NOVGO.NET Chapter 99 Sea disappearance
Chapter 99: Chapter 99 Sea disappearance
Back at the island, the morning alarm rang through Luna’s room, jolting her awake.
Her eyes snapped open, and without even checking the time, she reached out and smacked the alarm clock so hard that it flew off the bedside table.
It hit the floor with a loud crack.
The clock shattered into several pieces.
"Damn you, alarm clock."
Luna sat up, rubbing her eyes before finally remembering where she was. She glanced at her wristwatch and froze.
9:00 a.m.
"What the hell? I slept that long?"
She had planned to wake up much earlier.
With a groan, Luna climbed out of bed and headed toward the bathroom to freshen up. However, before she could get there, something outside caught her attention.
She stopped.
The sky.
The strange red sun that had dominated the heavens yesterday was no longer in its previous position.
The clouds were shifting, slowly clearing away, and the sunlight looked different.
Luna stared through the window with narrowed eyes.
"What the fuck is happening now?"
She hated that question.
Ever since the apocalypse had begun, every morning seemed to bring a new disaster.
Instead of standing there and wondering about it, Luna decided to finish getting ready and investigate downstairs.
Twenty minutes later, she emerged from her room wearing a soft robe wrapped comfortably around her body. Her hair was gathered inside a towel, and fluffy slippers covered her feet.
She made her way downstairs expecting to find the men either asleep or scattered around the house.
Instead, she found them gathered on the balcony.
All of them.
They were staring outside.
Luna frowned.
"What is wrong with them?"
Her eyes briefly landed on the food sitting on the dining table. Breakfast had already been prepared, yet nobody seemed interested in eating.
That was strange.
Were they looking at the sky?
No.
Something else had their attention.
The first person to notice her was Astrid.
"Good morning, Miss!"
Luna waved casually at him before walking toward the balcony.
The moment she stepped outside, she immediately covered her nose.
"Oh, gross!"
The smell nearly knocked her backward.
"What the hell? Why hasn’t this place been cleaned yet? That smell could kill someone. It’s been almost a whole day!"
Nobody answered.
Instead, the men continued staring ahead with pale faces.
Luna lowered her hand from her nose and looked at them carefully.
She knew the apocalypse was filled with unpredictable horrors. She had already seen monsters, dungeons, strange powers, and creatures that shouldn’t even exist.
But whatever they were looking at had clearly scared them.
"What happened?"
Astrid swallowed.
"The sea."
Luna raised a brow.
"What about it?"
"It’s not where it’s supposed to be anymore."
Luna’s expression changed.
She immediately rushed toward the balcony railing and looked beyond the mansion.
Her eyes widened.
The ocean was gone.
Completely gone.
There wasn’t even a trace of water remaining.
The enormous body of water that had surrounded the island yesterday had vanished as though it had never existed.
What remained was something far more disturbing.
The ground beyond the mansion had collapsed into a gigantic hollow.
A massive abyss stretched across the landscape, so deep that Luna couldn’t see its bottom.
It looked almost endless.
"What..."
For several seconds, even Luna couldn’t find the words.
Kai began pacing behind her.
"I don’t understand. If the sea disappeared, where the hell did all that water go? How can an entire ocean just vanish? We’re talking about a massive body of water here! Logic or no logic, this is beyond ridiculous."
Nobody had an answer.
Rowan, however, wasn’t satisfied with simply looking from the balcony.
He stepped closer to the edge and leaned forward, attempting to get a better view of the enormous pit.
"Rowan!"
Before he could lean any further, Adrian and Ethan grabbed both his arms.
"What the hell are you doing?" Adrian snapped. "Can’t you look at it from here?"
Rowan glanced at them.
"I was just trying to see how deep—"
"Are you insane?" Adrian interrupted, his face pale. "You almost fell!"
"It’s fine."
"No, it isn’t!"
Ethan tightened his grip on Rowan’s arm before finally letting him go.
"Calm down, Adrian. He didn’t fall. But Rowan, be careful. We already saw what happened to those survivors who fell into that water. We have no idea what might be living down there now."
Rowan rolled his eyes but didn’t argue.
Instead, he turned around and walked back into the sitting room.
Luna watched him go.
Her eyes narrowed.
"What the hell is his problem?"
Adrian looked toward Ethan.
"He’s been acting like that since yesterday."
Ethan shook his head.
"I don’t know. Rowan isn’t exactly the easiest person to understand."
Luna sighed.
That was putting it mildly.
"Everyone, get away from the balcony. We don’t know what might crawl out of that thing."
The men reluctantly moved away from the railing.
Luna glanced toward Miles.
"And what about the mess outside?"
"I already activated the cleaning robot," Miles answered.
Luna nodded.
That was one of the advantages of having the supermarket and system.
She had installed an automated cleaning function specifically for situations like this. There was no reason to risk her people going outside to clean a dangerous area when a machine could handle it.
The robot was already moving across the veranda, collecting the remains of the battle.
"Good."
Luna turned toward the others.
"Let’s get inside. Today is important."
She walked straight into the house.
"The ocean disappearing or not, we can’t allow it to stop our plans."
The others followed.
Luna took her usual position at the center of the dining table, settling into her favorite chair.
One by one, the others took their seats.
Despite her confident expression, Luna could feel the tension hanging over them.
Everyone was scared.
And secretly, so was she.
This apocalypse was becoming more unpredictable by the day.
It was already worse than the one she remembered from her previous life.
That alone was terrifying.
Miles moved around the table, distributing breakfast. Freshly prepared sandwiches were placed before everyone, and the smell immediately filled the room.
Kai grabbed his without hesitation.
"Finally."
He took a huge bite.
The others followed.
For a few moments, the room was quiet.
Then—
BANG!
Rowan slammed both hands against the table.
Everyone jumped.
Kai stopped chewing.
Rowan looked around at them with an unusually serious expression.
"So, first of all, good morning, fellow survivors who are soon going to die."
The last part made everyone stop eating.
Kai simply continued chewing.
He wasn’t going to let Rowan ruin his breakfast.
Rowan’s eyes narrowed.
"I still don’t support going outside."
Luna’s gaze hardened.
"If we leave this place, we’re going to die. We should stay here. We slept safely last night. We have enough food to survive for a while, so why are we rushing outside?"
He looked around the table.
"I don’t want any of us to die."
His voice softened.
"I have a bad feeling about this. Something is wrong, and I think we’re walking straight toward it."
Then Rowan looked directly at Luna.
"The fucking ocean disappeared."
Silence.
"At this point, whether you want to accept it or not, you’re no longer in control, Luna."
Luna’s eyes sharpened.
Rowan continued.
"The little family you’ve created here could fall apart. Everything could become a complete mess."
Ethan and Adrian exchanged a glance.
They wondered whether Rowan’s sudden behavior had anything to do with the conversation they had with him the previous night.
Rowan leaned forward.
"You act like you know exactly what you’re doing, but I can see the uncertainty in your eyes. You don’t know what’s happening anymore."
His voice grew more desperate.
"So why don’t we stay here? This place is safe. We have food. We have protection. We’re together."
He swallowed.
"Isn’t that enough?"
Luna stared at him.
"The look on her face changed."
Everyone noticed.
She was angry.
"Family?"
Her voice was dangerously calm.
"You guys are my family?"
She let out a dry laugh.
"Oh, fucking hell."
Rowan’s expression faltered.
"You think I don’t know what the ocean disappearing means?"
Luna pushed herself slightly forward in her chair.
"The entire system of this world has changed. I know that."
She pointed toward the balcony.
"But do you seriously expect me to sit here and watch?"
Nobody spoke.
"I already told Adrian and the rest of you that supplies are our top priority. You think staying here means everything is over?"
She shook her head.
"You’re only delaying the inevitable."
Luna’s voice became colder.
"Hunger will eventually reach us. Even if we have enough supplies for a year, what happens afterward? Two years? Three?"
She stared at each of them.
"Do you honestly think this apocalypse is ending anytime soon?"
Nobody answered.
"And when everything runs out, what then?"
Her fingers tightened against the table.
"You’re going to regret sitting here."
Luna stood.
"If you don’t want to go, fine."
She turned away.
"I’ll go alone."
Before she could take another step, Rowan grabbed her arm.
"You can’t go alone."
Luna looked back.
"That’s not what I was trying to say."
Rowan’s voice was desperate now.
"Some people here love you."
That made Luna pause.
"Maybe we should start acting like a family."
For a moment, Luna simply stared at him.
She understood where the desperation was coming from.
Maybe it was because of what Rowan had lost in his old life.
Maybe he was terrified of losing another group of people.
But Luna wasn’t willing to sacrifice everything for an emotional attachment that might eventually become another weakness.
She pulled her arm free.
"Rowan Asfaang."
Her voice was firm.
"Forget the relationship and family bullshit."
Rowan froze.
"We’re a bunch of people trying to survive circumstances that are completely beyond our control."
She picked up the last sandwich on the table.
"So stop being delusional for one damn second and maybe you’ll actually see what’s happening."
She stuffed the sandwich into her mouth and walked away.