While assisting Sherlock in loading the cargo onto the ship, Richard also boarded.
Descending to the deck below, he entered the cabin and surveyed the entire chamber with a glance. Truthfully spoken, the cabin was not very large but was quite dry and lacked much dampness. This was far better than the ships he had taken when he first came to the East Coast, or when he departed from White Stone Tower to Mo’er.
The cabin contained a few pieces of furniture, not many, but all were practical. Tables, chairs, and beds bore traces of the years but shone with a faint luster after being cleaned. These pieces of furniture and some decorations were securely fastened to prevent damage from the swaying at sea.
Richard walked to the small wooden table, sat down, and felt satisfied as he nodded his head.
His requirements for his living environment were not high; it was enough that it did not interfere with his work. Of course, if it really did interfere with his work, it wouldn’t matter much, for he always carried the Space Handbag with him. He could have easily worked within Eden, though it would have been a bit troublesome. Now, it seems there was no need for that.
At this time, he had also learned more about the ship called the great ship from Sherlock.
For instance, the name of the ship was "Queen Victoria," belonging to a reputable, strong organization on the Main Continent with excellent guarantees of safety for its passengers. It could be said that aboard this ship, one could hardly lose their life due to any travel accidents unless they sought it themselves. After all, the ship was guarded by numerous Magic Knights and an experienced, powerful... female Captain.
Yes, a female Captain.
The captain of "Queen Victoria" was a woman, and the ship was named after her—Victoria Eliza.
Some said she had the strength of a Third-Level Wizard, others said she was stronger.
Still, others said she was ruthlessly efficient, akin to a black widow, rarely taking action, but when she did, she was sure to kill her opponent within a few exchanges.
Regardless, having her in charge was immensely reassuring for the passengers.
Thinking of this, Richard sat at the wooden table in the cabin and started his work.
While working, suddenly, the entire ship shuddered slightly. Accompanied by creaking noises, the great ship began to turn around, slowly moving out of the harbor towards the open sea, raising its sails, and following the set course towards the south.
Queen Victoria had set sail.
Richard wasn’t too concerned about this, knowing well that the journey was long and not to be completed in a short time. He lowered his head again and busied himself.
In the following days, Richard remained busy. The Queen Victoria sailed smoothly, successfully reaching the southern port of the East Coast. After a brief stop for resupplying, it set sail again, officially leaving the East Coast and entering the waters of the Main Continent.
More than a month after leaving the Second-class Port, one evening, the Queen Victoria was floating on the vast sea, and Richard was in the cabin, sitting at the table, writing with a Quill—"scratch, scratch, scratch" on the scroll.
After writing for a long while, Richard stopped, rubbed his brow, and felt a touch of fatigue.
"Alright, let’s stop here," Richard said aloud, laying down the Quill, placing the scroll filled with text into the Iron Ring, stretched lazily, stood up, and walked to the bed to rest a bit.
After all, he wasn’t made of iron and would get tired, working and resting at his own pace unless it was an emergency.
He exhaled a breath heavily, lay down on the bed, closed his eyes, then found he could not fall asleep after a long time.
With his eyes still closed, doubt arose in Richard’s mind.
The next moment, he released his senses, keenly felt the surroundings, and discovered some strange energy fluctuations in the air, making it difficult for his body to relax and naturally impossible to fall asleep.
With a thought, Richard let his consciousness sink and entered into a state of meditation.
A strong vibration sensation emerged in his body, and Richard skillfully allowed his consciousness to detach from his physical form and appear in the cabin.
In the state of consciousness, Richard looked around and saw numerous colorful dots of light, both bright and dim. Reaching out to touch them, he could clearly see the dots merging into his consciousness, then following a transparent strip behind his neck into his physical body, and finally being stored in Magic Origin.
Are these Free Energy Elements?
Richard was slightly surprised, then thought of something. He quickly controlled his consciousness to rise upwards, through the thick wooden planks to the deck. Looking upwards, he involuntarily gasped, seeing a sky filled with stars—dazzling and incredibly brilliant.
Richard knew that what he saw in the state of consciousness were not actual stars, but Free Energy Elements projected from Star Bodies.
However, in all the places he had been before, like Deep Blue Kingdom, White Stone Tower, Mo’er, Jungle Hut, Deep Blue Castle, he had never seen such a dense presence of Free Energy Elements—several times more than usual.
Slightly tilting his head to look where Queen Victoria had passed, Richard noticed an extremely distinct demarcation line. Beyond this line, the Free Energy Elements were sparse, only abundant high up in the sky. On this side of the line, however, even the low sky had plenty, and higher up, it was packed densely.
He suddenly understood why he had struggled to sleep earlier. It was evidently due to his keen perception, sensing a change in the density of the Free Energy Elements in the air, causing him to be unable to adapt immediately, somewhat akin to oxygen intoxication, or altitude sickness.
At the same time, he realized why, compared to the East Coast, the Main Continent was richer in resources and had higher levels of wizards—it was clearly related to the density of Free Energy Elements.
But what he did not understand was why such a demarcation line existed; this was far more difficult to explain than any oceanic front.
At sea, oceanic fronts occur, causing starkly different water colors on either side of a demarcation line, likely resulting from a combination of factors like underwater terrain, ocean currents, sunlight, temperature, etc.
But what influences Free Energy Elements to cause such a vast difference across a demarcation line?
The rotation of the planet? Tilt of the ecliptic? Coriolis force?
It seemed the world held many secrets, requiring slow exploration, understanding, and deciphering.
Just as the saying goes, a long road lies ahead, full of challenges and distant goals.
Sighing softly in his mind, Richard prepared to return his consciousness to his body. Just then, he suddenly heard a strange scream on the deck, followed by a small blue shadow darting past below his consciousness.
With a touch of curiosity, Richard moved his consciousness to chase after the blue shadow, ultimately seeing it under the mast.
It looked like a mouse with blue fur... no, not a mouse—its body was a lot rounder, and it almost lacked a tail, resembling a hamster.
But it was different from a hamster: its ears were sharper, and its limbs longer, its eyes constantly moving, showing keen alertness.
Staring at it for a while, a word inexplicably floated into Richard’s mind: "Elf."
Not the specters of Eastern legends but creatures from Western mythology.
In modern Earth’s Western myths, there are many descriptions of elves, known differently by region as Flower Fairies, Elves, Treasure Guardian, and Little Demons, among others.
For example, in Cornwall, England, there is the legend of the Treasure Guardian Elf.
According to legend, it is a small creature that likes to linger near ancient ruins or old barrows to protect the buried treasures there. If there are treasure thieves, they can transform their bodies to become enormous and scare the thieves away.