The sky remained bright.
The sun hung eternally in the sky, never moving, yet its light shone across the vast ocean without blind spots.
Floating white clouds brought the only vividness to the lifeless sky.
The magic energy from the surrounding sea swirled around a ship.
It was like a vortex of magic, foreplaying on the ocean.
This ship was the Dawn Sound, sailing across the vast ocean. The center of this swirling magic energy was the ship's observation room.
Alka sat cross-legged in the center of the observation room, a magic gathering stone hovering above his head.
Surrounding the magic gathering stone were three additional magic stones of different colors.
They were using their abilities to alter the purity of the magic energy, dispersing some of the chaotic magic energy around them. This allowed the magic energy to become more refined, pouring into Alka's surroundings.
Pure, specially adapted to Alka's magic power, it could be easily absorbed into his body.
The extra crystals were components of the newly crafted magic gathering stone.
They could be considered an experiment, used to improve the magic gathering stone's efficiency and, incidentally, to gain a more detailed understanding of its structure.
After all, they dared not directly dismantle or alter the magic gathering stone itself.
They could only gain a deeper understanding through this gradual and cyclical process. Fortunately, within the city-state of Vastval, there was still research data on magic gathering stones, and even more detailed research was being conducted.
However, this research had almost ceased with the magic gathering stone, with the focus shifting to more efficient methods of absorbing and storing magic power.
At this moment, beneath the magic gathering stone, Alka was absorbing magic power, conducting his daily meditation.
If anyone had seen, Alka and the others would have absorbed magic power at this rate while meditating. Absorbing such pure magic power that suits him perfectly, I wonder how envious he would be.
Such pure magic power would naturally accelerate Alka's strength growth and make him less prone to fatigue.
For celebrities, it meant extended meditation time.
Magic power in nature is mixed. In the Boundless Ocean, or in this shattered world, magic is the very foundation of this world.
It is the foundation of this world's existence, so naturally, this magic power contains everything.
And because each person's constitution varies, and even because of the different treasures they acquire, the nature of their magic power is altered, and naturally, their meditation efficiency varies.
The fatigue caused by daily meditation is not only due to the pressure of magic power being poured into the body, but also due to the exhaustion caused by the body eliminating impurities through meditation.
Alka's face was covered with sweat, indicating that he had been meditating for some time.
Magic power was gathering more and more, and such a high amount of magic power seemed unnatural for someone of his current level.
Suddenly, the massive amount of magic energy swirling suddenly stopped, and the entire process of absorbing magic energy came to a halt.
This didn't seem like a normal meditation process.
Alka exhaled and opened his eyes.
"Fifty-six... the efficiency should be quite high now."
Alka was actually progressing through a small stage of breakthrough, adding another spiral.
He now had 56 spirals. Within his body, two groups of 27 spirals had formed.
Besides these two groups of spirals, only two thin spirals leaning together could be seen in the third group.
But once this third group also reached 27, Alka would officially reach perfection, breaking through to the fifth stage.
Standing up, he turned off the magic gathering stone. With a gentle wave of his hand, the beads of sweat on his body instantly vanished.
A careful calculation revealed that it seemed more than a year had passed since he broke through to the fourth stage.
Almost three months had passed since they'd slain their enemies and left Blue Cross Island.
According to Ululius's perception, they might not even be halfway there.
It was estimated to take eight months to reach the place she'd mentioned.
I hadn't expected it to be so far.
Thinking this way, Alka gazed through the glass at the endless sea.
There was nothing above the vast expanse.
There was a knock on the door behind the car, and Pororo entered.
He'd come to take over.
Alka nodded, chatted for a few words, and then jumped down.
Looking at the empty deck, she felt like something was missing. It seemed like a dragon was missing.
If Ululius's body were resting on the deck, it would take up quite a bit of space.
Ever since Alka mastered the Heart of Vastva, Urulius had spent countless hours playing within it.
Aside from the terrifyingly low magic concentration, which made her feel a bit uncomfortable, everything else was fantastic.
She could soar freely within it and exercise her body freely, and most importantly, the world was entirely earth.
Perhaps as a race relic of the Age of Gods, their bloodline yearned for a world of vast land.
Even if this world was pitifully small.
Suddenly, Alka saw Simon emerge from the cabin.
"It's rare to see you outside," Alka said, smiling at Simon.
With all the research on Vastva, Simon had rarely been in the cabin in the past few months. He was completely absorbed in studying various things.
He even went so far as to swap his shifts with others, overlapping theirs.
He'd been on guard all day, taking this time to rest and refresh his brain.
He'd done anything he could think of.
So seeing him on deck during meals and shifts was a bit of a surprise.
"Have you hit a bottleneck?" Alka asked.
Simon shook his head. "Well, the concentration of magic in the world inside is too low. Some experiments simply can't meet the requirements, so I'll definitely have to work in the workshop later."
Alka nodded. "Has the research on the spatial interlayer failed?"
"Indeed, expanding the spatial interlayer on a ship at sea is unlikely.
The environment in the vast ocean is too unstable, not to mention our ship is constantly sailing. Creating an interlayer is only possible on the islands of Signpost Island and its chain.
The space in places like these is more stable."
Hearing this, Alka could only sigh. It was a shame.
The space-interlayer technology is actually quite powerful. With it, Alka and his companions won't have to worry too much about running out of space on the ship.
They're not worried about it right now, though.
But it would be much more convenient. After all, to enter Alka's space, one must build a fixed location.
Or, they can enter freely only if they're within a certain radius around Alka.
It's as if space is stored within the Heart of Vastva, though that's not the reality.
"What about space expansion technology?" Alka asked, reflecting on it. For a sailing ship, such technology would be even more practical.
Space expansion technology expands the space on the ship, making the interior truly much larger than what appears from the outside.
This technology is clearly perfect for use on ships.
"We're still researching this. This technology is even more difficult than the spatial interlayer, so replicating it will be difficult."
Arka nodded, and suddenly an hourglass appeared in his hand. He looked at the time scale on the hourglass: "It's about to begin. Let's go first."
Simon nodded, and left the deck with Arka.
After disappearing from the deck, the two appeared in the spatial world.
They appeared directly in the remaining city, or perhaps a more appropriate word, a small town.
The remaining buildings of the Vastva city-state were much better than when they had arrived. Besides these buildings, the Vastva people also looked much better.
If they had been refugees before, they now looked like normal people.
Feeling their weakened body recover, they no longer looked as lifeless and despairing as before.
They arrived at the research temple.
Many people were gathered outside, not in the laboratory.
A window could be seen in the center, and next to it, a Vastva.
The Vastva wore extremely heavy full-body armor, resembling a spacesuit.
A pipe connected to a machine from behind him. A long overhang could be seen.
Even Sofia, Juanro, and the others were watching.
The person in charge was Matresha. Among them, any experiments related to how to help the Vastva adapt to the external environment and improve their magic resistance fell under her responsibility.
Arka and the others came over and stood directly with Sofia and the others.
"Is it about to begin again?"
"Soon. We're doing the final adjustments."
Hearing this, Arka looked toward the center.
The purpose of this experiment was to provide equipment that would allow the Vastva to temporarily live outside.
This is mainly because it takes quite a while for them to fully adapt to the magic concentration outside.
The Vastva people are now able to adapt to a magic concentration of around 0.3, and that's only been a few months.
Of course, this becomes increasingly difficult as you increase the magic concentration.
The Vastva people couldn't even adapt to 0.01, but it took less than a month to reach 0.28.
But the brief increase from 0.28 to 0.3 took over two months, and now even a 0.01 increase is somewhat difficult.
This requires sufficient time.
For example, the magic concentration in the entire Vastva city-state world has increased from almost zero to 0.25.
Of course, it's impossible to directly raise it to the limit these people can tolerate, after all, we have to consider the elderly and children among them.
Their resistance to such a level is not as high as that of a normal adult.
They were now able to live normally within this magical environment.
To put it simply, the magic concentration for ordinary people in a world like the Home Sea is around 0.5.
The magic within the Home Sea is less complex and less violent than that of the Endless Sea.
Coupled with the Mother Mother's deliberate suppression, the magic concentration seemed low.
This meant that the Vastva people's resistance wasn't as high as that of normal humans.
Not to mention adapting to the Endless Sea's violent magic.
Therefore, everyone wondered if there was a way to allow the Vastva people to temporarily adapt to life outside.
Let some people first get a feel for life outside and gain a deeper understanding of the outside world.
As they pondered, the experiment began.
A spatial portal to the outside world opened, revealing the ship they had placed there, Alka and his crew.
The person undergoing the experiment was Vaku, the one who had first come into contact with Alka and the others.
"You can leave now."
Hearing Matlisa's instructions, Vaku swallowed. He was nervous, his palms sweating.
Despite this, he nodded: "No problem."
"Tell me how you feel, and I'll record it," said the recorder in charge of the experiment.
Vaku took a deep breath, donned his heavy armor, and walked outside with heavy steps.
The weight of the armor made it much more difficult than piloting the mech.
It was mainly the heavy pressure he carried.
With heavy footsteps, he walked out under the gaze of everyone.
Alka's figure disappeared from the spot and appeared directly on the deck.
Alka's sudden appearance startled Vaku, who had just emerged, but he reacted quickly. He dragged a long pipe, looking outside.
He gazed out the window at the boundless ocean, at the blue sky with white clouds drifting across it.
He felt the glaring sun shining down from the horizon.
He couldn't help but raise his hand, but the arm armor was too heavy. After some thought, he decided not to waste his energy.
"Is this the ocean?" Waku couldn't help but ask, gazing at the boundless blue ocean.
"How do you feel now?"
Hearing this, Waku finally realized what was happening and quickly returned to his duties.
He began to describe his feelings.
"I don't feel a higher concentration of magic power, and the magic power from outside isn't flowing in. Aside from the extra heavy armor, the rest of the feeling is the same as inside.
Wait... more magic power is flowing in."
Waku suddenly said, sensing the rising magic power concentration.
Hearing this, Simon nodded in understanding.
It seems that without the use of special materials and incantations, it's difficult to completely isolate magic through sealing.
Magic is something nearly invisible to the naked eye. Unless special materials are used to isolate it, it's bound to penetrate everywhere.
"Activate the magic barrier," Matresa commanded.
Vaku immediately flipped the switch.
The barrier layer wasn't on the outer armor, but rather a thin layer inside, like underwear, that began to spread against his body.
It quickly enveloped him completely, and then mechanical rings appeared at the head, blocking the areas where the fabric hadn't spread.
It was made of the same fabric as his clothes.
"The magic concentration has decreased..." Just as Vaku finished speaking, he noticed the internal monitor.
"No, I can feel the magic power concentration decreasing, while the magic power inside is still rising."
"Then wait outside for a while."
Waku stood there in his heavy armor, gazing at the surrounding ocean and observing the scenery on the ship.
A long moment passed.
"I feel... a little dizzy and nauseous. But I don't feel any increase in magic power. Am I allergic?"
Waku's voice suddenly spoke.
The Vastva people present were a little confused at this. They had never heard of such a feeling before; it sounded a bit like being sick.
They turned to look at Matresha.
Matresha also frowned, somewhat puzzled.
Are you catching a cold?
Jason looked at the others, each one lost in thought.
"Is there a possibility?"
As soon as he spoke, everyone turned to look at him. "So, is it possible that he's seasick?"
"Seasick?" a Vastwa experimenter said.
He asked back with a frown.
He had never heard such a word before, nor had he seen it in a book. He couldn't understand what it meant.
Only Simon, Sofia, and the others present reacted.
Julia and Matresa were both somewhat puzzled, for they were marine species.
Only normal humans like Sofia had experienced it, or perhaps even understood it.
"Don't say it, it's really possible," Juanlu said from the side.
At this moment, El Vaku was still describing the extent of his experience, even half-crouching on the deck.
"I feel better squatting."
"See, he's seasick."
Matresa was furious and ordered Vaku to return.
She hadn't expected the experiment to be interrupted by something like seasickness. Seasickness diminished her body's perception, making it impossible to obtain the precise data she was looking for.
We can only see if there are any Vastwa people who don't get seasick.