The Embers of King's Teyvat Journey

Most of the population of Haiqi Island lives in the higher areas on the island's edge. This is because the land here is furthest from the Fukushita Palace, and its tendency to become sacred is the least.

As the central land of Haiqi Island, which is closest to Yuanxia Palace, it has become a "beautiful desert" with no inhabitants due to the land being turned into sacred soil.

Therefore, for Haizhi Island, all they need to do is manage the land surrounding the island.

The central basin, on the other hand, needs neither attention nor concern—no one even covets such barren land.

In terms of security patrols, the squads stationed on Haizhi Island only patrol and are stationed on the high ground around the island.

Today is no exception.

Ichikawa Tomohiro was an unremarkable soldier in the Umijima resistance. Of course, whether he could retain his identity as a member of the resistance was questionable.

Because the shogunate suddenly stopped the war recently, there were various changes in government decrees, the most important of which was the future submission of Umijima.

Its importance was so great that almost the entire high-ranking officials of Umijima went to the shogunate for negotiations. Under what circumstances would Umijima be placed under the shogunate? Could the resistance army be preserved? These questions all depended on these negotiations.

However, none of this mattered to Ichikawa Tomohiro; he was just a lowly patrolman at the moment.

"Another quiet day." Standing on high ground, Ichikawa Tomohiro looked around. It was the same familiar scene; it seemed like another uneventful day was about to begin.

Just as he was considering when to change shifts, a faint roar sounded in his ear.

Ichikawa Tomohiro picked at his ears, looked around, but saw nothing. After closing his eyes and listening carefully for a while, he realized that the roar seemed to be coming from below.

Reaching the edge of the cliff, Ichikawa Tomohiro looked down. There, on the precipice, stood a rather enormous beast.

"What... is this?" Ichikawa Tomohiro scratched his head. There were very few creatures on the island of Haigi, just humans, Hilichurls, slimes, and those most annoying floating spirits. When did such a ferocious beast appear?

Moreover, judging from the size of this beast, it seems to be quite large. Looking at the increasingly agitated dragon lizard below, a sudden inspiration flashed through Ichikawa Tomohiro's mind.

The basin in the center of Haizhi Island is so barren, and this beast is so huge, could it be... begging for food?

The dragon lizard below opened its blood-red maw and roared at Ichikawa Tomohiro, but to Ichikawa Tomohiro himself, this only confirmed his suspicions.

"Thank you for the peace, otherwise I wouldn't have been willing to give this to you." Ichikawa Tomohiro took out the dry rations from his pocket, saying this, but there was still some reluctance on his face.

The war had just ended, and the cleanup was just beginning. Food was still scarce, but at least there was hope for the future, which is why Ichikawa Tomohiro was willing to feed his own rations to the dragon lizard.

Despite the barrenness of Haiji Island, such a large creature could be raised there. Ichikawa Tomohiro figured this beast must have grown up eating dirt.

Otherwise, the basin at the center of Haiqi Island would be unable to support any living beings other than elemental beings.

This land is worse than a desert. At least cacti can grow in a desert! Here, only useless corals and shells can grow.

If he had the means, he was still willing to help this big guy who was scavenging for food in the soil.

"Catch it." Ichikawa Tomohiro broke off a piece of dry food and threw it down into the dragon lizard's large mouth.

"Hoo... hiccup!"

The purple giant dragon lizard felt something enter its mouth, and it instinctively swallowed, only to find a slightly sweet taste in its mouth.

"Beg for mercy, accept it!"

The purple dragon lizard savored the moment for a few moments, then opened its mouth wide again. It could accept a human's pleas for mercy, but the previous treat wasn't enough; it needed more!

"Want more?" Ichikawa Tomohiro frowned as he saw the dragon lizard below opening its mouth wide again.

Soon, his brow relaxed, because the dragon lizard below roared twice more after seeing him stop.

This made Ichikawa Tomohiro feel that the wild beast was very intelligent. Recalling his previous experience of going hungry, he unconsciously fed it another piece.

The feeling of being hungry is awful!

Chapter 548 Short Legs Are a Major Flaw

2024-03-16

"Burp! Not enough!"

"for you!"

"Burp! Not enough!"

"You can eat so much?"

On the edge of Haiqi Island, a human and a dragon lizard, one above the other, were having a nonsensical conversation.

Before he knew it, Ichikawa Tomohiro discovered that the dry rations he had brought had been used up.

He glanced down at the dragon lizard, its mouth still agape, and sighed.

Unfolding the empty oil paper in his hand, Ichikawa Tomohiro waved it a few times at the dragon lizard below.

No, go find someone else.

The purple dragon lizard below saw Ichikawa Tomohiro's actions above and realized that he had "handed over" all the delicious food.

So it looked up and stared intently at Ichikawa Tomohiro, memorizing all his physical features.

"Humans who surrender, remember this!"

After muttering something to itself, the large purple dragon lizard nodded. This surprised Ichikawa Tomohiro even more.

Could it be that this wild beast can actually understand human speech?

"Boom!"

Before Ichikawa Tomohiro's surprise had subsided, an even more chaotic and noisy roar came from afar.

The sound was like the passing of a thousand troops.

"The Shogunate army has attacked?!" Ichikawa Tomohiro, who had experienced the baptism of war, was immediately so frightened that he jumped three feet high.

He frantically picked up the weapon from the ground, preparing to flee!

Just kidding, if he didn't run, who would deliver the intelligence to the Coral Palace? So this was a strategic retreat, definitely not an escape.

However, after observing for a long time, the expected crowd did not arrive.

He patted his chest and breathed a sigh of relief. "So I was just scaring myself. I knew it..."

Ichikawa Tomohiro paused, because he saw below him a dense mass of the same "beasts" he had just seen.

Countless dorsal fins bobbed up and down with the breathing of the dragon lizards, making it look from above as if the ground covered with spikes was floating.

"Help! Someone... no, a beast has broken in!"

Without further hesitation, Ichikawa Tomohiro turned around and ran away shouting, this time without even picking up the weapons on the ground.

This shows how awe-inspiring the swarm of dragon lizards was to him.

"Hoo... Humans, have you gone mad?" The dragon lizard below saw Ichikawa Tomohiro yelling and felt a strange sense of familiarity.

But they quickly shook their heads and banished this outrageous idea from their minds.

How could humans and dragon lizards possibly resemble each other!

"I don't know." The purple dragon lizard shook its head, but it didn't care about such things.

"The person who just left, beg for mercy and offer tribute, and you may be forgiven!" It turned around, vomited a few times, and then spat out a pile of dry food from the ground.

"Offerings." The purple dragon lizard pushed the food forward with its paw, sharing it with its kin.

The lizards didn't stand on ceremony and devoured the dry food. There were so many lizards that each one received a negligible amount of food, but it was enough for them to taste it.

"Delicious! Agreed!"

"Hand over this, and we can forgive you!"

"Aren't we looking for dragons?"

The nameless lizard sage spoke, silencing the lizard horde once more. Indeed, weren't they out looking for dragons? Why were they clashing with humans?

"Find the dragon! And take revenge! We want it all!" In the end, it was the two leading giant dragon lizards who set the goal for this trip.

So the dragon lizards started howling again, but soon they discovered a problem standing in their way.

The dragons looked up and gazed at the near-vertical cross-section, which was as sharp as a knife and axe, leaving the dragons with no way to begin.

Moreover, due to the barrenness of the land on Haizhi Island, the vegetation on the cross-section is extremely scarce, further increasing the difficulty for the dragon lizards to climb up.

"Find the way up!" the lead lizard roared, and the lizard herd scattered in twos and threes to search for the mountain path, which they didn't even know if it existed.

……

Narukami Taisha... no, it should be called Tenshukaku now.

Every time I see Narukami Taisha transformed into a castle tower, I feel like I'm in another world. How did Narukami Taisha and the castle tower get swapped?

Not only her, but everyone else here, though they didn't say anything, still showed subtle signs of discomfort on their faces.

So, General, you're quite fond of shamanistic culture? How come I never noticed before?

"Gentlemen of the Coral Palace, what do you think of the conditions offered by the Shogunate?" In the pink hall, there was a long table.

On one side of the long table sat Shinkai and Goro, along with other high-ranking officials from Umijima; while on the other side, naturally, were Ayato Kamisato and Yae no Miko, among other high-ranking officials from the shogunate.

As Yae no Miko sat in the chair, everything in front of her seemed so familiar and pleasing to the eye, making her want to move in right away.

Xin Hai glanced at the thick, brick-like document in his hand. The terms offered were very generous, including aid to Haiqi Island, tax reductions, and industrial development...

However, Xin Hai's brows did not relax at all, because she understood that there is no free lunch in the world, and that you have to pay the corresponding price for whatever you gain.

Finally, after turning to a certain page, Xin Hai's tightly furrowed brows relaxed considerably. The shogunate's true colors could not be hidden any longer.

“On this point, all the shrines and temples should be dedicated to the Thunder God.” Pointing to a page in the document, Xin Hai shook his head.

"Oh? Is it that you can't accept it, or..." Ayato Kamisato skillfully flipped to a specific page in the document and began to carefully examine the terms.

The terms and conditions are numerous, numbering in the dozens, but they can be summarized in one sentence: the island of Haiqi is not allowed to establish any other deity, except for the Thunder God.

"We cannot accept this. Omikami is present in our legends and in our lives at all times."

"He has become a mark on our Haiqi Island. Even if we accept it, the enraged people will definitely not do it when we return."

Shinkai looked up at the still-sane Ayato Kamisato. He used to be a partner of Umijima, but now he had become a fierce rival.

It must be said that circumstances can be unpredictable.

Ayato Kamisato nodded upon hearing this, and then looked at Yae no Miko, who was tugging at her pink hair.

Noticing Ayato's gaze, Yae no Miko stopped what she was doing, sat up straight, and all the languor in her eyes vanished.

At this point, Yae no Miko finally showed some semblance of a palace priest.