South Sea
The South Sea was a major route connecting the east and the west sides of the continent. However, Granvaloa had recently designated it off-limits to any and all voyages.
This was a difficult decision they’d been pushed to make after the Corpse Stronghold had devastated the adventure fleet. In order to prevent any further casualties, the order would remain in place until the monster was dead.
However, this had negatively impacted Granvaloa’s trade with Caldina’s south and Huang He.
They could travel north, but it would take far longer, and Granvaloa’s poor relationship with Tenchi would complicate the route further, making it hardly less dangerous than cutting through the south.
For Granvaloa, sea routes were like veins and arteries, and this situation slowly started to choke off the lifeblood of their country.
Despite this, there were still a few ships out in the South Sea, and these could be categorized into two groups.
First were merchant vessels that were trying to take advantage of Granvaloa’s perceived cowardice to benefit from the crisis. Most of these had become food for Abyss Shellder.
Second were the hunters—the ships of those who sought out the UBM responsible, fully intent on slaying it.
One could say that the Adventure II where Shu had ended up on was among these. However, Riella’s crew were merely the remnants of the adventure fleet who had set out on their own initiative—they weren’t the hunters on a mission given by Granvaloa.
One of these Granvaloan hunter ships was currently parting the waves on the western side of the South Sea.
It was a mechanical heavy cruiser with the ancient Greek word “Ἀτλαντίς”—Atlantis—written on its side in large letters.
It was one of the ships belonging to Maidens of the Depths, also known as Rusalka—the clan that was third in Granvaloa’s rankings.
“Miss Ursula. I just ran a scan. There’s nothing large visible within twenty thousand metels. No sign of Abyss Shellder either,” reported one crew member on its bridge. There was no radar equipment or anything similar in front of her, but that was because she was using her own Embryo to scan the depths.
Embryos could possess powers that far exceeded technology—and sometimes even common sense—which occasionally made them far better at reconnaissance than any equipment could hope to be. That was exactly the situation on board this ship.
“I see. We will be relying on your sight until Vanny... Our leader logs in. Keep up the good work.”
The woman in the captain’s seat responded to the report. She spoke with a soft tone, and though her body was slender, she had a strong, motherly air about her.
“Aye, aye, Captain.”
“When our leader returns, we will go to her boat again. Seelica’s Atlantis is a good ship, but what we need right now is speed. It would be dreadful if we did not make it in time.”
“I hope Riella’s okay,”
“She will be as long as she doesn’t do anything foolish... Though, going out alone like they did is quite foolish in itself... We must find and bring them back as soon as we can.”
Sensing some unexpected troubles on the horizon, Rusalka’s sub-leader—Wall Princess, Ursula—let out a heavy sigh.
✦ ✦ ✦
The crew of the ship were Masters who had cooperated with the adventure fleet. However, they’d been defeated in their previous battle against Abyss Shellder, and they’d even failed to protect Fleet Commander Jonathan—their previous backer.
That was why they were now hunting the UBM again as well as trying to find and secure Riella—not only was it what they wanted to do, but it was the will of the other fleet commanders.
“Catching up to the Adventure II will not be easy,” said Ursula. “We modded this one for speed, but it’s not enough.”
“Well, it is the most cutting-edge ship in Granvaloa,” said another crew member. “Even our Atlantis can’t keep up... The only ones that could are probably the newest GFRS efforts.”
Hearing those four letters made a frown cross Ursula’s face.
GFRS was Granvaloa’s top clan, notable for the number of Masters in its ranks with Embryos they used to assist with shipbuilding, including their Superior leader.
Granvaloa’s shipwrights had spent centuries recovering pre-ancient shipbuilding techniques and developing them further—but because of their sheer focus, GFRS had actually surpassed them in some ways, and as a result they occupied quite a noteworthy position in the country.
“I wonder if they are involved in this,” Ursula said. GFRS was a clan of engineers and shipwrights—not exactly combatants. However, just as Rusalka was backed by the adventure fleet, GFRS was backed by the merchant fleet, and with the losses that fleet was suffering because of this incident, it was possible that they would send GFRS to take care of it.
“I know we don’t get along with them, but they are pretty reliable,” said a crew member.
“That is true...”
GFRS was a group focused on recreating real-life weapons using Infinite Dendrogram’s technology and then upgrading them further. While Dryfe Imperium’s Triangle of Wisdom tried to build humanoid robots—a concept entirely rooted in fiction—GFRS did the same thing with weapons that actually existed in real life, especially those from World War II. Every generation had people who idolized the military, and the clan used that to their advantage. In the few years since its founding, the clan had grown to become the greatest weapon manufacturer in Granvaloa, and they’d already sent many ships to the fight against the Biframe White Whale.
While the indirect nature of their contribution prevented any of them from becoming MVPs, there was no denying that they had played a major role in the defeat of an SUBM.
“Oh, I know well that they are dependable,” said Ursula. “I only wish their leader was a bit more...subdued.”
Her concerns regarding GFRS were focused entirely around one person—the leader of the massive clan, as well as a Superior and one of the Seven Great Embryos of Granvaloa.
This man was known as King of Building, Satomi Yamamoto.
“Ohh...” At Ursula’s words, the rest of the crew voiced their understanding. That was because all of them knew exactly what made Satomi such a problem.
Everyone present had experienced firsthand what his condition had caused him to do.
“This is purely hypothetical...” said Ursula, looking like she was doing her best not to imagine it. “What if he goes to the South Sea for something other than defeating Abyss Shellder or protecting the adventure fleet? What do you think that goal would be?”
The clan members on the bridge couldn’t answer that question. However, Ursula’s words filled them with an unspeakable unease. They quickly shifted focus to their steering, communication, and scanning work.
They could not afford to be too late.
“Riella... Please be okay,” said Ursula, her words spoken like a prayer.