"Wow - so this is the Western Islands?"
In the cab, Xia Ye lay by the window, looking out curiously. As for Yaha and the others, they have met him countless times and are currently discussing around the chart table.
The Western Islands are a floating island, the kind of floating island that was fictionalized in fantasy works about that world. Rock islands of various sizes are scattered in a band above the sea of clouds. The largest one is several times larger than Moby-Dick, while the smaller one is only the size of a tabletop.
Bounded by the Western Islands, the Aether Sea takes on different colors. The clouds west of the islands are generally darker in color, and the deepest ones are even close to red. Looking into the distance on a summer night, the layers of clouds extend to the limit of the field of vision, with no end in sight.
Having had enough of admiring the scenery outside the window, Xia Ye returned to the chart table and stood in the air between Tang Li and Yaha. Yaha was gesturing on the chart while talking: "The group of whales we encountered two days ago were chased by moth beasts in the airspace east of the archipelago. In other words, for the whales, that group of whales was Airspace is more dangerous than ever.
“So I think the possibility that the beluga whale is still in the airspace southeast of the archipelago is very small. It is very likely to be hiding in the airspace near the west of the archipelago, or even to the deep sea area further west.
"Our previous plan was to search the shallow sea area on the west side of the archipelago. If no belugas were found, we would go around the archipelago and return to the southeastern airspace. But now, I plan to modify the route - if no belugas are found in the shallow sea area on the west side. For belugas, we will directly enter the deep sea area to search. The search range will not exceed 5,000 nautical miles, which is a straight-line journey of one day. If we still cannot find it after 2-3 days of searching, we will return to the southeastern waters to try our luck."
"What if I can't find it there?" Xia Ye asked.
Yaha was silent for a few seconds before saying, "Then we will return to Debso Tower."
Xia Ye didn't answer. She knew that if Yaha didn't find the white whale, he wouldn't give up so easily. Of course, Xia Ye didn't want to, but this kind of thing wasn't suitable to be revealed now. She could only take it one step at a time... maybe Will a beluga be discovered tomorrow?
"The deep sea area is dangerous, and there are no charts there," the first mate reminded.
"I know." Yaha was already prepared for this question: "So I said we would only search within 5,000 nautical miles. I have entered that airspace before and know where there are ether vortices and where ether wind shear is prone to occur. I'll mark it on the chart so that most dangers can be avoided."
"It is said that there are creatures in the deep sea that are more dangerous than whales." Tang Li said.
"I have heard this statement, but no one can tell what it is specifically. Maybe everyone who has seen it is dead." Yaha said, "So, once we enter the deep sea area, we have to monitor not only Whales, and anything else that might look a little off.”
"If we encounter it, we can just kill it." Xia Ye showed a fearless expression, "No matter how powerful it is, it can't be more powerful than the moth beast that hunted the entire group of whales, right? Even if that's the case, A moth beast, one of its tentacles was eaten by my cat."
Xiuji also made a "meow" sound in agreement.
Tang Li listened and nodded in agreement: "Xia Ye said...Miss Xia Ye is right."
"Sister Tang Li, don't be so unfamiliar. If you don't mind, just call me 'Sister Xia Ye'." Xia Ye said with a smile.
Tang Li nodded again a little embarrassed.
The chief engineer said, "Enough fuel."
This sentence did not need to be translated by Yaha, everyone understood what she meant. There are now nearly 30,000 moles of whale oil stored in the cargo hold. Even if you go into the deep sea to search, there is more than enough fuel. The only thing you need to worry about is whether you can get satisfactory results after spending precious whale oil searching for beluga whales.
"If no one objects, we will search for beluga whales along this route." Yaha said, "Then we will discuss the battle plan for hunting beluga whales."
…
In the next few days, the Moby Dick sailed along the west side of the archipelago from north to south at a cruising speed of 200 knots. In the first day or two, Xia Ye would look out the window from time to time, admiring the floating islands of various sizes and shapes, but after two days, she got tired of seeing them.
The lookout never found any trace of whales. Life these days was so leisurely that Xia Ye complained about boredom, but Yaha said that this was the normal state of whaling. It was common to find no whales, like the previous few days. That way, it would be abnormal to encounter whales and moth beasts as soon as you go out to sea.
Therefore, teaching Tang Li "Maxwell's Dafa" became Xia Ye's only pleasure every day. In the past few days, Tang Li had begun to ask various questions. At first, Xia Ye could answer them, but gradually the questions became more and more difficult. I can't answer it.
She had no choice but to tell the truth to Tang Li: "When Master taught me this method, I was lazy by nature, so... I often fished for fish. When Master finally took the test, I managed to pass with a little cleverness. Therefore, what Sister Tang Li proposed There are many questions that I really don’t know how to answer…”
Tang Li said very understandingly: "It doesn't matter, Sister Xia Ye is willing to teach this 'Maxwell's Technique' to this Sword Immortal. I am already grateful, so how dare I go to Longwangshu."
Then she sighed: "These Japanese swordsmen are studying the 'Maxwell Method'. The more they study, the more they find that the changes in this method are complicated and the mysteries are deep. However, so many changes can be attributed to the four general principles. It can be seen that this method is correct." The principle of "the great road leads to simplicity" is indeed a technique that points directly to the root of the rules.
"As for Maxwell, the 'ancestor of electromagnetism', he must be a peerless genius, right? It's a pity that this swordsman was not born in the same world as her, otherwise, I really want to learn from her."
After hearing this, Xia Ye blinked and said, "I don't think he can beat you, really."
…
Apart from teaching Tang Li, there are only two small things that can leave an impression on Xia Ye in the past few days:
The first thing is that the chief engineer seems to like Xiuji very much. In the past few days, she actually took the initiative to feed it cat food, and the cat food she brought was whale wing bone fragments. Although it was a bit beyond Xia Ye's understanding of cat food, Xiuji ate it happily.
I don't know if it's Xia Ye's illusion, but I always feel that Xiu Ji has grown fatter these days.
"Thank you for bringing something to Xiuji, chief engineer." Xia Ye thanked him.
After Xiu Ji had eaten his fill, he went to bed again.
"My name is Xiu." Chief Engineer.
Xia Ye nodded to show that she understood, and then asked: "Do you like cats very much?"
"I like this..."
Xiu pointed at Xiu Ji, who was sleeping soundly, and said four words. After nearly ten seconds, she finally said the remaining three words:
"Transformed cat."
A shape-shifting cat? Xia Ye found that the other party was quite good at naming. She thought about it and felt that she might be able to summon Xiuji's compatriots by using the "rift" in the future, so she said:
"I got Xiuji by accident too. If there are more transformed cats in the future, I will give you one."
Hearing this, a smile appeared on Xiu's dull face that had not changed for thousands of years.
"Thank you."
She thanked her heartily.
After another ten seconds, she added three words.
"You, good man."
Thank you~ Xia Ye said in her heart.
The second thing was that Xia Ye finally knew the first officer's name - Naikosus.
It was a difficult name to pronounce, but other than that, she had no other thoughts.
…
After four days of sailing, the Moby Dick completed a search of the offshore area on the west side of the archipelago and found no trace of whales.
Although a bit disappointing, it is also expected.
Yaha did not hesitate and ordered the whaler to immediately turn northwest and sail into the deep sea.
(End of chapter)
