# 1909
Chapter 1909: The Silver Island
Over the next few days, Lin Qiye continued repeating the same cycle—traversing the void, meditating to recover, then traversing the void again once his spiritual power was restored.
In the dead silence of the universe, it seemed only the endless stars kept him company. Even the solar system was now far behind him, with nothing in view but specks of light the size of fists.
After another use of the [Hand of Sovereignty] to traverse the void, he sat cross-legged on Ame-no-Murakumo, directing all his attention back to the Seraph avatar.
...
Shangjing City.
Fifteen kilometers from Night Watch headquarters.
The maple leaves covering the mountains resembled flowing fire, stirring into waves beneath the wind. Shen Qingzhu walked up the winding path and stopped before a small courtyard gate.
After studying the courtyard for a moment, he pushed the door open and stepped inside.
Everything in the courtyard was immaculately maintained. A figure sat beneath the maple tree, head bowed in contemplation over a chessboard.
"Why leave a perfectly good office to come here?" Shen Qingzhu walked into the courtyard and asked.
"Back when we were at the Cthulhu Faction's old nest, I stayed here the whole time... gradually, I got used to it. It's spacious and quiet, perfect for thinking things through alone." Lin Qiye raised his head unconsciously, glanced toward a certain room, then paused.
"Besides, being in this environment might help me step into his perspective, figure out what he was really thinking..."
Shen Qingzhu nodded slightly. "This place really is nice. It's close to Night Watch headquarters too—just a step away for you."
"Did you come looking for me for a specific reason?"
"More or less."
Shen Qingzhu walked to the other side of the chessboard and sat down, pulling out his phone and holding it in front of Lin Qiye.
"Civilian expedition teams have spontaneously begun sending groups outside Great Xia's borders. Now that the mist has cleared and satellite communications outside are restored, they've gathered some equipment and started live-streaming. The public attention has reached an alarming level."
Lin Qiye took the phone. On the screen was an official live stream from a team called the "Pioneer Expedition Team." The current viewer count had exceeded 130 million, with the barrage of comments scrolling so fast the words were illegible.
Inside the live stream, three different views were arranged side by side—clicking any one would enlarge it. The scenes varied: desolate, dead earth; turbulent, churning seas; barren, lifeless mountains... presumably filmed by three separate teams heading in different directions.
The picture quality was decent—far from pixelated—but the camera shake was noticeable, along with faint heavy breathing. Though it was somewhat dizzying to watch, there was an authentic sense of immersion.
"For the hundred years since the mist descended, Great Xia has seen four generations pass. The earliest witnesses to the mist's arrival have long since turned to dust... That era had poor internet and communications. Even if they harbored doubts and suspicions about the mist's arrival, with Night Watch and the authorities working together to control public opinion back then, they couldn't make any waves.
"The second generation was born after the mist's descent and never had the chance to see the outside world. Their understanding of what happened came only from their parents' accounts. But in an era when everyone was focused on production and labor, few bothered to investigate such intangible matters...
"As for the third and fourth generations, the information they received from parents and grandparents was even sparser. For them, the mist's existence was as natural as the sun rising in the east and setting in the west—it was simply part of the world's order. That period of history had become nothing more than an article in a textbook.
"While internet technology gradually improved, our舆论 control rarely allowed any significant noise to surface... In this era, if a nation's government is determined to hide a certain truth, then even if someone notices something off, there's no way for it to spread. Rumors will always remain just rumors... And besides, we have Forbidden Ruins that can erase memories to assist us.
"So for their generation, the mist's dissipation is nothing less than an overturning of their understanding of the world... The process of exploring beyond our borders is like the interplanetary exploration in sci-fi movies, full of mystery and novelty. I estimate this heat is only just beginning—in time, the attention on this matter will only grow higher... especially once the expedition teams actually find something."
Lin Qiye showed no surprise at this, speaking calmly.
"...They've already found something." Shen Qingzhu sighed helplessly. "Otherwise, I wouldn't be here来找你."
"Found something? They just set out not long ago. What did they find?"
Shen Qingzhu tapped on one of the expedition teams' live stream views.
"This is the replay from five minutes ago from one of the expedition teams... See for yourself."
Lin Qiye took the phone and watched carefully. It was the team advancing by sea.
In the footage, the sea was caught in a storm. Beneath thundercloud-dark skies, towering waves crashed endlessly against the hull of the exploration vessel. Sea water surged continuously across the deck, and the entire shot swayed with the ship, creating an instinctive sense of oppression and urgency.
"This is Expedition Team 2... We're about to sail beyond Great Xia's East Sea border when we encountered a level-9 storm!" In the live stream, a middle-aged man who looked like a reporter gripped the ship's railing with white knuckles. His raincoat billowed wildly in the howling wind as he gritted his teeth and spoke.
"Currently, the wind is around level 10, average wave height close to thirteen meters... I don't know if our ship can weather this... The nearest Island is over a hundred miles away, and there's no way to turn back now..."
As the reporter spoke, figures rushed past behind him. Amid the roar of wind and waves, fragments of shouting could be heard: "Hard to port!! Hard to port!!"
CRACK—!!
A jagged bolt of lightning split the sky. A low rumble drowned out even the sound of the waves. The scene before them looked like the apocalypse.
At the same time, comments exploded across the screen:
【WTF, I just went to eat and it's like this?】
【Right? It was sunny and calm when they set off, then suddenly the waves came... They haven't even left Great Xia's borders yet!】
【I feel like some kind of invisible force is obstructing us from exploring the truth... You don't think there's really something sinister outside the borders, do you?】
【Divine protection! Demons begone! #prayer#prayer#prayer (attached: a photo of Lin Qiye's Six-Winged Seraph)】
【...】
"...In short, if we perish at sea, a brand-new Expedition Team 2 will take up our duty and continue along the route toward lands beyond!" In the storm, the reporter spoke again, his eyes filled with resolve.
"Nothing can stand in the way of humanity's march to explore the unknown. We shall—"
"Island... There's an island!! A silver island!!"
Before the reporter could finish, a sailor suddenly pointed toward a certain direction, shouting excitedly!