The game has become a real alternate world-Chapter 915 - 597: Displaced Map

Lebia Continent, on an unknown plain.

In the damp morning fog, within a half-buried camp at the foot of a small hill.

Swade shook a moldy sheepskin map, water droplets dripped from his beard onto yellowed markings. "Based on our travel calculations..." he frowned, staring at a rusty compass needle, "up ahead should be the Black Pine Outpost, the border outpost of the Kulova Kingdom."

In truth, he wasn't sure what kind of existence the Kulova Kingdom was. It was simply marked on the map, and it didn't seem very large, merely a small country.

Lisa Lisa stood on tiptoe, breathing on his shoulder, "Mr. First Mate, are you sure you're not looking at a recipe?" The lace edges of her red skirt were stained with dust and a few blades of grass, yet she remained as elegant as if standing in an opera house box.

Of course, when in action, she displayed a necessary wildness.

"If you're starving, go dig up some tree roots to shove in your mouth, don't bother me here. If we take the wrong path, there'll be a good show, especially if we stumble into the Ratman's territory—ha, hopefully they eat fast."

In response to Swade's lack of romance, Lisa Lisa merely rolled her eyes, patted Swade's round muscles twice, then lifted her skirt and swayed away.

Ensuring the direction was correct, and not getting lost, Swade grabbed a stick nearby and tapped a rock.

"Let's move out! While we haven't starved to death yet, let's get going."

The others also slung their cloth bags over their shoulders, filled with simple items, prodding along slowly behind Swade with wooden rods.

Toby rubbed his stomach, appearing starved beyond measure, as food had long since run out.

He couldn't help but complain, "Is this the disaster caused by the Ratman? There's not even edible wild grass, are they some sort of pests?"

"Perhaps they are pests, just shaped like rats, it's not impossible, right?" Lisa Lisa quipped as she walked.

Toby glanced at her disdainfully, "Ignorant hag, aren't Ratmen just upright giant rats? What else could they be?"

"Tch, just because you know a few words doesn't make you special, you're still hanging with us." Lisa Lisa snorted lightly, ignoring him, quickening her pace to rejoin Swade.

"Hehe, didn't realize you knew those things, it was wise not to butcher you for food," the old man teased as he walked.

Toby rolled his eyes, "When I first boarded the ship, your scare tactics worked, but now they're just boring."

The group continued their banter as they traversed the desolate plain, with the sun seemingly the only thing moving with them.

Hours later, Toby kicked open half a rotting wooden door, startling a flock of scavenging birds. "Is this the supply point?" He kicked a charred beam while picking a half-mouse skull from the ashes.

They'd followed the map through great hardship to get here.

What lay before them was a dilapidated desolation, not the aftermath of freshly ended war.

But rather traces left by gradual decay over a long period of time.

This was the only spot among many outposts that still seemed barely usable, yet it was in ruins, seemingly ready to collapse at any moment.

Old man Tavor knocked his pipe on the burned-down watchtower, "This is a formula from seventy years ago, sulfur mixed with whale oil."

He crushed earth with his boot's tip, revealing deep brown crystals, and turned to Swade with an awkward smile, "Looks like this map is about as old as my false teeth."

Suddenly, Zahanu drew a short blade, its gleam sweeping past everyone's throats—he had sliced off an attacking vine.

The scarred man flicked away leaves in more movements than words he'd spoken that day.

He rarely joked, "Seems there are still things alive here, right?" His hoarse voice conveyed no humor.

"Don't waste it, we can munch on this, though it's quite hard to stomach," the old man chuckled, picking up a wriggling vine off the ground.

Toby and Lisa Lisa looked disgusted, yet to survive, they had to bear the odd taste, at least it provided some moisture.

"Cheer up!" Swade slapped the map against a tree, shaking off a few glowing beetles, "Next stop is a small town, a supply point for the port, maybe we'll find some rum and..." His stomach growled loudly.

Resigned, he fell silent, tearing at the vine in his hand.

It was best to keep words few for now.

The group harbored disappointment but clung to a glimmer of hope as they crossed the ruins, long abandoned.

"This is damned, how many years old is this map?"

This was once a border tower, covering considerable ground.

Normally, no kingdom would easily abandon this, at least developing it into a town.

Seemed it was destroyed in war and left unreconstructed.

As a second ruin appeared, Lisa Lisa almost let her red coral hairpin drop in a mud puddle.

At last, some signs of life appeared, breaking the dead silence of abandonment.

The group walked a paved stone path, nearing a destination marker signboard.

The board lay broken, blackened by fire, rendering it unreadable.

Rows of stakes bore desiccated Ratman skulls.

"This isn't a battlefield, is it?" Toby asked anxiously.

Zahanu shot him a glance, "Relax, kid, warzones don't look like this. Those Ratmen gnaw bark clean off the land, they wouldn't abandon this town easily," he said, kicking a skull playfully.

The town came into full view, disappointment and weariness rushing over them.

"Damned it, may the Sea God's shit bless us! This town's destroyed!" Toby cursed furiously.

He'd reached here, against hope, weary... but found no residents, nor life, meals, or water.

He saw only dark rubble and scattered bones.

Broken weapons, war remnants abound.

The town had long turned to ash amid the flames.

"Let's search, maybe the rats left us something." Swade proposed.

Now wasn't the time to give up, he'd sought to join the Night Watcher, yet hadn't met them, only to starve or thirst was a humiliating death.

Toby opened his mouth silently, others seemed more disappointed than unruly.

No complaints, no bickering, Lisa Lisa even managed jokes, sidling up to Swade.

With disillusionment yet holding a sliver of hope, they entered the war-ravaged town.

"There are broken weapons still here, though rusted, some weren't fully cleared—it suggests the Ratmen hastily gathered spoils, perhaps more remains."

Surveying the town, Swade finally saw some good news.