I, the leader of the esoteric sect, am doing great things in the infinite world!

"Please allow me to be your sept."

Kaedehara Manyo came up behind Uchimizu Kotaro and raised the tiger-eating fish knife in his hand.

"Don't use...your knife, use this." Kotaro Uchimizu could no longer see what was in front of him, but he still hadn't let go of his knife.

“Alright.” Kaedehara Manyo snatched the Otataka Isshin Kagemitsu from his hand and swiftly brought down his sword.

"General, I am incompetent and can no longer fight alongside you; Lord Kujo, the glory of the Tenryo Magistrate still needs your support; Takuya, you must grow up well and not disgrace the Uchimizu family name..."

Kotaro Uchimizu's lips moved until his head fell into his arms.

Kaedehara Manyo silently tucked the two swords back into his waistband, took out a tinderbox from his sleeve, and set the massive ship ablaze.

As they all transferred to the last intact warship, the Shogunate Navy's flagship was engulfed in flames before sinking to the bottom of the sea with a creaking sound.

The firelight illuminated their faces, revealing a blank, bewildered expression.

After a long time, someone finally asked the first question.

"Where should we go now?"

225 Today is Crazy Thursday, v50

As the rain intensified, the last remaining Shogunate warship, under the careful guidance of the villagers, narrowly managed to dock at the shore.

"The land is too dry, scaleless, and isolated from its kin. I call to you, to bring you back to the nest. Today is Crazy Thursday, I'm 50, time to get nourished, that's the priority. With ample nutrients, we welcome you, to hunt and evolve, to rejoin the herd."

Li Lin muttered to himself while looking at the huge snake skeleton on the shore, seemingly preparing to assimilate the baby sea creature.

Unfortunately, Orobas's snake bones can't move. He'll spend fifty moles on a crazy KFC Thursday feast.

This was the first time Watanabe Masaya and his group had seen Li Lin like this, so they stood around him, wanting to ask him to help them get rid of the snake's spirit, but they didn't dare to speak.

“Master Li, the remains of the snake god Orobas have been here for over a thousand years. I’m afraid he won’t be able to invite you to dinner.”

Maple Leaf walked up to Li Lin at some point, and strangely enough, he was able to understand Li Lin's encrypted communication.

"You found out about that?" Li Lin picked his nose nonchalantly. "Then you can treat me."

Kaedehara Manyo smiled and said, "If there's a chance, definitely."

At this moment, Toshiro Ryuto, who had been waiting in the rain, could no longer bear it and rushed to Li Lin: "Please save us!"

Li Lin changed his tune: "Why?"

Ryuto Togeki, having reclaimed his Eye of God, stood frozen in the rain. Yes, why?

If Li Lin and Kaede Manyo hadn't suddenly appeared, they would have already become victims of the Shogunate army's artillery fire, turning into a string of numbers that would never be recorded on paper.

In other words, Li Lin had already saved their lives once.

And as in the past, trying to morally blackmail Li Lin will not work—this guy's bottom line is so low that it's outrageous, how can you expect him to meet moral standards?

For a moment, Ryuto Toshie found himself completely helpless against Li Lin.

Li Lin chuckled, switched hands, and casually smeared his boogers onto Orobas's bones: "Let me tell you a story."

“Every time the tide goes out, some small fish are left in the puddles on the beach. There is still some time before the tide comes in, and for the small fish, this time is still too long.”

This story is surprisingly normal; it hardly seems like something Li Lin would tell.

"These fish stranded on the shore will eventually die in the dryness, and then a little boy comes to the shore..."

Toshiro Ryuto tentatively asked, "Did the little boy put all the fish back into the sea?"

Li Lin glanced at him and smiled as if he were looking at an idiot: "Wrong, the little boy is just here to collect cat's eye snails on the beach."

"Let me tell you another story. Suppose that the Mikage furnace is about to explode right now. There is a switch that can control the Mikage furnace, causing it to fall into the sand, completely polluting the water source of the sand; or it can be left alone, allowing it to reach the highest frequency until it explodes and sends half of Inazuma into the sky. At this time, you appear, holding a pole in your hand."

"If you choose to let Mikage's furnace core fall into the sand of the treading sand, only those who tread on the sand will die; but if you make it explode, half of Inazuma's people will turn into fireworks."

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Toshiro Ryuto's forehead. The incidents at the Snake Bone Mine and the Tadashi Sand were known even on Hachi-Yun Island. This was not a hypothetical scenario, but something that could actually happen.

Even for Inazuma, the explosion of the Mikage furnace core in the Tsuruga sand was more serious than the Tsukishin infection in the Hebiku mine!

"What would I do if it were me?"

Ryuto Toshie's face gradually turned pale, while the other two eavesdroppers outside the door also felt a heavy weight in their hearts.

Even Kaedehara Manyo was pondering it.

Li Lin’s deep voice rang out: “The switch for the Shadow Furnace is in the hands of General Thunder, and you were just passing by with a plunger.”

"...?"

It's safe to say that we shouldn't have any hope for Li Lin's story; no matter how normal the beginning, it will lead to a suffocating ending.

As the others began to show signs of doubt, Li Lin coughed lightly to maintain his composure: "So, do you understand? Getting hung up on so-called good and evil, right and wrong, is meaningless. Because the good and evil of the weak are insignificant under the gaze of the strong."

"If you save a poor person today, there will be many more poor people. The excuse of doing your best can only numb yourself. I can see that each of you is ambitious, which is why you were chosen by the Eye of God. Let's not talk about this garlic turtle for now. You 'superior people' of the lightning element know what you are thinking."

The criteria for choosing the Eye of God vary. For example, the Eye of Ice God is an obsession with the past, hoping that the beauty of the past can be permanently frozen in that moment, yet it struggles with contradictions.

For example, the God's Eye of the Wind attribute represents people who are trapped in the present world, yearning for freedom but unable to obtain it. They could have lived as freely as the wind, but for various reasons, they cannot.

For example, the owner of a Geo-elemental Vision is someone with a resolute personality who is able to pursue their inner beliefs.

As for thunder, it is "extraordinary".

Holding onto a conviction that others cannot understand, they go further and further down a path of unconventionality.

For example, Razor of Mondstadt, despite being human, always lives innocently with wolves; Lisa, the once-in-a-century witch, possesses unparalleled talent but only wishes to be a librarian; Keqing of Liyue has taken herself to a level that is incomprehensible to ordinary people, to the point that even Ningguang, who is also a member of the Seven Stars, finds it difficult to accept; and Kujo Sara of Inazuma knows that her Vision will also be taken away, yet she still willingly assists the Thunder God.

These are the desires hidden beneath the eyes of the gods. The gods have gilded the seven desires with a divine radiance, thus demonstrating that their authority is attainable. However, the thrones of the gods in the heavens are not reserved for mortals. The positions of the seven long-lived beings and the four named beings have long been filled.

"So, what should we do?" Watanabe Masaya chimed in. "If we need payment..."

"Reward?" Li Lin quietly pricked up his ears.

“Although we can’t gather a lot of Mora, our village still has some in stock.” Watanabe Masaya waved to the outside, and several young men carried over a large box.

Watanabe Masaya opened the box, revealing the warm, lustrous color of the greatsword blank inside, which resembled marble.

“This is a heirloom from our Snake Eye Village, but I think it would be better to hand it over to someone who is more useful than to preserve it.”

"Then what are we waiting for?!" Li Lin, instantly invigorated, became excited and quickly stuffed the blank into the table. "Saving lives is our code of conduct, take me there now!"

"Mr. Li, please wait!" The other two quickly called out to Li Lin.

Li Lin swayed slightly as he stood in front of the tent, his voice icy: "I, Li Lin, have always adhered to principles in my actions..."

"We still have two weapon prototypes."

"Lead the way."

226 But KFC didn't give me any endorsement fees, and I didn't get to eat chicken either (sad).

The resentment of the gods that remained in the villagers of these three villages was not severe. Even if it weren't Li Lin, but Bai Shu or other well-trained doctors, they could easily suppress the lingering resentment of the demon gods within them.

On the one hand, it's because the time since the Snake God's protective barrier was destroyed was not too long. Although the Demon God's Regret affected the celestial phenomena of Bayun Island, these three villages were only on the periphery of the influence and were not immediately driven to madness and infighting by the Demon God's Regret.

On the other hand, it's because the serpent god's lingering resentment wasn't intense; for a being of demon god level, this could almost be considered a release.

Although Orobas was defeated and fled during the Demon God War, his power was not weak.

Even a weak demon like Heuria, the Salt Goddess, can cause permanent phenomena that can destroy an entire region before she dies. Although Orobas doesn't have many grudges, the mere leakage of his power is enough to cause changes in the celestial phenomena.

If he truly had someone to hate, it should be the Night's Watch, who sit high on the throne at the center of the world. These innocent and weak mortals were merely suffering undeserved misfortune.

“Actually, we’re doing alright.” Watanabe Masaya found some food in the old house and roughly stewed it into a pot for his wife to eat. “When the outbreak of the Shinto Rebellion occurred, there were several villages in the center of Hachiyeon Island that were completely cut off from all communication with the outside world.”

"So where do you plan to go next?" Kaedehara Manyo asked.

"The Shogunate... We've seen through the Shogunate's true colors, not to mention we've stolen their warships. I'm afraid we'll all be killed the moment we appear in their sights."

Masaya Watanabe smiled wryly, his lips twitching slightly. "So the only place we can go is Umijima."

The sky and earth in the distance were gloomy, with dim lightning flashing among the clouds, and a roar that sounded like the howl of a sea beast could be heard from time to time, sending chills down one's spine.

Kaedehara Manyo nodded slightly: "Haiji Island is indeed a good place, and they will gladly accept your arrival."

The number of the Coral Palace army was not superior to that of the Shogunate army. Every local soldier who joined the army would increase the odds of victory for the Umijima side.

“If we could, none of us would want to leave our hometown—” Watanabe Masaya looked at the tin pot on the stove, “Damn the Eye Hunt Order.”

Kaede Man'yō did not try to persuade Watanabe Masaya again. The pain that the Eye Hunt Order had brought him was no less than that of these people. Even Man'yō himself had not given up his resistance to the Eye Hunt Order, so what right did he have to persuade others to accept it peacefully?

"What's with that shit-eating look on your faces?" Before he could be seen, Li Lin's voice preceded his entrance as he lifted the tent flap and walked in.

Li Lin's interruption instantly dispelled the somber atmosphere in the tent.

"We were just discussing our next move to Kaijima Island," Watanabe Masaya said with a forced smile.

Upon hearing this, Li Lin's expression shifted, and under the strange gaze of Kaede Manba, he leaned close to Watanabe Masaya and whispered to him.

"Beware of the coral palace in the heart sea."

Watanabe Masaya's heart skipped a beat; of course he knew who Sango Mikoto was.

The strategist who led the army of Umijima Island, the priestess of Umijima Omikami, and the current human-god shrine maiden... It was because of her existence that Umijima Island, despite its poverty and weakness, was able to contend with the shogunate army for so long.

But seeing is believing. No matter how famous Coral Palace Xinhai is, who knows what kind of person she actually is?

Li Lin's sudden remark to him couldn't possibly be a baseless smear, could it?