Those who had tried flying away from the frigate weren’t weak by any means, but that only made their miserable cries as they plummeted into the whirlpool even more chilling.
After witnessing their plight, no one else dared to make a reckless move. It had been made clear that after leaving the frigate, none could resist the whirlpool’s suction force. They were only holding on thanks to the frigate’s defensive system. Even so, they were still toppling over.
Yani shouted, “Grab something! Don’t get flung off the frigate!”
Everyone was already doing that even without her reminder, but the whirlpool’s suction force was so strong that the frigate’s defensive formation began to unravel. Some crew members failed to hold on and were flung off.
The guests were strong enough to maintain their grip on the railings, but the whirlpool was simply so strong that some of the railings suddenly snapped off. Several of them were caught off guard and were flung off as well. Fortunately, they had exceptional skills such as extending their arms or hurling out hooks to grab onto another part of the frigate, thus barely remaining onboard.
Alfred fended the waves away from Isabella while shouting, “Big miss, make sure to hold on tight!”
The pale-faced Isabella nodded as she clutched onto the railings. She faced less stress compared to the other guests as Alfred warded off most of the dangers headed her way.
Zu An and Tingxue were at the frigate’s bow. Tingxue’s feet were firmly planted on the deck as if nailed to it. She remained unfazed, no matter how strong the whirlpool was. She asked, “Can’t you control the ocean?”
Zu An shook his head. “The water has been imbued with some kind of energy. I can’t control it.”
All of a sudden, there was a crack. A rope on the deck abruptly snapped through the air like a roaring whip. Several crew members were caught off guard and sliced in two. The ropes used on a war frigate were very heavy, capable of unleashing great destruction when flung around; the whirlpool turned them into devastating weapons.
The rope swung toward Isabella, and Alfred was appalled. He quickly stood in front of Isabella and crossed his arms. A tortoise-shell avatar manifested around him.
Pah!
Alfred blocked the whip, but he spewed blood as well. He was shocked by how powerful the whip was.
Another crisis happened right after.
It turned out the snapping rope was just the first sign that the frigate had reached its limit. This time, the frigate snapped right in half, and its back half was immediately dragged down into the whirlpool.
“Big miss!” Alfred had barely deflected a lethal blow and didn’t have the time to muster his strength anew yet. He couldn’t react at all.
Isabella panicked. She tried grabbing onto something, but to no avail. Her scream for help only lasted for an instant before it vanished amid the roaring waves.
Without any hesitation, Zu An used his position swap skill to trade places with Isabella.
Isabella appeared at the frigate’s bow. It was so abrupt that she struggled to keep her balance. Fortunately, the sharp-eyed Tingxue reacted fast and supported her.
When Isabella finally realized what had happened, she anxiously looked at the back half of the frigate, only to see it had been ripped into shreds. Tears flowed from her eyes as she shouted, “Big brother Zu!”
Tingxue ripped off a section of the railing. It vanished, and Zu An reappeared on the frigate. She quickly grabbed his arm so he could regain his balance.
Zu An looked at Tingxue gratefully. “Thank you!”
Everything had happened so fast that he hadn’t had time to think. It was by sheer instinct that he'd moved to save Isabella, but he'd forgotten to check beforehand if there was anything on the frigate's bow for him to swap back.
All the miscellaneous objects had been flung off the frigate. The only things he could position swap with were the entire frigate or other guests. If not for Tingxue quickly ripping off a section of the railing for him, he wouldn’t have been able to swap back.
It was amazing how Tingxue, despite it being her first time witnessing his position swap, had been able to figure out the principles behind how it worked and react right away. Her wits were truly impressive.
Tingxue nodded in acknowledgment.
A tearful Isabella embraced Zu An. “Thank you, big brother Zu! I was scared to death when you nearly disappeared earlier!”
Zu An looked at Tingxue awkwardly. The latter resembled Yan Xuehen so much that he felt strange, as if he'd been caught cheating by Yan Xuehen.
Tingxue turned away as if she hadn’t seen anything.
Alfred anxiously rushed over. “Thank you, sir!” He was so gripped by the fear of almost losing the big miss that he didn’t even realize that Isabella tightly embracing a young man was contrary to noble etiquette.
“It’s a pity I wasn’t able to save the others.” Zu An looked at the shattered bits of the frigate plummeting into the whirlpool. Even he had nearly died in the whirlpool.
The other guests consoled him, knowing he couldn’t be blamed for that. It was also then that someone asked out of curiosity, “Why was the other half of the frigate immediately ripped into bits, but our half remained fine?”
That’s true. There would have been more time for those on the back half of the frigate to react if it hadn’t been ripped to shreds right away. But why was it that the back half met with such a fate, but the front half remained intact?
“It’s probably because of his key. That key protects everything within a radius, but the frigate exceeds that radius. That’s why the back half snapped off and was destroyed shortly after.”
The crowd widened their eyes in shock. They hurriedly made their way closer to Zu An to ensure they wouldn’t fall outside of the key’s protection radius.
Despite the key’s protection, the whirlpool was still a fearsome adversary. The frigate’s remaining half continued twirling around like a shirt in a washing machine. The remaining survivors were experts who could still hold on, but the relentless spinning still left them dizzy.
Isabella’s mind blanked out in fear. She tightly hugged Zu An as that was the only way she could find any sense of security.
After an unknown period of time, Zu An woke up to find himself soaked in water, surrounded by the frigate’s shattered remnants.
He raised his head and saw not the ocean, but the blue sky... or at least that was what he thought, until he saw gigantic figures swimming in the ‘sky’. It turned out he was at the bottom of the ocean, and the 'sky’ he saw was water.