Creak...
Evernight stepped onto the Magic Ship, the aged wooden planks groaning beneath her feet with a bone-jarring sound. From the outside, the vessel appeared to be nothing more than an old, ordinary ship—utterly unimaginable that it could be a Divine Artifact.
Evernight and Heinrich proceeded to the cockpit. Unlike conventional ships, there was no helm here; instead, three fist-sized Crystal Balls glowed with arcane energy. Heinrich stepped forward, placed his hand on the first Crystal Ball, and began channeling Magic Power into it. The ship trembled to life, its ancient gears grinding into motion.
It's worth noting that the coordinates of the Magic Cube's Origin World, as deduced by Melly and Heinrich, weren't precise coordinates but rather a precise direction. Inputting this directional data into the Magic Ship would continuously display the path to their destination. This explained why the Magic Ship was essential for the journey; if they had precise coordinates, Tribios could have simply opened a gate directly to the target location.
As the Magic Ship successfully activated, a thin, black membrane shimmered into existence around it. In the next instant, the vessel vanished from the Material Plane, as if it had never existed. When Evernight looked out from the cockpit again, she found herself beyond the World Barrier, adrift in the pitch-black Cosmic Sea.
The Moon loomed nearby. Evernight could even see the countless crimson spears still piercing its surface—remnants of the devastation Mydei had wrought upon it.
Heinrich explained, "The black membrane surrounding the Magic Ship provides exceptional concealment. As long as we avoid colliding with anything, we're practically undetectable."
Under Heinrich's skillful piloting, the ship began moving away from the Moon. Within moments, the once-massive lunar body had vanished from Evernight's vision, leaving her surrounded by absolute darkness, devoid of any discernible features.
Heinrich dared not accelerate too quickly, lest he risk colliding with something unseen in the impenetrable blackness.
At first, Evernight paced back and forth in the cockpit, walking left and right. But it quickly grew unbearably dull, and she could sense that her restless movements made Heinrich visibly nervous.
It was like a company employee diligently working at their post, neither slacking off nor shirking responsibilities, yet feeling anxious when their supervisor loitered nearby.
After a moment's thought, Evernight said, "I'll step out for a while. Come find me immediately if anything comes up."
Heinrich nodded briskly. "Understood, Miss Evernight!"
A slight twitch tugged at the corner of Evernight's lips. Was she really exerting that much pressure?
Leaving the cockpit, Evernight first descended to the deck below. Here, a series of independent cabins lined the corridor, resembling a hallway flanked by numerous small rooms.
Each cabin was exceedingly small, roughly one or two square meters in size, resembling individual restrooms rather than actual living quarters.
Evernight casually pushed open the nearest door, but what she found inside was completely different from what the exterior suggested. An endless expanse of grassland stretched before her—clearly the result of some kind of space-enlarging magic, or perhaps the small room itself was connected to a Demiplane.
This explained why the Sun God had claimed the Magic Ship could transport a million people at once—its internal space was far larger than one could imagine.
Evernight stepped into the grassland, found a spot, and lay down. She felt the gentle breeze caress her face, the soft grass beneath her, and the faint fragrance of fresh-cut grass tickling her nose—a sense of utter contentment washed over her.
She narrowed her eyes slightly, doing nothing but lie there. It was remarkably comfortable.
Time passed slowly. That evening, Evernight and Heinrich shared a meal together. Of course, outside the World Barrier, there was no true distinction between day and night, but maintaining regular meal times was still essential. Afterward, Heinrich said, "Even at night, the Magic Ship needs someone to keep watch. Miss Evernight, you should rest. I'll continue steering the ship."
Hearing this, Evernight couldn't help but ask, "But we still don't know how much longer it will take to reach our destination. Are you really planning to keep going without rest?"
Heinrich pulled out a vial of potion and downed it in one gulp. "For me, going ten days or even half a month without rest is quite normal. I've pulled countless all-nighters researching magic before."
Evernight nodded and didn't press further. She returned to the ship's cabins, this time choosing a different room. Unlike before, what greeted her was a meticulously arranged 'city': neat rows of buildings stood before her, though all were empty, completely devoid of people.
Wandering through the empty houses, Evernight found that the furniture was surprisingly complete. With just a few supplies like food, someone could move in immediately.
She then explored other cabins, discovering seascapes, mountain ranges, forests, farmlands, and more—hardly any two were alike. This left Evernight baffled. What had the designers of these demiplanes been thinking? If their only purpose was to house people, wouldn't a single city or a vast prairie have sufficed?
This monotonous routine lasted about a week. One morning, as Evernight and Heinrich were having lunch, Heinrich suddenly froze mid-bite. He immediately put down his food and dashed toward the cockpit.
Evernight, momentarily surprised, quickly followed. When they reached the cockpit, a massive, dark red planet loomed into view. After checking their course and confirming it was correct, Heinrich declared, "This is it! We're almost there!"
As the Magic Ship drew closer, Evernight could see that the planet's entire surface was covered in vast swathes of crimson, fleshy tissue, resembling mountains of flesh and blood.
These fleshy structures were interconnected, pulsing rhythmically like a colossal heart infested with parasites.
Contrary to Evernight's initial expectations, however, the planet's surface showed no signs of other life beyond these fleshy formations. There were no monsters to be seen.