Mo Shao carried Little Ka, streaking through the sky on her broom as the people on the boats below couldn't help but look up.
Various thoughts and schemes flickered through their minds, but in the end, they all converged into a single envious sigh.
“Flying... must be so nice.”
However, what Mo Shao hadn't expected was that even though she had activated flight mode to speed up her journey, someone had already beaten her to the punch.
In fact, they had arrived on the island three days ago.
On a high point above the beach, a short, stocky man gazed out at the sea. Upon spotting the arrival of the fleet, he quickly reported the news.
“Boss! A ton of people are coming from the sea!” He found a fierce-looking man and spoke with excitement.
“A ton of people?” The Boss flicked some cigarette ash, seemingly unconcerned.
“Probably five or six hundred!” The short man gestured with his hands.
“What’s the situation exactly?” Hearing that number, the Boss instantly shed his casual demeanor and turned serious.
“Just a bunch of guys rowing small wooden boats.” It was too far away; clearly, the short man hadn't seen the specific appearance of the boats.
“Small wooden boats?” The Boss frowned and continued to press for information. “What’s their level of armament?”
“Can’t tell yet.”
“Then we wait until they get closer. Everyone, get ready!” The Boss stood up from the sofa, and everyone moved quickly at his command.
...
When he said 'get ready'...
He meant pulling out mountains of backpacks filled with firearms and aiming them toward the fleet on the horizon.
It wasn't until the two sides were close enough—roughly three hundred meters—that the people on the island could clearly see the state of the fleet.
(In the 8x scope from Peacekeeper Elite, the maximum distance to see an enemy is about 320 meters; beyond that, models no longer render on screen.)
“Uh... it looks like a lot of them are carrying bows?” a somewhat plump, burly man reported his findings through his 8x scope.
“Carrying bows?” A sharp glint flashed in the Boss’s eyes, and he immediately waved his hand to give the order. “Blast them directly with mortars! Leave a few of the unarmed ones alive!”
“Huh?” A few of the younger ones were stunned.
“'Huh' what?!” the Boss snapped irritably. “How many of us are there? What happens if they try to snatch our stuff?!”
“Right, that makes sense!” A few people hesitated, but more chose to respond quickly. “I’ll get right on—”
Before the response could finish, it turned into a cry of pain.
Zap!
Before they could make another move, a short, sharp crackle echoed, and dazzling golden sparks of electricity flashed for an instant.
Everyone who had started moving lost their lives on the spot. Those who were still hesitating were merely knocked unconscious.
A threat was snuffed out before it could even begin.
...
Once the dust had settled, a figure materialized out of thin air—it was Mo Shao.
She had been flying so high that she happened to avoid the observation of these thugs. After all, while looking at the fleet on the sea, no one thought to look at the sky.
Universal logic dictated that enemies would come from the sea. If they came from the sky, there would surely be a massive commotion, so there was no need to pay attention to it.
When Mo Shao had seen this group from a distance, she had used the Snake Talisman to go invisible. After all, these guys looked suspicious at first glance.
So, she had surreptitiously listened in for a while. After seeing their actions, she knew there was no reason to leave them alive.
As for those a bit further away, she had Little Ka cover the blind spots, though she could have handled it all herself.
Little Ka still needed to experience things like this. However, since there was no moral ambiguity this time, she didn't hesitate.
“What do we do next?” Little Ka’s expression was dark, but she didn't seem overly distressed.
She just wasn't used to the feeling of killing someone for the first time.
“Hmm...” Mo Shao pondered for a moment, observing the surroundings and recalling what she had seen earlier. “They probably aren't the first ones to do this. There might be others. We’ll go look for them in a bit.”
Those who had hesitated were generally younger; clearly, they weren't on the same path as these wicked thugs.
They had likely been recruited into the group later on.
“In the meantime, let's study this.” From beside the Boss's corpse, Mo Shao picked up an object—a suitcase.
It was an unexpected gain.
It was Vertin's suitcase from the game Reverse: 1999. It could be understood simply as a portable space.
Exactly what Mo Shao needed!
...
This thing had clearly intruded from another world. For her to pick it up so casually, it seemed the Feedback was truly working its magic.
Mo Shao looked at the object; it seemed to be Dead-bound to this leader. However, the man had clearly failed to figure out how to use it.
Using it required an incantation. While Mo Shao had mostly forgotten it, that didn't matter.
Identification was truly all-purpose.
Mo Shao and Little Ka first looted over a dozen backpacks—the quantity was more than enough, so taking a few extra wasn't an issue at all.
Next, Mo Shao found a secure room and began her experiment based on the information provided by Identification.
She laid the suitcase flat and opened it, then turned to look at Little Ka. “Come here, Little Ka. Recite this phrase with me.”
“Neirü mildeen tiün bonan nokton.”
It sounded somewhat similar to Italian with a texture reminiscent of German. Mo Shao’s pronunciation was a bit stiff.
After all, this was her first time speaking Esperanto.
Esperanto is an international auxiliary language created based on the Indo-European language family, intended to eliminate language barriers in international communication.
And the meaning of the phrase she had just spoken was “Do not go gentle into that good night,” which happened to be the incantation to enter the suitcase.
Compared to Mo Shao’s stiffness, Little Ka spoke it much more fluently... perhaps because Katicia was from Rinascita?
...
Regardless, as long as they learned it, it was fine. Mo Shao reached out a hand in invitation. “Let’s go. Close your eyes, and we’ll go inside to take a look.”
“Okay.” Little Ka didn't hesitate, gripping her hand with complete trust.
After a brief moment of disorientation, they arrived at a pitch-black passage where only scattered specks of light flickered.
The surroundings were silent to the extreme, and the only sounds were their footsteps on some sort of stairs and the beating of their hearts.
Little Ka didn't say anything, but she unconsciously tightened her grip. Mo Shao responded in kind.
“Don't be nervous. We’re almost there.”
“Mhm.”
Finally, with the creak of a door opening, a retro, forest-style indoor space was revealed before them.
Isolated from the world, a sense of security welled up in their hearts; this would be their home from now on.
Rate on N.U.
