The report came from the artificial island.
Through the voice‑bug, Su Han could clearly hear the sounds of battle in the background.
"Grab it all!"
"Move faster, they'll be here any moment!"
"Once we pull this off, we're set for life!"
The voices overlapped in a messy rush, but one thing was clear: the attackers were not weak.
Su Han's expression turned dark. "Let's go. I want to see who thinks they can lay hands on what's mine."
"Mm."
Ten minutes later, Su Han arrived on the man‑made island with Shenhe, Mona, and the others.
The surroundings were a wreck. Craters and scorched earth marked where cannons had struck.
Seeing Su Han descend, the overseer hurried over.
"My lord…"
"Tell me what happened," Su Han said.
"Yes, my lord."
The leader of the Black Blade unit straightened. "The enemy attacked about half an hour ago. There were ten ships in all, equipped with cannons.
"Every one of them had a strange power—some way to release elemental force.
"There were too few soldiers stationed here. Even though we fought with everything we had, we couldn't beat them.
"They took nine tenths of this shipment of ore… Please punish me."
He was covered in wounds. Blood still seeped from one arm.
Su Han shook his head. "It's only ore. The fact that you're all alive is the real fortune here. Did every one of them use elemental power?"
"Yes, my lord. Each one," the man said. "But it was strange… many of them were clearly unfamiliar with their own strength."
That was all Su Han needed to hear.
Delusions.
The Fatui still hadn't learned their lesson. Even after losing so many people, they were bold enough to come after him again.
Whether he liked it or not, his trip to Inazuma had just become mandatory.
Beside him, Rosalyne was walking the beach with a thoughtful look.
"Where are the Fatui corpses?" she asked the soldier.
"On the left side of the shore, my lord. We were just about to deal with them."
"Take me."
"Yes."
After a careful inspection, Rosalyne came back to Su Han with a faint smile. "These aren't Fatui," she said. "They're Inazumans in disguise."
"Oh?" Su Han asked. "How can you tell?"
"The Fatui all have individual numbers," she explained. "Even the lowest soldier has one. For example, Geo skirmishers are always categorized under 'Bastion' or 'Bulwark.'
"These men's markings only say 'Fatui.' Even as a forgery, it's embarrassingly sloppy."
She had been an Executive once. She knew the organization's naming habits in detail.
This attack, she was sure, had been staged by Inazumans.
Su Han's eyes cooled. "Interesting. I haven't even set foot in Inazuma yet, and someone's already trying to use me as a pawn. And pin the blame on the Fatui while they're at it."
"Couldn't it still be the Fatui's idea?" Shenhe asked, looking at Rosalyne.
Rosalyne shook her head and pointed to the ground. "Proper advance squads are put together with care. No one would send Geo units into a fight out at sea. Geo is weakened near water.
"If it were my operation, I'd use Cryo and Electro—Cryo mages with Electro skirmishers, and throw in some hammer vanguards. That setup would be far stronger than these Geo grunts.
"Unless the Fatui commander in charge was an idiot.
"But anyone daring to raid Su Han like this would never come in half‑prepared."
The logic was hard to argue with.
Mona glanced at the traces of Geo energy on the rocks and smiled. "So when you saw these elemental marks, you knew something didn't add up?"
"That's right," Rosalyne said. She turned her gaze toward Inazuma, lips quirking into a cold line. "Scaramouche might act like a lunatic, but he's extremely cautious. With his style, mistakes like this don't happen."
Shenhe frowned. "So Inazuma has already gone this far? Could it be the two Commissions?"
"I don't know. But we'll understand once we go and look." She raised her voice. "Bring the Melly around. We're sailing for Inazuma."
"Yes, my lady!"
The Melly had been anchored near the island ever since their last trip. It had never been taken back, which made things easier now.
Rosalyne stepped back to Su Han's side. "I won't be going with you," she said. "If that man realizes I'm still alive, it could cause trouble. Be careful on the road."
"I will," Su Han replied.
"And… I have a feeling this won't be simple," she added quietly. "Try not to charge straight in."
She didn't know why, but unease had settled in her chest.
Su Han laughed. "You're afraid something might happen to me? At this point, my strength is already at the adeptus level."
"You…" Rosalyne rolled her eyes. "When you were weaker, you used to think everything through before you acted.
"Now that you've grown stronger, you're getting a bit too casual.
"Be careful."
She knew too well how overconfidence could turn into a fall. Her own defeat at his hands had come from that very flaw. Now, she had ended up under his command—and her heart was not as unbound as it once was.
"All right," Su Han said, still smiling. "I'll focus on gathering information first."
Soon the Melly glided up to the dock.
Su Han and the others boarded.
With Kaedehara Kazuha on deck, they didn't even need a local guide. He led them straight through the offshore thunderstorm, and the mists parted to reveal their destination.
From the sea, the island of Ritou came into view.
Vermilion maple leaves drifted on the wind, vivid against the gray sky. For a nation's main harbor, though, the place felt strangely empty. Only a dozen or so ships sat at anchor, and more than half of those were simple fishing boats.
Mona frowned. "So desolate… This is a national port, and there are barely ten ships—and most are just fishers.
"No wonder Lady Yae keeps saying things like, 'Inazuma is dirt poor' and 'we can hardly put food on the table these days.'"
Shenhe stood at the rail, looking over the coastline. "It's my first time in Inazuma," she said softly. "The scenery is beautiful. If the place were developed as a tourist country, it could do quite well."
Under Ganyu's influence, she had started to see landscapes in terms of value as much as beauty. Inazuma's vistas, in some corners, really were lovely. Turned properly, they could bring in no small amount of coin.
Kazuha smiled faintly. "There used to be many visitors from other lands," he said. "But since the Sakoku Decree and the thunder barrier strengthened, merchants have all but vanished.
"These last years, only Captain Beidou makes the trip."
Yae had tolerated Beidou's trade runs precisely because domestic goods had become so scarce. Heavy taxes had driven nine tenths of foreign merchants away. Faced with such high risk and low return, who would come?
Resisting was not an option. Anyone who did would find the Tenryou and Kanjou Commissions on their doorstep, stripping their cargo and turning them into criminals overnight.
There was another reason Kazuha did not voice: the Vision Hunt Decree.
Those with the means to cross the thunderstorm safely were almost all Vision bearers. Now, with Visions being seized, they had simply given up on Inazuma altogether.
Under such policies, it would have been stranger if the nation's economy wasn't withering.
People still needed to eat, to clothe themselves, to live. Eternal slogans alone could not fill empty bowls.
The fact that Yae Miko had not already collapsed under the strain was something of a miracle. No one could accuse her of idling. She spent every day wrestling with a country that refused to move, and yet saw little real progress. A lesser person might have broken long ago.
When the Melly finally touched the dock, Su Han saw a group of soldiers rushing toward them.
"Who are you? How dare you enter our country without permission?" the captain shouted. "Men, seize these suspects at once!"