Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 1060 - 1053: Guessing the Power Source

Chapter 1060: Chapter 1053: Guessing the Power Source

After some discussion, Tu Xiu agreed with Luo’er’s approach and arranged for two Wolfman villagers to return to Meila Village with Cheng Ziang, while the rest stayed behind in the village to conduct their research.

"Elder Tu Xiu, we are indeed very interested in the Overturning Beast. I wonder if you have any images or records of it that we could look at?" After convincing Tu Xiu, Luo’er no longer hid his intentions and asked directly.

"Hmm..." Faced with Luo’er’s request, Tu Xiu was silent for a moment before beckoning them, "Esteemed guests, please follow me."

The group followed Tu Xiu out of the house to the outside of the village. The village’s terrain was such that it was high on both sides and low in the middle, with a waterfall pouring down from the cliffs of the canyon and a small river flowing slowly through the village before entering an underground river.

The canyon was large, but the village itself was not particularly big, at least it did not occupy the entire valley, but only about one-third of it.

It must be said that if one doesn’t consider transportation factors, this place could truly be considered a hidden paradise. If it were developed into a tourist attraction, it would surely be very popular. Sadly, Earthlings could not travel to a place with such dense magical energy, as it would be perilous to their lives.

Following Tu Xiu, the group passed through the village, crossed a small bridge over the river, and then arrived at a place that looked like an altar.

This artificially flattened area had a huge rock at its center, as big as a three-story building. Around it was a circle of stone pillars constructed from stacked rocks. One face of the rock was smoothed down, on which were carved exquisite bas-reliefs.

The bas-relief depicted a massive creature, akin to a whale, with its head facing upwards, drifting among floating clouds.

If they had not guessed wrong, this was probably the Overturning Beast—the very Lord Leiyun in their own words. It would seem the ancestors of the Wolfman Clan had carved its image into stone, so that future generations would not forget the contributions it had made to the Wolfman Clan.

Just as Luo’er and the others had surmised, at first glance, the Overturning Beast indeed resembled a whale, somewhat like a combination of a bowhead whale and a blue whale, with its pectoral fins slightly reminiscent of a shark.

The Overturning Beast was extremely bloated, with a belly so large that it looked like a portly fish.

Its head was somewhat similar to that of a sperm whale, with the head appearing as an inverted triangle when seen from the front, and a mouth resembling that of a shark.

On either side of its head were two huge nostrils, presumably for breathing. However, such gigantic nostrils looked remarkably similar to the air intakes of a jet fighter at first glance.

Unlike whales, the Overturning Beast had two pairs of pectoral fins—fore and aft. The fore pectoral fins were positioned just behind and below its eyes and were much larger than the aft ones. Both pairs of pectoral fins were triangular in shape. In comparison with its body size, the long pectoral fins did rather resemble wings.

In addition, it had a dorsal fin on its back and parallel tail flukes like those of a whale. Considering this fantastical creature primarily moved through the skies, Luo’er truly didn’t understand what use it had for these features.

"Look, Luo’er!" Baiyue seemed to have noticed something and pointed at the bas-relief while speaking to Luo’er.

"What did you see?" Luo’er asked after a moment of surprise.

"Behind its fore pectoral fins are several rows of vertical gill slits, which is a characteristic of sharks..." Baiyue said as she squinted and closed her mouth.

"What are you trying to say?" Luo’er noted that she seemed to have an underlying meaning in her words.

"Well, we’ve been wondering... what exactly does it use to move through the skies..." Baiyue spoke hesitantly.

"Isn’t that obvious? Probably something similar to anti-gravity runes, right? How else could such a massive creature soar through the skies?" Luo’er shrugged and replied.

"But that only explains why it can levitate between heaven and earth, not why it can move in the sky," Baiyue said with a frown.

"Wait, isn’t what you’re saying a bit contradictory?" Luo’er looked at her and asked.

"It’s not contradictory," Baiyue shook her head, then turned to Luo’er and said, "Think about it, if the High-peak people’s airboats can hover in the sky with the help of anti-gravity runes, how do the airboats move? Shouldn’t they need some sort of power device similar to sails?"

"Oh, right, right, right, I remember now, you’re saying, where is the propulsion device of the Scouring Sky Beast?" Luo’er suddenly realized.

"Close enough," Baiyue nodded and then continued to frown at the relief, hesitantly saying, "About this, I do have a bold speculation."

"Let’s hear it," Luo’er said expectantly.

He was very willing to hear Baiyue’s speculations, because as it turned out, most of her predictions came true. Rather than speculations, it was as if she understood the script, peering into events that would unfold later on.

"Look, the Scouring Sky Beast’s head has two enormous nostrils, don’t you think they are strikingly similar to the air intake ducts of jet fighters?" Baiyue pointed to the relief and said.

"Uh, this..." Luo’er seemed somewhat at a loss for words.

"I know what you’re about to say, you’re thinking not to measure the Otherworld by Earth’s rules. But have you ever considered that the operation of all things in the world follows certain rules that are completely the same, whether on Earth or in the Otherworld. For example, airboats can fly into the sky thanks to anti-gravity runes, something incomprehensible to Earthlings, but in the end, they still have to be equipped with sails, utilizing the wind to drive their movement, isn’t that the same as Earth’s sailboats?"

"In other words, in some aspects, the physical laws of both worlds are universal. The High-peak people may let their airboats fly in the sky, but no matter what, they can’t create something out of nothing and produce the power to move the airboats. Hence, I think when considering these issues, we can still follow some of the basic physical rules from Earth," Baiyue explained.

"Hmm, I’ve learned something new!" Luo’er nodded lightly, agreeing with Baiyue’s statement.

"So," Baiyue continued, pointing to the relief again, "we can’t explain why the Scouring Sky Beast can hover in the sky, but we can explain why it can move, because essentially, there are only so many ways one can think of to move in the sky."

"Then what do you think it is?" Luo’er asked.

"I think," Baiyue said confidently, her eyes narrowed as she stared at the gill slits behind the Scouring Sky Beast’s pectoral fins, "the propulsion method of the Scouring Sky Beast is very likely the same principle as jet aircraft."

"You see, it can inhale air through its mouth or those two immense nostrils, then release it through its gill slits to generate forward thrust," Baiyue explained, pointing to the Scouring Sky Beast’s pelvic fins, "Its pelvic fins are essentially parallel to its gill slits, which likely means it uses its pectoral fins for body balance and its pelvic fins, along with its tail fin, for aerial maneuvering."

"That makes sense," Luo’er nodded in agreement.

"But," after thinking, Luo’er grew doubtful, "if that is the case, wouldn’t its speed be too slow? After all, this kind of breath in and then jet out propulsion method, it doesn’t sound very fast."

"Well, you could ask the elder how long the Scouring Sky Beast took to travel from East Continent to Western Continent," Baiyue suggested after pondering.

"I’ll ask," Luo’er nodded, then bent down to speak with Taran.

Upon hearing Taran’s question, Tu Xiu paused, then answered, "According to the ancestors, it took a full eighty-one days to travel from East Continent to Western Continent."

"Eighty-one days, that does seem too slow..." Luo’er turned to Baiyue and said.

"But we don’t know the distance from East Continent to Western Continent, do we?" Baiyue argued, "Moreover, according to their stories, when the Scouring Sky Beast left East Continent, it was already seriously injured, so its speed would by no means have been normal."

"Hmm, so what’s your take?" Luo’er frowned slightly and then turned to Baiyue to ask.

"My view is that the Scouring Sky Beast’s normal speed is probably not slow because if its propulsion system is similar to that of jet aircraft, then its speed could by no means be that limited," Baiyue stated with conviction.