Dragon Spine ≽^⚈⩊⚈^≼
As the ship passed the familiar sloping arc outside Longfish Bay, Long Tian didn't simply sit at the bow waiting for direction as he had done before. He squatted at the hatchway, spreading the folded map out on his lap and comparing it segment by segment with the real-time light and shadow direction at the bow. The lines on the silk map consistently aligned with the actual direction of the sea surface with minimal deviation, only a few times causing slight angles due to minor shifts in the current, each time narrowing back to the correct path as the ship continued to move forward.
The ship did not slow down as it passed through the inky waters. This time, the Dragon Shadow automatically adjusted the deployment of its wing membranes the instant it entered the inky waters, as if it had sensed the entrance to the water flow channel in advance. It did not require the people at the stern to adjust the rudder. As it continued to move, it maintained an orientation consistent with the shape of the water flow. The light on the vertical line of its forehead remained stable throughout the passage through the inky waters, without any deformation or fluctuation due to changes in ambient light.
After passing through the inky waters, the ship entered a section with calmer currents. In this area, the Dragon Shadow retracted its wings, returning to its usual narrow-wing configuration. The person at the stern slightly veered the course in the direction of the current, pointing the bow towards the blank area on the overlaid map.
By evening of the second day, the ship arrived at the area marked on the overlay map. There was nothing on the surface—no islands, no reefs, no unusually colored waters, only a uniform, deep blue seawater spreading out continuously. Long Tian stood up from the bow, squatted down on the deck, and dipped his hand into the water. The water temperature was stable, the current normal, and he felt nothing unusual. He withdrew his hand, let his fingers dry naturally, and then glanced at the underwater conditions; it remained as calm and even as before.
The Dragon Shadow remained suspended above the bow of the ship. It showed no significant change in posture after entering this area; its wing membranes remained half-exposed, and the vertical line of light on its forehead continued to glow above the sea surface, consistent with its state over the previous few hours. Long Tian sat at the bow for a while, reviewing the superimposed map in his mind to confirm the coordinates were accurate. He then dipped his hand into the water, this time allowing the aura of the Origin Return Pearl to seep into the water through his fingertips, spreading downwards. After passing through a layer of water about ten feet deep, the aura encountered a thin resistance—like an invisible barrier running through the water, causing a very slight deflection as the aura of the Origin Return Pearl passed through it. He withdrew his hand, water droplets dripping from between his fingers, forming several short, dark, damp streaks on the deck.
"There's an interface below. It looks like it's been partitioned."
The man at the stern secured the rudder, bringing the boat to a stop. He then walked to the side of the boat and looked down for a while. After a moment of silence, he straightened up and went into the cabin to retrieve a thin, long probe. A small lead weight was attached to the end of the probe. He lowered the probe vertically into the water, and the lead weight continued to descend, passing through the water layer. When it crossed the boundary, the probe experienced a brief jolt, as if passing through a layer of water of a different density. He continued to lower the line, and the lead weight descended another two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) before hitting the bottom. The surface felt hard, like a stone.
"There's something down there." He retrieved the probe to the boat, the tip of the sinker covered with a thin layer of grayish-white powder. The powder was the same color as the one in the sea cave, gleaming faintly in the twilight on the boat deck. Long Tian squatted down, picked up a little powder, and crushed it between his fingertips. The powder was fine and dense, the same material as that in the stone chamber and the deep trench, and the surface beneath the sediment was smooth.
The Dragon Shadow subtly adjusted its posture the instant the sinker emerged from the water, its two heads simultaneously tilting downwards, all four eyes wide open. At that moment, the layer of light on its forehead began to extend towards the water's surface, like a luminous tentacle probing downwards through the water. After passing through a depth of about ten feet, the light layer deflected slightly upon crossing the interface, then continued downwards, touching the hard surface about three feet above the water. Upon contact with the hard surface Dragon Shadow's light layer spread horizontally along that plane, scanning for a while. In Long Tian's vision, an outline appeared—a vertical ridge ran along the center of the hard surface below. Extending a distance along the ridge, two horizontal ribs extended diagonally downwards on either side, like a structure arranged in the form of ribs, extending evenly from the ridge to both sides. The length and spacing of each rib seemed uniformly planned, forming a symmetrical arrangement along the entire ridge.
Long Tian squatted at the bow of the boat, watching the outline image transmitted back by the light layer, comparing it point by point with the structure of his own Dragon Shadow —the angles from the spine to the ridges were consistent, the spacing was consistent. He squatted there, watching the light layer floating above the water continue to spread downwards, illuminating more details of the outline. Its structure was the same as his own Dragon Shadow, only it was static, embedded in the seabed, and presented a complete outline shape below that interface, like a dragon-shaped stone structure sleeping underwater, the direction of its bones and ribs completely consistent with the structure of the Dragon Shadow behind him.