Chapter 135: Chapter 123: Morhaven’s Strange Phenomenon

Flora Bloom called Caleb to the deck and gave him a mysterious smile.

Suddenly, the sea not far off erupted into violent waves. A gigantic tiger shark burst from the churning water, leaping into the air to snap at a fat, snow-white goose whose feathers were soaked through.

However, each of its lunges only grazed the goose, tearing a few feathers from its wings or tail without ever knocking it down into the water to be devoured.

This exceptionally pathetic goose was Dabai, the very same one who had suddenly leveled up a few days ago and broken free from Caleb’s spiritual control. Dabai’s heart hammered in its chest every time it narrowly avoided the tiger shark’s attack.

’What rotten luck to run into such a persistent behemoth! It could clearly devour me in a single strike, but instead, it’s deliberately toying with me as if I’m some kind of plaything. I can’t beat it, and it won’t let me escape.’

And so, a vicious thought born of desperation took hold. Following the location of the spiritual imprint in its mind, it flew on until it spotted the familiar yacht in the distance.

’Heh heh, if this demonic sea tyrant is attacking me, then that boat isn’t going to fare much better.’

But just as it was about to flutter over the ship’s rail, a familiar black field of spiritual power suddenly appeared, binding it tightly. It lost its ability to fly and instantly dropped onto the deck.

Just as the great shark behind it was about to charge forward and swallow it whole, it heard a familiar voice.

"Ash, good job." Flora then produced a bucket full of spiritual water and tossed it into the air. Ash caught it with ease, swallowing the entire thing—bucket and all.

This was the deal she had made with Ash: chase Dabai the goose over to the yacht, and he would be rewarded with a bucket of Space Spirit Water.

Because of the limitations of the space, Ash couldn’t enjoy Space Spirit Water at will like Vert and Xiaobai, so his obsession with the spiritual water was incredibly strong.

Lying on the deck, Dabai looked up at Flora Bloom’s sinister expression and finally realized it had been tricked.

Once the black energy field entered its body, it quickly strengthened the imprint inside. It hadn’t expected Caleb to have already reached Level 3 in just a few short days. His commands had become impossible to defy.

「Another day passed.」

The Bund of Morhaven was now less than a hundred nautical miles to the east, and the yacht was proceeding at a steady, moderate pace.

They weren’t sure of the current situation in Morhaven, and sailing the yacht directly to shore might attract unwanted trouble. After a brief discussion, the group decided to anchor the yacht some distance from the coast, leaving Ash to stand guard.

Ash’s massive size prevented him from entering the shallows, so Flora Bloom also released the schools of horse mackerel from her space, letting them lurk and feed in the shallower waters.

The group, meanwhile, paddled slowly toward the Bund in a rubber dinghy.

While the others were paddling the dinghy, Flora Bloom took the opportunity to use her control over the space. She pierced holes in a few of the sky-blue pearls she had previously harvested from the largest mother-of-pearl oyster. After rummaging for a while through the luggage they’d packed from home, she found a thin chain that belonged to her mother. She threaded one of the smaller blue pearls onto it and fastened it around her mother’s neck.

"Mom, wear this necklace and keep it tucked inside your clothes. Don’t let anyone with prying eyes see it." Flora Bloom didn’t explain the pearl’s purpose. She didn’t want her mother to lower her guard just because she knew she had an extra layer of protection.

Jade loved pearls. Although this one wasn’t as large or lustrous as the others they had found, the cool sensation of it against her neck seemed to clear her mind.

Seeing Jade’s beautiful pearl necklace, Cynthia Grant looked at Flora Bloom with envy. "A blue pearl? Flora, you’re playing favorites!"

Flora Bloom shot her a look, and a pile of pearls strung on small elastic bands appeared in her palm. Each little band held a small blue pearl. While not as large as the one on Jade’s neck, they were at least the size of a pinky nail.

Flora Bloom handed the small elastic hair ties out to the group. Cynthia Grant immediately tied one in her hair, but after a moment’s thought, she pulled it out and looped it around her wrist, hiding it under her sleeve.

Irvin Holden, Caleb Bloom, Neal Wallace, and the other men cringed at the sight of the little hair ties. Staring at the pink, blue, and flesh-colored bands in their palms, they had no idea what to do.

"Do we really have to wear these? They’re for women. Shouldn’t we, as grown men, pass on them?"

Caleb Bloom started to refuse, but a sharp glare from Jade cut him off. "Your daughter gave it to you, so you’ll wear it. Now, what’s all this fuss about!"

Stung by his wife’s glare, Caleb Bloom obediently slipped the pearl-adorned band onto his wrist. The moment the pearl touched his skin, a cooling sensation shot straight to his brain, and his eyes lit up. ’My daughter really does have a lot of treasures!’

Seeing that Caleb Bloom had put his on, the other men reluctantly slipped the bands onto their own wrists, hiding them under their sleeves.

Flora Bloom helped Caleb put on his band, then put one on herself. She looped an extra one around her mother’s wrist as well. ’It’s always good to give Mom an extra layer of insurance.’

Morhaven was a unique city, surrounded by the sea on three sides and connected to the mainland on one. The entire city was essentially a fan-shaped peninsula.

Morhaven covered a vast area with a population of over ten million. It was economically developed, boasting a large port for overseas shipping. The city was also home to the nation’s largest astronomical and meteorological station and the Red Cross International Hospital.

Thanks to its massive, long-standing foreign trade and high per capita GDP, Morhaven ranked among the top first-tier cities in the country.

Flora Bloom and her group of eight others chose a stretch of beach along the Bund as their landing point. The beach had once been part of a waterfront park, a place where parents would often bring their children to build sandcastles on weekends.

Now, the beach park was eerily quiet. There were no people or zombies in sight—not even a single mosquito.

Morhaven was a place with only two seasons: a short winter and a very long summer. At this moment, the city was still in the grip of its sweltering summer heat.

The nine of them advanced with extreme caution, terrified of a sudden zombie ambush. After walking for nearly half an hour, they stopped on the coastal road.

Flora Bloom took a tablet out of her space and opened its GPS. She pulled up a full map of Morhaven, then zoomed in on the hundred-kilometer radius around their current location.

They immediately noticed a strange phenomenon.

Within this hundred-kilometer area closest to the coast, a massive horde of zombies had effectively cordoned off two specific locations.

One was the astronomical and meteorological station, which was closest to them. The other was the Red Cross International Hospital.

Chillingly, the zombies surrounding these two locations appeared as a sea of red dots on Flora’s tablet. The points were so dense, overlapping and intermingling, that they were impossible to count. There had to be thousands, at the very least.

Furthermore, the hospital and the station were close to each other, and the road between them was completely choked with zombies.

"Mom, Dad, where did my brother go when he came to Morhaven? Do you know?"

Caleb Bloom shook his head blankly, his expression grim as he looked at the tablet in Flora’s hand. Jade, however, hesitated and glanced at her husband. Flora pressed her, "Mom, this is no time to hold back! My brother’s life is at stake!"

"Your brother came to Morhaven to see his girlfriend," Jade finally admitted. "She... she was hospitalized!"