Chapter 130: The Sea of Wandering 23
Unlike the Tranquil Sea, the Vortex of Reincarnation, where the Goddess of Fate resided, appeared to be the place where wind, rain, and thunderstorms clashed violently within this sea area. There were no stars or moon on the ink-blue sky curtain, but fortunately, dozens of paper-thin lights emitting varying shades of luster floated in the air, illuminating the pitch-black wilderness.
Jagged reefs, white giant waves. When metal collided with the rock wall, it produced a crisp, loud noise that made eardrums tremble uncontrollably.
Salty and wet sea mist hit the face. The Goddess of Fate, bound by chains, sat high on the cliff. Wet, muddy long hair hung down her body like seaweed. Her pale toes lightly tapped the rock wall, seemingly very comfortable. Her gaze swept over everyone, finally locking onto Fan Xiaoying in the team. After watching for a while, her pupils suddenly contracted as if she had discovered some treasure. She leaned down to observe more carefully. Even as the thick chains slid down like pythons with a “clatter,” dragging her body downward uncontrollably, and her fingers dug deep into the rock, she never withdrew her gaze even half an inch.
“Fate flows endlessly,
Day and night alternate,
The mermaid clan offers treasures from the seabed with both hands,
Imploring the Goddess to restart the Wheel of Time,
Return the power of prophecy to the throne.”
A new poem appeared on the golden poetry anthology. Meanwhile, dozens of mermaids surfaced, holding countless glittering gems and mother-of-pearl, surrounding the reefs. Zhuang Ningyu asked: “Are there items called ‘Wheel of Time’ in the database?”
Yi Ke shook his head: “No, nor any wheel-shaped items.”
Ye Jiaoyue gripped the item card in her hand, unsure how fate would take away her identity as the Prophet. The storm in the sea intensified. The Goddess of Fate slid down the chain, stopping on the sea surface. Her fingertips casually picked up a beautiful gem but ignored the fawning mermaid clan. Instead, she raised her head and hooked her finger toward the cruise ship.
Zhong Mu asked: “Is she calling Xiao Fan?”
Alice answered: “Yes.”
Through her thick lenses, Fan Xiaoying looked straight into those ghostly pitch-black pupils. Before stepping into this sea area, the Goddess of Fate in her mind had always been golden, holy, and powerful. But now, she saw only wretchedness in her, a wretchedness equal to her own breakdowns at countless crossroads of life.
Perhaps seeing Fan Xiaoying delay action and not be bewitched by jewels, the Goddess of Fate gave up using wealth and instead held up three cards with her palm.
“Whoa!” Qing Gang felt it was unfair. “She actually has so many items?”
[Lucky Dice] Whenever indecisive, it will help the user make a more correct judgment.
[Causal Link] Regardless of the user’s choice, the causality item will link the future to the same ending.
[Scales of Fate] If the user believes fate is unfair to them, the scales will tilt unconditionally for them.
“It’s completely a life cheat code,” someone in the team exclaimed.
Alice looked at Fan Xiaoying worriedly. These three items seemed tailored for her life, fitting so well that it all seemed like a conspiracy.
Fan Xiaoying bit her lower lip, her gaze locked tightly on those three cards—red, green, blue—floating above the Goddess of Fate’s palm, emitting faint light.
“Xiao Fan?” Ye Jiaoyue looked at her with concern.
“Don’t worry, Captain Ye,” Fan Xiaoying said. “I will get the items.”
Seeing her toes move forward half an inch, the Goddess of Fate’s eyes suddenly burst with excitement. She waved her hand to sweep away the noisy mermaids around her, ignoring their wails, and leaped to the ship’s side, continuing to offer those cards to Fan Xiaoying’s hand!
She was smiling, eyes fixed on Fan Xiaoying, fingers as thin as dry bones trembling slightly, revealing an undisguisable impatience.
“The old and new Goddesses of Fate,
Are about to implement a transfer of power.
Those who attempt to manipulate fate,
Will eventually be imprisoned within fate.”
Yi Ke looked at the text appearing on the poetry anthology and blurted out: “Don’t do it yet!”
But Fan Xiaoying had already reached out and grabbed those three cards!
Instantly, a sharp laugh of a successful scheme erupted from the old goddess’s throat! Thick chains detached from her body one by one, then were swept toward Fan Xiaoying by wind and waves, biting tightly onto her waist like giant pythons!
“Xiao Ying!” Alice shouted, rushing forward to grab Fan Xiaoying, but the latter had already been swept into mid-air by the iron chains!
Or rather, those weren’t iron chains, but the ruthless shackles of fate. Waves hit Fan Xiaoying heavily, soaking her completely. On the deck, Qing Gang turned sideways to dodge the oncoming whistling attack, wanting to shout a reminder to Fan Xiaoying to use items, but looked up to find those three cards had vanished!
Lucky Dice, Causal Link, and Scales of Fate were all blown away by the fierce wind, then transformed into three equally thick chains, dragging Fan Xiaoying toward the cliff at a faster speed. The old Goddess of Fate hovered in long-lost freedom, gloating at her successor!
“Damn!” Du Bai cursed. “Those were fake item cards?”
Fate is always good at disguise, revealing hideous fangs only when humans joyfully accept it. Fan Xiaoying gritted her teeth, breathing with difficulty in the storm. Wrong choice, just like her past twenty-plus years, another wrong choice! Even though the original intention was good, just wanting to complete the mission quickly, she was fooled by fate again. She felt like a fish deprived of oxygen, thinking she could break free from the net, but after struggling to leap, she fell into another new net.
More and more iron chains were winding around her body, like fate that couldn’t be shaken off!
“If this goes on, Xiao Fan will be strangled!” Zhong Mu shouted anxiously. “We must find a way to help her!”
Yi Ke and Du Bai raised their guns simultaneously. Bullets and lasers hit those “giant pythons” dancing in the air along different paths but had no effect. Physical force couldn’t change the destined, higher-dimensional future trajectory.
Only fate itself could master fate.
Fan Xiaoying held a dagger in her hand, inserted it vertically between the chains wrapped around her chest, and struggled to loosen them, finally gaining a little breathing time, but it wasn’t enough, far from enough. Looking down, countless chains were rising from the seabed, densely packed. The mermaid clan was tossed about, and skeleton sailors huddled together trembling. It seemed everyone, even the most ferocious monsters, had only one path of submission and fear when facing fate.
Clang! With a loud noise, another new chain wrapped around her. The little air in her lungs was squeezed even thinner. The chains traveled quickly around her body, tightening more and more. Fan Xiaoying soon realized their intent—with the dense winding, she would eventually be gathered into a cocoon, controlled and hatched by fate, perhaps dying in the end, or perhaps becoming a beautiful but fragile butterfly that could only depend on fate.
“Cough!” She coughed with a flushed face, arms unable to move, watching helplessly as the next chain attacked her!
But this time, there was no added suffocation. Two chains collided, vibrating out a sky full of misty water fog! Zhuang Ningyu held the chain with one hand, his body drawing a neat and beautiful arc in the air, forcibly winding away the “giant python” about to hit Fan Xiaoying! Soon, other teammates rushed up in the same way. Alice and Du Bai, one on each side, forcibly pulled a chain away from Fan Xiaoying. With the restraint slightly loosened, moist air finally poured back into her chest!
Seeing the “cocoon” about to be destroyed before fully forming, the old god couldn’t help but scream in anger. A successor not “hatched” by fate into complete submission would still harbor thoughts of resisting fate, never becoming the new goddess. That meant those cold chains would wrap around her body again. No, no!
Unwilling to be controlled and swallowed by fate, upon witnessing another chain wrapped around Fan Xiaoying being forcibly removed, the old god finally took out the real item card belonging to the Goddess of Fate!
[Abyss of Devouring] Fate opens the abyssal maw, eventually chewing everything to pieces with sharp teeth.
In an instant, countless dangerous black vortexes appeared in this sea area. Spinning at high speed, they opened big mouths like hungry beasts, biting one end of the chains fiercely, then dragging down heavily! The action team members at the other end of the chains were caught off guard and nearly dragged into the deep sea. Fortunately, they grabbed the ship’s rail just in time, brushing past danger.
Splash! Splash! Splash!
Black vortexes constantly selected and devoured chains, mostly surrounding Fan Xiaoying. The action team members had to retreat temporarily. The old god laughed loudly. Fate, yes, fate will eventually devour everything! She sat leisurely on the edge of the vortex, admiring the successor struggling amidst the chains, utterly wretched. That’s right, people bound by fate should be this wretched.
“Xiao Fan!” Zhuang Ningyu shouted violently. “Wake up!”
Fan Xiaoying, on the verge of coma, suddenly opened her eyes at the captain’s voice! Her glasses were covered in cracks and misted over; vision blurred into a white fog. Only when cold rain fell on the lenses would a relatively clear world be washed out, and her teammates were waiting for her outside that clear world.
“Xiao Ying!” Alice held the chain, also shouting at her. “You can break free yourself!”
Snap! Perhaps this reminder angered the old god. She manipulated the abyss to drag a chain and unexpectedly whipped Alice heavily, teaching the offender a lesson. Blood overflowed from the corner of Alice’s lips. Yi Ke caught her, wanting to send her back to the ship to rest, but she refused, still clinging in the rainstorm looking at her friend, “Xiao Ying!”
The chains rang out densely again, this time not aimed at Fan Xiaoying but pouncing on other action team members! Perhaps the old god realized their influence on the new god, so decided to change the plan and strangle them first! Chains were as flexible as snakes hearing flute music, constantly whipping towards the daring humans in the air! The world was in chaos. Fan Xiaoying’s chest heaved like bellows. Her eyes red, tears blurring her vision, colleagues and friends were suffering critical hits from monsters to rescue her.
She pulled the chains at her waist angrily, wanting to rush out to help, but to no avail. Fate, damn fate! Fan Xiaoying’s fingernails broke on the metal surface. With their new round of tightening and sliding, she could almost hear the sound of cracks appearing in her ribs.
Zhuang Ningyu looked at Fan Xiaoying about to be completely wrapped, having no time to wipe the cold seawater from his face, roaring: “Think about why these chains only wrapped around you!”
Fan Xiaoying’s half-closed eyes moved, thinking somewhat blankly, Right, why did the chains only wrap around me?
Clearly, everyone is a player in the same game, but the chains only bound me, while only launching the most primitive brutal attacks on teammates?
Is it just because I drew the Fate card, or is there another reason?
Only I am trapped by fate.
Wretched, resentful, and unable to break free.
But… I’m actually not bad either.
With the appearance of this thought, Fan Xiaoying found the chains wrapped around her waist seemed to loosen suddenly for a moment.
Since childhood, the more she wanted to grasp something, the more she would lose it. Sounds unlucky, but thinking carefully, besides losing, she always gained something else. Perhaps not the best, but good nonetheless. Not bad university, not bad boyfriend, not bad job… “Loss” itself didn’t actually make her life difficult. What trapped her was her intense uneasiness when facing loss.
The chains couldn’t bind her colleagues not because they had completely defeated fate, but because they could accept all uncontrollable things in life more calmly than she could. Who hasn’t been falsely “abandoned” by fate? Alice, Du Bai, Captain Ye… even Captain Zhuang and Xiao Yi, who seemed completely held in the palm of fate, couldn’t escape this law. Choosing wrong didn’t matter. As long as one could still take responsibility for the future after making a wrong choice, it didn’t matter.
Fan Xiaoying struggled to free an arm.
Two chains lost support, falling weakly into the deep sea!
“Xiao Ying!” Alice wept with joy. “You did it! You are the best! Talent exploded! God-level performance! You are stronger than imagined! This isn’t your limit yet! The world is brighter because of you! We are proud of you!”
Others: How come so many praise words? Can you teach us a bit!
Chains gradually loosened. Amidst Alice’s praises, Fan Xiaoying closed her eyes trying to recall and accept her past life, recalling those gains she thought were losses. Although due to long-formed inertia, regrets of “if only…” still flashed through her mind occasionally, regret was no longer enough to become a shackle again.
Regret would only turn into experience, helping every traveler at a crossroad make more correct choices.
Including Fan Xiaoying.
The old god was further enraged!
She couldn’t accept someone daring to declare war on fate. So in the next moment, those vortexes dragged chains whipping toward Fan Xiaoying from all directions. Not to trap the successor again, because she obviously couldn’t be trapped anymore. The attack now was more like an emotional vent out of humiliation and anger. Since you dare to resist fate, then taste being devoured by fate.
Fan Xiaoying broke free from the last restraint on her body, raised her hand to firmly grab the oncoming chain, and soared amidst the storm like her teammates! The furious fate raised monstrous waves, forcing everyone back repeatedly. Fan Xiaoying didn’t retreat; she was going to snatch the item card belonging to her from the old god’s hand.
Yi Ke and Zhuang Ningyu held her arms from both sides. The three rushed toward the old god together. Waves built high walls, shattered by immense force in the next second. The old god retreated a few steps on the cliff, watching the approaching challengers, a sarcastic smile revealing at the corner of her mouth. She opened her arms, allowing the chains representing fate to wrap around her waist again. Doesn’t matter, without this one, there’s the next, and the one after. Someone will always come to pay homage to the great Goddess of Fate, and she would always find a chance to get rid of this damn fate!
As for now, she exerted force upward with both hands violently. Seawater immediately obeyed the command, wrapping vortexes and rushing up to the sky! Zhong Mu was caught off guard and swept in. In just a short moment, her left arm made a sound like dislocation. Fortunately, Qing Gang pulled her away from the water column and snapped her arm back.
Horizontal, vertical, diagonal, vortex-shaped water columns flipped wantonly, quickly cutting the world into countless irregular small shapes. Team members were trapped in different areas respectively. High-speed rotating water columns made every space edge extremely clear and sharp, as if flesh would be ruthlessly penetrated with just a slight touch.
Fate seemed to really trap everyone.
Fan Xiaoying held two chains, looking at the chaotic water world. Powerful spatial perception allowed her to judge the possible flow direction of all water columns in front of her in a very short time. Then, seizing the opportunity, she pushed a chain out forcefully!
Influenced by external force, the water flow hit another water column opposite. Two smaller worlds immediately merged into a larger one. Fan Xiaoying didn’t stop but continued changing positions in the air, using fate derived from the abyss to constantly change fate. Chains collided with water columns again and again; narrow worlds intersected and merged again and again. Finally, all water flows connected together, forming a huge ring!
“Xiao Ying!” Praise master Alice came online again. “Good! Ceiling level!”
Fan Xiaoying ignored her good friend’s rainbow flattery but pulled the trigger. Using a bullet, she further changed the flow path of the entire large water ring, making it spin at high speed and smash toward the old god!
However, to everyone’s surprise, in the next moment, the water ring returned to its original position, as if that shot just now didn’t exist at all.
Zhuang Ningyu frowned, turning his head to look at the old god on the cliff peak simultaneously with Yi Ke. Time was rewound?
Chains had lifted the old god high into the air. The shackles of fate piled up beneath her, looking unexpectedly like a proud throne.
“No one can resist fate.” She announced from high above, concealing the panicked truth of being eager to flee, continuing to play the noble deity looking down on mortals.
Those thin paper lights hovered around her, forming a not-so-beautiful strange “starry sky.” The water ring was still spinning ceaselessly. Unreconciled, Fan Xiaoying fired another shot… Exactly the same result as before. After briefly entering the attack path, the water ring hovered back to its original place.
The “starry sky” flickered rapidly.
Fan Xiaoying fired the third shot, fourth shot. By the seventh shot, Zhuang Ningyu finally saw the clue, turned his head, and said something to Yi Ke beside him.
Yi Ke pressed the microphone on his chest. His voice came through Fan Xiaoying’s earpiece. After listening, she nodded and fired the eighth shot. Then quickly, ninth shot, tenth shot, eleven, twelve… Dense gunshots sounded like raindrops. Although the water ring kept resetting, under Fan Xiaoying’s forceful crushing, its reset speed was gradually lagging behind the shooting speed. To outsiders, it looked like the massive water column was slowly moving toward the old god!
Facing the spatial manipulation master in front of her, a trace of panic finally flashed in the old god’s eyes. To protect herself, she had to use stronger power. With a loud “splash,” time was pushed further back. The giant water ring Fan Xiaoying managed to connect turned back into hundreds of crisscrossing sharp water columns!
The sound of chains hitting arose again. The old god laughed sarcastically. Fan Xiaoying ignored her, just recalculated and constructed the water flow space. The water ring appeared, but this time it didn’t connect into a circle, instead forming something resembling a cylinder.
The old god obviously noticed this change too, showing confusion. However, before she could figure out the reason, two swift black shadows rushed in front of her. Zhuang Ningyu and Qing Gang reached out simultaneously to disturb her thoughts, appearing to snatch the item card directly. The old god slid down the throne agilely, flashing to a distance with chains, but Zhuang Ningyu and Qing Gang chased her relentlessly.
The old god ran two steps, finding it hard to believe mortals would try to snatch her control over fate in such a brutal way. Amidst annoyance, she didn’t forget to cast a pitying glance, then raised the abyss again, wanting to teach them a lesson!
Cracks appeared on the water ring with the movement of the abyss. Qing Gang kicked heavily at the old god’s eyes, while Zhuang Ningyu pulled the chain to fly high, finally helping Yi Ke!
The sole of a size 50 hard military boot made intimate contact with the cheek. Caught off guard, the old god briefly lost control of the abyss. Only three seconds, but enough. Three seconds later, the furious old god manipulated all abyssal water columns to smash at the daring sneak attackers. They converged into a huge vortex, actually sucking Qing Gang in forcibly!
The world became quiet in an instant. Qing Gang floated motionless in the vacuum, like being put into a huge canned jar, water flow forming the glass jar body. His body curled tightly in a self-protection posture, but to no avail, because no one had ever escaped from the turbine of fate.
The old god turned around elegantly, looking smugly at the challengers who had returned to the deck.
“You lost,” she announced. “Cry for yourselves, because you are about to meet the same end as him.”
“Not necessarily.” Zhuang Ningyu shook his head.
The old god looked at him with eyes viewing an ant: “Why?”
Yi Ke raised his hand, holding a whole deck of glowing cards. rubbed with his thumb, the glowing cards instantly turned into a glowing fan. He handed them to Fan Xiaoying, his gaze locked on the old god, raising an eyebrow: “You tell me?”
Seeing clearly what that was, the old god’s face changed drastically. She jerked her head up, only to realize that what was illuminating the sky now wasn’t her cards of retrospection, but dozens of unfamiliar… drones?
Just now, Fan Xiaoying used the turn of the last angle to twist the water ring into a huge Klein bottle. The thin water flow rolled up all the flickering lights in the sky and finally took them in the same direction at high speed, helping Yi Ke collect fifty-four shining “paper lights”—which were actually a deck of cards—in the shortest time.
Fan Xiaoying wiped her glasses clean, put them on, and took the item belonging to her from Yi Ke’s hand.
The true Goddess of Fate was about to reshuffle the cards.
