The Tide Realm

The Tide isn't water. It's a living, gray-white fog that eats people.

Shen Zhou fell into the Tide Realm from a black-sand beach in Iceland. Everyone else died if they came into contact with the Tide, but it let him go.

Wangxi City stands on towering stilts, with the Sunken City below. Poor diving crews strap on air tanks and descend to salvage old things, trading them for rice, medicine, and air for their next dive. Old Bo, who rescued him, puts the whole crew's air rations up as collateral. A Dou is saving up for a depth-rating badge. Wei-jie's old Tide suit has been patched until it's stiff. No one can afford a single mistake.

Shen Zhou doesn't want to be a god, and he doesn't want people worshipping him.

He starts with what he can do: fixes a leaking valve to save half a breath, maps the Tide's edge to avoid a deadly surge, and modifies a gauge so people know when it's time to surface.

Little by little, a poor diving crew on the verge of falling apart gets new rules and a chance to climb higher.

But the Tide Temple, the Association, and the Grand Altar have all set their sights on him.

And when the Tide rises at night, someone calls his name from beneath the fog.

Before he came here, he had already been dreaming of the Tide Realm for three years.