She dropped beside him, half-kneeling. "We lost the rear ships. The Eastern Star... struck reef mid-breach. Qi seals ruptured. The core stone shattered." She shook her head. "It shouldn't have happened. The ship was reinforced."
Lianfeng didn't respond immediately. He was staring out to sea.
Not far from the wreckage, the water was still rising not in waves, but like an invisible force pushed it upward, as if the ocean was folding in reverse. The sea pulsed. It glowed briefly with silver veins, then sank again.
The land behind him rumbled.
He turned slowly, and finally took in the island.
Not tropical. Not barren. It was wrong.
The trees were twisted, massive and sinewy, with bark like scar tissue. The leaves glowed faintly under shadow. Rocks hummed faintly with heat. Everything here had Qi, but it didn't feel natural.
It felt... Feral.
