Flower Country, Sanbao Navy Garrison.
In a smoke-filled room, an old man's voice sounded. "Are you sure the three people Bao mentioned are heading in the direction of Bashu?"
A simple and honest young man's voice replied, "From the traces left at the scene, yes."
"..." The tall and burly figure in the room fell into a brief silence.
After a long while, he sighed. "Not long ago, the Charlotte Family suddenly contacted the king. I don't know what was said."
"Today, another group is heading straight for Bashu. These are eventful times."
The burly old man's words made the young man in the room feel the pressure. He became a little flustered and subconsciously asked, "Boss Jin, what should we do?"
To this, the burly old man glanced at him and said casually, "If the sky falls, it's not the turn of you young people to hold it up. This is not a problem you should be concerned with."
"You just need to grow up before we die. Now, get out!"
"..."
"Yes..." The young man had nothing more to say. He turned and left the smoke-filled room.
After the young man left, the burly old man picked up a Den Den Mushi and dialed a number.
Brrring~ Brrring~ Brrring~
Click. The call was answered, and a rough voice came through. "Hello, Jin Wu, what do you want from me?"
The burly old man with a square face, an incredibly muscular upper body, and a slightly slender lower body spoke sincerely. "Chinjao, can you go take a look at Bashu?"
"A group of people is heading straight there. I'm worried they will enter the gathering place of the 'Longbo'!"
The Den Den Mushi mimicked Chinjao's dissatisfied expression, pouting. "What's the secret with you 'Longbo' anyway? You're so jumpy all day, afraid of this and that!"
To this, the burly old man's tone became even more sincere. "Please, Chinjao. Bao said there's a very strong young woman in that group. You're one of the top fighters among our several navies. I'll only feel at ease if you go."
"Why don't you go yourself?" Chinjao asked again.
"..."
A brief silence fell in the room.
After a moment, the burly old man replied in a hoarse voice, "I don't have the face to go back."
Decades ago, he had lost a kinsman. By the time he found a clue, that kinsman had already become a slave to the Celestial Dragons, and he had neither the strength nor the courage to rescue them. By the time he had made up his mind, he found that his kinsman was already dead. He has regretted it to this day, changing his name and joining the Sanbao Navy.
A moment later, Chinjao made a "tsk" sound. "Coward," he said. "Just wait!" With that, Chinjao hung up.
In the boundless primeval forest.
Louis and his group rode on the back of a bruised and battered giant wolf, traveling swiftly under the shade of the trees.
"I originally thought we'd have to cross this jungle on foot..." Yelena looked up at the towering ancient trees around them, which averaged over a hundred meters in height, and sighed softly. "This forest is even bigger than our entire plateau. It's a good thing we had a ride come to pick us up right at the start."
At Yelena's words, the bruised Geju beneath them let out a mournful whimper. "Wooo..."
In response, Yelena gently tapped the large bump on its head with her World-Breaker war hammer. "Be quiet and hurry up!"
Uta was resting her head on Yelena's full, long legs, her eyes closed. She felt the turbulent airflow from their rapid movement and listened to the various bird calls coming from the depths of the forest. A faint smile graced her lips as she wove the bird calls into a specific melody in her mind.
It wasn't until the giant wolf named Geju had left the forest and stepped onto a prairie where every blade of grass was as tall as a person's neck that Uta slowly opened her eyes. She then sat up, leaned against Louis, and gently swayed, humming the melody she had just composed in her mind.
"♪～"
There were no lyrics, no accompaniment. There was only the light, gentle voice of a girl, carried by the clear wind to their ears.
Yelena listened to Uta's humming, and the corners of her mouth turned up in a gentle smile.
The breeze blew, pressing down the man-high wild grass and revealing the various strange creatures hidden in the prairie to Louis's eyes. Ershu, Jiao, Qinyuan—all were mythical beasts from the Classic of Mountains and Seas that Louis had seen online in his past life.
In the distance, even larger beasts were faintly visible. Tuolong, Ranyi fish, mammoths—and these were just the ones Louis could name. Legend was now fully displayed before his eyes.
After a long time, the Geju carried the trio to an ice field, where human figures gradually began to appear. Many bare-chested men were training hard in the ice and snow. As far as the eye could see, it was a world of white, with rugged ice and snow.
Louis glanced at the map and saw the name of this ice field—the Ice Continent. Its area was no smaller than the mountain forest they had just crossed, and it stretched all the way to the sea. This was the place where the Happo Navy stored the spoils they had plundered from the sea. It was worth mentioning that ever since the Happo Navy's commander had his pointed drill-head flattened by Garp, this treasure vault had been in an awkward state of being unopenable by anyone.
The trio released the unlucky Geju and set up camp at the border between the grassland and the ice field, lighting a bonfire to rest.
...
The night passed without incident.
The next day, the trio ran into another ferocious beast that saw them as food. This beast was larger and stronger, even having mastered Armament Haki, but in the end, it too submitted under Yelena's World-Breaker war hammer.
The beaten snow-leopard-like beast obediently crouched down, allowing the three to climb onto its back. Then, it reluctantly began to walk in the direction Louis pointed.
Along the way, many people saw this strange combination. Someone subconsciously exclaimed, "Look, it's a Mengji! There are people on its back!"
"Someone's using a Mengji as a mount?!"
"Is this for real?"
"Don't they know Haki? How could one be a mount for people?!"
...
Uta rubbed her face, which was red from the cold, then lay down on the Mengji's back and let out a long puff of white air. "It's so warm on its back..."
The Mengji heard this and snorted with disdain.
Behind her, Yelena looked at the lazy Uta sprawled on the snow leopard's back and reached out a malicious hand. The next moment, Yelena's already cold hand slipped inside the collar of Uta's shirt.
"Yaa!" Uta's eyes instantly widened. "So cold!" she cried out.
Realizing what had happened, an exasperated Uta scrambled up from the snow leopard's back and pounced on Yelena, reaching for her collar in turn.
To this, a thoughtful smile appeared on Yelena's face. She only put up a token resistance to Uta's actions.
"Yaa!" Soon, Uta's voice sounded again. She had been frozen again.
Louis silently shook his head at their roughhousing. These two are like children...
The play-fight quickly subsided. Uta and Yelena locked eyes, and simultaneously reached their poisonous hands toward Louis...
"..."
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