Since records began, the nations of Terra have been in constant conflict.
Dynasties rose and fell; one saw their towers built, their banquets held, and then their collapse.
From a millennium ago, when the Great Khan of the Nightmare Kuranta established a royal court and swept across the nations, to the subsequent Demon Race restoration wars ignited by the Sarkaz royal court, the entire world trembled under repeated military disasters.
Later, the Gaul Empire rose, rivalling the Yan Country in the East and West of the continent, but that glory was merely a fleeting moment in the long river of history.
The Anti-Gaul Empire Alliance, despite being at a huge disadvantage and fighting while retreating, miraculously achieved victory, giving Victoria, Kazimierz, and Ursus a chance to breathe.
And with the decline of the Yan Empire, Victoria, this prosperous steam-powered nation, once again dominated Terra's overland trade rights.
But... royal power is not eternal.
Although to people of later generations, there is nothing new under the sun, and all historical events have reasons, and social changes are inevitable.
However, to the people of that time, even far-sighted rulers, their attitude towards every major event was, "What the hell is going on?!"
Over two hundred years ago, with the support of the Gaul Empire, several mobile cities in the western border territories of Victoria advanced westward without orders, venturing deep into undeveloped wilderness.
They established a new nation, enjoying their own tax revenue instead of having to offer tribute to the chaotic royal Family.
The Border Territory Duke once sent troops to conquer them, but the pressure from the Gaul Empire and the mutual constraints among the ducal territories still left him empty-handed.
After all, for the ancient and vast Victoria, a few such mobile cities could not stir up any waves.
Both the King of Victoria at the time and the power-holders of the three major Families focused their attention on the Gaul Empire.
Eventually, these independent mobile cities issued a joint declaration of independence, announcing the establishment of a new country.
No matter how far-sighted a politician, no one would have imagined that such a poor and weak little country, unable even to withstand natural disasters back then, would, two hundred years later, become the behemoth it is today.
Through an open policy towards immigrants, the new small nation gained a massive population and workforce from refugees, speculators, and bottom-tier people dreaming of changing their miserable lives from various countries around the world.
When the Victoria royal Family finally broke free from the suppression of the Gaul Empire and once dominated world trade, they suddenly discovered that the neighboring country had become many times stronger than they remembered.
And now, Victoria's throne has been vacant for many years, several major Families are falling apart, the Draco heir died overseas, and the Aslan heir is missing.
And a new nation, at this time, also stepped onto the historical stage of Terra —
Columbia, an emerging nation thriving while other countries in the world were regressing.
"Oh — this city is much bigger than Saltwind City."
Skadi, lie on the window, looking at the colossal, mountain-like entity slowly moving across the ground near the distant horizon, opened her small mouth in surprise, her red eyes wide.
Skadi was wearing a loose white shirt, her two bare white legs standing smoothly on the ground.
Those were Goki's clothes. During this time on the landship, Skadi, besides her skirt, really liked this shirt.
The reason was — it had Goki's reassuring scent on it.
She had known about the existence of mobile cities for a long time and had even lived in Saltwind City for a day, knowing these settlements where people on land lived and moved.
But Saltwind City had already declined; its size was at most a mobile town, and its area was not large.
However, this giant metropolis in front of her, over a hundred meters tall, even larger than Aegir's underwater dome cities, with tracks and wheels over twenty meters in diameter, was the first Skadi had ever seen.
This was a truly mobile "city," without any reduction in size; it was a genuine giant city equipped with tracks. Its constant movement on the ground over the years had carved out tracks several meters deep.
In front of this behemoth, the landship they were on was like a tiny ant, let alone a single person.
"It's amazing, still steaming, it's almost like it's alive — Goki, look, do you see it? It's like a whale, no, bigger than a whale."
The massive mobile city was slowly moving, its mid-level cooling vents open, spewing out a plume of white mist for water cooling, like a blue whale surfacing in the ocean to breathe.
"Yes, I see it, I see it, it's truly magnificent —"
Standing behind Skadi, Goki wrapped his arm around her slender waist, gently kneading her lower belly.
Skadi wasn't surprised and gently placed her small hand on Goki's large hand, both looking at the distant scenery.
From Sargon to Columbia, the landship, at its usual speed, took nearly a month to arrive.
During this time, Goki would occasionally show Skadi movies about romance.
Of course, Skadi was still naive in this regard; Goki always selectively showed her some stories with a bit of romance but positive and sunny, happy-ending plots.
As for scenes like bed-shaking, they were naturally skipped, and even Gaul-style deep kisses were not shown to Skadi.
Skadi, of course, wasn't so easy to enlighten, but she did gain a lot of knowledge.
When they got tired of watching movies, the two would simply sleep on the large bed, having long grown accustomed to embracing each other.
However, this time, it wasn't just Skadi unilaterally treating Goki as a pillow; after watching a scene from a certain romance movie, Skadi, at night, also began to ask Goki to sleep with his arm around her.
Naturally, Goki gladly accepted — although his arm was still often dislocated, it was incredibly satisfying!
Nearing their destination, Goki had already tidied up the room and changed into a light white jacket and blue jeans.
This was the most common attire in Columbia. He hadn't worn such modern clothes in who knew how many years, and for a moment, it felt a bit awkward.
In the wild Sargon, a hunter's charred and blood-stained uniform was ignored, but in Columbia, an advanced modern city, wearing that would easily attract too much attention.
Although Goki was not an assassin like Manticore, who had to hide in the shadows, being too conspicuous was also not good.
"Saint Foucault City, one of Columbia's most prosperous and largest cities, has the most research institutions in Columbia, and even several world-renowned universities. Just the Takela Valley research district alone is 48 kilometers long and 16 kilometers wide... Truly enormous!"
Looking at his phone, which was already connected to the city's regional network and showed full signal, Goki stood behind Skadi, reading the information he had found online, and couldn't help but exclaim.
[Isn't this just San Francisco and Silicon Valley? Exactly the same! So it's really the world's police, the beacon of freedom, huh?]
This city was one of the largest and most advanced cities in the young nation of Columbia, gathering the most talent and researchers in the world, and was known alongside Leithanien as one of the two best research nations in the world.
Looking at the effusive praise for Columbia and this city in the tourism bureau's promotional slogans on his phone, Goki felt a strong sense of déjà vu.
How could an emerging hegemonic nation rise solely through research and trade?
However, Goki didn't care about Columbia's true nature; for him, as long as the city had what he wanted, that was enough.
The unknowns and secrets of the gods in this world were what Goki needed to learn as soon as possible.
Goki needed to become stronger, strong enough to hunt down a brute like the God of Burning Wind.
Similarly, Goki also needed to make Skadi stronger, while avoiding any possibility that would cause her to "transform" and become Red Skadi.
This was Goki's purpose for constantly traveling across Terra — there was no nobler goal than fighting for the girl he loved.
[I hope Kaltsit can find something from this thing. Once she finishes her research, I'll try to absorb it directly.]
A faint golden mark flashed on his forehead. Sensing the somewhat familiar aura in the next room, Goki patted Skadi's shoulder.
The glowing skull appeared in his hand. Looking at this "Wisdom of an Ancient Deity," Goki frowned, feeling the scorching aura on it, and quickly put it away, continuing to rub Skadi's lower belly.
All along the way, this skull continuously emitted a tempting aura, wanting Goki to absorb it completely, but Goki still chose not to absorb this power.
This was not as simple as gaining a few Insight points, getting a few new outfits, or buying a few bottles of blood cocktails.
Through the "Knowledge of the Madman" produced by Quintus and Parvis, Goki had already accessed the world they understood.
The moment Quintus transformed into a Seaborn, and the moment Parvis was struck by the God of Burning Wind, indescribable knowledge passively flooded into their minds.
Through the Knowledge of the Madman, Goki instantly connected to the network of thoughts of the Great Ones.
In other words, Goki became a faithless "follower" of the Seaborn God and the God of Burning Wind, two Great Ones.
Just like the interconnected Bloodline of the Abyssal Hunters, if he sensed the power of the God of Burning Wind, Goki could also react.
If the Knowledge of the Madman had such power, then what kind of impact would the "Wisdom of an Ancient Deity" have on Goki?
What if this thing opened another passage to the Burning Wind Scorched Earth, allowing the God of Burning Wind to hit Goki again... So, Goki temporarily didn't plan to use this dangerous item, but kept it as a backup, at least to show off to Kaltsit.
No, besides the one in his hand, Goki actually had "knowledge" actively given by another deity inside his body — that great, great older sister, the God of Yellow Sand.
In return, Goki did help Her with a small favor.
"Alright, no need to rush, we have plenty of time to explore slowly — Come on, put on your new clothes, we're getting ready to depart."
"Columbia also has a lot of delicious food and fun places."
Releasing Skadi's lower belly, Goki patted her perky, rounded little butt, and shooed her towards the bed.
"Really? — Then I definitely want to go!"
Skadi curved her lips, excited like a child on vacation, and immediately rushed cheerfully to the bed, rolling herself into an Orca sushi on the bed.
Little Orca had no qualms about Goki, but Goki himself had taught her to change clothes away from others.
While admiring Little Orca's fair belly, Goki pressed his phone, dialing the only number he remembered.
Beep — beep — beep —
After a few rings, a slightly wary voice came from the other end of the line.
"Hello, who is this, please?"
And Goki, with an exaggeratedly affected, somewhat nauseating tone, expressed his longing for the other person.
"Hello there, my dear Nona Kaltsit, how have you been these past few months? — As per our agreement, we've arrived in Columbia. Would you mind having dinner with us?"
"...Mr. Goki, I'll give you the coordinates. It seems we have a lot to talk about."
Beep —
After a cold remark, the call ended.
"Well, how aloof."
And so, Goki and Skadi arrived in Columbia — another new journey had begun.
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