Chapter 223 Route
The dazzling radiance of the sun slowly rose from the eastern horizon. Even though the temperature in the air was beginning to warm, the trees at the riverbank of the Volga River were still blanketed by a layer of snow. Also at the riverbank were a few crimson-eyed deer standing four meters tall, drinking from the calm river.
Make no mistake; while these deers look harmless in comparison to other mutant animals, they're actually carnivores.
After the breakfast which consisted of pancakes topped with a generous amount of strawberry jam, Viktor soon took a tour around the yacht. This time, he was accompanied by Kosta in the awe-inspiring golden armor of the Metal Guardian.
The Metal Guardian being a subordinate of Viktor Romanov was practically an open secret. Rumors speculating about the relationship between the Metal Guardian and Viktor were not few among adventurers, especially in Perm City. Some speculate that the Metal Guardian was greatly indebted to the Romanov family, forcing the unfortunate man to work for Viktor. Some gossips say that Viktor Romanov was actually an illegitimate child, and he had a maternal brother hiding under the Metal Guardian's name.
From the seemingly countless rumors, most of them were just a bunch of conspiracy theories and wild ideas from adventurers. Viktor had heard them from Viez's information network. He wasn't surprised, though, since Viktor Romanov and the Metal Guardian were like water and oil personality-wise.
What he had to make sure of was that Viktor Romanov and the Metal Guardian were seen together.
When they headed to the bow of the yacht, the area was almost devoid of passengers with only several crew members on duty cleaning the floor. Viktor expected the place to be filled with people so it would be more convenient for him to show himself, but there were only two passengers at the end of the yacht, a man and a woman. Viktor felt familiar with the two figures, especially the woman.
Elena and a man in white uniform, Captain Marvis. As Viktor watched them from the distance, his curiosity was inevitably piqued.
Captain Marvis was the person in charge of the voyage. After delivering tons of gold for Viktor, he was requested to stay in Perm City a little longer. Viktor had sent a message to Sheila to borrow him for an expedition, though at that time, he still hadn't thought of using the man's service.
Having arrived in front of the two, Viktor quickly put on an amiable smile. The two looked surprised at their arrival, especially Captain Marvis. The man was a little shocked by the sight of the famous man in golden armor, while Elena only chuckled while shaking her head.
"Speak of the devil," Elena lightly said.
Viktor raised his eyebrow upon hearing hew words."What were you talking about?."
"It's about our travel route," Elena said.
In the beginning, Viktor planned for a two-way trip. First, they would cross the Volga River then head down to Volgograd to obtain supplies and vehicles from his family. After that, they would cross Eurasia on land.
However, Elena had her own plans. She had a faster alternative route.
The woman wanted them to go using the sea route from beginning to end. She wishes for the yacht to sail to the Caspian Sea from the Volga River then head to the canal route connecting to the Black Sea. After that, they could proceed freely to the open sea until they reached Rome.
According to the information she received from the Vatican, the sea is an extremely dangerous place. While the frequency of mutant appearances at sea was indeed smaller compared to on land, the mutants occupying the sea were known to be tremendously ferocious. In other words, the sea route that could bring them to the Vatican faster was very high-risk.
But on the other hand, they could reach Rome in less than a week.
Because of that, she consulted Captain Marvis who was the person in charge of the yacht. She asked about the amount of experience he had of being at sea in the apocalypse. Not only that, but she also asked Captain Marvis to persuade Viktor.
"So, you want us to arrive at the Vatican faster despite knowing the dangers?" asked Viktor.
Elena nodded.
After having been down in the bunker for so long, being able to enjoy the breeze and the blue expanse actually made Viktor support the idea. Moreover, the longer the trip, the more supplies they would have to expend, not to mention the unexpected number of mouths to feed.
Needless to say, this elder sister of his was not a generous person. He would have to return them on another day, be it through service or items. If he could avoid owing the sly woman, he wouldn't mind going through the deadly sea.
"Hmm, we can give it a try."
Elena's smile bloomed when she heard his answer. Even so, Viktor still had to make sure of one thing first.
He looked toward Captain Marvis. "Can it be done, Captain?"
Not giving an immediate response, the middle-aged man pursed his lips and stared at the empty air.
Viktor was not a fool. He had never crossed the vast sea inhabited by tens of dangerous monsters. If ferocious mutants attacked the yacht, they would have nowhere to escape. They needed someone experienced in facing the sea, which was why he needed Captain Marvis's opinion.
"I can try, Mr. Viktor. During this apocalypse, I have led ships across the Caspian Sea to deliver cargo six times, and I have seen what monsters reside there. I believe I was born for such things."
Hearing the answer filled with confidence, Viktor and Elena both had satisfied grins on their faces.
After their discussion came to an end, Viktor immediately returned to his room to rest while Kosta went back to his duties.
Just as he closed his eyes for a few hours, a woman barged into his room with haste. The moment he opened his eyes shocked, he immediately saw Viez with a serious expression on her face.
"This is bad, Boss. The ship is surrounded by monsters!"
Viktor responded relaxedly and shut his eyes again, "So? We have the Templars and members of the number one guild in Perm. Let them do the job! Consider it paying for the travel fee.."
Viez shouted, "It's dragons! Dozens of them!"
Viktor promptly sat up from his bed.
He was quite shocked. In all his life, this was the first time he heard of dragons in real life. The last time he saw a fantasy creature was when he had to battle against a chimera, and the experience was nothing short of terrifying.
This would be a new battle experience for Viktor.
Feeling interested to go against the fantasy monster, Viktor excitedly jumped off his bed.
"Looks like this will be interesting. You first, Viez. I need to prepare a little, you know."
The red-haired woman nodded and went out of the room.
Left alone, Viktor quickly put on the shiny golden metal armor. While the armor was identical, Viktor's armor was different from Kosta's as the armor Kosta wore was a duplicate that Viktor had forged days prior.
He had already prepared everything for the tournament at the Vatican.
All of a sudden, the yacht heavily shook followed by the screech of metal. It was as if the yacht just got rammed by an immense strength; even Viktor fell to the ground from the balance loss.
When Viktor kissed the floor, a laugh filled with unconcealed schadenfreude sounded in his mind.
<Hehehe, I didn't expect you to fall because of such a trivial thing.>
The djinn in his body teased him. Getting up from the cold floor, Viktor hissed.
"And you're still laughing because of this trivial matter. Djinn, rather than laughing at me, how about you tell me what's going on outside?"
<As you heard from your subordinate, your yacht is under attack. But I wouldn't call those things dragons, just a bunch of amphibians that turned into mutants.>
Viktor pursed his lips and nodded. There was no way a dragon would just roam around and attack his yacht. If the terrifying mythical creature truly existed, perhaps the Earth would've gotten destroyed in days. It was obvious that this was the work of mutants.
Curious about the situation outside, Viktor hurried out. He ran across the halls, where people were disorderly rushing out. The yacht crew was running into their rooms while the fighters were hurrying out. Viktor quickened his pace toward the deck.
From under the golden helmet, he witnessed a shocking scene. The entire deck was filled with four-legged crawling creatures. They were like lizards; their bodies were slimy, their skins were ashy white, and their lengths reached five meters. On their heads were three pairs of horns with red fibers.
Their forms instantly reminded Viktor of the small animals he once raised in an aquarium.
"Salamanders…?"
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