Pillar of Yita

Fang Hong ignored her sarcasm. ”I would like to ask you to help request Lord Earl to search the coast near Antuo. Miss Affia is still on the ’Dawood’ ship, and I guess he will surely agree.”

Lavali looked at him for a long time.

Finally, she asked solemnly, ”...so Miss Gita is on that ship too, right?”

Fang Hong nodded, feeling amused. Since he made this request, he was confident the other party would agree.

The Earl’s daughter gritted her teeth and looked at him.

After a while, she replied word by word, ”I will consider it.”

If looks could kill, Fang Hong felt he had already died more than ten times. But seeing his objective accomplished, he didn’t mind much, as with Governor Bain’s involvement, finding the ’Dawood’ ship would be much easier—he believed that Lord Earl would go all out.

...

Having settled things with Lavali, when confronting Nulman again, Fang Hong didn’t mention this matter.

He was in a small reception room for this ’third’ meeting with Lord Earl—strictly speaking, it was the third time. The room had a large window with wooden window frames and dark green curtains. Outside was an acacia tree, its lush foliage almost covering half of the small garden.

The golden flowers were in full bloom this season, resembling pom-poms, rustling in the wind. Such trees were uncommon in the desert but were typical in Nogness, likely transplanted from Colin Ishurian.

The Earl put down his teacup, not seemingly surprised by his visit again.

He calmly spoke, ”So, Mr. Ade, what brings you here?”

Fang Hong got straight to the point, ”I want to find someone, Lord Earl, the former Chairman of the Southern Region Alliance, Ye Hua. I believe he is in Istania now, and you should know him.”

Nulman was slightly taken aback by this, giving him an unexpected look. But he didn’t deny it outright and replied after a moment, ”Why do you think so?”

”I actually met him once in Bain.”

Fang Hong told a lie. He actually only heard the voice, which was almost the same—though the other party might know of his presence, otherwise he wouldn’t have been saved during the breakout.

Mentioning Bain, Lavali let out a light snort nearby.

The Earl looked back at his daughter, who then fell silent.

After hearing Fang Hong’s response, Nulman nodded slightly, contemplating for a moment before answering, ”You know him?”

Fang Hong nodded.

”May I ask why you are looking for him?” Nulman asked mildly, ”They are considered my guests.”

Fang Hong breathed a sigh of relief, thinking this was indeed the case.

He said, ”Lord Earl, I have some matters and want to find them... I am also an old acquaintance of the Southern Region Alliance. You should be aware of my experience in the Southern Region—I have connections with the Southern Region Alliance, the Elfendo Council, and the Rose Workshop. Only due to communication issues, I have to trouble you for an introduction.”

Nulman pondered for a moment.

Eventually, he gently nodded.

”Alright.”

”If they agree.”

Upon hearing this, Fang Hong finally felt relieved.

Because he had a premonition that the Ranger King would certainly agree to meet him.

...

In front of her lay an endless Sand Sea.

Gita wasn’t unfamiliar with the Sand Sea. When the Seven Seas Travel Group headed south from Idus, she and the others had long been accustomed to the undulating, endless dunes.

However, they still underestimated this desert—Istania was about half the size of the North African desert, and the road south from Idus, passing through Dragon’s Land and Tansnier, was actually an ancient trade route. A trade route was a path carved out by predecessors; though desolate, it was not a life-prohibiting zone.

The oasis scattered along the way and the desert villages formed an intermittent lifeline. Although the decline of Idus caused this ancient trade route to lose its past glory, it still maintained a bit of ’dignity’.

Elsewhere, Istani was indeed a land buried under sand and gravel.

Miss Scholar sat dazed on the wreck of the ’Dawood’ ship, staring at the endless Sand Sea. Beside her were a few books, their pages rustling in the desert’s hot wind—these books were the last of the supplies she salvaged from the ship, but at this time of year, they were of no use.

Not far away were Luo Hao and the Swordsman Invoker with the Shield of Lufu, seemingly called ZXC or something—along with Little Fatty; among the remaining two, one perished during the crash, who knows where they resurrected. But this person now became their only hope.

Luo Hao and the others seemed to hope that person could bring help from the nearby Holy Sanctuary.

However, the problem was, they didn’t know how far the nearest Resurrection Temple was; if it was over a hundred kilometers away, the hope for rescue was dim.

The group looked somewhat disheveled, tinkering with a Wind Detector. Although Gita couldn’t see her reflection, she believed she probably looked similar—since the water resources on the ship were nearly exhausted. Fortunately, the vicinity was near the Cloud Sea, and the ship still had fishing gear—otherwise, they would have exhausted their supplies days ago.