"Swish—"
Waves crashed on the beach, making a faint rippling sound. White foam turned over, sparkling in the sun, like countless diamonds scattered on the sand.
Unfortunately, this beautiful scene was only witnessed by two people, and they were two people who couldn't appreciate the scenery at all.
"My King, is it alright to leave your creation here?" Morgott stepped on the beach, leaving a monstrous footprint.
The waves rolled over, and this alarming giant footprint was smoothed out again, as if nothing had happened.
"Uh… let's just leave it here," Ember said, scratching his head as he looked at the tattered charcoal frame.
Under the ravages of the thunderstorm, the hot air balloon was already at its last gasp. If it weren't for Morgott's power, it would have fallen into the boundless sea long ago.
Now that Morgott's power had dissipated, the hot air balloon, stripped of its golden skin, was just a frame.
Ember estimated that this thing could now only be used as firewood. Leaving it here wouldn't cause much trouble.
Morgott nodded, then he looked around. This was the first piece of land they had encountered, and the vegetation on it was lush and full of life.
"Does the King have a destination in mind next?" Morgott asked, lowering his head after surveying the surroundings.
"Well…" Ember thought for a moment. With his and Morgott's unique appearances, and having snuck in, it seemed there really weren't many places they could go.
"Perhaps we could go to a place called Higi Village to take a look?" Ember pondered, and this was the only place he could think of in his mind.
Speaking of which, the Sakoku Decree was really troublesome. Ember was getting annoyed with it.
"That's good." Morgott breathed a sigh of relief. He had thought Ember had impulsively run off to this place called Inazuma again.
Since they had a destination, they wouldn't have to wander around like headless flies.
"…"
"…"
After Morgott finished speaking, the air fell into a terrible silence. Morgott and Ember stood on the beach, neither making any new moves.
"My King, aren't we going to Higi Village?" Morgott broke the silence first. A bad premonition began to rise in his heart.
"I don't know how to get there either. Could it be that you don't know the way, Morgott?" Ember spread his hands. This was clearly not the section of road he had taken last time, and he didn't know where he was now.
"There are no obvious landmarks nearby, so I can't determine the direction. Should I calculate it?" As he spoke, Morgott was about to pull out paper and pen to start calculating.
"Forget it, forget it. For your hair's sake, just save it." Ember waved his hand, pressing down Morgott's arm, which he had just raised.
"???" Morgott touched his forehead. Aside from the prominent cluster of horns, he didn't have little hair, did he?
However, since Ember had said so, Morgott gave up the idea of calculating the direction himself.
Although he still had plenty of hair, calculating such things was very brain-intensive. If possible, Morgott certainly didn't want to calculate.
Seeing this, Ember secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, he was clever, otherwise, the fact that he didn't even know which direction Higi Village was in (east, west, north, or south) would have been exposed.
"In that case, let's find someone to ask." Morgott saw that the vicinity was deserted, so he began to move.
Actually, the best way to find a path was to ask the locals.
"I hope so!" Ember smacked his lips. He seemed to remember that the situation in Inazuma wasn't very good. He hoped they could find someone to ask for directions!
Walking along the coastline, besides the beach, all he saw were the trees growing wildly on the side.
Traces of humans seemed particularly scarce on this island.
This sign didn't last too long. On the yellow and white sand, a wisp of black finally appeared.
Upon closer inspection, it was a sword rusted by the sea water.
"Snap!" Morgott picked up the rusted sword with both hands. With a slight force of his fingertips, the rust-covered blade broke into two halves.
Twisting off the rust in his hand, Morgott observed it for a while. "This sword was probably stuck here about half a year ago."
Looking up and around, Morgott found that there was more than just this one weapon on the ground. They were either half-buried in the soil or stuck in the ground, silently telling the story of what had happened here.
Not only that, but on the branches of the vegetation here, there were also faint colors that did not belong to plants.
Morgott somewhat understood why the vegetation here looked so dense.
"The battlefield, it's not far from people." Morgott looked into the distance. Since it was a battlefield, it meant there was value in contesting it.
No matter which side won, there had to be people on this land to claim it. He just didn't know if these people had the service of helping others find their way.
"Half a year? They're still fighting after I left?" Ember compared the time. Half a year ago, he had already left Inazuma.
"Inazuma is an island nation, and it's a very rare island nation with undeveloped shipbuilding technology."
"Simply relying on land battles to contest the various islands… if the local divine beings don't intervene, it will be a troublesome prolonged war for both sides."
Morgott deduced this based on the introduction to Inazuma he had read in books.
Upon hearing this, Ember glanced at Morgott, who was talking animatedly. It seemed The Lands Between didn't have the confidence to speak about Inazuma like that.
As far as he knew, the shipbuilding technology of The Lands Between… well… how should he put it? It was a tiny, tiny bit poor.
Ember had a weapon, which he had snatched from a demi-human, and its name was the Rusted Anchor.
As for why an anchor became a weapon? That was naturally because The Lands Between couldn't even make an anchor properly, and in the end, they could only use it as a weapon!
Anyway, Ember found it quite hard to bear when he learned of it. The shipbuilding technology and war machine technology of The Lands Between were simply not on the same level.
The former couldn't even make an anchor properly, while the latter could create war golems tens of meters high that adapted to various environments.
This made Ember somewhat unable to comment.
"Hoo ah…"
"Kill…"
"What's that sound?" Ember dug his ears. Was there something wrong with his ears? Why were there mosquitoes buzzing?
"My King. It's the sound of fighting. There's a battle ahead!" Morgott's eyes narrowed slightly. So there was still war in this world. He had thought all the nations here were peaceful.
"Let's sneak a look." Ember said, then furtively slipped into the grass.
Seeing this, Morgott followed closely, disappearing into the green.
The two moved through the grass. The shouts of battle grew closer and closer, and the scent of blood even began to be detectable in the air.
Poking their heads out from the bushes, the shouts of battle suddenly intensified. Looking down, the area below had already become a battlefield.
Amidst flashing blades and clashing swords, purple and red armored soldiers appeared and disappeared. They fought each other, constantly attacking and defending, fearless of death, only to contend for this small beachhead.
"Still fighting?" Ember looked from afar and immediately felt a toothache. As Morgott had said, the war between the resistance and the Shogunate Army was a prolonged one.
The two sides had been deadlocked around Nazuchi Beach for a long time, neither having the ability to advance the front further.
However, overall, the Shogunate Army's strength was still more formidable. Because they still had the spare capacity to send small teams to Yashiori Island for reconnaissance, sabotage, and a series of other tasks, but the resistance did not have this capability.
Of course, Ember didn't think that much—he was thinking about how to make a big move to make them stop.
Perhaps he could shoot another arrow? Ember thought so, and a massive black iron greatbow appeared in his hand. This was indeed the Golem Greatbow!
Just as Ember was about to go out and show off his skills, he suddenly felt a resistance.
Turning his head, he saw that Morgott had extended his hand. He shook his head, signaling Ember not to be impulsive.
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