novelraw Chapter 181: Do You Like Fireworks?
Chapter 181: Do You Like Fireworks?
The originally clear sky shattered like broken glass, with fragments continuously falling piece by piece.
Enormous whirlpools churned across the surrounding seas as massive mountain ranges began cracking apart.
Haideng Island was about to descend into the waters of the Witch Sea.
Meanwhile, the Illusion Beast hovered in the sky like a dragon soaring through the heavens.
The two stood halfway up the mountain, gazing at both the sky and sea.
"Is this the final outcome... complete collapse?"
At that moment, Chen Qi's ears seemed to catch a faint chuckle from the Ice Witch.
"Hah—"
Just how many automated responses had the Ice Witch left in this dimensional rift?
Feeling relieved, Chen Qi slowly walked over to the White Cloak's corpse.All that remained was a fallen lantern.
He picked it up carefully.
[Daylight Lantern:
Affinity: Lamp
Description: A lantern crafted from heavenly falling fire, capable of dispelling numerous corrupted monsters.
Effect: Consumes large amounts of spiritual energy to create a temporary light source lasting one minute. This light can repel most monsters, especially those with Shadow affinity.]
"A rather impressive divine artifact..." Chen Qi murmured to himself.
Whether facing the Pillar of the Abyss or the Illusion Beast, this item could provide temporary reprieve.
In this dangerous world, it truly deserved to be called a divine artifact among artifacts.
"Good find."
Chen Qi smiled contentedly as he stored the item away.
Surviving this perilous journey and obtaining a life-saving treasure made the whole ordeal worthwhile.
"Qi... what should we do now?"
Little Crow stood some distance away, her blood-stained hair fluttering in the wind.
She was utterly disoriented—whether facing White Cloak or the Illusion Beast, everything felt surreal.
Logically speaking, weaklings like them should have died already.
It felt like experiencing resurrection from death.
The key to their survival lay in Chen Qi's unique constitution.
Though she was supposed to be the leader, the stronger one, now she could only seek Chen Qi's guidance.
"Let me calm down too... that was a colossal beast after all," Chen Qi said wearily. "Little Crow, haven't you experienced a rift collapse before?"
"You have?" Little Crow countered curiously.
Rift collapses were rare occurrences—had Chen Qi witnessed others before?
"Not many..." Chen Qi smiled faintly. "No, I'm just a rookie sailor after all. But I've read about this—what we're seeing is a gentle collapse. The rift and our world are merging, gradually becoming one. After the rift fully dissipates, we'll get settlement rewards. Then we can leave safely. Don't worry, even with the collapse, we'll survive just fine."
"Rift settlement?"
Little Crow tilted her head blankly, her stray hair sticking up.
She thought rift settlements and rewards didn't occur after collapses.
Chen Qi explained with a smile:
"Yes, rift settlement. So, do you have any unfinished quests here? We could help each other complete them now?"
Chen Qi remembered he still needed the Haideng blueprint.
Since he hadn't fought many monsters or caused much trouble here, his evaluation might suffer without it.
This being his first C-tier rift, he wanted the highest rating possible.
It was his first time after all!
"Grinding quests... now?"
Little Crow stared at the Illusion Beast looming in the sky—was this really the time?
Didn't they owe the colossal beast some basic respect?
"Don't worry, we'll be fine," Chen Qi reassured her as he summoned his Deepsea Water Spirit squad to search the island for the blueprint.
"Waku waku! (Understood, Master!)"
No.1 transformed into a water spirit pancake while the usually quiet No.3 reluctantly became squad leader.
The two humans walked leisurely toward the beach, enjoying the sea breeze.
No monsters ambushed them, no hostility threatened—just gentle winds and warm sunlight.
They strolled across the peaceful island.
"That was close..."
Chen Qi patted his chest, savoring the tranquil breeze.
Today's events would qualify as random encounters in a game.
The Witch Sea constantly spawned bizarre incidents—such encounters weren't unusual.
Not every named character died heroically; most perished from trivial accidents here.
Many once-famous figures vanished mysteriously at sea without even leaving corpses behind.
Limping slightly, Little Crow followed cautiously before asking again:
"Qi... are you secretly a Sea God Pirate believer?"
"You want my secrets when you haven't even confessed being a mole?" Chen Qi pondered briefly. "No, it's probably my Sea Beast Disease and the Deep Sea Hunters' treasure I obtained. It stabilized my condition, so today's events surprised me too. But we survived, didn't we?"
Sea beasts were inherently unpredictable—some Sea God Pirates even lived alongside them, commanding Coastal Apex Predators or stronger creatures.
While rare, such cases existed.
A vague but plausible excuse—Chen Qi felt satisfied. At sea, secrets inevitably surfaced.
"The Deep Sea Hunters' treasure... now I understand why Captain Blackeye wanted you..."
Little Crow pouted, desperately wishing she could pry open Chen Qi's cryptic mouth.
Unconsciously, they'd reached the beach.
Kicking off her damaged shoes, Little Crow stepped barefoot onto the sand, spreading her arms to embrace the breeze.
"Hah..."
Suddenly she recalled her inexplicable promotion, her wretched family, recent misfortunes, and her uncertain future.
She wanted—no, needed—to scream!
Even with Chen Qi present, she couldn't hold back.
No—because Chen Qi was here, she wanted to scream louder.
"Damn this world! Damn White Cloak! Damn Big Mom! Damn Blackfin Crew!"
Inhaling deeply, she unleashed her frustrations at the sea:
"RAAAAAAAAH—!"
Little Crow screamed until her lungs emptied, as if casting all troubles into the ocean.
Cathartic! Physically and mentally purged, she glanced sideways to see Chen Qi staring at her like she was insane.
"..."
"..."
Of course!
Blushing crimson, she plopped onto the sand, burying her face between her knees, wishing to vanish:
"Sorry... I-I'm not usually like this... I'm normally very composed..."
Composed where? But seeing her like a startled groundhog showed her immense stress... Chen Qi walked to the shoreline, tossing Water Spirit No.1 pancake into the waves:
"No worries. Emotional release is important sometimes."
"..."
Peeking out, Little Crow wearily gazed skyward:
"Qi... after the rift ends... will that Illusion Beast fly to Moonstone City? Become a calamity?"
"???"
Chen Qi detected guilt in her lowered head.
Little Crow bit her bloodied thumb anxiously—though she hadn't summoned the beast, she'd extracted black whale blood for the Blackfin Crew.
This city-destroying monstrosity was partially her creation.
In a way, she'd helped slaughter Moonstone City's residents.
Softly, she confessed:
"Qi... if the Beiguo Meteorological Bureau learns I unleashed a calamity beast... I might surpass even the Black Hunter's infamy! And that damned existence!"
"Impossible. Absolutely impossible."
Chen Qi answered confidently.
Trying to comfort me... Little Crow kept her head down:
"Why? Unleashing a calamity beast is far worse than the Black Hunter's... human sowing habits."
She felt utterly vile—worse than the Blackfin Crew.
Imagining becoming the infamous Doctor Crow, reviled worse than the Black Hunter, made her suffocate with dread.
"Because..." Chen Qi considered his words carefully, "a dying Illusion Beast can't make you surpass the Black Hunter's notoriety."
"Dying...?"
Little Crow looked up at the skyborne titan.
Chen Qi lay back on the sand, observing the hovering beast before asking quietly:
"Little Crow... have you ever seen fireworks?"
"???"