Chapter 138: The Problem of Regional Size

That was correct.

This squad consisted entirely of the released slaves serving under the slave owner, Sherlock.

These so-called released slaves were sent out to act as Sherlock's eyes in the outside world.

Whenever they encountered anything unusual, they would immediately investigate and gather information to report back to Sherlock, who was stationed in the Abandoned Ruins.

This gave him ample time to prepare a response.

This was the fundamental reason why they chose to investigate immediately after spotting Lan Qingyou's tent.

Under Sherlock's rule, this had already become an ingrained mindset.

It could be said that ever since that massive battle involving tens of thousands of people, nearly the entire northwestern sector of The Abandoned Land—including the Abandoned Lake, his so-called land of rising fortune—had fallen under Sherlock's domain.

But precisely because of this, the squad leader was now feeling incredibly conflicted.

However, the Witch was a slightly different story.

It was not necessarily out of fear, but rather because the Witch's reputation preceded her.

During the last great battle, it was exactly because of the Potions crafted by the Witch that Sherlock had managed to win against overwhelming odds and establish a firm foothold in The Abandoned Land.

Naturally, after the fierce skirmish that morning, they had gained an even clearer understanding of the Witch's formidable power.

Just one owl and one robot had been enough to leave their dozen-man squad in such a miserable state. If she had deployed more, it was entirely possible she could eliminate that damn squid-faced bastard Sherlock and return their freedom to them.

As for whether they would be implicated if the Witch did not end up fighting Sherlock, or failed to kill him, the captain was not particularly worried.

Since the other party was flying through the sky, it was perfectly normal for a ground patrol to completely miss her, right?

Basically, whatever happened next would have absolutely nothing to do with them.

They simply needed to sit back and wait for the dust to settle, or act as if nothing had happened at all.

It was a guaranteed win either way.

"Who else knows about this besides you?"

Just to be safe, the captain directed the question at Skinny Monkey.

"Captain, are you thinking of..."

The captain's question immediately made Skinny Monkey realize what he was planning.

"No one. After coming back, I only told you."

"Then pretend you saw nothing today. If anyone asks, say the tent had already vanished by the time you went back. You didn't see any Witch, and you certainly didn't see anyone flying through the sky. Understood?"

The captain narrowed his eyes at Skinny Monkey, his gaze filled with a distinct threat.

"Don't worry, Captain. Who actually wants to be a slave? We'd have to be gluttons for punishment."

Skinny Monkey offered a sly smile.

What a joke.

What did District 666 have the most of? Talent, obviously!

Every single one of them was the kind of talent who knew exactly what to say to get by.

If they had a choice, they wouldn't have even participated in the previous battle for the Abandoned Ruins.

But such mandatory actions, carried out right under the slave owner's nose, were completely beyond their personal control.

Previously, having been deceived, they had no other options. Now, knowing the Witch's combat strength and having an alternative path, it was self-evident what they would choose to do.

Thus.

With a tacit understanding between the captain and Skinny Monkey, the matter was quietly swept under the rug. Naturally, Sherlock remained completely ignorant that a celebrity known throughout District 666, and perhaps even the entire Kalim Continent, was rapidly approaching him.

Meanwhile, on Lan Qingyou's end, after flying for the better part of the day, she finally caught sight of the ruins bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun just as darkness began to fall.

Upon descending, Lan Qingyou immediately found a sheltered depression against the mountain and set up her Magic Tent.

Calculating the time, she had flown for a total of roughly ten hours in second gear over the past two days.

At 50 kilometers per hour, that equated to a distance of over 500 kilometers.

Although she would have preferred to use third gear the entire way, unfortunately, she could not withstand the sheer velocity it produced.

Thanks to her Witch's outfit, she did not feel the biting cold even at altitudes of several hundred meters, but the fierce winds generated by traveling at 100 kilometers per hour in third gear made it impossible for her to even open her eyes.

Therefore, she settled for the next best thing and stuck to second gear.

Even so, she had covered a straight-line distance of over 500 kilometers. Thinking about the sheer scale of The Abandoned Land, and then considering the entirety of the Kalim Continent, Lan Qingyou suddenly felt that this world was impossibly vast.

The Fool: "It is indeed huge. If it wasn't for my talent, I probably wouldn't have been able to map out The Abandoned Land so quickly."

When Lan Qingyou tossed this realization into the group chat, The Fool, who had the most authority on the subject, immediately picked up the thread.

Judgment: "Based on the areas we've surveyed so far, although there is a discrepancy in size between each region, overall, the area of each zone falls roughly between 10,000 and 500,000 square kilometers."

Judgment: "According to The Fool's map and the distance you just calculated, the size of your Abandoned Land should be somewhere between 300,000 and 400,000 square kilometers. It definitely qualifies as a large-scale map."

The High Priestess: "Tsk tsk. Hundreds of thousands of square kilometers for just over a hundred thousand people. Should we call that large, or exceptionally large?"

The High Priestess: "Tsk tsk. Hundreds of thousands of square kilometers for just over a hundred thousand people. Should we call that large, or exceptionally large?"

The Star: "All that matters is that it's big."

The Chariot: "Exactly. Big is good, big is strong."

Judgment: "That's why The Abandoned Land is considered a large map. Some of the smaller maps cram a hundred thousand people into just 50,000 square kilometers. No matter how you look at it, that's bound to be a bit crowded."

The Star: "That's still pretty huge. Slightly smaller than Ningxia, but larger than Switzerland."

The Tower: "Uh... let's table that for a moment. I just want to know how Judgment and the rest of you actually survey these areas."

Judgment: "With The Fool's feet."

...

Lan Qingyou's lips twitched.

She had originally assumed that since the Supreme Council did not possess anything like a Magic Tent, no one else could spend the night in the wilderness like she did, making exploration a difficult endeavor.

Yet the other party bluntly answered with "The Fool's feet"?

Alright, if it was that guy, then there really was nothing more to say. After all, even the world map at the Manor had been measured out by him, one literal footstep at a time.

Since their last meeting, he had uploaded two new maps. One covered the region north of The Abandoned Land—the Red Peak Rock Mountains located just past the Abandoned Mountains—and the other mapped out the Gravel Plateau to the east of the rocky mountains.

One glance at his route was enough to tell that he was planning to circle back to an earlier, unfinished map that had been left incomplete because the regions hadn't merged at the time.

Perhaps this was The Fool's personal obsession.

No...

Perhaps it was the obsession of the organization standing behind him.

In truth, just as The Fool had explained to Lan Qingyou in the beginning, Tarot Manor was nothing more than a loose, seminar-style association.

Aside from the strict prohibition against attacking or harming one another, there were truly no binding restrictions.

The vast majority of its members held other identities outside of their affiliation with the Manor.

For example, Judgment—Chu Yuan—was an assemblyman of the Supreme Council, while The Fool—Helles—belonged to a civilian organization known as the Continental Map-Drawing Alliance.

And reportedly, there were quite a few organizations of that nature.

Things like the Kalim Planting Research Society, or the Angler's Association.

Even Tarot Manor itself, established under the leadership of a council member, was ultimately just a private, unofficial salon.

Everyone continued chatting while they ate.

By the time it was past eleven o'clock, Lan Qingyou peered out at the night sky.

Tonight, the moon was bright, the stars were sparse, and the air was dead calm. It was the perfect weather for flying, and incredibly suitable for searching for things from high above.