Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 433 - One: The Visitor from the Distant Sea_1

Chapter 433: Chapter One: The Visitor from the Distant Sea_1

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh." Clear sea waves gently slapped the fine sandy beach, braving wave after wave courageously sweeping back onto the land, only to slowly recede, leaving colorful seashells as proof of the wave’s past visit.

This is the western coastline of the Yarran Continent, the longest gently sloping coast in the world.

The sea is blue, a deep and boundless of blue. The undulating surface of the sea reflects a golden brilliance under the sun. Within the sparkling waves, dolphins waft and leap into the air, emitting unique calls. The blue sea mirrors the blue sky, filled with countless white seabirds spiraling and soaring, occasionally tucking their wings to dive, plucking small fish from the sea surface and shooting back to the sky. The sharp bird calls were interconnected, and while should be chaotic, it made the beach exceptionally quiet instead.

In the shallows of the beach, through the clear water surface, underwater scenes can be observed. Hermit crabs, dragging their heavy shells, stumble about in the shallows. Sea cucumbers flutter their stubby limbs, chasing small creatures floating in the water. Semi-transparent jellyfish elegantly drift in the water, their slow movements expressing an indescribable calmness and elegance. Sea hares quietly lurk behind a piece of reef, occasionally lurching out of the water to catch flying insects.

Above the shoreline, the sunlight is bright. Green palm-like plants cast a cool shade, where tired seabirds settle on the leaves to rest, occasionally pecking at the tender sprouts growing on the plants. A few small beasts laze under the shade of the trees, and as the sunlight filters through the gaps in the leaves onto their bellies, they produce comfortable snores from their throats.

Gazing far along the coastline, many unique houses stood on and beneath the distant shore. Generally speaking, the houses are divided into two types onshore and one offshore. Half of the onshore houses are wooden, not very strong, as one could tell from their appearance. All the walls were made of thin planks, seemingly built just as shelters from wind and rain. These houses are often used for temporary business premises or residences. They are usually rebuilt every couple of years. Of course, the corresponding construction time is also very short, and a house can essentially be built in just a few days. The other half of the onshore houses are made of stone, occupying half above ground and half below ground. They are made of the sturdiest non-living reef stones from the sea which are cut into blocks and bonded together with the mucus produced by a unique sea slug. Houses built this way can last for hundreds of years and withstand any typhoons and tsunamis.

The more one-of-a-kind houses were those built under the shore, completely constructed in the shallow sea. During the building process, builders would use magic to summon a large number of coral insects, artificially controlling the growth, reproduction, and death of the coral insects to rapidly form a coral reef at the seafloor. They would then build directly onto the reef, forming houses made of coral material. The houses and the reef below were inseparable, unaffected by fierce winds or torrential rains. These offshore houses were often taller than the water’s surface. Even during high tide, the ground would not be flooded by seawater. The doors of the rooms were located below, and one needed a boat to enter the space below the rooms, then climb up via ladder.

The presence of these houses added some life to the coastline. Along the coastline, one could see such a cluster of houses every twenty or thirty kilometers. In comparison with the inland cities, these coastal dwellings were equivalent to villages, and the locations with particularly dense houses were equivalent to cities or towns.

This coastline, stretching nearly ten thousand kilometers, along with the ten-kilometer-deep area within the coastline, forms one of the most unique countries on the Yarran Continent—the sea country of Kassa.

The composition of Kassa residents is complicated, so complicated that even people within the Sea Country sometimes can’t explain it. Generally speaking, the residents here can be divided into three types: sea race, sea people (thalassians), and land race. The sea race are shallow-water races who yearn for land life. They live on land like the land race, fishing, farming, and producing, living each day like the land race, being the bridge between the sea and land cultures. They can live either in the sea or on the seashore. However, there are not many of such sea races. After all, compared to the narrow land, the broad and deep sea is the world of the sea race.

The land race are land creatures who joined the Sea Country for various reasons. Not only humans, but intelligent life forms of all races are included. They may have joined the Sea Country, but they can only survive on land and cannot live in water for an extended period of time. These beings tend to be more like conventional land life, only their habits are more unique.

The most peculiar ones are the sea people (thalassians), who belong to neither the land race nor the sea race. Beginning from the middle of the Third Epoch, several creatures of various races who grew tired of wars among races and deities began to slowly migrate to the less valued coastline. They relied on fishing to survive, lived harmoniously with the sea race who had no interest in land territory, and received much help from the sea race. Over nearly ten thousand years, due to their long coexistence with the sea, these specialized humans gained some traits of sea creatures. They often have webs between their fingers, gills on their necks, and can normally survive in the sea for days or even months, making it difficult to distinguish whether they are sea race or land race.

These three types of beings came together and established the Sea Country of Kassa at the beginning of the Fourth Epoch, maintaining their inherent territory till today. During this time, it’s not that no country ever attempted to claim this land, but once their troops entered the territory of the Sea Country, they found, to their astonishment, that all residents had retreated to the sea on boats. What the troops were truly facing was in fact an enraged sea race deeply upset that their fellow races were being bullied. In front of the formidable sea race, the invaders smartly chose to retreat. Since then, no one has been willing to pay a heavy price to vie for this barren land. Thus, the Sea Country of Kassa developed slowly yet peacefully, like a fairyland, without foreign enemies, civil strife, or wars, only peace and tranquility.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh," the sea waves echoed endlessly. The eternal sounds of the waves brushed against the shore, the roar of the waves limitless.

"Glug, glug, glug." Deep in the ocean, a series of bubbles burst on the calm surface, creating a churning, boiling-like turmoil. The surrounding fishermen appeared quite accustomed to this phenomenon, methodically pulling in their nets, directing their boats away from the disturbed water without any signs of panic.

Then, surprisingly, the boiling sea abruptly subsided, making the previous churning seem like an illusion. But two trails of water appeared on the sea, breaking through the waves and heading towards the shoreline.

"Ah, visitors from the deep sea," the fishermen casually tossed their nets back into the water, chatting in loud voices to each other while watching the trails, "First time we’ve seen them this month, right?"

"Nearly half a year passed without spotting them a couple of times either," A fisherman from another boat responded in a loud voice, sounding almost like a roar for a normal person, "Some trouble in a nearby section of the deep sea has been rumoured, hence the sparse visitors."

"That’s terrible indeed." The fisherman’s face showed genuine concern, "Looking at their direction, they are heading for Lantern Fish City, the largest city in the north. Maybe they need some help from the sea folks. May the Storm God bless them; if they are in trouble, let’s hope they can resolve it smoothly."

The underwater visitors were oblivious to the prayers of the above Casa inhabitants. They continued their journey along their planned route. The water trails marking their position rippled long and wide, advancing at a speed that would shame any boat, heading for the destination the fishermen had speculated: Lantern Fish City.

Lantern Fish City has a history of twelve hundred years. Strategically located at the tip of a peninsula, half the city stands on the shore, while the other half stretches below, making it a unique city. Influenced by the inland cities, human-style buildings constructed primarily of stone cover the peninsula. Across the adjacent sea are coral reef platforms of various sizes, connected by stone bridges, with communicating sea roads below. Together, they form a man-made group of interconnected islands.

As the largest city in Northern Casa, it possesses the most comprehensive facilities. Various shops are ubiquitous in the city, constituting the most bustling area. However, in this city, the largest structure isn’t a commercial one. On land, it’s the Storm God Temple, whereas the largest undersea structure is the Coastal and Sea Interaction Center.

The Interaction Center, unique to the Sea Nation, functions as a place for visitors unfamiliar with the inland environment to transform into humanoid form before walking ashore. City service personnel are then in charge of greeting them and providing necessary information and guidance.

Within Room number three of the Interaction Center’s port, land-dwelling staff idly chatted in small groups. As the fishermen had mentioned, there had been a sharp decline in the number of sea people visiting from the deep sea in the last six months, leaving the receptionists with too much idle time. However, today was different. While they were chatting idly, the room’s large door was pushed open. A handful of professionals, led by a mid-level official from the Interaction Center, walked into the room.

"Any visitors?" The official directly asked, ignoring the chatter of the staff.

"None at all." The sudden inspection by the official had the staff taken aback, responding somewhat anxiously.

Before he could finish speaking, water began to churn in the large port located at the center of the room, which had a surface area of nearly a hundred square meters. The visiting official gave the embarrassed staff member a disdainful look and then led the professionals towards the port.

"Splash!" Water sprayed everywhere as two figures leaped out of the sea, landing steadily before them. (To be continued. If you enjoy this book, your support and votes on qidian.com would be greatly appreciated and serve as my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com for reading.)