The Hunt's Endgame Begins

I opened my System Atlas. "Ah, we've veered north quite a bit since the last lodge." I gestured to invite Shokoya to confirm this on his own Atlas. "If we follow the…current, assuming this really is a giant river, I bet we'll find one on this beach. Probably exactly at a point drawn due northeast from the last lodge."

We set off again, though we were slowed a little by the soft, loose sand of the beach. The sun had advanced across the sky enough that in another hour or two, the red colors of sunset would start to appear, when Shokoya spoke up. "Looks like you were right, Z. I'm sensing cultivators. I think ten weak ones, and another five who could be members of other teams."

We eagerly picked up the pace, soon spotting a large wooden pier with a number of wooden buildings atop it. Like the last lodge, there was someone waiting to greet us at the entrance to the place. This "NPC" was clothed in garish, and dare I even say it, piratical garb.