"Those behind, keep up! If you fall behind and get entangled by a tatarigami and die, I won't be responsible!"
On a small path on Yashiori Island, a dense crowd was moving. These were none other than Ember and the Fatui he led!
However, unlike the excitement on Ember's face, the Fatui behind him, whether common soldiers or Harbingers, were all dejected, like eggplants hit by frost.
Shikanoin Heizou, in the middle of the group, looked up at Ember, who was gesticulating wildly at the very front. Then he turned his head and looked at the silent Fatui around him, and then he pinched his thigh hard.
"Hiss!"
Shikanoin Heizou rubbed his aching thigh. This wasn't a dream; it was real!
The Fatui were actually being led by the nose by someone else!
"Having power really lets you do whatever you want." Shikanoin Heizou recalled the endless ravines and collapsed mountains on Yashiori Island, shaking his head helplessly.
With power, things were simply easier. Just show your fist, and even the Fatui became agreeable.
Squeezing out of the crowd, Shikanoin Heizou ran to Ember's side: "Where are we going?"
"Where else? Watatsumi Island! Didn't you hear what I just said?" Ember replied without thinking.
He looked down at Shikanoin Heizou. Could it be that the great detective's hearing wasn't very good?
"I heard. Isn't it for post-war reconstruction? Why go to Watatsumi Island first? There are more people on the Shogunate side, and the common people there aren't necessarily doing much better than on Watatsumi Island."
"Isn't Watatsumi Island closer? Otherwise, Xiao Lu, why don't you call a few Waveriders to take these people to Narukami Island?"
Ember's single sentence choked Shikanoin Heizou. Seeing Shikanoin Heizou awkwardly scratching his head, he waved his hand and said earnestly:
"Xiao Lu, what are you worried about? Are you worried I'll be prejudiced against the Shogunate's people?"
As he spoke, Ember even pulled out his scoring notebook and opened it: "You see, the resistance's score is even lower than the Shogunate's. Would I favor Watatsumi Island?"
"I'm just asking out of professional curiosity!" Shikanoin Heizou shrank his head upon hearing this, responding apologetically.
No matter what, he was a Tenryou Commission Doushin, and he inevitably had some bias towards the Shogunate.
"You two have talked so much, you must know how we're going to cross the sea, right?"
The Lady's clear voice came from behind Ember. He looked up and saw that they had already reached the coastline of Yashiori Island.
The boundless sea surged with waves, leaving white foam on the beach.
"Oh right, that really seems to be a problem." Ember looked back at the dense crowd. If all these people were to undertake a "long-distance swim," a large portion would likely be lost.
Now Ember only hated that the Tsaritsa of Snezhnaya was too stingy, unwilling to give each Fatui a Vision.
If they had Visions, such a short distance would be no problem at all.
"Let's go to the resistance's stronghold. They should have a considerable number of warships."
"Explain our intentions to them, and they will agree to lend us the warships," Shikanoin Heizou suggested to Ember.
"Hmph, do you think they'll believe that? In such a sensitive period, you come to borrow warships? And it's the Fatui who are borrowing?"
The Lady snorted. She was very clear about the Fatui's reputation. If they said the Fatui were there for charity, the resistance commander probably wouldn't believe it at all.
Even if they believed it, they wouldn't lend them the warships. There were hundreds of people here. If they took the ships, how would they defend against the Shogunate Army's navy?
"Then what do you suggest?" Ember actually thought Shikanoin Heizou's method was not bad, but since the Lady said so, she must have some brilliant idea.
Upon hearing this, the Lady's beautiful eyes shifted, and then she spoke logically: "If you ask me, we can make do with what we have. It's only a short distance, and we don't need such good ships."
"Just a bit of milling and splicing of wood, and we can quickly build Waveriders sufficient for passage."
The Lady nodded as she spoke, seemingly thinking her method was perfect.
"I think you're trying to use this opportunity to escape." Ember surveyed the sparse vegetation on Yashiori Island and saw the Xiao Jiu Jiu in the Lady's heart.
If the Fatui were to gather materials on the spot, some might end up on other islands.
"My kindness is wasted on you!" The Lady took a few steps back and turned her head away.
[How did he see through me? Is my acting problematic?] Her eyes flickered as she reflected on whether she had acted too fake somewhere.
Unfortunately, Ember saw through the Lady using intuition, so no amount of reflection would help her.
"How about Childe carries you all over one by one?" Ember saw the Lady's guilty look and then said.
"Ah? Why bring me up? This guy can do it too! He flies much faster than me."
Childe, who was playing tic-tac-toe with Balladeer nearby, looked up and immediately sold out his colleague.
"You talk too much! You talk too much!" Balladeer waved his hand and hit Childe's head several times, but the latter dodged.
Originally, seeing the Lady step forward, he had wanted to hide his abilities, hoping Ember wouldn't notice him.
For this, Balladeer even, for once, played this idiotic little game with Childe. He didn't expect that when Childe was brought up, he would immediately rat him out, without a moment's hesitation.
The Lady saw Balladeer and Childe's antics and couldn't help but lean against a small tree nearby. She clutched her chest, breathing heavily, looking as if she was having a heart attack.
It was almost true; the Lady felt that if she continued to work with these two, it wasn't impossible for her to truly suffer a myocardial infarction someday.
"Alright, alright, I was just talking. If it were you two, who knows how long it would take." Ember waved his hand, stepping on Childe and Balladeer once each.
Upon hearing this, the two immediately held their breath in anger. In all their years as Harbingers, this was the first time anyone had mocked them.
But very quickly, this anger dissipated, because they remembered Ember's strength. It seemed that being stepped on by Ember wasn't so shameful after all.
Stepping to the seashore, Ember stroked his chin, then said to everyone: "Which direction is Watatsumi Island? Point it out to me."
"It should be this direction." Shikanoin Heizou pointed his hand towards a spot on the horizon.
"Alright then, watch me!"
Ember lowered his hand, and then a staff embedded with a star-shaped amber appeared in his hand.
Feeling the many gazes behind him, Ember suddenly felt a little embarrassed—the magic he was about to cast had a somewhat peculiar casting motion.
Specifically, the casting motion was quite enchanting.
Ember held the staff, and rounds of moonlight spilled from his body. He, himself, crossed his arms and embraced himself, slowly curling into a ball in mid-air, like a nimble fish.
Ranni's Dark Moon—the symbol magic of the Carian Queen, one of the "legendary sorceries."
It could summon a cold Dark Moon to descend upon oneself, and the moon would fly towards enemies. The Dark Moon could dispel all magic it touched, and those struck would temporarily have their magic attribute damage reduction rate lowered.
Through her mother Rennala's guidance, young Ranni met the moon—a cold, dark, and mysterious moon.
The moonlight on Ember's body grew brighter as he curled up. By the time he was completely curled into a ball, a cold, dark, and mysterious full moon appeared out of thin air in the Sky.
The Dark Moon descended from the Sky, not very large, but enough to be suffocating.
The Dark Moon, spewing cold and moonlight, fell into the sea, instantly stilling the lapping waves.
The Dark Moon, suspended on the sea surface, trembled slightly, seemingly awaiting its next command.
"Why are you just standing there? Go!"
Ember landed from the air, speaking both to the Dark Moon on the sea and to the Fatui on the shore.
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