"What is this?"
Ember looked at the wooden block in Shikanoin Heizou's hand. It was just ordinary wood, not as powerful as the electro-charged wood from Higi Village.
"The part of the Fatui tent's main beam that was underground." Shikanoin Heizou broke the wood in his hand into three pieces and neatly placed them in the three circles of the female alchemist's runes.
Alchemy is always based on three, whether it's Crafting higher-grade materials or transforming the form of an obstruction, it always requires 'three' as the number of ingredients.
According to Albedo, this signifies the alchemical philosophy of "understanding, decomposition, and reconstruction."
It also represents the three fundamental elements of the world as initially conceived by alchemy: salt, sulfur, and mercury.
Of course, these ideas have been abandoned by modern alchemists due to their antiquity and haste.
However, the tradition of prioritizing three in everything has been well preserved.
"Are you trying to Craft a Whopperflower?" Ember asked when he saw Shikanoin Heizou's actions.
What could three pieces of wood Craft? The only thing Ember could think of was moving wood, which is often the Whopperflower that tricks people in the wild.
"What the hell? I can't Craft anything," Shikanoin Heizou waved his hand. His knowledge of alchemy only came from the many books he had read.
If he had to actually practice it, he probably wouldn't be as skilled as an apprentice.
However, there are simple things in alchemy, so simple that they can be done without learning.
Seeing the materials neatly arranged, Shikanoin Heizou sprinkled some Transmutation Dust on the wooden blocks. Then, with a flick of his finger, a few shiny Mora flew into the alchemy array on the ground.
Ingredients, catalyst, and array—all three were present, and so the wooden blocks on the ground began to change.
"Bang!"
A sudden clap of thunder, followed by a cloud of dust. Explosion—this is one of the simplest and most common reactions in alchemy.
Many apprentices who first encounter alchemy often trigger this "explosion" reaction.
"Phew! Quite powerful." Shikanoin Heizou said with a smile, raising his hand to shield his eyes.
When everything settled, a small pit appeared on the beach, still emitting wisps of smoke.
"The element concentration in Watatsumi Island's soil is surprisingly high. Anything from other places, when it comes into contact with Watatsumi Island's sand, will inevitably be corroded by the element energy."
"The excess element energy is enough for us to determine when these people landed on the island."
Before Ember could ask anything, Shikanoin Heizou began to explain.
He activated his elemental Vision again, and a bright cluster of light appeared in his sight.
This was the element energy contained within those wooden blocks.
"So much element energy... they've been here for at least four months!" Shikanoin Heizou raised his hand, gesturing a "four."
"Four months? That's quite short." Ember nodded, then spread his hands and asked, "But what's the use?"
This question immediately stumped Shikanoin Heizou. He lay on the ground, falling into deep self-doubt.
Vaguely, Ember could even see his background gradually turning grayish-white.
Just as Ember was about to teach Shikanoin Heizou the great memory restoration technique, he saw him perk up again.
"Damn it, there are too few clues in this camp! I need to check other Fatui camps!" Standing up from the ground, Shikanoin Heizou clenched his fists, shouted loudly, and ran off into the distance without looking back.
"Holy cow, how are you flying, kid?"
In Ember's sight, Shikanoin Heizou was emitting a cyan glow, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Looking at the pile of "mole rats" on the ground, Ember stomped his foot, and the ground rippled like water.
Finally, a thick earthen wall stretched between the Fatui and the shore.
"I don't know how long this will last. If you don't want to drown in the tide, hurry up."
"Also, I didn't see you transporting Delusions, which is good. Otherwise..."
A dim glass bead appeared in Ember's hand. The trembling Fatui below immediately recognized it as a Delusion.
"Crack, crack, crack!"
The sound of brittle objects shattering rang out, and the Delusion in Ember's hand turned into dust, scattering among the Fatui.
Now they trembled even more violently, wishing they could just bury their heads in the dirt.
After doing all this, Ember turned around and ran in the direction Shikanoin Heizou had flown.
"Little brat, wait for me!"
..."Hmph, watch my Immovable Flow Martial Arts!"
At dusk, in another Fatui camp on Watatsumi Island, short, reddish-brown hair flew, and under the fists that gathered strong winds, the Fatui were no match.
"Pfft!"
"Gwa!"
"Yeah!"
"Wow! It's a Vision wielder, everyone retreat!"
Cyan element energy surged through the Fatui camp, throwing the stationed soldiers one by one into the sky.
"Clues, I need clues!" Ignoring the groaning Fatui on the ground, Shikanoin Heizou ran directly into the camp tent and began rummaging through everything.
"No clues, next!"
Soon, the cyan figure darted out of the Fatui tent again, running off into the distance... "Heart-Piercing Fist!"
Late at night, a cyan gale gathered and burst from Shikanoin Heizou's fists, giving the surrounding Fatui a taste of the flying sensation their previous comrades had experienced.
This time, although Shikanoin Heizou was still searching the camp for possible clues, he was clearly not as focused as before.
It could also be said that he seemed to have found a small clue.
"This location... keep looking for the next one!" Shikanoin Heizou looked at the map, marking the Fatui camps he had discovered.
He found that most of the camps were located in the southeast corner of Watatsumi Island.
"It needs to support its own supplies and also supply the resistance."
"Because it might produce Delusions, concealment is also necessary."
"So many supplies, and across the sea, an estuary would be best..."
Connecting the information in his mind, Shikanoin Heizou finally drew a circle at the southwest cliff of Yashiori Island.
"The Fatui's supply center is here!"
Looking up at the rising sun again, Shikanoin Heizou's face showed no fatigue, but rather he said with immense excitement.
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