet. They could even connect while they were in the Pacific Ocean, but the signal was not that great.
“How could I possibly be out of the loop? I even contacted home to confirm what’s going on. My friends in New York say that celebrities and reporters have started a march on Washington. Apparently, they want the government to release more information.”
“Haha, how could those politicians ever make such sensitive information public?”
“My family also told me to be careful, saying that the world might become a dangerous place. Could it be that I have to watch out for giant dragons in the Pacific Ocean?”
“Your family is probably asking you to be careful of sirens, to not be charmed by their songs. Once you’re trapped, you would get your spirit sucked out. Not even your girlfriend would be able to attend your funeral!”
“Hahahahahaha!”
There was a joyful clamor as the sailors burst into laughter.
If dragons really existed and those myths and legends were real, then I would want to meet a mermaid. Oh, just imagine it… I wouldn’t even mind if they robbed my soul.”
“Are you okay in the head? We’ve crossed this route many times already. Have you ever seen a mermaid?”
“This time is different. You can see that a dragon has already appeared, so it shouldn’t be impossible for there to be mermaids.”
The voice retorted.
Because the dragon in the Amazon jungle disappeared without reappearing, there was no impact on the lives of ordinary people. The dragon had only become a topic for after-dinner discussion. There were even people who were beginning to think that the video was a complete hoax, otherwise, how could there be no news of anything after so many days passed.
The sailors continued to talk and laugh as they enjoyed a rare break. They began to brag about their girlfriends being the prettiest and talking about which beauties they were courting.
Suddenly, one of the sailors noticed something wrong. He pointed at the surroundings and said, “Guys, don’t you feel that the sky is weird?”
The others looked around in confusion.
They saw the turquoise blue sky and endless ocean rapidly change. They felt as if they were wearing presbyopic glasses. The ocean itself was still the same, but the space afar seemed to have become a distorted blur. They felt as if the distant scenery had been patched with mosaics.
“What the hell is happening?”
A sailor shouted in alarm, but no one could answer him.
They had seen stormy seas before and even seen fierce sharks, but this was the first time they were witnessing this strange phenomenon. It was as if they had entered an unknown world.
“Go find the captain and the vice-captain! Ask them what’s going on!”
The sailors were panicking and were about to enter the cabin. Suddenly, the ship shuddered, to a halt in the middle of the ocean. The inertia caused the sailors to fall down onto the deck, and there were many cries of pain.
After standing back up with difficulty, they cursed and the yelling continued again.
“Quick, quickly look! Look at the tail of the ship!”
Shouts of panic tore through the air like torn curtains.
They could see a huge whirlpool appear, and under the fearful gazes of the people, a monster beyond human imagination slowly crept out of the sea.
“Hey, man, is that the siren that you were looking for?” a sailor’s mouth was dry and his voice quavered.
“Oh, God. Wha…what the hell is that monster!”
The sailors’ pupils contracted. They looked at the horrible creature with terrified expressions as if their hearts and guts were about to come out.
“What siren, quickly move the ship! Don’t let that thing come over.”
“I-it’s coming!!!”
Roars and screams turned the freighter into a complete mess.