The waterways leading to the Mine Island Alliance had no map to guide them, and even the distance was unclear.
Maybe it was three hundred kilometers, or perhaps five hundred—or eight hundred.
The only way survivors could measure distance was by multiplying their walking speed by the time spent traveling. However, the routes they took often differed. Some were lucky enough to find shortcuts, while others were unlucky and spent half a day detouring. As a result, the information gathered was incredibly inconsistent, and in the end, they could only determine a general direction.
One thing was certain: following the waterways would eventually bring them to the mine islands surrounded by tributaries of the Giant Dragon Xian River.
The two frigates traveled upstream toward the northeast, asking any survivors they encountered along the way for information.
At first, the information they received was useless. But the farther northeast they went, the more reliable the information became. After offering some insignificant amounts of food, they finally learned the location from the survivors.
The Mine Island Alliance was roughly five hundred and fifty kilometers from the land of Dream Moon Territory in a straight line.
However, accounting for the possibility that they would have to detour around a swamp, the actual distance was probably around seven hundred kilometers.
By water, though, the distance was much shorter.
Following two connected tributaries, they only needed to travel roughly four hundred and fifty kilometers to reach the outermost mine island.
Based on the frigates' cruising speed of sixty kilometers per hour—
They had set out at eight in the morning, and by a little after three in the afternoon—
After passing through a narrow tributary and rejoining a branch of the Xian River, the lookout on the ship quickly spotted their destination.
At the horizon