Super Righteous Player
Chapter 728 - 269 The Abolished Lighthouse and Harbor_1

Chapter 728: Chapter 269 The Abolished Lighthouse and Harbor_1

Annan carefully stuffed the frost beast cub, which had curled up into a ball resembling a white cotton candy, into his embrace.

Since he could not hand over the three-colored scepter to anyone and had to hold it in his hand all the time, Annan could only use one hand.

This kid is really too small... Even with Annan’s stature, he could grab the cub’s waist from behind with one hand. If it were an adult’s palm, perhaps the cub could sit directly in the center of it.

But for safety and convenience, Annan couldn’t use this hand to directly drag the dog. In the end, Annan stuffed it into his clothes—Annan was not wearing the clothes gifted by the Silver Baron on this trip, but instead had put on a white, open-front windbreaker over a sweater and a shirt underneath.

He stuffed the cub between his sweater and shirt, allowing its paws and head to poke out from the sweater’s collar. With a hair color close to that of Annan, the sight made him somewhat resemble a kangaroo carrying its joey.

...How should I put it.

If it really was a fox dog, then it wouldn’t be bad for warmth. But even though Annan, as a member of the Winter family, was not attacked by frost beasts, the chilling sensation of the frost beast’s fur was still there.

Now, Annan distinctly felt a coolness in his chest—as if someone had buried their icy hands from the winter’s day into his clothes.

This feeling, unexpectedly, was not too unpleasant.

After that, they did not encounter any more mishaps.

Following a spiraling ascent, they entered the Viscount Dorgoruki’s mansion from the helical mountain road.

Rather than calling it a viscount’s mansion, it would be more apt to describe it as a lighthouse.

Clearly, it was an additional construction modified based on a lighthouse. It even retained its architectural function as a lighthouse, only the light had gone out—of course, it could also be due to conserving fuel during the daytime.

This was precisely why Annan had failed to notice this odd lighthouse from down the mountain.

Although it looked quite strange here, at least there were servants inside, so it was at least not an obvious trap.

Annan stood at the entrance, subconsciously glancing westward.

The time was not yet noon, it was still far too early to watch the sunset.

But even separated by two magical barriers at this height, the sparkling sea below was still clear to see.

The slightly undulating black sea was filled with deathly stillness, devoid of any birds or ships.

—This sea, hundreds of years ago, was known as the Whalebone Sea.

Before the grand magical barrier collapsed, this region was a hunting ground for whales by the elves. At that time, besides its mining duties, Flannel Province also served as a port.

But now, as the unified magical barrier shattered.

After Winter formed a new barrier with the power of the Grandmother... this maritime region found itself segmented outside the barrier.

The "Mist" form of the curse is not actually a droplet form of "mist". According to Annan’s understanding, it is more like an aerosol particle that can dissolve on the surface of living organisms.

It does not drift too high, nor does it force its way through the earth and sea. It can float in the air for a very long time without easily dispersing... But on this basis, it can still be blown by strong winds and over time will settle very slowly to the land and sea, continuously polluting both.

The land tainted by the curse quickly sees all its original vegetation die off, eventually only allowing a type of poisonous fern that stores both the curse and toxicity to grow, known as "venom fern"; shallow marine animals die swiftly, while sponges rot quickly into tentacle monsters akin to venom ferns.

According to the research by Noah’s transformed wizards, the cause of death for large marine animals is comprehensive organ failure. This bears some similarities to the herbivorous animals living outside of the grand magical barrier... Their bodies occasionally exhibit such symptoms.

As for how the organ failure is triggered and the sequence it follows... it remains unknown due to the lack of conditions for continued observation in the Mist.

But it can be simply inferred that its lethality to ordinary people and animals whose souls have not yet materialized isn’t that high.

The higher the animal on the evolutionary scale, the slower it corrupts in the Mist... According to observation reports from villages and towns outside the Great Barrier, over eighty percent of the residents died from dysentery or food poisoning caused by consuming food that corrupted too quickly; the remaining twenty percent died from complications due to wounds not healing and rapidly festering while exposed to the Mist.

The Great Barrier of Winter is manifested in the form of a frigid hurricane—this icy storm that encircles all of Winter is capable of freezing the Mist and blowing it into the sky. But in Noah, the Great Barrier is just a thin layer of silver film... and a very few people have always lived outside of the Great Barrier.

It’s different from the situation in Nata County.

These people are generally criminals sentenced to death through use of waste—they are banished outside the Great Barrier, living in small towns that grow close to it. By selling information on their living conditions or by picking up the carcasses of graminivorous animals that are nearly monsters, they can exchange for a small amount of clean food and water... Their main purpose for existence is to observe how the Mist affects the human body.

Reliant only on simple gas masks and cloaks, those who survive in the Mist for over a year show obvious signs of rickets, pus-filled bumps on their skin, an extremely gaunt face resembling that of a demon, and spontaneous splits in the skin around their joints... They usually die at this stage from infections due to their wounds not healing.

At least within two years, humans don’t display organ failure.

Strangely enough... although whales are aquatic animals, they have a higher resistance to the Mist than fish, which allows them not to be killed by the Mist even with occasional exposure on the sea surface.

Annan conjectured that this might be because whales are actually mammals... a fact yet to be discovered by humanity of this era.

The Great Barrier of the United Kingdom is constructed with statues sunken at sea level. To this day, fishermen of the United Kingdom still cross the Great Barrier to whale hunt at sea—as long as they do not stray too far, they can still return even if injured.

Even injuries sustained outside the Mist can be healed using Divine Arts or rituals once back within the Great Barrier—ordinary herbs are useless now, since the wound has already been infected by a curse; it is essential to first remove these severe curses.

... Logically speaking, there should also be whalers on the side of Winter.

Although the Great Barrier of Winter is wildly unpredictable, because it avoids disturbing the marine life approaching the water’s surface, the wind near the sea is not strong enough to sweep boats up into the sky. Employing the "Iron Chain Link" is enough to prevent being blown off course.

So, mortals could set sail out of the country.

Frostwater Harbor was originally used for trade between Winter and Noah.

For the Duchy of Winter, which is severely lacking in food and fuel, especially the northern cities cut off from the southern cargo subway leading to food scarcity, whaling brings immense benefits—it can save many of Winter’s people from freezing or starving to death.

Upon seeing the lighthouse, Annan originally thought that he would see the sight of whaling ships operating offshore after reaching the top of the mountain.

But it was too quiet outside.

Forget the whaling ships... even the harbor had become desolately empty.

—This was very abnormal.

Although coal is produced here, the subway connecting the cities of the north with the south is almost severed. Importing and exporting resources from here would be very troublesome.

So why had the Flannel Province, with its whaling traditions, completely abolished the whaling industry?

For environmental protection? Or ecological conservation?

... Give me a break. Winter has been lasting for decades, and the people of Winter are barely surviving. Let alone that the Viscount, judging by his appearance, does not seem like a kind man.

Annan narrowed his eyes slightly and entered the Viscount’s mansion without a trace.

Intuition told him—this was one of the fragments of the truth.