When she was tired, she would fall into the sea and sleep for a while. When she woke up, she would continue swimming. When she was thirsty, she would drink some rainwater. When she was hungry, she would catch two fish to eat.
Joan did not know how long she had been doing this.
At first, she tried to keep track of the time according to the changes of day and night. However, after a couple of mistakes, the error increased from days to weeks, and then to months. She did not know how long she had been swimming, but... it had been at least half a year.
Joan felt so wronged that she wanted to cry. In fact, she had cried many times, but her tears would soon melt into the sea and become part of it.
She was so tired.
So tired.
She could not float on the sea while sleeping, because it would attract ospreys or other predators. Even if they could not eat her, a peck from them would still hurt her for days, not to mention the possibility of being seen by sea ghosts and monster ships.
In fact, Joan had encountered enemies several times in the past half a year.
She was scared out of her wits every time.
Fortunately, she could always get rid of the enemies with her speed, although sometimes she would accidentally get two or three more wounds.
The scales that His Majesty had praised were mostly damaged, and the exposed skin looked like strange white spots. Because she had been soaking in the water for a long time, some of the wounds were already rotting. What was worse, the parasites had taken her as their new host and settled down on her wounds. Every time they were pulled out, she would feel a piercing pain.
Originally, this body was not considered beautiful, but now it looked even uglier.
She missed the soft bed in Neverwinter and Vendy's arms.
She missed the carefree life where she did not have to worry about her safety.
Besides, although there were many edible fish in the sea, they could only be eaten raw. She used to eat this way, but now she could not get rid of the fishy taste in her mouth.
She wanted to eat the chicken wings roasted by Lightning.
Joan would cry every time she thought about it, but she did not stop wagging her tail even though she could not stop her tears.
But... how long would it take for her to get back to the starting point?
Her speed was faster than most fish.
Even His Majesty's "Snow Wind" could not catch up.
She estimated that she should have swum from Neverwinter to the Shadow Islands five times. Why was she still not able to see the end?
What round world? His Majesty … Was he lying to her?
If His Majesty really lied to her, if she had the chance to see him in the future, she must … must use her scales to scrape his face!
However, he had to see it first …
Joan took a deep breath and encouraged herself. Never give up! She wanted to return to everyone!
A series of "Ya — Ya — Ya —" sounds drifted across the surface of the sea.
A moment later, the same echo came from afar, "Ya — ya — ya —"
Joan was shocked and looked in the direction of the sound in disbelief. The weather that day was not very good. The sea was always foggy, and the visibility was less than a few kilometers. It was like the Shadow Islands at low tide. Seeing that she couldn't find anything, she swam in that direction for dozens of minutes and finally caught a black silhouette in the mist.
It looked … just like a reef standing on the surface of the water.
Joan was overjoyed.
She knew very well that because of the visual effects, many of the seemingly inconspicuous objects on the sea were actually gigantic. Since it could stand on the surface of the sea like a reef, it could not be small. Moreover, since it could reflect her chirping, it was probably a mountain. Since there was a mountain, could land be far away?
Did she see the Impassable Mountain Range?
Joan immediately felt her body was full of energy. She sped up to the limit and dashed toward the black silhouette, creating a series of splashes on the surface of the sea.
As the distance between them shortened, the black silhouette under the mist gradually became visible.
It was indeed a mountain, but at the foot of the mountain was not the port of the Western Region, but a flat island. Behind the island seemed to be connected to a wider land, but the two were too far apart to see clearly.
In any case, land was better than nothing.
Joan braced herself and swam to the nearest beach on the island.
It was only when she went ashore that she noticed that this island was probably a bit larger than the largest Burning Fire Archipelago in the Fjords. Except for the lush, flat-topped mountain, there was almost no rise or fall, and it was as flat as a grassland.
As a matter of fact, it was indeed a grassland.
Compared with the barren islands in Joan's memory, this island was not affected by the salty sea breeze or the harsh weather conditions. The grass under her feet was just above her ankles, and she could see one or two blooming flowers from time to time. She could not imagine how there could be such a scene in a place where a tsunami could destroy all vegetation. Coupled with the mist surrounding the island, this place looked like a secluded fairyland.
Joan turned her tail fin into her legs and slowly walked toward the center of the island.
Gradually, more stone tablets appeared on the grass. She did not notice them at first, but after a while, she found that although the stone tablets were of different sizes, they were all arranged in an orderly manner.
The closer she got to the center of the island, the more stone tablets she saw. At the end of the island, the stone tablets even formed a circle and gradually moved inwards, as if they were standing around something.
She felt that she had seen such a scene somewhere before …
Joan squatted down in front of a stone tablet and carefully looked at it. There were indeed chisel marks on it, but Joan could not tell whether it was a random pattern or some kind of meaningful text. To her surprise, these stones were obviously old, but there was not much dust on them, as if someone had been taking care of them.
Could it be … that someone lived on this island?
After walking for a while, Joan suddenly froze.
There was a huge pit in front of her, with a radius of several kilometers. The pit was bottomless, and the arc on the edge was very smooth, which was not caused by a natural collapse. The steles were arranged in layers around the sinkhole, forming ripples that spread out.
She vaguely remembered something and looked up at the sky. She could still see the outline of the Bloody Moon in the hazy mist. One was on the dome, and the other was under her feet, but the two were very similar in size, as if they were made from the same mold. She even had a strange idea. If the Bloody Moon fell, it would be able to fill the hole.
"Hello." Just then, a pleasant voice came from behind her.
"Ah —!" Joan screamed in fear. She turned around and took two steps back, bumping into a stone tablet.
The latter seemed to be also startled and could not speak for a long time. After a long time, she finally said, "Well … are you okay?"
At this time, Joan realized that the speaker was not a monster, but a beautiful young woman. She was wearing a long white dress, and her long black hair fell in front of her chest. She looked fresh and refined, and people would like her at first sight. However, she was a little confused, not knowing whether she should go up to comfort Joan or continue to watch from the side.
"Ah, ah —"
Joan wanted to ask who she was, but she could only make a series of sounds. She had not talked to anyone for more than half a year, so her language skills had deteriorated to the level when she lived alone.
However, the other party seemed to have understood her meaning, and a trace of loneliness appeared in her eyes. Even so, she still replied with a smile.
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