Chapter 59

Only...

As the sun rose and set, and winter passed and spring came.

The Explorer seemed to have disappeared into the vast ocean.

Yan never waited for any news about the Explorer.

The twenty-fourth year of the Great Yan Calendar.

In the imperial palace.

Yan attended the morning court as usual, and after dealing with state affairs.

He looked at the envoy returning from the east coast and frowned: "Still no news?"

The envoy was respectful: "Reporting to Your Majesty, there has been no news of the Explorer."

Yan sighed.

It had been a full year.

He sometimes even wondered...

If the Explorer had encountered any shipwreck.

But...

To ensure a smooth exploration.

When he formed the Explorer long-distance fleet, he drew twelve ships.

Even if they encountered a shipwreck, they wouldn't be wiped out.

"Could it be... the scope of the earth is really wider than what is marked on the map?"

Yan turned around.

And looked at the map behind him.

Outside the land of the Great Yan Kingdom, there was a vast ocean.

If calculated according to the previously explored boundaries...

One year would have been enough to go back and forth!

Now the Explorer was late to return.

Obviously.

They had broken through the boundary and were still sailing east!

Thinking of this.

He pondered slightly and ordered people to take the world map behind him...

And redraw it!

Near the originally determined pentagonal boundary, countless unknown regions were added!

The twenty-fifth year of the Great Yan Calendar.

At this time, three years had passed since the Explorer set off.

But the news of the Explorer...

Still hadn't been sent back.

"How big is the scope of the earth?"

Yan thought about this question every day.

So big that the Explorer fleet had been sailing for three years and still had no news!

You know.

They were walking in a straight line!

"Is there still no news from the east coast?"

He turned around and looked at the envoy beside him.

The envoy smiled bitterly and replied: "Still none, I will send people to check three times every day, and if the Explorer returns, I will definitely notify Your Majesty immediately."

Yan nodded silently.

Over these three years.

As he grew older, he had less arrogance and recklessness.

And more maturity and stability.

After being knocked down by the deity...

He no longer blindly arrogant, thinking he knew everything.

At least on the matter of the truth of the earth.

His Explorer long-distance fleet had explored for three years and still hadn't got a result.

The last day of the twenty-fifth year of the Great Yan Calendar.

After Yan finished the morning court.

He asked as usual: "Is there any news from the east coast?"

The envoy shook his head: "Still haven't seen any fleet return."

Yan showed a disappointed expression again.

However...

Not long after.

From the west of the Great Yan Kingdom, an 800-mile urgent report was sent to the imperial palace along the cement highway.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty, great joy! The Explorer... has returned!"

"Just yesterday, it landed on the west coast, and now they are all docked, and they will be able to return to the palace to report in two days!"

After Yan heard this.

He was stunned on the spot.

What's the situation?

He ordered the Explorer fleet to go east, how did it return from the opposite direction?

"Could it be that this fleet disobeyed my edict and turned back halfway?"

He frowned, with anger hidden in his eyebrows.

As a result...

Two days later.

The captain of the Explorer rushed back to the imperial palace.

His expression was full of excitement.

The first sentence he said was: "Your Majesty! I... I discovered a shocking secret! It turns out the world is a sphere!"

Yan: "..."

Then.

The captain of the Explorer continued to tell what he saw and heard this time:

"Three years ago, I followed Your Majesty's edict and went east all the way, taking half a year to reach the easternmost part of the previously explored sea area."

"As a result, I found that going east... it was still a vast and endless ocean!"

"So our twelve long-distance ships continued to move forward, during which we encountered several shipwrecks and experienced countless hardships..."

"But going east all the way, it was still boundless water and a sea surface that couldn't be seen to the end!"

"Three years passed, and all the crew on the Explorer were desperate, but in the end, we saw a piece of land!"

Yan heard this, and his eyes brightened instantly.

He immediately grabbed the captain's hand and asked: "Land? Besides the Great Yan Kingdom, is there land in the world?"

Having land meant there were still areas he needed to conquer!

However...

The captain's next sentence made him freeze on the spot.

"At that time, we were also pleasantly surprised, but after we landed on the coast, we found... this piece of land was actually the western wild region where the Great Yan Kingdom is located!"

His brain crashed instantly.

What's the situation?

Going east all the way, but returning from the west coast?

He didn't react to the principle for a while.

And the captain continued: "I can guarantee that for these three years, we have been sailing in the due east direction, without any deviation! In the two days of returning to the imperial palace, I thought about it and felt..."

Saying this.

He took out a ball the size of a fist.

While comparing, he said: "Going east all the way and still being able to return from the west coast can only prove that the area we sailed... can be drawn into a perfect circle!"

That is to say.

The earth under their feet is actually a sphere!

As soon as this conclusion came out.

Yan widened his eyes and showed disbelief.

Unknowingly.

His breathing also became rapid.

"A sphere?!"

"It's actually a sphere?"

He recalled the question the deity tested him with three years ago.

At that time, his answer...

Seemed to be a pentagon!

"No! No!"

He woke up abruptly and glared at the captain: "If what is under our feet is a sphere, then when you sailed to the bottom of the sphere, why didn't you fall off?"

He pointed to the bottom of the ball in the captain's hand.

If the captain was right...

Then when their fleet sailed to that position, they would definitely fall off!

"Also, you said that what you saw along the way was all ocean. If the earth is a sphere, then how does the ocean under the sphere stick to the earth?"

After these two questions were asked.

The captain's face turned pale with fright.

He stammered: "Your... Your Majesty, I... I don't know what's going on, but what I said... is indeed true! Only in this way can we explain why we went east and returned from the west!"

Yan sneered: "Whether you are lying or not, I will find out, you go down and rest well first!"

Then.

He didn't blindly convict the captain.

Instead...

He summoned the crew of the Explorer one by one and interrogated them strictly!

He believed that even if the captain colluded, he could find flaws.

But...

After interrogating them one by one.

He found that everyone's answers were the same.

The first mate, the helmsman, and the Great Yan army who were loyal to him on the ship...

All told him that they went east all the way, and when they saw land again, they returned to the Great Yan Kingdom!

"Really... it's actually true..."

For a moment.

Yan fell into confusion.

Go east, return from the west!

No deviation during the journey.

At the same time.

These crew members also provided him with a lot of information.

"They said that when they saw the land of the Great Yan Kingdom, at first, they could only see a line of the coastline, not the whole picture, and as they approached, they gradually saw the complete land..."

Yan murmured to himself.

"And when sailing the ocean, if the distance was a little far, they could only see the sails of other ships, and still couldn't see the hull!"

It was unlikely that these crew members were lying.

That is to say...

Everything was true!

The earth under their feet was really a sphere!

Only in this way.

Could various phenomena be explained!

Gradually.

Yan's breathing became more rapid, and his body trembled.

Who could have thought...

The earth under his feet was actually a sphere?!

Such a subversive truth made his heart surge with stormy waves!

And thinking of the question the deity asked three years ago...

He was instantly ashamed.

He claimed to know everything in the world.

But he didn't even discover the truth about the earth under his feet!

Yan sat withered in the imperial palace.

Looking at the world map drawn before, he instantly felt it was ridiculous.

"Also..."

He murmured: "If the earth is really a sphere, then why won't the other side fall off? The surface on the other side of the sphere is still covered with endless seawater..."

The more he pondered.

The more he found his knowledge was not enough.

Just the reason why it wouldn't fall off, he couldn't explain.

I don't know how long it took.

Yan smiled bitterly and let out a long sigh: "Now I finally know the deity's mood when I requested to see the deity in the temple three years ago..."

Three years ago.

He claimed to have read the Divine Book and was extremely learned.

Facing the deity's question.

He gave the ridiculous answer of a pentagon.

Thinking about it now, how ignorant he was back then!

No!

Even now, he is still ignorant!

The twenty-sixth year of the Great Yan Calendar.

Yan remade the world map according to the sailing route of the Explorer!

This world map...

Was no longer a huge scroll laid flat.

But a huge sphere!

The land where the Great Yan Kingdom is located was in the center of the world.

Surrounded by the vast and endless ocean.

After doing this 0

Yan left the imperial palace.

Heading to the temple.

This time...

He didn't dare to enter the temple directly.

But knelt down devoutly outside the temple.

"Yan, pays respects to the deity."

At this time, he no longer had any pride or complacency.

Before the deity who knows everything...

The knowledge he mastered seemed incredibly small and ridiculous.