Troy's head had been swimming all night, and Luo Wei was worried that the magical vines might strangle him, so she quickly rescued him.
She wondered what he had done to offend the God of the Dead. It was quite impressive that he was still alive after angering a deity.
Luo Wei pressed Troy's philtrum, and he opened his eyes groggily.
"Awake now?"
"What... what happened to me?" Troy's voice was hoarse.
"How would I know? What did you do after getting ashore?" Luo Wei asked.
"I... I couldn't find you in the sea," Troy held his head, trying to remember. "I thought you had flown to shore, so I came up to look for you, and then... then I passed out."
"Strange, why did I suddenly faint?" Troy wondered.
"Who knows," Luo Wei said casually. "Maybe you offended some deity."
Troy frowned. "What deity?"
"A god in heaven," Luo Wei stood up, brushing off grass from her clothes. "Alright, get up. Let's explore the island and draw a map of the terrain."
Troy stood up using his sword as support, when suddenly his expression changed: "This is bad, we've broken the demon island's taboo!"
His sharp gaze swept the surroundings and spotted several souls wandering in the grass. He immediately drew his sword: "Quick, get behind me! Don't be afraid, we'll fight our way out!"
His killing intent surged, causing the souls to quickly float away and hide behind tree trunks, peeking out cautiously.
[This swordsman is terrifying, I almost lost my head!]
[Yeah, why did he suddenly draw his sword? So scary.]
[My leg bones fell off!]
Hearing the souls' complaints, Luo Wei quickly grabbed Troy's arm: "Don't attack, they're my subjects now."
Troy looked at her in shock: "Wh-what? Subjects!"
He had only passed out for a while, how did the whole world change when he woke up?
Since when were souls called subjects?
Had his employer already died and become the King of the Dead?
Luo Wei could tell from his expression that his imagination was running wild again. Her mouth twitched as she explained: "The God of the Dead gave me this island. I'm their master now, so you don't need to worry about them harming us anymore."
Troy was stunned: "The God of the Dead... gave you the island?"
Why was it that he knew every word, but couldn't understand them when put together?
"Yes," Luo Wei raised an eyebrow. "He said I look like His daughter, so He gave me the island."
Troy looked like he had been struck by lightning, his brain struggling to process this information.
"Let's go," Luo Wei urged, "How long do you plan to stay here? Don't you want to go back?"
While Troy was unconscious, she had carved a teleportation array on the island, though she wasn't sure if it would work. She'd have to test it when they returned.
"I do want to go back," Troy caught up to her in two long strides, "But what about the others?"
"They angered the God of the Dead, so they have to stay on the island for three years of penance before they can leave," Luo Wei replied.
Troy: ...Why didn't he believe this?
"Don't believe me?" Luo Wei seemed to read his thoughts. "Then I'll show you. They're building wooden houses, preparing for a long stay."
She led Troy to where the mercenaries were cutting wood and building houses.
In the forest, eight mercenaries were working feverishly.
Since there were no proper logging tools on the island, Luo Wei had the souls return their swords to them. The mercenaries were now using their swords to chop trees while crying bitterly.
Troy was shocked and instinctively protected his own sword.
Now he believed Luo Wei's words - swordsmen would never use their precious swords to chop wood unless they were truly repenting!
A sword was a swordsman's life!
"What terrible thing did they do to require such cruel penance?" Troy couldn't imagine.
"See that man with the big head and short neck?" Luo Wei pointed at the burly man who was chopping most vigorously.
Troy nodded: "Yes, that's Walke. What about him?"
Walke did have a notably large head, which he was quite proud of, often boasting about how smart his big head made him.
Surely the God of the Dead hadn't become angry just because his head was too big?
"He tried to kill me and convinced others to abandon me and escape," Luo Wei said.
"As I said before, the God of the Dead sees me as His daughter. Of course He was angry when these people tried to kill me. I prayed all night to spare their lives."
She shrugged: "I had no choice. Three years of penance is already the best outcome they could hope for."
The cause and effect made perfect sense.
Troy was shocked - so that's what happened!
"It's my fault for bringing such people here," he said regretfully. "How dare they try to kill their employer!"
Luo Wei shook her head: "It's not your fault. Most people who come to explore the Demon Island for bounty are desperados. They're not exactly paragons of virtue."
Troy thought for a moment, then raised his sword: "Such dangerous people - I'll go kill him!"
Luo Wei: "??"
What are you, the King of Hell?
Usually so compassionate, why are you suddenly out for blood?
"Put your sword away. I don't plan to kill him," she stopped him.
Troy frowned: "Why not? He tried to kill you."
A swordsman's world was simple - matters of life and death were usually settled with death when possible.
"Because I'm kind-hearted and don't like killing people," Luo Wei answered.
"But before, in Siria, you had me kill that fake wanderer who tried to kill you."
"That's because he was truly evil, and his methods were vile and despicable. Killing him was doing society a favor. Although Walke wanted to kill me, he didn't succeed. Perhaps this is his first mistake? Everyone deserves a chance to reform," Luo Wei said.
In reality, given Walke's temperament, he had likely done many bad things before.
The real reason she didn't kill him was that his life was in her hands.
She could kill him anytime, so the timing didn't matter. He was a strong laborer in his prime - killing him would be wasteful.
If it were someone else, and she couldn't control them, she definitely wouldn't show mercy.
Just like when she ordered Troy to kill Nick, Axina's guard - enemies should be eliminated as decisively as autumn winds sweeping away fallen leaves.
Of course, with friends, one should use reason and emotion, and show them the benefits of friendship.
Luo Wei said to Troy: "I've told the souls to help your brother Matt. He won't suffer too much. In a few months, I'll find an excuse to let him leave."
Troy nodded: "Good!"
They left without disturbing the mercenaries and spent three days surveying the island.
The total area of Demon Island was about 309 square miles, about 19 miles from east to west and 25 miles from north to south, shaped like a flattened football.
There was an active volcano in the northwest of the island, while the south and east had large areas of fertile volcanic soil. The southeastern bay area was rich in forest resources, and the southwestern coast had vast highland prairies.
To Luo Wei, this island was practically paradise. Apart from the risk of underwater lava eruptions causing waves and potential volcanic activity on the island, it had no flaws!
The bay contained many century-old trees, indicating that volcanic activity didn't significantly impact this area - it should be safe for at least the next fifty years.
Fifty years was enough time for her to amass troops and horses, and establish iron-working and shipbuilding.
Unfortunately, no copper, iron, or aluminum deposits were found on the island. There were some scattered rare earth minerals, but she had no use for those at this stage.
If she wanted to smelt iron here, she would need to build large ships in the south first to transport iron ore.
Luo Wei drew a simple map of Demon Island, put it in a waterproof leather pouch, and tucked it into Troy's waist bag.
"Let's go, time to return to Siria."
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