Countless Beastn craned their necks in anticipation.
An Jin nodded, took Mi Yin’s hand, and with an equally ecstatic Xi and a crowd of other Beastn following behind, they walked up the long wooden gangplank and onto the ship.
The space on the ship was even more breathtaking than its large external appearance suggested. The hull was streamlined, with pointed, raised ends and a wide, bulging middle section where the cabins were concentrated.
A massive banner fluttered from the mast, snapping loudly in the strong wind, heralding the imminent departure!
An Jin and the others went straight to the ship’s helm.
anwhile, Beastn stood ready at a hundred giant oars. They were all Sea Clan Beastn, natural swimrs.
Since this was the first sea trial and it was currently the river’s flood season, most of the Beastn on board had been replaced with Water Beastn to prevent any accidents.
As everyone watched with bated breath, An Jin turned the helm. At the sa ti, the Beastn began to powerfully row the hundred oars, chanting, "ONE-TWO-ONE—! ONE-TWO-ONE—!"
The ship was moving!
The countless Beastn watching from the beach erupted in a thunderous cheer.
The feeling of steering and controlling the ship was indescribably wonderful. An Jin couldn’t help but curve her lips into a smile.
She steadied her nerves, her gaze fixed on the towering waves the ship was parting ahead, and smoothly changed direction.
The great ship slowly began to turn around.
An Jin ordered them to increase speed, intending to test the ship’s limits. The Beastn managing the oars picked up their pace.
"HEAVE-HO—! HEAVE-HO—!"
Having never experienced the coastal scenery from this close, the dozen or so Land Beastn on board were slack-jawed with amazent and all rushed to the ship’s side.
The boundless azure sea roiled with murky white waves. From ti to ti, schools of unknown fish would leap from the water, their crystalline droplets and scales refracting the light into a rainbow of colors.
Countless seagulls circled overhead.
The damp, salty scent of the ocean filled their nostrils.
The salty sea breeze brushed past their ears, sending strands of hair dancing in the air as the world before them rapidly receded into the distance.
Looking back, they were already far from land. Occasionally, they could hear the distant calls of whales and various other strange, deep-sea sounds.
An even more terrifyingly massive shadow passed beneath the ship, making the vessel seem as fragile and precarious as a small paper boat.
Fortunately, the colossal undersea shadow just swam by lazily before disappearing. The Beastn, who had been holding their breath, all let out a collective sigh of relief.
Many of the Sea Clan Beastn were already flushed with excitent. This long-lost feeling of ’After so many years, I’m finally ho’ made them ecstatic, and one by one, they dove into the water.
The waters beneath the ship were suddenly filled with many different kinds of "fish."
Xi, who was beside her, also looked at the surrounding sea with longing, but he was reluctant to leave An Jin’s side. He glanced back and forth, unable to make a decision.
"Go on and play."
An Jin said with a smile.
Xi’s eyes lit up. He nodded solemnly, then leaped into the sea, becoming a carefree Little rfolk.
After a mont,
"Ah Jin!"
The rfolk broke through the surface of the water and, through the lingering mist, waved with a brilliant smile at his beloved female.
The rfolk had beautiful, dripping wet blue hair and blue eyes as magnificent and deep as the vast ocean. His half-exposed upper body was as exquisite and flawless as a jade carving, and the tip of his azure fish tail, just barely visible, was playfully entangled with a few strands of seaweed.
His lush blue hair floated on the water’s surface like seaweed. The rfolk’s stunningly clear features held a natural bewitchnt that made one’s heart race, an unforgettable sight.
An Jin kept one hand on the helm as she glanced over at him, her smile growing wider. "Have fun, and rember to co ho!"
"Mhm!" he nodded, then dove back under the water and vanished.
The first test run: ship integrity was good, with an average speed of 20 kiloters per hour.
Initial load of over 100 people, carrying capacity was good.
An Jin turned the helm and started heading back, planning to load a few hundred more Beastn and a certain weight of cargo to see if the ship’s carrying capacity could et expectations.
Ever since boarding the ship, Mi Yin had suddenly grown quiet. At first, An Jin had assud he, like the others, had gone off to admire the ocean view.
But she later noticed he looked unwell. He was leaning against a cabin wall, his snake tail hanging limply on the floor, motionless.
He had the haggard look of soone suffering from seasickness.
An Jin was starting to feel tired anyway, so she handed the helm over to another trained Beastman and walked over to him, putting an arm around him. "What’s wrong?"
"I feel sick."
He shook his head slightly, his brows furrowed so deeply they ford a faint crease between them.
"You must be seasick. After all, this is your first ti on a ship." She noticed a few other Beastn leaning against the side of the cabin, their faces pale.
They were still over an hour away from land. An Jin had never experienced motion sickness herself, so in her oversight, she had forgotten to prepare any seasickness dicine in advance.
"Can you hold on?" She had seen how miserable seasickness could make people—in severe cases, they could even vomit until they passed out. The way Mi Yin was forcing himself to endure it suggested he was already near his limit.
Although the extrely proud Mi Yin didn’t want to show weakness in front of his beloved partner, the wave of nausea that churned his insides was becoming unbearable.
He shook his head weakly.
"While you still have so strength left, why don’t you join the Water Beastn and swim in the ocean for a bit? You might feel better." She recalled that he never seed to have this problem when he swam in the water normally.
Mi Yin nodded, then leaped into the water, transford into his snake form, and disappeared.
He reached the shore half an hour before the ship.
anwhile, An Jin had guided the ship and its occupants away from the deep-sea area and was gradually approaching the shallow shoals.
Many of the Water Beastn, having had their fun, had also returned to the ship.
Everything was proceeding smoothly.
In an instant, a monstrous wave, dozens of ters high, rose from the sea and slamd down on the ship, forcing it under!
The vessel rocked precariously. Only after the remaining seawater had completely drained from the scuppers did it stabilize and resu its steady course.
However—
"The City Lord is gone!"
Realizing the ship was only moving in a straight line and couldn’t turn, a Beastman anxiously ran into the cabin, only to find it empty.
Large puddles of water remained on the cabin’s wooden floor.
Hundreds of Water Beastn imdiately dove into the sea, transford into their beast forms, and began a large-scale search in all directions.
And among them, a particularly long and beautiful Blue Shark swam the fastest and farthest!
’Ah Jin!!’
’I just saw it! A deep-red rmaid took Ah Jin!’
’But that rmaid was unnaturally fast! I was so close... so close to stopping it!’
Blue Sharks are the natural kings of the rmaid Clan. They have an innate bloodline suppression over ordinary rmaids, and he could use this connection to track the fleeing rmaid.
Acting faster than thought, Xi flicked his tail and shot forward several hundred ters in an instant, giving chase.
’But why would that strange rmaid kidnap Ah Jin??’
...
The Water Beastn searched the entire surrounding area, not leaving a single stone unturned or a single seashell unchecked, but they still couldn’t find the vanished An Jin.
Not only that, but after returning to take a headcount, they discovered that Xi had also completely disappeared.
’Could that rfolk have kidnapped the City Lord!?’
’We always knew he had feelings for the City Lord, but we never thought he’d resort to such despicable ans! It makes sense! Those vicious, cold-blooded rmaids are always coming ashore to snatch away our precious land-dwelling females!’
The Beastn were furious, but with their limited strength, there was nothing they could do. They decided to hurry back and report what happened to Ling Hong... ’The Wolf Beast isn’t here, so we’ll tell Lord Mi Yin!’
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