"Place this one in the corner first." Simon placed one of the crystals in the upper right corner of the room.
Arka looked at the ten crystals in total.
He had a rough idea: "So, these ten crystals should be placed in the four corners and six walls, right?"
"Yes, you're quite perceptive," Simon said with a thumbs-up.
He then removed the doll girl from his back.
"Wuwu, don't interrupt me while I'm working. I'm helping you expand the house."
"Good! Simon, you're so kind!"
The doll girl, Wuwu, shouted loudly, swaying back and forth in the air as Simon raised his hand.
She treated it like a game, seemingly not understanding at all.
Seeing this, Simon simply smiled.
The sister below took her.
"Don't interrupt the teacher!" another puppet girl, also led by Wu, scolded.
Wu Wu chuckled twice, "What's the big deal?"
The team Wu led was the puppet girls' support unit. Most of the time, they would accompany Simon on research or study.
Sometimes, they would also follow Alka.
However, they always addressed Alka as "Captain" and Simon as "Teacher."
At this moment, Lucilia sat on Alka's shoulder. Puppet girls were clinging to his back, arms, and body.
Even Sofia, who was standing next to him, had the same look. Er sat on his shoulder, and various puppet girls were hanging from his body.
The puppet girls were extremely simple-minded; they would become close to whoever they liked to be with.
Thinking of this, Alka tilted her head, squinted her eyes, and secretly glanced at the door.
A young puppet lady with a snake tail could be seen lingering near the doorway. She had clearly been standing next to Matresa earlier.
She could be seen turning her head occasionally toward the doorway, squatting to gaze at Pororo inside.
She seemed to want to move closer, but Matresa, observing this, made no effort to stop her.
Sofia, standing nearby, nudged Alka with her elbow. Lucilia, also on Alka's shoulder, pushed Alka's head forward with her hand.
Both of them were using their own methods to stop Alka from peeping.
"So you two know all about this?" Alka asked softly.
"Are all you boys this insensitive?" Sofia leaned forward and asked in a whisper.
Lucilia whispered into Alka's shoulder, "You should have noticed it when you first arrived in the Boundless Sea."
Hearing this, Alka's eyes widened. This truly surprised him.
"So early? I thought it was back in the Marsh Sea."
"What are you guys whispering about? I want to hear it too?" Er, who was perched on Sofia's left shoulder, suddenly tilted his head and asked.
Hearing Er's words, the three of them silently shut their mouths and stared ahead as if nothing had happened.
"Hmph, if you don't want to talk, forget it." Er turned his head away angrily, looking as if he didn't want to play with them.
Seeing this, Alka suddenly said, "So, Sofia, you were also a big mouth when you were little?"
Then he was met with Sofia's slightly dazed eyes, a dangerous glint in them.
Looking at this, Alka rubbed his eyebrows awkwardly and tilted his head away.
Simon was already installing the last gem on the floor.
As the last gem was installed, Alka could clearly sense a connection between the gems.
Simon stepped back and said to everyone in the room, "Everyone, get out now." Everyone nodded.
They rushed out of the room, along with the puppet girls.
They joined Pororo outside. Siye used her hands and tail to climb onto Pororo's shoulders.
Pororo's stature made climbing difficult. Seeing this, Pororo lifted her up and placed her on his shoulders.
Four hands grasped Pororo's ears, and their snake tails coiled around his neck.
As everyone emerged, Simon looked inside and closed the door.
After sealing all the windows tightly and sweeping them with his magic to ensure there were no gaps, he flipped the switch.
Alka instantly sensed the spatial instability, but it only lasted a moment before stabilizing.
The fluctuating aura of the space was unusually pronounced.
But it was clear that only Alka and Julia, who was sensitive to environmental changes, could clearly sense the change.
"It's done."
"So fast?" Jason asked, somewhat surprised.
He had thought expanding space like this would be a hassle, but it only took a few seconds to complete, simply placing the gems in each position, ensuring there were no gaps, and then exiting.
And he didn't notice any unusual movement.
Simon nodded and opened the door.
Everyone peered through the door.
The room had clearly grown larger.
The innermost wall they had originally seen had been extended further.
Everyone walked in curiously.
"Ah, my bed's gotten so high!" a doll girl with fluttering dragonfly wings said, looking at her bed on the ceiling.
The ceiling had previously been only about two meters high, and with the small bed hanging down, they had to bend slightly to avoid hitting it.
Now, the roof of the house had been extended, reaching a height of three meters.
Looking around, they found that the left and right walls and the doorway had not changed.
Only the height and length of the room had changed.
"Is this controllable?" Alka asked.
Because, from a practical point of view, increasing the length and width would be the most cost-effective.
Increasing the height would obviously be the least practical.
Simon shook his head awkwardly. "It's actually uncontrollable. Simply put, it's a bit of a matter of luck."
"Luck?" Julia asked, becoming somewhat interested.
Is even this kind of thing a matter of luck?
"Yes, the room does expand in size, but exactly how and in which direction it expands depends on luck."
Simon used magic to piece together a square and began demonstrating it to the crowd.
"We've experimented before. One room expanded only in height, becoming like a deep well.
There are also cases where each side expands slightly, and the most practical method is to expand only in length and width."
As he spoke, the cube he had assembled with magic began to change, making his explanation more intuitive.
"I don't think I've seen such a change in the literature before," Alka said, somewhat puzzled.
Simon nodded. "That's the problem. It could be due to changes in the materials, or it could be due to the changes caused by the damage to the world.
The world was once solid, reliable, and orderly, so many things became orderly.
But the world is now chaotic, and this chaos affects everything, including what was once orderly."
"Does that mean this randomness is actually very difficult to change?" Sofia asked, frowning nearby.
"It's difficult, almost impossible, because we've observed disordered chaos infiltrating the expansion of space. Unless the world returns to normal, it will be difficult to change."
Hearing this, everyone nodded, no longer dwelling on the issue.
"But there is another way. We can restore the expanded part and expand it again to achieve better results," Simon said, pointing at Alka.
"Me?...Are you talking about the Heart of Vastva?" Alka asked, puzzled at first, then thinking.
"Indeed, I've been looking through the records lately and came across some of Vastva's past research.
It should be possible, but perhaps my current strength isn't enough. I'll need a higher level of strength to master it in a more nuanced manner."
Hearing this, Alka nodded.
However, the girls had stopped surrounding them and began running around the room, observing. They were even discussing how to renovate the newly expanded space.
They were incredibly interested in renovating their own rooms.
"Build a fish tank here!"
"That requires everyone's discussion."
"Raise a small bird here, the kind that can carry us flying."
"No."
"Then build a clean swimming pool."
"That's fine."
Even the usually composed Zero stood in the center of the group, accepting or rejecting suggestions based on their perspective.
Watching the group of puppet girls discuss animatedly, Aka smiled and winked at everyone, who silently retreated and closed the door.
…
Sea voyages are always accompanied by boredom.
Thankfully, everyone on board had long since grown accustomed to such dull days, cultivating their own hobbies and passing the time.
Another sunny day.
Or rather, it was always sunny.
Pororo sat at the bow, carrying a small stool.
Because of his stature, even sitting, he towered over the people around him.
Holding a specially crafted giant fishing rod, he fished as the boat sailed.
Alka was also beside him, wearing an ordinary straw hat to shield himself from the scorching sun.
He remained calm and steadily fished.
"Didn't you dislike fishing before?" Jason was also fishing on the other side.
Hearing this, Pororo shook his shoulders and moved slightly.
"Boring."
Hearing this, Jason just smiled: "Haha, bored fishing every day, huh?"
"What do you care?"
Long ago, Pororo really didn't like fishing. He felt it was too inefficient.
Back then, he only relied on his strong swimming ability to go fishing.
The fish he caught were big and quick.
He never experienced the joy of fishing.
Eventually, Jason and Juanlu introduced him to it, and he naturally became a fishing enthusiast.
The thrill of catching a fish is far greater than catching anything.
Of course, Alka also thought he might have just grown tired of fishing.
"Hush! There's movement over here," Juanlu, who had been fishing silently, suddenly said.
The moment these words came, the others fell silent, their heads tilted to the side as they looked in Juanlu's direction.
The float, floating on the surface, undulated constantly as the boat moved.
But they didn't rely on it to sense whether it was full, but rather to feel the pull of the fishing rod.
These fish that inhabit the ocean are incredibly wild.
Suddenly, Juanlu's rod yanked downward in an exaggerated arc, the immense force threatening to snap the rod completely.
Sensing the immense force, Juanlu violently unleashed his magic power, which surged up the rod, strengthening its flexibility.
Then, at the end of the connecting line, his magic power delicately controlled the line, maintaining its strength and preventing it from breaking.
Although Alka and the others watched nervously, they made no move to help. Because fishing is also a form of cultivation.
‐‐ Especially at the moment of hooking, because it's very likely that the fish you hooked possesses magical power.
‐‐ Even more outrageous, Porolo had previously caught an incredibly powerful fourth-stage sea fish.
‐‐ The tug of war between the two can significantly improve one's control over magical power.
‐‐ Even if the line breaks, it only affects one's mood.
‐‐ At this moment, Juanlu's fishing rod remained steady, its exaggerated curve maintained by magical power, trying to prevent it from breaking, while the line remained taut.
‐‐ If the magical power wasn't maintained properly, the line could easily be torn apart by the fish below.
‐‐ At this moment, Juanlu was completely focused.
‐‐ The three people beside him were already holding their breath.
‐‐ The tug of war continued for a long time.
‐‐ Alka and the others beside him held their breath, watching intently, as if they were the ones being pulled. "Is fishing really that fun?" Matlisa, sitting under a tree, asked Alka and the others. As a member of the ocean race, she simply couldn't comprehend.
Sofia and Lucilia, flipping through a book, shook their heads.
"It's not fun."
"Really?" Matlisa said, looking toward the bow.
"With someone like Pororo, you'd better be direct. He obviously doesn't think much about this. Even slightly euphemistic expressions might lead him to completely misunderstand, or even just take your words at face value."
Sofia, flipping through a book, suddenly spoke.
Lucilia nodded. "Actually, you should do this..."
As they chatted, the three put their books down and began to whisper about private matters.
The entire ship was filled with melodious singing.
It was a duet of Dawn's Voice and Julia.
Playing her harp, Julia watched the three young girls chatting animatedly under the tree.
She looked at Sofia and the other two, who were acting as mentors and offering advice.
She rolled her eyes helplessly.
"Julia, what do you think?" Matlisa suddenly turned and asked her opinion.
After all, among them, only Julia appeared the most stable and mature.
In her daily life, among the young girls, she usually portrayed the image of a mature and caring sister.
Hearing Matlisa's words, Julia continued to plucking the strings, bringing out melodious notes.
Amidst the music, she softly said, "My advice is not to listen to these two people's advice."
"What? Why? Our advice is excellent!"
"That's right, we know a lot about this."
The Sofia and the other two immediately became dissatisfied and retorted.
Hearing this, Julia rolled her eyes helplessly at the two of them.
"You two are always the passive ones, completely dominated by Alka. You've never been the winner. What experience do you have? How dare you offer advice to others?"
The calm words carried a deadly knife, piercing the two women's chests.
"What? That's because..."
The two of them immediately launched into excuses for their actions.
Something about being out of shape, Alka being too cunning, or not adjusting their mindset properly.
Watching this, Mathilda, standing beside them, couldn't help but chuckle.
"If you had the same wisdom as when you were little,
"If I had half the courage, I wouldn't be like this now," Julia said suddenly.
She was obviously referring to Er's behavior.
The Sofia was hit in the vitals by an enemy ship and sank!
"Here it comes!"
A loud roar came from the bow. With that roar, Juanlu's face flushed red, and his fishing rod almost broke.
But finally, with a powerful pull, a massive fish, nearly two meters long, was reeled in.
Alka could tell at a glance that the fish was at the third level of strength.
"Kill it immediately! "
Hearing this, Juanlu waved his hand, and four spheres flew out from behind him.
The spheres transformed into four head-sized monsters, biting the fish before it could even drop.
Quickly, relying on his experience, Juanlu struck the fish's vital spot.
The fish was instantly killed with a single blow, landing on the deck.
"Tonight is a fish feast!"
"Oh oh oh! Cheers to today's fish king, Juanlu!"
"Fish king!"
"Fish king!"
"Fish king!"
Several people, arm in arm, circled around the fish.
Some puppet girls were nearby, cheering along, unsure of what was happening.