Faced with the patrol’s questions, these refugees with strikingly pointed ear cartilage shook their heads.

The two fishmonger children were questioned by a pair of soldiers as well. Among the crowd, the honest child said they hadn’t seen anyone with strange ears in the past couple of days.

“You’d better not be lying, or else all of you lot’ll be sent to the mines to work as laborers. “

The squad, who called themselves the Feirheim Patrol, glanced at a carriage about a dozen paces away. Its side bore an old, faded crest of an honorable Grand Duchy family.

The gaunt captain leading them gave up.

They turned and headed towards another crowded spot.

Long Desi breathed a sigh of relief as he scurried back to the carriage. “Mr. Yang, that was a close one. Good thing I listened to you last night and slept outside. “

After taking only a few steps, the gaunt squad leader suddenly halted and turned around.

Seeing this, Old Desi’s heart clenched. At this distance, they could still hear them!

The sixty-year-old man felt as if he was being stared down by a venomous snake.

The lean captain turned, his gaze locked firmly on the carriage. He strode over coldly, and the crowd parted to make way for him.

One step, two…

Suddenly, the carriage door clicked open, and Long Mingjie jumped down.

“Exactly, otherwise we wouldn’t have even found a place to set up the tent when we arrived. Right, Mr. Desi? “

The carriage door swung wide open, revealing a stack of goods inside. Just as a suitcase was about to fall from the seat, Long Mingjie casually closed the door, blocking it inside the car.

“Aha, you’re right, Mr. Yang. “

Long Desi finished speaking to his son, and the snake-like stare halted in its tracks.

“Let’s go, ” the man said after two seconds of thought. He turned and led his group away into the distance.

The old man took a cloth from his chest pocket and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

Only after confirming that the other party had gone very far did Yang Zicang suddenly push aside the pile of luggage inside the carriage and emerge from amidst it.

Yet this displaced pile of luggage made no sound at all. The scattered items lightly altered their falling trajectory. Some were even pushed by an invisible force, charging back up to the carriage’s high ceiling to land on the leather seats.

In just two or three seconds, the chaotic luggage was neatly and perfectly packed away.

Long Mingjie jumped onto the carriage after buying a modest bag of roasted sweet potatoes.

“Mr. Yang. That was a close one. “

“Were you scared? “

“To be honest, I’m really scared. But… ” The young man’s eyes sparkled with excitement again. “I’m also kind of thrilled. After all, I’ve finally gotten some payback against Grand Duke Hornstein for what he’s done. “

“Grand Duke? You just mentioned his surname, didn’t you? ” Yang Zicang felt that he kept hearing surnames with the single syllable “Long, ” much like the surname “Ka ” on the islands, yet not everyone bore it.

In recent years, due to cultural integration, many commoners who originally had no right to a surname began imitating the Fogfolk, either adopting or creating names that were easy for them to accept. The Fogfolk didn’t mind; in fact, they encouraged it, even sparking a trend of name-giving.

“The Grand Duke’s family name is something everyone will always remember. It’s been recorded forever in all kinds of documents. “

The young man tried to use as many common words as possible.

“So even if someone goes to regain a bestowed name by the Saint Statue, no one will forget their true name. That’s why royals don’t need to use bestowed names like the new nobles. Of course, the royal family’s bestowed name is the same as ours: ‘Long.’ “

“New nobles… “

Yang Zicang suddenly seemed to recall something.

“Wait, so you’re saying only new nobles can receive a bestowed name, meaning… “

Did this kid in front of him even know about the curse? And what was that word again? Yang Zicang quickly flipped through the dictionary.

“Mumbling gibberish… “

After all that effort, he still couldn’t determine the meaning of “Long Mingjie, ” so Yang Zicang had no choice but to set the matter aside.

The crowd erupted in panicked commotion. On the sea, naval warships appeared in the distance—they were flying not the banners of Ferheim, and there was one more vessel than Ferheim’s three frigates.

“Damn it, Ferheim might be pulling their troops back.“

“Everyone run! Looks like the Telanasi navy is here! The two sides are going to fight over territory!“

Locals who had seen similar events before dashed toward the distant mountain forests. In the carriage, Yang Zicang noticed the old man was a bit nervous but mostly calm. Long Mingjie, however, was different—he was trembling all over.

“A scrawny guy like me shouldn’t be taken, right? Mr. Yang, could I ask you for a favor?“

-｛Distributor February. Duan is watching my every move.｝

“What is it?“

Not daring to use Silent Night at this moment, Yang Zicang could only stay hidden inside the carriage, letting Long Mingjie lead the horse-drawn cart toward the forest by the village, tucked against the mountainside.

“If the navy that’s coming really wants to fight over this place, then when Ferheim’s army leaves, they’ll probably take a bunch of laborers with them. I…” Long Mingjie seemed distressed. “As a prime-age worker, I might get caught and dragged off as a laborer.“

“Taken as a laborer?“

“Times have changed, and people have changed too.” Inside the carriage, leaning against the window frame, the old man sighed with sorrow in his eyes, looking over his old vehicle.

Once it had been magnificent, but now its paint had flaked off, and the leather on the seats had cracked.

“Back then, we were at least honored nobles—every nation said they’d respect families like ours. But now? They don’t care at all. All they want is gold and silver. They snatch at least four to five thousand people every time. If Mingjie gets caught, he truly could be dragged off for forced labor. We have no money left to pay a ransom. “

“Four to five thousand people… You want me to protect you so you won’t be captured? ” Yang Zicang asked.

-｛Distributor Dı’an indicated his experience, that I might be nurturing the prelude to a brilliant new dawn.｝

Truly… chaos spells transformation. Yang Zicang wondered inwardly whether he should rejoice for the possible birth of Radiance or mourn this era.

-｛Distributor Dı’an awaited my first delivery.｝

The people here lived in terror. Refugees fleeing disaster could still be abducted into slavery, yet there was no sign—none at all from the Grand Duchy—of anyone coming to save them. At least, he had heard no such rumor among the crowd.

“Will you agree to hide me? ” Long Mingjie said anxiously.

“It’s a simple matter, if all you need is shelter, ” Yang Zicang said thoughtfully, gazing into the distance toward where the patrol had ridden off.

That night, only small children and gray-haired elders remained in the village, murmuring quietly beside one small fire pit after another. The young people had all fled into the mountains, lending the dark, shadowy forest a strangely lively air.

Yang Zicang skillfully concealed himself within the thicket of the forest. The faint halo on his chest flickered, yet despite multiple attempts, he failed to establish a connection with He Yishu or Li Senrui—a malfunction that had persisted since the previous night. He speculated the cause might be the distance.

It seemed that within the trajectory of the new destiny, the efficiency of model-link had also been impacted—he had sensed this as soon as he awakened at sea.

He tried reaching out to Hua Mi, his family, and his sworn brothers, only to meet with the same failure. But just then, unexpectedly, a beam of model-light abruptly materialized from the air beside him.

{President! }

After less than a second of astonishment, Yang Zicang promptly activated a telepathic link with this individual.

｛How can you connect? Hey, are you at sea?｝

{Yes, Chairman! The two of us aren’t heading to the New Era Continent anymore—we’ve come to join you and voyage to the New Continent together! }

A wave of warmth arose in Yang Zicang’s heart at these words.

Within the perceptible image were Anxi, the eager lad he’d met on the ship, and their matriarch, Big Sister Yao Xiaoqin, who ranked as the eldest among them.

The two were aboard a dilapidated little boat. Shirtless, Anxi was paddling with all his might, while Yao Xiaoqin sat wrapped in a garment at the vessel’s stern, shimmering under the moonlight like a lone raft upon the vast, grey sea.

｛You actually dared to set out to sea in this wreck of a boat.｝

{What’s there to fear? With Big Sister here, even if the boat capsizes, she could bring me back to the inn. }

{Brother Buchen, is Anxi talking to you? I heard you crashed, so I… we came to find you. }

Yao Xiaoqin deliberately put on a pitiful tone from behind.

She was feeling the information carried by the two small specks of light on her diamond necklace.

She had stayed at the lighthouse for days now, but had never found—nor thought of—how the “Radiance of Glory ” could be born within the Fog Sea. Yet, the moment she met this man, in less than a week, she had obtained a full three pieces of “Radiance of Glory “! One part had already been spent on rent, exchanged for tens of thousands of Order Points given by her family and brothers, leaving two more pieces: “Escaping the Stranded Inn ” and “The Collective’s Painting. “

After Yang Buchen left, the ship no longer had that atmosphere where it felt like new life could emerge at any moment. Everyone became lifeless, only wanting to sail as far west as possible to get ashore and save time crossing the continent.

So, when Anxi found her and said he wanted to go look for Chairman Yang Buchen, Yao Xiaoqin thought it over briefly and followed him, taking a boat out at sea.

Yang Zicang smiled.

｛Since you’re here, you have to listen to my orders, okay?｝

{Yes, Chairman! Where you point east, I won’t go west. If you tell me to go into the village and touch a duck, I won’t grab a chicken. }

｛Who the hell asked you to grab ducks or chickens? Alright, can you still contact the people back on the ship while you’re at sea?｝