Following the route Tura had pointed out, Liu Zhi went around a small hill and came upon a rocky beach. A huge skeleton lay on the shore.
The skeleton seemed to belong to a half-fish, half-human creature. The skull alone stood nearly ten meters tall.
It had been dead for a very long time. Not only was there no flesh left on it, but there was no stench of decay, either.
Someone had propped up the skull with stones, turning it into the roof of a room.
Several objects resembling braziers had been placed among the ribs and hand bones. All of them were burning, fueled by something like whale oil. The flames gave off a faint blue glow.
Seeing the scene, Liu Zhi found the Viking style rather baffling. Slaughter and death seemed to be everywhere, yet there was also a strong yearning for life.
Beneath the skull, a heavily bearded man was crouching and grilling fish.
As Liu Zhi approached, he noticed what seemed to be bronze-colored scales beneath the man's clothes.
Looking more closely, Liu Zhi finally relaxed. The man wasn't some kind of Fishman mutant. Those bronze-colored scales were probably a close-fitting suit of scale armor.
When Liu Zhi came over, the bearded man noticed him too. He stood up and drew a five-pronged weapon. Liu Zhi also noticed that the man's eyes were somewhat cloudy white, though he couldn't tell if they'd always been that way or if something had happened to him.
"Hello. Are you Arthur?"
At Liu Zhi's question, the man didn't lower his weapon. Instead, he fixed Liu Zhi with his cloudy white eyes.
"A dead man. What brings you here? Wait, you've brought a Naga royal with you."
Liu Zhi turned his head and saw that Videnina had already placed her