She sensed the distinctive magnetic field that only an ocean gave off in the distance. It could not be far.
Before the apocalypse, Chicago had been a city on a lake called Lake Michigan.
Now, rising sea levels had connected the lake to the ocean. Combined with the area's unusual terrain, the entire city had
become a coastal city.
Much of the original land had been submerged, but the continent itself had not sunk. So from here all the way to
Maine, the water was generally
around twenty meters deep. That moderate depth kept many large mutated sea creatures out of the inland sea, so there was
no need to worry about marine life
causing trouble.
Instead, because the sea creatures here were small, the city could survive by living off the sea.
But rising sea levels had also greatly expanded Lake Michigan, swallowing a large
stretch of the surrounding land.
Standing on the shore, Yuxuan could see an island on the distant horizon. It had once been central Michigan,
until rising seawater submerged the surrounding land and turned it
into an island. Plenty of people clearly lived there: from Chicago's shoreline, she could make out numerous
high-rise buildings.
"What's that place?"
Yuxuan pointed toward the island. Behind her, Karls replied respectfully, "That used to be central
Michigan. After sea levels rose, it
became Michigan City."
"Oh..."
Yuxuan nodded and gazed at the distant city. She paid no mind to the hundreds of thousands of people behind her,
who filled almost the entire street. Instead, she looked calmly
over the water and stepped forward.
"My lady, I understand what you're trying to do. This is a protest against the pope placing you under house arrest. But you don't have to do this. Couldn't you just find
His Holiness and explain