I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 818 - 818 Between the cracks

Chapter 818: Between the cracks Chapter 818: Between the cracks “42 seconds.”

Lu Ban watched the time displayed on the wooden piece in his hand flow normally again and spoke,

“That monster exists in the 42nd second of every minute.”

Since time could be delayed and frozen in the Windless Belt, there were certainly creatures that existed here in some special manner.

The Skeleton Serpent in the clouds had undergone severe Pollution and Mutation, and the monster Lu Ban had just seen was also clearly severely Polluted, or perhaps, it might even be the source of the Pollution.

Under some special mechanism, it had been Sealed, but evidently, it wasn’t a being that could be thoroughly sealed like the Ancient Overlords, or perhaps the one who applied the Seal wasn’t as powerful as the residents of the Splendid Realm and couldn’t completely block the Pollution.

As such, the monster was bound to every 42nd second of the minute. When the time reached 42 seconds, the monster would appear in reality, trying to flee, but a mere second was not enough for its escape. Perhaps, the monster didn’t even understand what was happening to itself, still acting in its usual rhythm. But in such a situation, it could never escape the bind of that one second, no matter how it struggled, only able to affect reality for a single second.

In fact, realizing this, Lu Ban also roughly understood the characteristics of the Windless Belt.

Everything here was influenced by the extraordinary powers that resided here, their time passage affected. For common humans, their existence might only last a fraction of a second, where even a single blink would let the external world pass by centuries. The stronger the being, the closer their time flow would match actual time.

As for the monster shrouded in black mist, since its time flow couldn’t be delayed, it was only bound by the extraordinary powers within that one second. During that second, it could affect the entire Windless Belt, but once that second passed, it couldn’t affect anything in reality.

It was like adding a monster into one frame of a movie reel; once the movie played that frame, the monster’s form would be revealed, but it would vanish in an instant.

And Shia, after being caught earlier, had struggled for a while before she could return to reality.

As for those missing sailors, they were noticed by the monster in that one second and directly shrouded by the black mist. The outlook was grim; even if they were still alive, they had been pulled into the same timeline as the monster, unless they possessed extraordinary powers like Lu Ban or Shia, they would be devoured by the monster.

Time passed, and Lu Ban saw that it was nearly the 42nd second again.

He and Shia immediately left that ship, returning to Zhang Zheng’s ship.

This time, the 42nd second passed by quickly without incident.

“It seems it notices the ships that stay here,” Shia said, glancing at the sailors on the ship and then at the splendid lamps and candles on the large ship.

After they left, the ship returned to its previous silent stead, just as before.

Perhaps for the people on the ship, everything was still unchanged, their consciousness frozen at the moment of the banquet. For many among them, this voyage was filled with anticipation, possibly a beautiful encounter, possibly heading towards loved ones on the other side of the sea, possibly the last voyage of a fulfilled life.

But everything was fixed in that final moment.

For the monster in the rift of time, this ship must have been moored here for a long time. The appearance of Lu Ban and others was like seeing a few small black dots suddenly appearing on a frequently watched screen. The monster would certainly find it strange and want to see what exactly it was.

After all, for a monster that only existed for a second, Zhang Zheng’s ship couldn’t have caught its attention.

Like before, when the Skeleton Serpent appeared, the monster in the time rift didn’t attack Lu Ban and the others. As long as there were no actions that could push the time progression here, it wouldn’t trigger an attack by the monster.

“We need to be cautious, best not to approach the ships moored here, as there are no living people on them, only mutated monsters,” Shia spoke to Zhang Zheng.

Zhang Zheng broke into a cold sweat, hesitated, and nodded. He glanced again at the large ship.

“Ah Xiang, the ones who just vanished, did you take down their names?” he asked the scholar beside him.

“All noted down.”

Ah Xiang didn’t board the ship, but he could still hear the screams, aware that there probably had been some dangerous situations on board.

“When the time comes, remember to give their share of the money to their families,” Zhang Zheng said, following the maritime rule that if a sailor died at sea, as long as the ship returned safely, his share of the money would be reserved for his family. This was also to prevent the sailors from harboring ill intentions after finding treasures at sea, desiring less sharing of the bounty.

Ah Xiang looked up at the sky and noticed that the arrangement of the stars had changed from what he knew before. Fortunately, the Treasure Map had indications, and according to the current speed, they should reach the Island where the treasure was located after one more day of sailing.

But based on the current situation, once they reached the Island, they would catch the monster’s attention, thus falling into danger every minute.

No wonder, even though the location of the treasure was marked, no one could retrieve it.

Approaching dawn, the sea ahead manifested a golden color, against the absolutely calm ocean, that gold reflecting the sky, radiating a splendid light.

Ah Xiang lay in his bed, unable to sleep all night due to the eerie environment. He then got up and went to the deck.

The night-watching sailors were playing cards and chatting, but their expressions were not as relaxed as usual but more serious, probably trying to divert their attention, not letting the silence of this sea area take over their hearts.

He saw Shia sitting at the prow and went over to greet her.

Shia was flipping through a book, seemingly studying by the light of dawn. Ah Xiang called out, but Shia did not respond.

Assuming she was too focused, he cleared his throat and approached her.

He called out again and tapped on Shia’s shoulder, but the girl engrossed in reading did not heed him.

At that moment, Ah Xiang suddenly noticed, in the gaps of Shia’s Armor, something seemed to be wriggling, like maggots twisting in rotting flesh.

Ah Xiang, horrified by the sight, his heart skipped a beat.

“What’s wrong?” Suddenly, Shia spoke, looking at Ah Xiang.

*