Orange Archipelago.
The clear, azure sky stretched cloudlessly for miles, as crystalline as jade.
Below, the deep-blue sea lay utterly calm. Only the occasional rows of small waves lapped against the shore, long stripped of their previous fury.
"Woohoo~~~"
Riding Lugia, Ash shouted excitedly.
"Show-off. What a blatant show-off."
Riding Ho-Oh, Fang Yuan stared intently at the Three Legendary Birds as they slowly recovered.
Lugia was responsible for soothing their violent souls, while Ho-Oh purified their chaotic minds. At this moment, the Three Legendary Birds no longer had any of their former majesty.
"Chirp—"
All three birds wore harmless expressions, their eyes doing their best to convey confusion as they pretended to know nothing, not daring to meet Ho-Oh's or Lugia's gaze.
Though they had fallen into chaos earlier, they more or less understood what had happened by now.
The Three Legendary Birds were all trembling, worried that they would be held accountable.
They might have looked incredibly imposing just now, even daring to attack Lugia, but that was only because Lugia had not wanted the situation to escalate.
Otherwise, Lugia's power alone—capable of causing storms lasting dozens of days with a simple flap of its wings—would have been enough to suppress them by force.
Besides...
For some reason, Ho-Oh was here too. This one might look gentle, but it was also a ruthless bird capable of wiping out a human nation in a fit of rage. They... hadn't offended it, had they?
Among the Three Legendary Birds, Moltres was probably the only one who knew why Ho-Oh had appeared. On Ho-Oh's back, it saw Fang Yuan grinning at it.
Moltres swallowed. Under Fang Yuan's gaze, it suddenly felt a chill run through its feathers.
"Ho-Oh, there shouldn't be any problems in the Orange Archipelago now, right?"
"Mhm."
Ho-Oh flew