The Sea

The news they had gotten from the Pterodactyl-men did not end there. The entire continent had received the Divine Decree and had begun hunting the two of them. Those appearing at the border between the forest and the swamp were merely the first wave. The forest had already launched a full-scale search, and the swamp would soon do the same. When that happened, Alex and Emma truly would have nowhere left to hide.

Left with no choice, Alex immediately changed direction and ran toward the sea with Emma.

Beyond this continent lay another vast ocean: the Gohan Sea. Fortunately, there was still the sea. Otherwise, Alex truly would not have known where to hide.

"Are we really going to the coast?" Emma wrapped both arms around Alex’s neck. Branches continually flashed past the corners of her eyes, and her expression was somewhat helpless. "What are we supposed to do once we get there?"

"Don’t worry. I already have a plan." Alex adjusted Emma on his back without slowing his pace in the slightest. "Once we reach the coast, we’ll build a boat, sail around the forest and swamp, and land directly on the plains where the Descendants of Atlantis live."

Only ignorant savages would believe in temples and gods. Alex believed the Descendants of Atlantis should be smarter. They would not believe such absurd nonsense, much less capture them for no reason.

Hearing Alex’s answer, Emma could not help rolling her eyes. She snickered. "Your first plan was to ride a dragon over the swamp and forest."

Alex laughed awkwardly and pointed at the little pterosaur hanging from his shoulder. "The little guy is still too young. Who knows how long it’ll take before it grows up?"

"Alex, don’t forget that there are savages in the sea as well." Emma reached out and scooped the little pterosaur into her hands. With a sigh, she continued, "And building a ship capable of crossing the ocean isn’t something the two of us can accomplish."

"Don’t worry, Emma!" Alex shook his head carelessly, as if nothing could trouble him. "Things will work themselves out. None of this is a problem!"

Emma stroked the little pterosaur’s tiny fleshy wings, gave a bitter smile, and said nothing.

They raced day and night, and seven days passed in the blink of an eye. A faint salty tang of the sea had begun to seep into the air.

After seven straight days of running, Alex’s speed inevitably slowed. Finding a concealed cave, he decided to rest for a while—both to replenish their supplies and because he truly needed some rest.

"Alex, sleep for a while first!" Seeing the exhaustion all over Alex’s face, Emma’s heart ached for him. Unable to bear watching him overwork himself, she practically forced him to rest. "Leave the food to me."

"You…" Alex was worried. Emma’s fighting ability was practically nonexistent. Sending her out to hunt beasts—she would be lucky if the beasts did not eat her instead.

Emma laughed softly and pointed to the little pterosaur nearby, which had grown several times larger and was now about the size of a cat. "With Qiqi there, I’ll be fine."

"It?" Alex was still unconvinced. The little pterosaur had indeed grown considerably, but even its claws had not fully developed yet. What use could it be?

Qiqi, however, became unhappy upon hearing that. It flew over to Alex, opened its mouth, and spat out a ball of flame. The fist-sized fireball dissipated after flying barely half a meter, failing to singe even a single hair on Alex.

Alex grabbed Qiqi in his hand and rubbed its head with his other hand. Somewhat puzzled, he said, "Aren’t you a pterosaur? How did you turn into a fire-breathing dragon?"

Qiqi flapped its wings desperately and struggled free from Alex’s grasp. Its tiny mung-bean-sized eyes glared viciously at him, as though saying, You terrible master! You don’t even know what I am!

As Qiqi gradually grew, it looked less and less like a pterosaur. Instead, it closely resembled the giant dragons of Western legends, especially with its ability to breathe fire—a skill that absolutely belonged to the dragons of Western fantasy novels.

"Don’t worry. With Qiqi and me, nothing will happen!" Emma picked Qiqi up and, without giving Alex a chance to speak, turned and walked out of the cave.

Watching Emma gradually disappear from sight, Alex stopped insisting. He tilted his head against the rock wall and fell asleep. After seven uninterrupted days of travel, he was truly exhausted.

He did not know how long he had slept when the aroma of cooked meat woke him. Looking up, he saw Emma sitting beside the fire, roasting a huge lump of golden-brown beast meat. Qiqi squatted nearby as well, its tiny mung-bean eyes filled with anticipation.

Emma noticed Alex waking immediately. She turned with a smile and called out, "Awake? The meat’s almost done. Come over and eat!"

Alex made to stand, and an animal hide slipped off his body. He had made it for Emma some time ago.

Carefully putting away the hide, Alex naturally sat beside Emma. He accepted the large piece of roasted meat she handed him and began gnawing on it without ceremony. As he ate, he asked, "Any news?"

Throughout their journey, Alex had never relaxed his intelligence gathering. With Emma’s telepathy, searching for information became much easier. Relying on their powerful intelligence network, Alex had evaded many beastman searches.

"Nothing much." Emma focused on the meat over the fire and answered casually.

Alex nodded and said no more, chewing large mouthfuls of the tough, chewy beast meat.

After a while, Alex finished the large piece of meat in his hand. Just as he reached for another piece, Emma seemed to remember something and suddenly said, "Oh, right, I almost forgot. The sea isn’t far from here anymore. There’s a rumor among the beastmen that someone encountered some outsiders by the coast."

"Outsiders?" Alex sprang to his feet. The meat he had just picked up fell to the ground, and his face, which had regained a trace of vitality, was filled with excitement.

"It’s only a rumor. I searched several beastmen, but none of them had actually seen them." Emma shrugged, looking utterly unconcerned. "You know how it is. There are lots of rumors like that, and most are false."

Just as humans longed for and fantasized about aliens, the beastmen here often had such fantasies as well. Along the way, they had given Alex several bursts of false hope.

"What if it’s true?" Even after being misled several times, Alex still clung to a shred of hope. The path to the temple was simply too distant and unreachable, while suddenly appearing outsiders seemed more plausible.

Emma curled her lip and said casually, "The news came from the coast. We’ll know once we get there."

After a hearty dinner, Alex did not continue resting. Taking Emma and Qiqi with him, he rushed toward the sea through the night.

When a sliver of pale dawn appeared on the horizon, Alex finally reached the coast. Looking at the endless expanse of azure water, he felt as though he had returned to the United Kingdom. The eastern coast of the United Kingdom shared many similarities with the scene before him.