Amidst the vast, falling snow, the Prinz Eugen plunged headfirst into an immense vortex.
Before entering the vortex, the Prinz Eugen controlled its speed and adjusted its angle to continue sailing along the vortex's rotation, preventing it from losing control or even being torn to pieces by the vortex's power.
"Activate the energy defense layer!"
The Prinz Eugen's three layers of defense included a magic shield as the outermost layer, which was typically only activated during combat because it affected the Prinz Eugen's maneuverability and was not suitable for the current situation.
The second layer was the energy defense layer, a layer of energy clinging to the hull, which better protected the Prinz Eugen from any damage without affecting the ship's normal navigation.
Powerful currents constantly buffeted the Prinz Eugen, but not even a ripple appeared on the outermost energy layer, proving its stability. As long as Ethan did not steer the Prinz Eugen towards the center of the vortex, there was no need to worry about the ship being damaged while drifting among the countless vortices.
"Everyone, hold on tight. We might be in these vortices for a while."
The ship surged from one vortex to the next. Each time it exited, it had to perform a strong acceleration, then decelerate appropriately upon entering the next vortex to maintain a speed comparable to the vortex, and finally seize the opportunity to suddenly accelerate and escape the current vortex.
Moving from one vortex to the next like this, with the Prinz Eugen's stabilization system active, the crew on board only felt slight bumps and had no sense of being in danger.
At first, everyone sat cautiously in their chairs, but after a while, they realized that apart from a bit of bumping, it was not a big deal and was less exciting than encountering a storm back then.
"We've entered the vortices, haven't we?"
Because heavy snow was falling outside, they could not see the situation through the windows and could only stare at the holographic image in the center of the bridge.
The Prinz Eugen advanced rapidly through the heavy snow, staying along the edge of the vortex, moving with its rotation, and looking for an opportunity to leave this vortex and proceed to the next.
While navigating, they constantly needed to find the right angle so they could smoothly enter the next vortex without conflicting with the water current direction.
"The Prinz Eugen's intelligent system is too powerful. It has calculated the most perfect route forward. On this route, we can not only smoothly pass through this sea area but also avoid damaging the hull and... avoid too uncomfortable situations."
Although Prinz Eugen was purely a support AI without true self-awareness, things made by Tony Stark always had a touch of mischief.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are currently traveling through a cluster of giant vortices with an average diameter of one hundred sixty-seven meters. If you look through the windows on the left, you can see the center of the vortex... The ship is very stable, and passengers may unbuckle their seatbelts and move around freely..."
Ethan had already stood up and was standing in front of the holographic image, observing the various changes in this sea area.
In addition to the image, the top of the holographic display showed various data detected by the ship, allowing for a more intuitive understanding of the environmental changes outside.
Hill had also left her command station and was watching the data with him, asking the captain what they should do next.
"There's nothing much to do for now. According to Prinz Eugen's calculations, we need to sail for seven hours and forty-four minutes to leave this vortex-filled sea area. If the environment changes during that time, this duration will also change, so making plans now is pointless."
At this moment, Ethan noticed something on the edge of the detection range. He suddenly focused his attention, wanting to see what it was.
As the Prinz Eugen performed various serpentine maneuvers in the vortex-filled sea, a shadow occasionally appeared on the edge of the detection range. At first, it was not very clear, but finally, there was a relatively larger image. Ethan immediately had Prinz Eugen isolate and enlarge this area, and this time everyone on board saw clearly what it was.
"An island?"
"Yes, it should be an island."
Islands were not strange, but when Ethan saw this island, he had a strange feeling. He felt that what awaited them ahead was no ordinary floating island, and even this area of vortices had not appeared out of nowhere.
"The snow outside has lessened."
Although snowflakes were still falling, it no longer made the entire world a white expanse like before. Everyone could now see the situation outside through the windows.
Before, they could only sit indoors and view the ship's status and the external environment through the holographic image.
Looking at the holographic image always felt somewhat unreal, and coupled with the Prinz Eugen's extreme stability, no one felt like they were actually in a vortex.
Now that they could clearly see the environment near the ship, the rapid currents, and the huge and clearly sunken center of the vortex, everyone finally felt a bit more grounded.
"The Prinz Eugen's control over the course is perfect. We've been sailing right along the edge of the vortex, and the hull hasn't tilted severely in this position. If we were to go a little deeper, we wouldn't be able to move around freely."
Hill looked around, then came back to check the various data. She was increasingly fond of this ship and wished she could have one like it to command after returning.
The remaining time was rather boring. Everyone stood there, continuously looking outside. Although the scene was amazing, it remained unchanged, and watching it for a long time felt tedious.
Just when everyone thought they would spend the next few hours chatting like this, the speed of the vortices began to decrease, and their number was also slowly diminishing.
"The situation on the sea surface is no longer as dangerous as before. The areas between the vortices are no longer death zones filled with various currents. Do we still need to proceed according to the original route?"
Prinz Eugen quickly provided new data. Upon hearing it, Ethan ordered Prinz Eugen to leave the vortices and sail on the normal sea surface.
Since the sea surface was no longer dangerous, there was no need to continue struggling in the vortices. Moreover, the vortices were becoming fewer and fewer, and there were not as many giant ones close together anymore, making it impossible to continue following the previous route.
Having returned to the normal sea surface, the Prinz Eugen began to quickly leave the area. At the same time they were about to leave the sea area previously densely packed with vortices, the last vortex on the surface also disappeared.
Everyone fell silent, except for Mordred, who was enthusiastically watching outside, completely unaware of the situation, and Galahad, who was quiet and rarely voiced opinions. The rest had lived in this sea area for a while and knew that this situation could absolutely not be a coincidence.
"How could there be such a coincidence? A blizzard and vortices appeared as soon as we arrived. After the vortices couldn't threaten us, they slowly began to disappear, and as soon as we left the area, they vanished instantly."
There were too many strange things in this sea area, but situations like today, where a small area of the sea seemed to deliberately target a single adventurer, were still rare.
Ethan had only encountered a similar situation with one island before, because there was a special creature (plant) beneath that grass-covered island. What would they encounter this time?
"The island ahead... I don't think it's a good place."
Ada squinted, crossing her arms, and looked towards the island ahead.
From a distance, the island looked large, and there was a mountain peak of considerable altitude on it, which appeared to be a volcano.
However, there was no towering black smoke or red glow visible, so perhaps it was an extinct volcano?
Besides that, the island had a lot of vegetation. Facing the Prinz Eugen's direction was a plain with scattered trees.
From where Ethan and the others stood, the area to the right of the island seemed to be a dense forest, but the specific situation could not be seen yet.
"Prinz Eugen, display the island's situation."
As the Prinz Eugen gradually approached the island, it was brought within the detection range, and the holographic image could now display the island's full view.
Not only that, but it could even display the underwater situation. Prinz Eugen quickly reminded Ethan that the warship could not proceed further because the water depth around the island suddenly became shallow, and there were many hidden reefs.
More importantly, Prinz Eugen detected many "foreign objects" underwater.
"Foreign objects?"
As the holographic image specifically enlarged and displayed the underwater section, everyone understood what the so-called foreign objects were.
They were not giant underwater creatures, but countless shipwreck remnants.
"I feel like this island is full of danger."
Jonathan's words made everyone roll their eyes. Did he even need to say that? Anyone could see there was danger ahead.
Ethan did not speak, stroking his chin and thinking for a moment. In that instant just now, he suddenly had a strange feeling.
But before he could figure out what was going on, Hill reported something else first.
"The temperature outside suddenly changed to twenty-five degrees Celsius."
Just a moment ago, while navigating through the vortices, there was still heavy snow falling, and there was actually some accumulated snow on the Prinz Eugen's deck. Yet, in just an instant, the temperature had changed from minus forty degrees Celsius to plus twenty-five degrees Celsius, going from extreme cold to midsummer in a flash.
"In an instant?"
Mordred opened her mouth, thinking this world was truly terrifying. Could normal people survive in such rapidly fluctuating environments? Had her father thrown her here because he did not want her anymore?
Galahad also felt that the climate changes in this world were too bizarre. If it were the navy of the Kingdom of Britain (yes, Arthur had already developed a navy, as ships were the most convenient mode of transportation in that era), could they survive in this world?
The answer was obvious. That area of vortices just now could wipe out the entire Kingdom's naval fleet.
The others, however, were concerned about the instantaneous temperature change, a situation they had never encountered before.
(To be continued.)
***
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