[Vol. 1] Chapter 35: What Lies Beyond the Sea?
The [Noah's Ark] was essentially an enlarged version of the previous small boat model.
Its hull was made of special steel materials, with the exterior painted in shades of brown to mimic a wooden structure. Although there were sails raised at the top for show, the vessel was actually driven by the magical furnace inside.
The reason for this design was mainly because the [Noah's Ark] was a wooden sailboat in legend, so it had to be perfectly replicated since it carried that name – this was someone's exact words.
"Oh my goddess…"
"Praise the First Spirit!"
"Where on earth did this thing come from!?"
A series of gasps and exclamations were heard from the side, and the surrounding troops began to gather due to the commotion. Violet didn't bother and simply snapped her fingers, and a delicate metal slide immediately descended from the ship.
The priestess led the way up the slide.
As for the matters of the troops, they were left for Lilya to handle. Violet proceeded alone to the central control room and performed a brief adjustment of the ship's AI system.
Perhaps due to having only a basic level of intelligence, the management AI of the [Noah's Ark] had not evolved into a true sentient being like the Little Dragon Lady (Xiao Guang). It could only follow Violet's instructions meticulously. This was somewhat regrettable for Violet but also a relief.
After all, the priestess had quite a few valuable items in her backpack. If the AI had its own ideas, it could lead to chaos, couldn't it?
In most games, as long as an item reaches the level of a divine artifact, it can possess the most basic level of intelligence, just like this ship.
She waited in the central control room bored for a while until she saw in the surveillance video that all the troops Lilya had brought had boarded the "Noah's Ark." That's when she started giving orders to the AI.
"01, hoist the anchor. The destination is the opposite side of this river, at the 50-degree area. There's a large slope over there where we'll make landfall."
"Yes, Miss Violet, the estimated autonomous sailing time has been calculated, totaling 27 minutes and 31 seconds. Do you need assistance from the automated navigation system?"
The crisp, pleasant female voice filled the central control room from all directions, with a nice tone but a cold and mechanical quality, which was the typical characteristic of a regular AI.
By the way, because naming was troublesome, Violet typically just referred to her as "01."
"Commence automatic navigation."
"Affirmative, Miss Violet. The Noah's Ark has been initiated, and the power reactor is charging. It is estimated to start moving in 12 seconds. Please prepare."
"That's fine. You handle the minor matters, and if you can't make a decision, use the intercom to notify me."
"Understood, Miss Violet."
With the AI autonomously controlling the navigation trajectory, Violet left the central control room and joined Lilya and the others on the deck.
"Hey, Lilya."
Violet waved and smiled at the princess.
The generals from earlier had gone to oversee the deployment of their troops. Witnessing such a miraculous scene, they dared not complain in their hearts any longer and naturally put all their effort into their work. Currently, only Lilya, Flora, and a few trusted members of the Shadow Guard remained on the deck.
Speaking of which, Violet had only recently noticed that the Shadow Guard, the princess's personal guard, were all girls…?
According to Lilya, the members of the Shadow Guard were personally selected by her from orphans, persecuted individuals, or impoverished people, and the first requirement was that their backgrounds must be absolutely clean and reliable.
Naturally, among these people, there were both males and females, but because the Shadow Guard typically accompanied the princess closely for her protection, there were many inconveniences with male members. Therefore, Lilya had simply assigned all the male members to the Royal Guard Knight Order, the silver-armored warriors that she brought with her.
Although the several Shadow Guard ladies on the deck were all wearing black skintight suits, covering their faces, Violet could still faintly sense that they were actually quite good-looking young women. Hmmm… it felt like a certain princess had considered their appearance when selecting them.
"Violet, you're here!"
Upon seeing the black-haired girl emerge from the lower deck, Lilya's eyes instantly brightened. She unhesitatingly ran over, taking Violet's hand and leaning against the railing together. They enjoyed the breeze coming in from the river, both with excited expressions, as if they were having a great time.
"To be honest, it's my first time on such a large ship. I heard that at the eastern edge of the world, there's something called 'the sea,' which is countless times larger than this Black River. Occasionally, people returning from the far-eastern country write down their observations and experiences on the sea in books, and it sounds really fascinating."
"Violet, do you think when they sail on the sea, they also use such enormous ships? And what lies in the far reaches of the sea?"
Well… even if you ask me, I don't know…
In response to the princess's first question, theoretically, this world should be able to build larger ships than the Noah's Ark.
While the situation in other countries is unclear, based on the Human United Kingdom's circumstances, even though the overall culture resembles a medieval setting, the existence of magic and various supernatural forces means it's not a straightforward comparison with Earth.
As for what lies in the far reaches of the sea… if we explain it based on Earth's situation, it should eventually return to the western coast of the continent.
But in this world, the western regions are said to be endless wastelands, so Violet cannot be certain where a journey across the sea to the east would lead. People who have attempted to do so in the past haven't seemed to return, so she cannot provide a definite answer to Lilya.
However, it seems that the princess was just carried away by her excitement and made a few casual comments. She quickly regained her dignified and composed demeanor, staring at the increasingly turbulent river with a serious expression.
To cross the Black River, having a ship was the basic requirement. The real challenge was yet to come.
"It's about time…"
Muttering to herself with her blue hair, as if responding to her words, the river suddenly churned with a massive vortex, and bursts of suction forces began to tug at the Noah's Ark's hull.
But if it could be swayed by such forces, Violet and her companions wouldn't have used this item for long ocean voyages. The surging river didn't cause the ship to deviate from its course in the slightest, and Noah's Ark continued to sail steadily toward the opposite bank.
The visible vortex paused for a moment, and even from across the river, Violet could feel the embarrassment of the one who had caused it. Probably… they had never encountered a situation like this before.
However, immediately after, the initial confusion turned into rage!
With a thunderous explosion, a large volume of river water rose into the air like a tidal wave, turning into sharp raindrops that densely struck the ship's hull. At the same time, the bottom of the Noah's Ark was met with a continuous and muffled impact.
"What the hell, they can't win, so they're resorting to water… I don't want to be soaking wet in broad daylight."
Sighing lightly with a headache, Violet ignored the Shadow Guard girls who were unsheathing their weapons in an attempt to intercept the water-drop projectiles and Flora, who was using her short bow to aim at a specific location on the river surface. She snapped her fingers again.
Hum~
A magnificent golden curtain, spanning a thousand meters, instantly covered the entire ship like a semicircular shield, completely protecting Noah's Ark within.
While the Barrier of Radiance couldn't simultaneously cover the submerged part of the ship for navigation purposes, Violet had only expanded the defense to avoid getting her body wet in the first place.
She had long since noticed those creatures lurking in the river and, given their attacking power, they wouldn't be able to do anything to a divine artifact like the Noah's Ark, especially one specialized in defense.
Originally, if they had just stayed inside and not stuck their heads out, Violet wouldn't have bothered with them. But instead, they had recklessly bumped into her…