"F-five thousand li?!"
The old militiaman Chiwako trembled all over, even his voice shaking.
"Five thousand li east... wouldn't that be the endless Eastern Sea?"
Puapu looked astonished. In the ancient myths, the Eastern Sea was a place of surging waves and terrifying sea spirits, the place where the Feathered Serpent had finally departed.
"Ah! The old homeland in the east, the home of our ancestors, and Snake Island in the sea..."
The Mayan merchant Tikalo's expression shifted, longing welling up in his heart. When his parents had taken him and fled his hometown of Tutul-Xiu-Mayapan, he had still been an ignorant toddler. In the blink of an eye, more than forty years had passed.
"Mm. Tikalo, do you still remember? In the Lake Capital, you once offered me two gemstones from Snake Island in the east! Those two gemstones attracted and repelled each other, born among clusters of black hard stone..."
Xolotl's expression stirred slightly. He thought of those two perfect pieces of Chromite Spinel, and fierce desire surged in his heart. That was Cuba Iron Ore, a thing of crucial importance, one that could even change the world! And the Cuba Iron Ore's reserves were so vast, its purity so high, and its associated metals so precious that they would be enough for a mighty Mesoamerican empire to mine all the way into the industrial age!
Only after quite a while did Xolotl's thoughts return from that far-off yearning. He had enough patience to spend decades completing his grand vision step by step.
"This time, you are to go to Snake Island in the eastern sea! You must find the location of the black ore, leave enough men behind, and establish strongpoints and watch posts! Mm, Puapu, at Black Rock Mountain, you and Black Wolf Toltec also discovered