Deep in the Living
Chapter 320 - 308: Taking a Boat

Chapter 320: Chapter 308: Taking a Boat

Navel Port.

Through crevices in the city walls that reeked of minced flesh, a team of three squeezed through, making their way towards the harbor without stopping.

Through conversation, it was known about Calen’s peculiar encounter within Hell’s Commerce.

Upon his initial entry into the guild, his uniqueness was identified through the golden symbol branded on his hand, and he was directly sent to the mysterious President’s location.

No information about the President could be disclosed.

It’s known that Hell’s Commerce valued Calen’s unique tumorous constitution, signing with him a rare Pre-order Contract.

The Commerce provided Calen with the most suitable set of equipment without cost.

There was no need to go to the merchandise area; instead, he could directly select from a menu projected by the President, with no limits on the quantity.

Calen did not take excessively; throughout the process, he did not display any greed.

He merely chose two items, both of which could help him create crystals more swiftly, radiate efficiently, and illuminate quickly.

’Sulfur Swollen Eye (Sulfurignis)’

’Guild Robe (Emporaxiarch Vestments)’

The demands from Hell’s Commerce were simple; they only hoped that Calen would succeed in his Demon Ascension. Once ascended, he was just required to provide crystals that met the standards to the Commerce periodically, and there was no restriction on his freedom of movement.

Being highly valued and specially hired by the Commerce was enough to illustrate Calen’s uniqueness.

Additionally, the Guild Robe, which was worn by him, featured a hood designed as a golden skull, which symbolically showcased his identity in the Commerce. Any entity active in Hell would be cautious around him, an effect almost equating to the status of a Monk.

[Harbor Docks]

Much different from the docks of Mingwang City that Luo Di had visited before.

The docks here weren’t built from materials but were a type of overgrowth intrinsic to the city. A huge, honeycomb-like swollen overgrowth structure existed in the dock area, most of which was immersed in seawater.

Each pore of the honeycomb overgrowth could sprout thick tentacles with suction-cup-like ends.

Any ships, regardless of material, would be anchored by just getting close to them, and held stationary at the port.

It also needs clarification regarding the transoceanic ships.

As they need to navigate between light and dark and given the harsh conditions of the Dead Ash Sea, all outgoing ships must undergo a port inspection, and only high-grade cruisers that meet the quality standards are permitted to sail.

Additionally, even the quality-approved ships are assessed for related risk indices.

Currently, there are four ships docked at Navel Port.

Two of them are waiting for maintenance and need at least a week before they can depart.

The other two ships are provided by different manufacturers,

one is the ’Golden Ark’* made by the Commerce

with a capacity of 800 people, crossing time of two days and six hours, passenger mortality rate of 5.1%, and a sinking probability of 0.8%. This is a private ship, requiring contributions from Hell to purchase boarding rights.

The other is the ’Rotten Mother Palace’* manufactured by Navel Port

with a capacity of 2000 people, crossing time of one day, passenger mortality rate of 25.1%, and a sinking probability of 11.9%. Each person pays the ship fare based on their weight; any form of currency or raw material can be used for payment.

The styles of the two cruise ships are drastically different,

the Commerce’s cruiser is a huge golden skull, where all passengers move about within the skull, not only having high-end, private accommodation but also providing various services.

The cruiser provided by Primordial Slime is made by Navel Port, with raw materials being a massive meaty palace composed of overgrowth developed from female tumorous individuals, finally sewn together.

Passengers move about inside this meat palace, without any entertainment facilities or guest rooms, and everyone must cram within the sticky, rotten flesh walls.

Numerous tentacles swing outside the palace body, propelling it forward.

Moreover, the energy reserves of the Primordial Slime Cruise are not sufficient for transoceanic travel, requiring onboard passengers to actively contribute a part of their energy, and at times, manual operation is necessary.

Because of purchasing a knife handle, Luo Di also nearly exhausted his contributions.

Although this Primordial Slime Cruise, resembling a Mother Nest, emits a tremendous smell, carries high risk, and requires living crammed together with a large number of tumorous individuals, it is presumed that even excretions are internally digested.

But at least there was one good thing,

it was fast enough,

just endure one day and we would arrive.

Even Luo Di, who had once carried out large-scale massacres and handled countless corpses, still felt some physical discomfort while standing on the dock after mentally preparing himself.

Staring at the cruise ship resembling organs,

hearing the strange noises emanating from inside,

watching all sorts of tumor-villagers boarding the ship, even the Crow Colt was cawing loudly in protest.

"Forget it... I still have some contributions, let’s see if it’s enough for three tickets."

Agatha planned to spend what was left of her savings; she didn’t want to squeeze inside such an organ-like vessel either, just the thought of being surrounded by tumor-villagers and possibly having excrement fall on her was unbearable.

When they arrived at the Guild’s boarding gate, the skeleton in charge of ticketing glanced at the trio, or more precisely, at the Guild clothes Calen was wearing.

"Honored Guild member! You are entitled to a free ride on the Golden Ark."

"Can my two friends come with me?"

"Free for members only, I can apply for a 50% discount if you want to bring companions."

Getting a 50% discount was already quite good, Agatha didn’t spend much of her contributions to get the tickets.

Everyone, prompted by the skeleton crew, jumped into the giant mouth of a golden skull, similar to the way they entered the Guild.

A wave of spatial fluctuation,

the rotten smell of the ocean, the birthing smell of Navel Port, all disappeared.

Replaced by the pleasant fragrance inside the cruise, they were directly teleported to the guest room area and quickly found the luxurious suite located on the middle floor according to the ticket.

This cruise ship of the golden skull also used the same spatial technology as the Guild, completely separating the inside from the outside, guests inside would not smell the sea nor even feel the rocking caused by the navigation.

Luo Di went straight to the suite window as soon as he entered the room.

Although the inside and outside were separated spatially, the ocean could still be seen through the window, or perhaps it was designed this way by the Guild on purpose.

In case of a maritime disaster, guests could observe through the window and prepare in advance.

The so-called Dead Ash Sea outside of the window was nothing like the oceans Luo Di remembered.

It was less like an ocean, more like a giant swampy mud pit, Hell’s junkyard, a gathering place for all filth, maintained in a fluid state only through the purification projects of the coastal tumor-villagers.

Otherwise, the entire ocean would have solidified long ago, even piling up into mountains of garbage thousands, or even tens of thousands, of meters high.

Luo Di looked at the ocean outside the window and a question arose in his mind:

"The essence of Dead Ash Sea is just the garbage accumulation area metabolized by True Hell, like a mud pit, what dangers could there be passing through such a mud pit area?

Why is the shipwreck rate so high?

Even the golden skull of the Guild, strengthened by powerful spatial array, still has a certain probability of accidents? What dangerous creatures are in the ocean, or does True Hell accidentally swallow the ships?"

"Because there are... ancestors."

Although Agatha and Calen were in different parts of the suite, they responded in unison.

Luo Di looked puzzled, "Ancestors? What is that?"

As he asked this question,

his view from the window seemed to include some anomaly.

Faintly, in the far end illuminated by the lighthouse light, amidst the miasma and darkness, there seemed to be a huge hand, or like a twisted face.

A sense of fear, utterly different from that of the Corner, suddenly surged, forcing Luo Di to avert his gaze.

When he had calmed down slightly and looked out the window again, there was nothing in the far reaches of the churning sea.