Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 455 - 22: Behind the Safe Passage_1

Chapter 455: Chapter 22: Behind the Safe Passage_1

"So, have you figured anything out?" At the stairs leading to the ship desk inside the cabin, the just-finished-recording Vivian looked anxiously at Pannis’ furrowed brows and quietly asked: "Is it related to me?"

"No, it has nothing to do with you, don’t overthink." Pannis shook his head: "I hope I’m wrong, otherwise we’ve really stumbled upon something troublesome, sigh, looks like I have to inform them of this news."

"Can we help in any way?" Vivian asked: "Our strength is now enough to fight alongside you, right? Under these circumstances, there’s no need to hide anything from us."

"We’ll talk about it in detail when everybody is back in the room." Pannis scratched his head: "For now, let’s go up there first, I still have some things to confirm. By the way, about the thing just now, don’t mention it to anyone before I do."

"Don’t worry, I know how to handle that." Vivian suddenly stared into Pannis’ eyes: "On the other hand, Pannis, you, Lina, big sister and Freya are concealing something from me, right? Something related to me? Even if you don’t speak it out, don’t forget my ability; your emotions have already betrayed you; something is definitely going on lately with you guys."

"In many cases, even if you know something, it’s better to pretend not to know for the sake of others." Pannis mysteriously hushes, taking off Vivian’s hat and messing up her hair: "At this time, the best way is to patiently wait with anticipation, this is the principle, right? Miss Mage who can see through people’s hearts."

"You’re really annoying." Vivian shook her head dissatisfiedly to get rid of Pannis’s tormenting hand, then her magic staff striking heavily on Pannis’s leg. While Pannis was howling in pain, she tossed her head back and hummed, but her raised mouth’s corner still revealed her mood: "Then I will wait patiently with anticipation, thank you all."

Ascending the spiral stairs, they quickly returned to the deck. Catherine and two others were already gathered together, muttering around a table with Maggie. And the deck’s iconic figure, River, wasn’t lying in his special chair but was standing not far away, talking to a man who looked to be in his sixties or seventies. The old man was older, but he stood straight as a javelin on the deck. His black suit was immaculate, his white hair neatly combed back, and his face full of vigor and energy exceeded that of many young people.

"Who is that?" Arriving next to Catherine, Pannis asked: "He seems like an important figure."

"Have you finished handling your matter?" Catherine didn’t inquire in detail, answered casually after making a comment: "That’s the Captain, Captain of Jeff."

"What?" Pannis and Vivian both showed surprised expressions: "Isn’t River the captain?"

"Of course not." Catherine said a bit annoyingly: "The Captain is responsible for sailing, River takes care of security. These are two different systems. Maggie mentioned it before, remember?"

"Umm, okay, I didn’t remember a thing." Pannis chuckled a couple of times, nodded toward the Captain and River who weren’t far off, and asked in a low voice: "The Captain has always been in the control room, why did he suddenly come up here? What are they talking about?"

"I don’t know." Catherine shook her head: "It’s probably about the sailing."

"The Captain always comes up to the deck when we sail here." Maggie also whispered: "So it’s not strange."

"Hmm, is it because... we’re crossing the Rinwind Gorge?" Pannis looked off towards the increasingly close mountains and canyon and murmured to himself: "Crossing the gorge will have some level of danger, won’t it?"

"That’s right." A vivid, elder voice rang out; the Captain and River had already come towards them on their own. The elderly Captain’s eyes were still full of spirit and confidence as he looked directly into Pannis’ eyes, and he said, "Crossing the gorge will certainly have its risks, that’s why I and some crew members are out here on the deck, to prevent the danger. It’s our duty. Please, don’t be worried, every crew member will guard their duties with their lives."

Pannis didn’t speak; he simply bowed his head in silent salutation. In the Captain’s eyes, Pannis only saw determination. For an elder man who was ready to guard his duties with his life at any time, Pannis could only offer his silent respect. Behind Pannis, the four young ladies also stood and saluted all at once, their expressions completely serious.

"Hahaha." The old man laughed heartily, seemingly unaffected by his age, "You don’t have to be so formal, I have my selfish motives too. I have been the captain of Jeff’s ship since the beginning, already over ten years now. To me, Jeff is like a child that I’ve watched grow, I don’t want to see him get hurt, naturally, I must strive to protect him, even if it means sacrificing my own life. So, you don’t need to see me in that way, I’m not as noble as you think."

"Hmm." Everyone chuckled lightly, no one took the captain’s modesty too seriously, or rather, all his words too seriously. Pannis did not dwell on the topic, instead pointing to the mountain rock in front asking, "Is there a possibility that we might crash into the mountain wall during the passage?"

"yes, we cannot rule that out. Lads, lower the sails." Upon the captain’s loud command, the giant windsail on the mast gradually drifted down, the wind magic quickly ceased, and not long after, the Airship halted its advance, floating stationary in the air. The captain then carried on, "However, that’s not the principal issue; we had this in mind during designing, so some magic devices were installed specifically for buffering. As long as we do not ram right into the mountain, we won’t have a problem merely brushing it."

"Um, then captain, what danger are you referring to?" Pannis asked.

"Start the propulsion." the captain cried, answering again, "One is falling rocks; rocks often peel off and fall from the mountain top here. If it’s a large falling rock, due to the strong impact, the protective shield on top of the Airship cannot fully absorb the impact, it might punch through the deck and hurt passengers. This is when we need Mr. River to help shatter those big rocks. The other is magical beasts on the mountain, when we pass through the gorge, we are only ten to twenty meters from both mountain peaks, and some magical beasts with good jumping ability or short gliding ability can easily leap onto the ship. That’s why there are about twenty lower-rank professionals on board. Although their ranks are rather low, they are basically enough to hold off at the ship’s side, and stop these magical beasts if they appear. The last point, as I mentioned, as long as we don’t hit the mountain straight, it’s okay, but to pass through this gap requires three turns. Moreover, in the process spanning more than one kilometer, there will be many chaotic currents, and any carelessness can lead to ramming into the mountain so I need to personally feel the wind direction to control the ship’s direction."

"That’s hard work." Catherine nodded her head, "Can we help with anything?"

"There’s no need, we’ve all been doing this for ten years now, we’re as familiar with it as eating and drinking water." the captain saw the airship, under his command, the rear propulsion array began to operate, dozens of layered wind-attribute arrays launched concurrently, strong wind blew out from the empty cavity at the stern of the airship, slowly thrusting the ship forward. Seeing all of this, the captain nodded in satisfaction, pointing towards the ship’s bow, "Legendary masters, would you like to accompany me through the process of crossing through this gorge?"

"It would be an honour." Catherine responded with knightly etiquette to the invitation, "We are very interested in it."

The bow of the ship had a large podium, installed with control systems needed for traversing complex terrains. This place was off-limits to all on normal occasions, only the captain and River were qualified to ascend. Now with the captain’s invitation, Maggie also quietly followed Catherine and naturally ascended the platform. In the centre of the platform was a table-like console made of metal, engraved on it was an array. Inside the array was a bird’s eye view of Jeff’s ship, around the array were about thirty compasses spinning in the same direction, desperately trying to assert their presence. The captain positioned a piece of crystal on the side of the table, then pressed his palm against the bird’s eye view; the array around the bird’s eye view lit up immediately.

"These compasses around are wind indicators, representing wind directions of different positions and heights. I have to control the direction based on these wind indicators." The captain became serious, "Now starting, I have to concentrate fully on controlling the airship, please remain as quiet as possible."

Catherine gave a thumbs up signifying her understanding, only then did the captain lean over, focusing intently on the spinning wind indicators before him. Beside the captain, River also unsheathed his bow, with feathered arrows positioned on the bowstring, his head lifted high, anxiously scanning the sky, ready to confront any falling rocks that may descend from the sky.

The airship slowly moved forward, gradually entering the gorge comprised of pillar-like peaks. A distance of ten to twenty meters may sound quite far, but the few girls realize now that sometimes, even a distance of ten to twenty meters is not that far at all. Looking to the left and right from the height of the podium, it felt as if the mountain walls on the sides were very close to the ship’s side. Any slight error might cause a collision, but the captain’s hand remained steady, the airship moved straight along the centre of the two side mountain walls.

The airship moved amidst these pillars, strange rocks scattered on the walls of the mountains on the sides, a lot of small animals popping out from the mountain walls, curiously sizing up this huge object before them. Soon, the compasses on the console started to go haywire, spinning in different directions, but the captain’s hand still held steady on the centre of the array, under his control, although the ship was slightly shaking, there was no change in its direction, much like a small boat traversing amidst raging waves, no matter how great the waves, it could not overthrow it.

The people on the podium dared not speak nor even breathe loudly. Under these circumstances, no one wanted to disturb the captain. Everyone intuitively understood the danger of crossing this strange barrier.

Almost as if complying to people’s wishes, along the way, there were no large chunks of falling rocks nor invading magical beasts, everything went very smoothly. The distance of one kilometer soon passed, the Jeff Airship finally managed to safely cross this peril without any unexpected shocks.

"Phew." The captain wiped the sweat off his slightly wet forehead, gesturing towards the bow of the ship, "Rise the sails, we have passed through successfully."

"Oh." Cheers immediately burst from around the deck, and the windsail shot straight to the top.

Just when everyone was feeling joyous over another victory, Pannis suddenly moved, appearing like a ghost behind River, with his palm tensed tight, striking directly towards River’s heart just like a sharp blade. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote, donate monthly tickets at the starting point (qidian.com), your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please read at m.qidian.com.)