Heroes' Prison

Chapter 798 - 759: The Endless Deep Sea, and the Endless Love

At this moment, the Deep Sea Demon Flesh continued to ram against the Floating Harbor’s Heavenly Curtain Barrier over and over again, each collision splashing monstrous waves into the sky! The water surged toward the clouds, shattered into torrential rain, and came crashing down!

The tsunami grew even fiercer, striking the Heavenly Curtain Barrier with dual assaults, while the excess seawater rampaged inland without restraint!

Thankfully, a towering transverse mountain range stood 100 kilometers behind Floating Harbor, halting the advance of these waters. Otherwise, even more areas would have suffered catastrophic damage.

From an extreme altitude, one would witness a breathtaking scene. The side of the mountain range facing the sea had been completely swallowed by vast waters. The land that previously stretched wide was now nowhere to be seen—forests and peaks had been destroyed, evoking a sensation of sea changes into mulberry fields, of shifts in worlds.

"All compressed energy stones used up!"

"All Holy Crystal Stones used up!"

"Sky Crystal Stone has been integrated into the magic—at most, ten minutes of support left!"

At this moment, Nimíng, the administrator of Floating Harbor, was bombarded with messages, all sent by players from the Magic Tower! Every word reeked of urgency and despair.

They had finally arrived at a doomsday moment! The destruction of the Heavenly Curtain Barrier was merely a matter of time!

Tilting his head upward to gaze at the seawater outside the barrier, he felt a profound dread—it was as though they had been forsaken at the bottom of the deep sea, with no one coming to save them!

"Everyone, listen to my command!" Nimíng took a deep breath, seemingly summoning all his strength, and spoke mournfully to the entire city, "Everyone, pack up your valuables and log off within ten minutes! Floating Harbor cannot hold!"

His sorrowful voice reverberated repeatedly under the Heavenly Curtain Barrier, echoing across every corner of the vast Floating Harbor, reaching the ears of countless players!

These millions of players, scattered across various regions, were engaging in their own activities. But upon hearing the command, many quickly began storing their valuables into their storage rings.

Yet, there were always things that could never be taken away.

At this moment, a player wearing a straw hat was sitting aboard a small boat, gently caressing the deck with longing reluctance. This little boat was something he had bought using all his life savings. Time and again, he had taken it out to sea, imagining himself as the Pirate King.

No matter how fearsome the storms he encountered, he had never abandoned this boat. He wasn’t one of those awe-inspiring master players; he was just an ordinary person. This boat was his home, his life, his dream.

But now, he could no longer protect it—he could only watch helplessly as it was lost forever in the cataclysm. Sitting motionlessly on the deck, he reminisced about the past, with no intention to log off.

Everything he had was here; once he logged off, he’d have nothing left.

Elsewhere, another player stood motionless in the middle of a street, gazing upward at the towering Magic Tower ahead. The dim light from the street lamps cast shadows on him, leaving behind a solitary silhouette. The Magic Tower was the tallest building in Floating Harbor—he had participated in its construction, even laying some of the bricks with his own hands. It was his greatest pride.

Whenever he passed here with friends, he would point at the building proudly and say, "I helped build that structure!" And his friends would always give him a thumbs up in response.

But after tonight, this proud edifice would vanish forever.

In the garden, a couple sat among blooming roses, whispering sweet nothings to each other. Their hands were entwined as they gazed up at the infinite seawater outside the high sky barrier, lost in silence. Suddenly, as if sharing the same thought, they turned to look at each other—and then, deeply, they kissed.

Before the apocalypse, this kiss was so tender, so full of longing.

For what felt like an eternity, their lips finally parted. Gently, the girl clung to the boy’s arm, her voice playful yet full of bliss: "Deep Sea, my dear Bard, you should write me a love poem for doomsday!"

"Alright!" The boy, named ’Deep Sea,’ nodded and quickly took out pen and paper. After contemplating for a moment, he began writing—his pen moving swiftly across the page.

In the boundless deep sea,

I give you infinite love,

This is our final kiss,

The next will no longer exist.

The garden where we met,

May sink into the abyss,

The street where we first held hands,

May be covered in sludge,

The crossroads of our first kiss,

May only see fish swimming by.

But I know,

Even if the sea destroys this land,

It can’t destroy the memories here,

Even if the sea wrecks my body,

I will never forget you...

"Here, this is for you—just improvised!" he said, passing the sheet of paper to the girl beside him.

She grinned mischievously, immediately pulling out a bottle. Without even looking at the poem, she stuffed it inside, sealed the bottle tightly, and tossed it into the nearby flowerbed.

"Huh? Why aren’t you reading it?" the boy asked, surprised.

"Because this way, I’ll always have an unfulfilled regret—and regret is the most profound way to remember a love." Smiling as she spoke, she leaned in to kiss him again.

Underneath the infinite waters, the couple lost themselves in each other once more.

...

At this moment, countless people were finding their own ways to spend the last ten minutes. Most had already logged off to save themselves.

Yet there were things—those bound uniquely to this place, to the memories of this land—that couldn’t be taken away or evaded in the disaster.

There were players who might not understand anything yet—mere beginners, just a few levels into their journey in The Second World. They had come seeking adventure in a brand-new fantasy realm. Having wronged no one, they were nonetheless swept into this calamity.

Too many others—connected and innocent alike—faced identical threats of death at this moment. They chose not to log off, staying instead as a last expression of their insignificant rage.

Huang Yi, Fuchan Fenrao, and other renowned super-first-class masters—they were like divine dragons floating above in the clouds to ordinary players, their every act causing earth-shaking reverberations.

When these masters clashed, countless bystanders were caught in the crossfire. A single thought or flick of the fingers from a master could destroy the happiness of countless lives—a merciless yet utterly real truth.

War does not differentiate between the innocent and the enemy; it obliterates indiscriminately.

Faced with such events, most people would accept their bad luck or curse futilely. Only a rare few would rise to seek vengeance, spending a lifetime on it.

Among the millions here, some might, in the future, walk the path of vengeance—just like the Heavenly Demon Little Dragon whom Huang Yi twice encountered. He was once an innocent bystander killed accidentally by Huang Yi during a battle at Wind Forest Stronghold. Ever since, he’d been tirelessly pursuing vengeance, never giving up, even knowing that his dream might remain forever unfulfilled.

The Magic Tower inside the harbor had long been deserted, its players responsible for adding magic fuel having logged off to escape.

Inside the Magic Furnace, only a single white stone remained, burning fiercely amidst the scorching flames, its life reduced to embers. The flickering light cast shadows in the still air inside the Magic Tower, silently narrating the ferocity of the struggle outside.

Gradually, the stone shrank smaller and smaller, unleashing its power at an astonishing speed, fueling the giant Heavenly Curtain Barrier to fend off the boundless seawater and Deep Sea Demon Flesh.

A small stone, daring to resist an apocalyptic disaster—it was destined only for destruction.

Finally, the little stone was utterly consumed, its last mission completed. With its final trace of energy transferred to the barrier, it offered one last resistance.

Soon after, the burning furnace extinguished completely, and the magic tower was engulfed in utter darkness, like death itself.

"Crack!" At last, the Floating Harbor’s Heavenly Curtain Barrier let out a shattering sound, and the long-struggling barrier collapsed in devastation!

At that moment, it felt eternal.

Endless seawater poured forth like a fallen sky, drowning everything in its path.

The bustling streets of Floating Harbor, its painstakingly built skyscrapers, and the blooming gardens where love blossomed—all were swallowed by the raging sea, vanishing without a trace.

The gargantuan Deep Sea Demon Flesh, unhindred now that the Heavenly Curtain Barrier was gone, surged into Floating Harbor. Its island-sized bulk crushed half of the city outright, leaving nothing capable of stopping it.

The docks and piers, the countless vessels moored there, were all swept up in the enormous waves and smashed to pieces. Even the mightiest warships stood no chance against the relentless barrage of nature. Man-made creations appeared pitifully fragile in the face of such overwhelming power!

Amidst the harbor’s countless massive vessels lay a humble, unassuming boat, even a little shabby in appearance.

On its deck sat a player wearing a straw hat.

Facing the endless walls of crashing waves, sweeping away everything in their path.

Yet his form remained motionless, like a statue, eternally standing upon the deck of the little boat.

The next moment.

He and his dreams perished together.

——

Originally intended to finish earlier, but delayed by an hour—apologies.

This Chapter utilizes a different perspective, a different writing style—perhaps a departure from the tone of earlier sections, leaning closer to the stylistics of my previous work "Cold Storage." It’s been a while since I wrote like this; I may be rusty, so please don’t mind too much. (To be continued. If you like this story, you’re welcome to visit Starting Point (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets, monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)