The water bubble slowly rose to the surface. As the surrounding seawater receded, Hao Ren realized that he had arrived in an unusually calm stretch of water. He looked around and saw a pitch-black, turtle-shell-shaped island not far to the left. It was completely barren, with nothing on it. The skies around the island were clear, the air pristine, and there was no sign of the vast expanse of dense fog he had expected.
"You said this place was called Misty Island?" Lily stared in surprise at the black island slowly approaching them. "It doesn't look misty at all."
"Look around," Shaqila said, pointing toward the surrounding sea with the tip of her tail. "Can you see any reference points? Even a wave would do."
Vivian's eyes widened. "There's nothing at all... The surface is impossibly still. I can't even see the slightest ripple?!"
The entire sea within sight was calm to the point of eeriness. Even when they looked as far into the distance as they could, there were no reference points on the horizon. The sea was so still that it seemed like a perfect mirror polished by hand, without even the faintest crease. The daylight looked uniform no matter which direction they faced. The sun hung precisely in the center of the sky as if it had been calibrated, casting perfectly even light. That sunlight only made the waters seem stranger.
The black island nearby was the only unusual color between the sea and sky. Aside from it, the entire world seemed to have become a monotonous combination of blue and white, divided cleanly into two sections above and below. There was no doubt about it—this was not a natural phenomenon.
"Are we still on Earth?" Hao Ren patted his pocket and muttered almost to himself. The