Shandia

Lis left the Airship Fleet's docking area and, together with his subordinates, rode Wavers toward the Shandia People's settlement—Cloud Hidden Village.

Cloud Hidden Village was about fifty-seven kilometers from Angel Island. It was a barren sky island, though its area was not small, roughly half that of Angel Island.

However, this sky island had extremely scarce resources, even fewer than Birka Island, which had kept Cloud Hidden Village's population from growing.

Cloud Hidden Village currently had only 873 residents, who mainly lived by fishing and hunting. Besides their current stronghold, the Shandia People had three other, more distant sky-island outposts.

This was mainly to guard against the Sky People of Angel Island, but also because the resources on these sky islands were too barren, forcing the Shandia People to adopt a nomadic-like way of life.

Meanwhile, the Sky People on Angel Island numbered more than ten thousand.

Lis hurried back to Cloud Hidden Village and went straight to the chieftain's tent.

"Lis, you weren't hurt, were you?" the old chieftain asked with concern. As chieftain and Great Warrior, their roles were in fact mutually supportive.

Lis shook his head, then told the chieftain about what had happened earlier and the Sky Cloud Federation's offer.

"They really are willing to return Shandora to us?" The chieftain found it hard to believe.

Lis replied ashamedly, "Chieftain, I was simply too weak. Before that Sky Cloud Federation officer, I couldn't even withstand a single blow. With their strength, there should be no need for them to deceive us."

The chieftain considered it for a while. Cloud Hidden Village truly had nothing worth coveting.

Still, the chieftain made preparations on two fronts. First, he divided the villagers into three groups. Two groups would relocate to two backup sky islands, while the remaining group would stay where they were.

They would wait for the matter to be settled before making further arrangements.

The next day, the chieftain personally brought Lis and the others to the Airship Fleet. By then, the fleet's anchorage was already filled with a Large Area of freshly formed island clouds.

Looking at the island clouds before him, their area was no smaller than Shandora's.

"What's going on? There weren't any island clouds yesterday. Did I remember wrong?" Lis was utterly bewildered.

But when he saw the airships in the distance, he felt that he had not come to the wrong place.

After bringing the chieftain to meet Mammon, he and the chieftain signed the Shandia Tribe Accession Treaty on behalf of the Shandia Tribe. The Shandia Tribe officially merged into the Sky Cloud Federation.

At the same time, Gan Fall, Angel Island's representative who had been invited again, signed the Angel Island–Shandia Memorandum of Understanding with the Shandia chieftain under Mammon's mediation, officially declaring an end to the four-hundred-year war between the two sides.

Of course, due to the long years of war, both sides had many friends and relatives who had died in the conflict. Much of that hatred would be difficult to completely erase in a short time.

Mammon did not force the issue. As long as they properly guided the next generation and allowed both sides to face the history of those four hundred years, it would be possible to dispel the hatred in their hearts in the future.

Gan Fall also represented Angel Island in agreeing that, of the 500,000 Gold Yuan in annual land rent paid by the Sky Cloud Federation, 200,000 Gold Yuan would be given to the Shandia Tribe as compensation for fifty years.

This gesture of goodwill caused the Shandia People to let go of some of their hatred.

Meanwhile, with Mammon and Lucifer working together, a rocky sky island roughly the same size as "Apayaado" appeared beside Angel Island.

The island was named "New Apayaado." Since it had been artificially modified, its usable area was far greater than that of the former Apayaado Island.

After all, the ruins of Ancient City Shandora occupied a substantial portion of Apayaado Island.

According to the treaty, Gan Fall had the sky-island residents gradually move out of Apayaado and relocate to New Apayaado.

The Sky Cloud Federation, meanwhile, took over Apayaado and renamed it "Shandora Island." Aside from the ruins, Mammon expanded Shandora Island's area and established Shandia Town.

Having seen their sincerity, the Shandia chieftain gradually moved the villagers there as well.

In addition, Kumogakure Island, Wasteland Island, Cloud Pillar Island, and Cloud Cap Island, which had previously been controlled by the Shandia Tribe, were all incorporated into the Sky Cloud Federation's sphere of control.

Although no soldiers were stationed there, there were plenty of surveillance creatures. After all, these desolate sky islands were located around major sky islands such as Angel Island and could serve as outer warning posts.

At the same time, Wang Gao arrived at Shandora's ruins through a Shadow Tunnel, and the various written records there were gradually sorted out.

The Poneglyph beneath the Golden Bell was also thrown into the Shadow World by Wang Gao, while the Golden Bell itself was left behind.

When the Shandia Tribe saw the Golden Bell again after four hundred years, they excitedly rang it, fulfilling the promise between the previous generation's Great Warrior Kalgarra and Noland.

As for the giant snake Nestled here—the Lord of the Sky—she likewise failed to escape Wang Gao's clutches. She was directly brought under control and turned into the true guardian deity of Shandora, and he renamed her "Kukulkan."

Wang Gao bestowed Kukulkan with the "Quetzalcoatl Mecha." She also had a child produced through asexual reproduction, who was likewise subdued and named "Lucoa."

After the Shandia Tribe joined the federation, the former members of the Shandia Guerrillas joined the federation's military.

Some others became residents of Shandia Town, while some of the elders became maintenance staff for the Shandora ruins.

The Shandora ruins were converted into the Shandora Ancient City Museum, a tourist attraction within the Sky Cloud Federation. Thirty percent of the attraction's revenue would serve as a development fund for the Shandia People.

After this series of changes, the situation around Angel Island became one of superficial coexistence between Angel Island and the Sky Cloud Federation.

In reality, Mammon's economic strategy was already quietly influencing Angel Island.

Once the economic penetration of Angel Island was complete, the Sky Cloud Federation would continue along the West Sky Route and infiltrate other sky islands.

At this time, in Angel Island's shrine, Gan Fall had yet to notice anything wrong and was busy handling the relocation of residents to New Apayaado Island.

On the fertile New Apayaado Island, Dozens of Sky People were busy farming, but their agricultural tools were relatively primitive, and they had few crop varieties.

Compared to their Moon People ancestors, the Sky People's technological level had indeed declined severely, and they had become exceedingly conservative.

On nearby Shandora Island, farms were also being built across the newly expanded island clouds. However, the Sky Cloud Federation's agricultural technology was far more advanced, with Large-scale mechanization and all kinds of improved crops.

On Angel Island's main street, one could see all kinds of shops opened by the Sky Cloud Trading Company, as well as a large number of recruited Sky People.

Angel Island was becoming increasingly prosperous, and the Sky Cloud Federation had now opened airship routes connecting Cloud Realm, Sunset (Birka), and Shandora (Angel Island).

Meanwhile, the Upward Sea Current off Gaya Island had also been officially brought under the control of the Sky Cloud Federation, with a battalion stationed near the Gate of Heaven.

This battalion consisted of over a hundred Shandia People. Their task was to intercept the Blue Sea People brought up by the Upward Sea Current, especially pirates among them.

After all, most of those who came up through the Upward Sea Current were desperadoes, drawn primarily by the legend of the City of Gold.

The Sky Cloud Federation had no intention of showing mercy to this scum of the seas. Besides, to preserve the secret of Sky Island, they could not let these people leave.

At that moment, Wang Gao received Lucifer's report and hurriedly left the ruins of Shandora, returning to headquarters in the Devil's Triangle waters.

Lucifer reported to him on the situation in West Blue and Impel Down.

Thank you for your support, everyone (ω｀). Here's an extra chapter!