The thunderous roar of continuous fire fused into the ripping snarl of a beast. The brilliant muzzle flashes lit up the sea, the barrels spewing flame like the brightest torch in the night. The leading assault boat was shredded to splinters in an instant. The centurion at its bow didn’t even have time to scream before he was torn apart. The fuel tank burst into flame, and the boat exploded into a blazing fireball on the waves.

Then came the second. The third. The fourth...

Even though the remaining assault boats scattered immediately, half of them were blown apart within 30 seconds.

Facing that hurricane of fire and steel, the surviving sailors lost all courage to continue the chase and turned tail, fleeing desperately toward their own lines.

Tail watched as the retreating boats slipped beyond the gun’s range, and at the sailors clinging to life rings, shivering in the sea. She didn’t continue shooting, she only clicked her tongue in mild disappointment. “Tsk, too weak!”

Given the enemy’s level of professionalism, rescuing those overboard would take time. The two warships behind them probably wouldn’t be catching up anytime soon.

May the Great Stag God bless them.

Hopefully their comrades would arrive before the sawtooth sharks or other mutant sea beasts caught the scent of blood. They were far beyond Poro Province’s waters now, the Ox God of the Sun could no longer protect them. But even if they didn’t make it, Tail felt no sympathy.

Especially after witnessing what had happened in Port Gallon and Tassen, City of a Thousand Pillars, she only regretted not being able to save more of them from these beasts.

As the enemy ships disappeared over the horizon, Sisi yawned in relief, the sweat-soaked sailors and weary mercenaries finally relaxing their nerves.

“Praise the Spirit of the Desert,” a mercenary from the Lion Kingdom murmured reverently, kneeling to pray to the rolling waves.

A mercenary from the Camel Kingdom beside him curled his lip and muttered, “The Spirit of the Desert doesn’t rule here, you’d better thank the Silvermoon Goddess.”

Sesame Paste, who understood their words, smiled awkwardly.

The praying mercenary didn’t respond, just kept muttering his own prayer. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Meanwhile, several mercenaries from Clearspring City helped the ship’s captain, Roshan, the big white bear, push the cannon back into the cargo bay for storage. Tail followed, but instead of heading to the storage hold, she went down to the lowest deck.

It had once been a cargo hold, but now the partitions had been removed, turning it into a massive barracks with added ventilation ports.

Nearly 1,000 refugees from the Poro Province were crammed inside, filling two levels of the ship. They were mostly women and children, and most of them were Moonfolk who had been purged.

Poro Province was known as the “Land of a Thousand Tribes,” said to house over a thousand clans, each with its own faith.

Now the province was ruled by the Xilande Empire. The royal bloodline was a mix of Sunfolk and Bullfolk, so those two races became the upper castes, and their shared god, the Ox God of the Sun, became the empire’s symbol and faith.

But since the sun and moon opposed each other, the Moonfolk were deemed inauspicious. In the Xilande Empire, their very existence was considered a curse. The Moonfolk were branded an inferior race, and those with moon bloodlines were purged, enslaved, and reduced to property.

Tail still couldn’t understand how the people of the Poro Province could so accurately identify a person’s lineage. To her, they all looked about the same, certainly not as distinct as the Wislanders.

But somehow, they managed it. Maybe they had their own methods.

The iron door creaked open.

Dozens of eyes turned nervously toward the entrance. When they saw it wasn’t the soldiers of the Xilande Empire, relief rippled through the crowd.

A small girl wriggled out of her mother’s arms, pattered across the floor, and clung to Tail’s coat hem. Seeing her frail, frightened face, Tail reached out to ruffle the child’s tangled hair and whispered softly, “Don’t be afraid. Roro will get you all to safety.”

Just then, Sisi’s tired, lazy voice came from behind her. “We might not make it to Silvermoon Bay. You don’t even have to think about it, those guys will definitely be waiting for us there.”

Tail tried to think of an alternative. “Uh... what if we take down the flag and sneak in quietly?”

Sisi gave a helpless look. “I may not think they’re that bright, but do you think they’re blind? Of course they’d board the ship for inspection.”

They were on good terms with Lord Petra, but Petra Fortress was in the far north of the Camel Kingdom. Even if Sesame Paste’s cat ears worked wonders in Oasis No.4, a place full of cat lovers, there was no way the secular Silvermoon City would risk escorting them.

In fact, the Camelback Kingdom had gone to great lengths to avoid getting involved in the Poro Province’s affairs. Even if they managed to land safely at Silvermoon Bay, there was no guarantee it would be secure. That was what Sisi had learned in Port Gallon, mixed with a bit of her own deduction, but mostly accurate.

Tail stared at her in shock. “Wait, those bastards are that obsessed?”

Sisi sighed, “A healthy young slave sells for at least 1,000 Dinars, and that’s not even counting the stuff we stole from them. Do you have any idea how much you robbed them of?”

Sometimes she wondered if the Xilande Empire’s persecution of the Moonfolk wasn’t truly about faith at all, perhaps it was just a convenient excuse.

Maybe the real reason was that people simply wanted legalized robbery.

As far as she was concerned, those so-called highborn clans were all scum, the way they looked at her made her sick.

Tail scratched her head nervously. “Uh... a million?”

Sisi snorted lightly. “Probably more.”

Noticing Sisi’s troubled expression, a woman in a cloak walked over, holding her child’s hand, and gently drew the girl back from Tail’s side. She lowered her head slightly and guiltily, “I’m sorry for causing you all so much trouble.”

Sisi’s expression softened into a gentle smile. “It’s fine. It’s not like we had anything better to do anyway.”

She had already given up hope of getting her face into the next expansion’s update. Otherwise, she would never have agreed to such a dangerous mission.

Just then, Tail suddenly clenched her fist and struck her palm. “I’ve got it!”

Sisi turned to her. “Hm?”

Tail’s eyes gleamed. “Let’s go to Ideal City!”

“By ship? To Ideal City?” Sisi froze at the ridiculous suggestion. “Are you serious?”

Ideal City was on the eastern coast of the Central Continent. Sailing there wasn’t impossible, but the journey would exceed 10,000 kilometers. Without experienced sailors, Sisi wasn’t even sure they’d find ports along the way to refuel and restock supplies.

“Yeah!” Tail nodded earnestly. “We’ll land on the east coast. If we reach the Among Cloud Province, there’ll definitely be settlements willing to take them in!”

It was a wildly impractical plan, but it was Tail’s style. Then again, that was probably one of the reasons they got along so well.

Sisi liked to plan things carefully, but she didn’t really enjoy a dull life either.

“Fine, you win.” Sisi scratched the back of her head and sighed. “I’ll give it a try.”

Tail beamed and gave her a thumbs-up. “Oh! That’s the Sisi I know!”

Sisi chuckled shyly. “Haha, don’t get your hopes up too high. It’s totally possible we’ll capsize halfway there.”

“That’s fine! I can just visit home...” Halfway through her joke, Tail noticed the other refugees nearby and instantly stopped herself, shrinking her neck and muttering in a low voice, “Er, maybe let’s take it slow. We’ve still got a lot of people onboard.”

Sisi smiled and gave her a reassuring thumbs-up in return. “Mm. I’ll do my best.”

“Oh! I’ll go ask Roro and Sesame Paste what they think!” Tail said cheerfully, darting up the stairs with a grin.

Watching her vanish up the hatch ladder, Sisi couldn’t help but smile faintly. It looked like she would really have to study up on navigation.

The ship might have foolproof controls, but to reach Ideal City, improvisation alone wouldn’t cut it. And besides, supplies would be a serious problem.

After handling matters on deck, Sisi returned to her cabin, locked the door, and logged out of the game.

Removing her helmet, she slid over to her computer, sat down, and logged onto the official website. She was about to browse the forums, hoping to see if any other players were active along the southern coasts of the Central Continent.

If someone had discovered a reliable survivor settlement, that would be for the best.

The next second, she noticed something, a small red dot blinking on the mailbox icon in the upper right corner.

She clicked it absentmindedly, and upon reading the message, she froze. Her mouth opened into an exaggerated gasp.

[New Southern Seas Map Beta Test Invitation.]

“WHAT?!”