Keep the Lively Atmosphere Going

After a lively meal, Yinsen left the cabin and came straight out onto the deck.

By then, night had fully fallen, and the sky was filled with stars. Yinsen did not bother bringing out a deck chair. Instead, he sat on the deck with his back against the mast, staring blankly at the star-filled sky.

In the past, he could have sat there undisturbed for as long as he liked. Even after Logan, Loki, Selene, and Ada had come aboard, none of them had been particularly fond of chatting or making small talk.

That was no longer possible now. He had only been sitting there for a short while when O’Connell, bored in the cabin, came over and sat beside him against the mast, gazing at the brilliant night sky as well.

"Is this really not my world?"

"I can guarantee that it absolutely isn’t."

Yinsen did not turn to look at O’Connell’s expression, so he had no idea whether O’Connell looked frustrated or simply did not care.

"It doesn’t seem that different from the world I lived in."

Since he had nothing better to do, Yinsen gave him a simple explanation of this world’s situation.

These people had arrived far too suddenly. Yinsen had never planned to bring them back before, so after returning, he had not followed his usual arrangements. He had merely settled them in, then introduced the crew aboard the ship.

He had not yet had the chance to explain the general situation of this world to them.

Yinsen’s explanation was very detailed. While he was introducing this world, Jonathan and Evelyn came up onto the deck as well, so they learned about it too.

"It’s all seawater?"

"No wonder you live on a ship."

The idea of islands rising from the seabed and rapidly growing all kinds of plants, even animals, struck Evelyn as incredibly strange. She kept asking questions, making Yinsen spend even more time explaining the world.

Once Yinsen had more or less finished, Jonathan finally asked about Yinsen’s "destination." "Do we just drift aimlessly across the sea forever, searching for islands that suddenly appear?"

That kind of life sounded free, but it also felt as though they could run out of food at any moment. It was hardly an easy way to live. Jonathan had already begun considering what kind of world he wanted to move to instead of staying in this ocean-covered place and worrying about where his next meal would come from.

One look at his expression told Yinsen what he was thinking. He casually reassured Jonathan that he did not need to worry about food.

As for the matter of a destination, Yinsen did not know how to answer either. He could only first explain the Stormy Seas and the Sea of Miracles beyond them.

Perhaps everyone was bored, because the ship’s crew gradually came out onto the deck, each finding a place to linger.

Logan stood by the rail, smoking a cigar, while Ada leaned against the cabin’s wooden wall with her arms folded, listening to Yinsen and the others talk.

Who knew whether Loki was doing it deliberately, but he stood atop the Poop Deck, one hand on the railing as he looked down at everyone on the deck.

Even Annette, who usually preferred hiding in her room to conduct research, along with Laura and Sherry, who preferred staying in their rooms to play games, came out.

In no time at all, the deck had become as lively as the dining room earlier.

Logan and the others naturally already knew everything Yinsen was talking about. Even Ada, who had joined later, had already learned those details.

Jonathan and the others, however, had only just heard about them and found the idea of a circular Ocean World impossible to comprehend.

"So that means that even after crossing those Stormy Seas, the environment won’t improve much. Then why go there at all?"

Yinsen raised his head again and looked up at the star-filled night sky.

"Because of the Endless Land."

"Hasn’t that already been proven to be just a rumor?"

"The Endless Land really exists."

Yinsen spoke with certainty. Evelyn found that very strange. Jonathan thought about it for a while, then gave up when he could not figure it out, while O’Connell quietly waited for Yinsen to continue.

Quick-witted people like Loki and Ada had already guessed what Yinsen meant.

Sure enough, Yinsen soon said exactly what they had expected.

"The so-called Endless Land is right there."

Yinsen raised his left hand and pointed toward the star-filled night sky. O’Connell beside him and Evelyn standing before him both looked up in the direction he indicated.

"The stars?"

"That is the Endless Land."

At this point, perhaps only the true "antiques," Imhotep and Anck-Su-Namun, did not really understand. However, the two of them were keeping a low profile and did not take the initiative to ask. They simply listened quietly to what Yinsen would say next.

Jonathan stared upward for a while, then lowered his head to look at Yinsen.

"You’re serious?"

"Of course."

Jonathan opened his mouth, only to realize in the end that he did not know what to say.

Should he just tell Yinsen not to dream? Even if those planets had enough land and were fertile enough to produce abundant crops, how could he get there? On the sailing ship beneath their feet? He doubted that this ship could even cross the Stormy Seas Yinsen had mentioned earlier.

Evelyn did not think that far ahead. After looking up, her first thought was that Yinsen had some special magic that could let them leave this place and travel to other planets.

After all, Yinsen could travel between different worlds and planes. Perhaps something like this was simple for him?

Unlike Evelyn, Annette, as a scientist, approached the issue from an entirely different angle.

"I heard Selene mention the Sea of Miracles. Can you be certain that we can leave this Ocean World?"

This ocean-covered world should be enclosed within some kind of energy barrier. Although she did not know what the area around the ocean looked like, she imagined that something similar to the energy cover in the sky existed there as well. If there truly were nothing, the world should be surrounded by powerful suction that would pull everything into the Cosmic Vacuum.

And space was nearly boundless. This world did not look particularly large. If it had been "leaking" all this time, it should have become a lifeless wasteland long ago.

Since it had not become that way, that proved that even the region that appeared to be the Cosmic Vacuum had "walls" as well.

That also proved that the entire Ocean World was surrounded by invisible Energy Walls. Even if Yinsen had set his sights on other planets, he first had to solve the problem of getting out.

"That isn’t much of a problem for me."

Whether it was opening a hole in the Energy Wall, destroying it entirely, or directly opening a portal to leave, Yinsen could choose according to the circumstances.

"What about traveling and living in space?"

Traveling through space was nothing like sailing the sea. There were far more problems to consider, and they were far more troublesome. Worse still, no one knew how long they would be traveling through space. The distance between planets was enough to drive anyone mad, and replenishing all kinds of supplies would be a major headache.

"And… you’ll need a sufficiently large spaceship."

"All of that is easy to solve."

Annette had originally wanted to say more about space, to make Yinsen take this matter seriously instead of treating space travel like a joke.

But then she remembered that Yinsen could travel to multiple worlds, including civilizations far more advanced than her own era. Perhaps he had already studied space travel in detail?

After spending so much time with him, she was certain that Yinsen was not someone living in an "ignorant age," completely unaware of "modern knowledge." He surely knew enough about space. If he still had this attitude with that knowledge in mind, it could only mean that he already had a complete plan.

"If that’s the case, then I’m looking forward to that day arriving sooner."

Countless people had dreamed of space travel. Even those who had never dreamed of it would still be deeply interested in such an experience. Just a few exchanges between the two made nearly everyone present, apart from a select few, begin looking forward to that day.

Imhotep and Anck-Su-Namun still did not understand what they were talking about.

Loki, on the other hand, had no idea how many times he had traveled through space, so naturally he felt no anticipation.

The rest were more or less intrigued. Even O’Connell and Jonathan, who knew far less about space than the few "people from the future," showed great interest after Selene explained it to them.

As for Evelyn? She was not particularly interested in space. She was more curious whether Yinsen would travel to more worlds, whether he might visit a world from one of Earth’s ancient dynasties, or whether he had already visited any famous ancient dynasty.

"Camelot?"

"Wait." Before Evelyn could react, O’Connell was the first to ask in disbelief. "Camelot? King Arthur’s Camelot?"

"Yes."

Arthur had been very young when Yinsen visited that time period. He did not know whether the legendary city of Camelot had been built at the height of Arthur’s reign after he inherited the throne, or whether it had already existed.

After so many years, he could be certain that when he visited Arthur again, the city would definitely exist. Even if it had not originally appeared so early, the "enhanced" King Arthur was fully capable of bringing it into being ahead of time.

"Any others?"

"Doesn’t seem like there are any."

Yinsen thought about it. Most of the time, he traveled through modern or relatively recent eras. The worlds that were somewhat more ancient were not on Earth, such as Sanctuary World and Azeroth.

He had not expected that, after asking those questions, Evelyn would make such a decisive choice.

"I think staying on your ship will give me more opportunities to witness more legendary history. So until I can return to my own world, I want to remain on your ship."

Yinsen nodded. He had no objections.

Evelyn’s decision to stay also meant that Jonathan and O’Connell would remain aboard. It was easy to foresee that the Goddess of Dawn would continue to grow livelier.