Crossing the Sea

Those two days passed very quickly.

Much to some of the group member's surprise, Ming Yue seemed quite curious as to the uses of the many things they had brought. Though she didn't shower them with questions, it was enough for them to see her in a better light.

They did not regard her as much, merely a spectator who was only there for the experience. She had no idea what their purpose was and probably didn't care. That was what they thought of her.

However, Ming Yue did her studying, speaking to Zhi Qing and the Grand Researcher to learn more about the expedition. Certainly, she did not know the finer details but she had a relative understanding a to what happened. This show of knowledge warmed the others up to her.

As for what she gathered from them, much of the equipment on the ship was for gathering the dragon energy and protecting them from it as well.

By the bow of the ship where Ming Yue sat, she was having quite the spirited conversation with one of the members, Xin Kuo.

Xin Kuo was the woman in charge of creating the massive formation on the floor of the ship. Speaking to her was easy as she had a friendly appearance and spoke with a soft voice. According to her, this formation would protect the entire ship from any tempestuous waves and help keep the ship balanced. Without it, the ship would capsize the moment they entered the gravesite. This formation had been used for years and it became a subject of study for her to which she improved on its efficiency and strength.

Conversation with her was fun at times as they were similar in age where Xin Kuo was only a few years older. Though in their first conversation, it was Xin Kuo that started it. Curious about Ming Yue, she asked questions about where she was from and why she came to the Dark Water Kingdom. They came to know more about each other and through Xin Kuo, Ming Yue became more familiar with everyone else.

The old woman who assembled the umbrella was known as Sheng Bei or Senior Bei as she is the oldest of everyone here and has been in the department from before the Long siblings. While she had a chance to become the head of the department, she did not pursue it for some odd reason. Though it might have had to do somehting with that umbrella she has. It has been her sole project that she uses to deflect the attacks of any dragon spirits.

As for the bearded man carrying the fan, Xin Kuo warned Ming Yue of him as he seemed to always have some ulterior motive. His name is Tian Zhui and despite his scholar-like appearance, he was very ambitious. On one hand, he worked the hardest out of everyone, even going out into the wilderness to gather his own materials. On the other, he always had something to say, a criticism towards another person's work or a complaint about their actions.

"Don't bother speaking to him, he sees everyone a stepping stone", said Xin Kuo.

"Really?", Ming Yue glanced at him as he kept on inspecting the shields he assembled.

She saw him secretly take glances at the work of others, there was a sense of mockingness from his eyes though he hid it quite well.

Xin Kuo saw her look at him and sighed as she did.

"Still, his work is undeniable. Those shields were something he has a personal hand in though they were a group effort. Due to a few unique materials that he gathered, these shields act as a second layer to the protective formation I made. Though if worn, they serve another purpose and lessened the pressure given off by the dragon corpses. It is very helpful when we need to go out and gather dragon bones."

"I see. Then what about the department heads, Long Wang and Long Wei?" asked Ming Yue.

Out of everyone here, the twin siblings were the most eccentric. They spoke together and practically breathed together. Everyone here certainly had their quirks but the Long siblings were the strangest.

"Those two?" Xin Kuo paused to think before answering.

"I don't know much about them personally but their reputation is something everyone knew about. They are geniuses who obsessed over the strength of dragons and had joined this department early on in their years. They did quite a lot of work and accelerated the pace at which we replicated dragon energy. In fact, they were the ones who managed to produce something that had half of a dragon's power."

"Really? I didn't know that it was them who had done it."

Ming Yue was surprised. Those two were only in their thirties but they already had so many achievements.

It was then that the siblings in question emrged from the captain's cabin.

"We're arriving at the gravesite. Everyone prepare yourselves and be ready."

"Oh, we should get ready", Xin Kuo stood up and went to activate the formation.

Everyone stood up from their place and went to their positions. Xin Kuo's formation glowed and hummed before creating a transparent barrier all around the ship. The umbrella of Senior Bei glowed as the multi-layered top spun slowly. The shields of Tian Zhui were set up and different points of XIn Kuo's formation, fortifying it and creating a second barrier albeit a bit thinner.

Everything about the ship had activated, the cannons were manned, the armored hull transformed and moved upwards to protect the ship deck.

Everyone was extremely quiet and waited. Ming Yue stood to the side and looked downwards. To her shock, the water had become shallow, only several meters thick. The clear blue water reverberated against the ship.

They slowly moved, quietly traversing the sea.

The water slowly became rougher, pushing against the ship.

Suddenly, something crashed into the hull of the ship and one of the Roaring Thunder Cannons shot. A surge of lightning came out from it struck the water below.

A small shadow came from below, its wing partially torn by the cannon shot. With scaled body, beady eyes, and horns on its head, it roared at them before shooting off a ball of water from its mouth. The barrier stood in place protecting the ship from that attack as another cannon shot it down.

"Hmm, was that a stray?", someone muttered.

That was a Dragon Fish, one of the descendant races of the dragon. It had a body comparable to that of a young man.

That was the purpose of the armaments of the ship. The gravesite did not just carry the corpses of dragons but their descendants dwell here to protect the gravesite from any would be intruders. That Dragon Fish was the first of many to come. Deeper into the gravesite, they maneuvered around any would be beasts, only attacking those that came close.

MIng Yue could do nothing but just watch as everyone else had either took control of a cannon or brought out a harpoon gun. Every now and then, one of them would make a move, killing it and pulling it onto the ship to take back.

It ranged from simple fish to giant sharks, all of them shared similar features with horns on their heads and whiskered on their mouths. Though they were descendants, they still had value in research, some more than others.

"Over there! an Electric Dragon Eel", someone called out, pointing towards the left of the ship.

The ship turned as everyone spotted a serpent-like eel, ten meters in length and probably several thousand kilograms in weight.

They chased after the eel, who sensed its pursuers and did not try to escape but instead attacked them head on. Sparks came from its body as a shockwave burst out and shook the ship. Several cannons built up power before shooting off rays of lightning.

However, all of them missed the eel, what more they were weakened from the shockwave.

The eel swam forth and suddenly leaped from sea, ready to pounce on the ship.