Ripples spread across the azure sea beneath Zunesha's footsteps. Its immense shadow enveloped Gern's warship, like a moving landmass looming before them.
Gern stood at the bow, gazing up at the mountainlike elephant. For the first time, he felt awe from the depths of his heart.
Zunesha was so enormous that ordinary people could not even perceive its movements.
It seemed motionless, yet it had never stopped...
"So this is Zunesha?" Standing at the bow, Gern looked up at the towering creature that pierced the clouds, a flicker of awe in his eyes.
Zunesha's limbs resembled pillars holding up the sky, churning the flowing seawater into towering waves. The furrows of age covered its skin, as though recording a thousand years of history.
The Petty Officer stood beside Gern, equally overwhelmed by the sight before him.
He swallowed, his voice trembling slightly. "Commodore Gern, are you saying there really is... a country on its back?"
Gern nodded, his gaze still fixed on Zunesha's cloud-piercing back. "The Mokomo Dukedom. A nation isolated from the world."
The Marines aboard the warship exchanged glances, excited to learn of and witness an unknown nation, yet disappointed that they could not set foot there themselves.
"Commodore Gern, if there really is a country up there, it can't be one of the World Government Member States." After a moment's hesitation, the Petty Officer spoke up.
"Wouldn't it be too dangerous for you to go alone?"
"Don't worry. I'm just going to take a look." Gern chuckled and patted the Petty Officer's shoulder. "If there's any real danger, I'll withdraw immediately."
The Petty Officer wanted to keep persuading him, but Gern had already turned and taken a step toward Zunesha.
Pale Vibration Particles appeared beneath his feet, and his body slowly rose into the air.
"I'm leaving