Chapter 316: Miraculous Recovery

"Perhaps they've fallen into some sort of delusion," Viserys said after a moment of silence.

"Everyone has heard the legends of sea monsters in the Smoking Sea."

In this world, the common image of sea monsters is often limited to giant octopuses or squids, creatures with tentacles.

For instance, the golden kraken of House Greyjoy.

Some people also imagine sea monsters as enormous whales, as these massive creatures are undeniably the rulers of the sea, even without being considered sea monsters.

However, these creatures are generally docile and their appearance is not terrifying, so the legends of sea monsters being whales are less common.

"The source of terror actually stems from the fear within people's hearts."

"Everyone has heard of the sea monsters in the Smoking Sea, and the presence of the fog stimulates their inner fears, making them believe they've encountered a sea monster attack, so..."

The silver-haired young man sat on the bed, his mind racing to unravel the mystery, but his words abruptly stopped there.

"So... what?"

"Emon."

Mia, having wiped the blood off her dagger, had calmed down considerably. She looked up and asked.

"Are you unable to explain why those affected only attack sane humans and not their 'kind'? If it's just a delusion, they should be killing everyone around them."

"People in madness shouldn't be able to clearly distinguish friend from foe."

Mia and Viserys had both observed that all those with bloodshot eyes and in a state of madness were attacking the sane humans.

Yet they did not attack each other. In fact, they could even cooperate perfectly, without any friendly fire, as if they were all clear-headed.

"That's right."

Viserys nodded in agreement with Mia's words, his brow furrowed in confusion.

He too was puzzled by this phenomenon and didn't understand why it was happening.

However, because of Gyllyan's diary, Viserys knew more than Mia.

He knew that there were indeed sea monsters in the Smoking Sea because Gyllyan had encountered them. The people on the ship had paid a great price to finally escape to the lost continent.

Viserys had once believed in Gyllyan's diary without a doubt, but now he suddenly had doubts about the authenticity of this diary.

He didn't doubt whether this diary was a forgery by Gyllyan, designed to lure him into exploring the Valyrian ruins.

Because even without Gyllyan's bait, he would have come here in the future. This place was key to unraveling the mystery of the black fog.

What he doubted was the content described in Gyllyan's letter.

Did sea monsters... really exist?

Gyllyan's diary mentioned that their fleet had been attacked by sea monsters, and all the crew members fought back, cutting off the sea monster's tentacles.

Although they suffered heavy losses, they managed to escape the sea monster's attack.

Viserys now had some doubts. What Gyllyan saw back then, was it really a 'sea monster'?

Or was it like what Viserys was experiencing now, all the product of people's delusions, leading to mutual slaughter, and in reality, there was no such thing as a sea monster?

"So, Emon, what should we do now?"

The room fell silent again, and after a while, the red-haired girl asked again.

She was out of ideas. They were in the middle of the sea, and the people on the ship were in a frenzy, killing each other. If they continued to wait here, they would eventually be found and killed by these people.

And if they jumped ship now,

not to mention being in the perilous Smoking Sea, even in the open sea, it would be a suicidal act.

Mia turned to Viserys for help, and Viserys was also contemplating whether to summon Balerion now.

Or... should he kill everyone here himself?

Just then, footsteps sounded outside the room they were in.

It seemed that the fighting above had completely ceased, and even voices could be heard. The captain seemed to be directing the sailors to recover, as if nothing had happened.

"Huh?"

"Who's in there?"

A mercenary outside Viserys and Mia's door seemed to hear movement inside and asked anxiously.

But the two inside were even more nervous, including Viserys. They looked at each other, unsure of the person outside.

A living person? A dead one? Or someone in a state between madness and logic?

However, it was clear that staying in the room and playing dead wouldn't work. The knocking on the door outside was getting more intense, and it seemed like they were calling for their companions.

Even if they had to kill him and escape, now was the best chance.

Otherwise, it would be even more troublesome when he called his companions.

Viserys and Mia looked at each other and understood.

Then the silver-haired young man stood up first, one hand on his sword hilt, and moved to the door.

Mia hid to one side, ready to stab the person outside in the throat with her dagger.

Click.

Then Viserys abruptly opened the door.

Clang—

Seeing the door suddenly open, the person outside seemed even more nervous than Viserys.

He drew his sword from his waist and stepped back a few steps, but when he saw the young man in front of him, he let out a sigh of relief and sheathed his sword.

"Emon, it's you."

The person was Dick, who shared a room with Viserys.

He was one of the first to start coughing, and now he was covered in blood, apparently having just been through a fierce battle.

"Oh, and Mia, you guys hid here?"

Dick also saw the girl hiding to one side and naturally greeted her.

Running away was all too normal for mercenaries. He just didn't seize the opportunity to escape, otherwise, he wouldn't have fought the sea monster until now.

But if everyone on this ship only thought about running away, then it was only a matter of time before they were all wiped out.

Dick shrugged slightly.

"The sea monster has been repelled by us, but we've lost quite a few brothers."

"You can come out now."

"The sea monster has been repelled?"

Viserys and Mia looked at each other again, both seeing deep confusion in each other's eyes.

"What's going on?"

Mia asked in a low voice next to Viserys's ear.

"What exactly is happening..."

Viserys also frowned slightly, looking up and down at Dick in front of him. He felt like he was deep in a fog, unable to find any logic.

Dick seemed perfectly normal now, his words and actions logical, without any aggression, and his eyes were not bloodshot.

But if what he saw was true...

Then... what was that just now?