The Kurile Cold Current surges southward along the Thousand Islands chain ceaselessly. The string of islands is like icy pearls on the sea, strung together by the ocean current, adorning the neck of the Ainu Tribe. High peaks emitting volcanic smoke serve as the best navigators on the sea, allowing the local tribes' small boats to sail back and forth smoothly. Green grass covers the mountains beneath the islands, with no trees in sight, only the green below and the snow-white above the mountains.
Gray seagulls fly in the gray sky, chirping cheerfully from ti to ti, pouncing into the sea's surface to catch the fish swimming south with the current, then brushing past the longships' sails before flying away. The snow fox stands on the cliff of the snow mountain, with its bright eyes watching as three longships row towards it, then follow the sea current away, disappearing into the southern horizon.
"Great Divine Spirit of the Sea and Thunderbolt! The Thousand Islands of the island part have so many islands! … These islands are covered in green grass and seem to be excellent grazing grounds. However, they are too scattered and too small, unsuitable for reindeer migration, nor can they support large prey herds, or sustain a tribe of over a hundred people… Small islands, likewise, are hard to find wind-protected coves to withstand the winter. Most crucially, the wind must be extrely strong on these islands, and thus there are no trees, aning no fuel or houses! … The winters here must be terribly cold! …"
As part of the Koryak Deer Division of the Kamchatka Peninsula, the hunter's assessnt is quite candid. The Koryak Deer Division and the Kotyel'myen Mountain Part occupy the Kamchatka Peninsula, waging life-and-death battles over pastures on the peninsula, yet no tribe has moved south to the Thousand Islands, leaving the scattered Ainu islands to occupy the area freely.
The reason is not that the courageous Kamchatka tribes cannot defeat the Ainu people, but that such a fragnted and cold island chain relies heavily on boats and fishing, and cannot support the nomadic lifestyle of the Kamchatka tribes. When winter storms arrive, these islands, both large and small, will be completely engulfed in ice and snow, unable to find a sheltered winter camp, even more so than the northern Kamchatka Peninsula, where it gets cold!
"The Thousand Islands are the vanishing wind, holding silent Divine Might within the sea… It is our last refuge after Maoshili Great Island, and the gateway to the Netherworld… Failed tribes wander here, gradually perishing in the wind and snow, eventually forgetting everything… and being forgotten by others…"
The Thousand Island Shell softly sang, with tears gradually filling her eyes. To the Ainu people, the extinction of a tribe does not happen when the last tribesperson dies… but when the tribe loses its ancestral songs, loses the 'storyteller,' forgets everything about the ancestors, and is forgotten by other tribes.
And as the defeated ones on Maoshili Great Island, her tribe wandered northward in this manner, barely surviving in the Thousand Islands, their numbers dwindling… Thereafter, they were entirely captured by Zuwaro's fleet that sailed south last year.
"This is the guidance of the Chief Divine! The shell is a Thunderbolt and Sea's Divine Might, guiding you and to et, and guiding your tribe back to the Jiao People, the origin of our ancestors! It's not only you; these various islands and scattered Ainu tribes are our long-lost brethren of the Jiao People as well! …"
Zuwaro gently comforted her, holding the petite and soft Ainu girl in his arms. The ship fleet sailed nearly a month along this series of islands, stretching probably at least two thousand li! And every ti they stopped at a larger island, the fleet dispatched a scout to explore, and the Ainu tribes on the island would flee in panic, not knowing where they've hidden…
In Zuwaro's view, the scale of these Ainu tribes is indeed too small. A tribe often consists of only a few dozen people, or even just over ten, more could not survive the winter. Their camps were very rudintary, lacking decent wooden houses, with the majority being dug-out pits. In those abandoned camps, there were no tal implents, only stone tools, and no poultry whatsoever.
And when the 'overwhelmingly nurous,' 'large ship-borne' and 'fierce Mountain Part' appeared, the first reaction of the island tribes was to flee! Bringing along pitiably little stored food, into the tall grass and mountains, abandoning their campsites outright…
"Chief Divine! This two-thousand-li-long Thousand Island chain is truly frighteningly barren! We couldn't find tribe supplies at all, having to rely solely on the fleet's carried provisions and fishing along the way… This two-thousand-li distance is a natural barrier, no wonder the Mountain Part of the peninsula cannot head south to reach the 'inhabitable good place' as the shell ntioned, Ainu Maoxili…"
Zuwaro muttered to himself until the outlines of a vast land began to appear on the southern sea surface. As the fleet gradually approached, the distant mountains, the endless forests, flowing rivers, and gray beaches all increasingly ca into view. All the while, lively beasts and curious Flying Birds poked their heads inquisitively, peering towards the 'giant beast' at sea.
At this mont, every able-bodied man from the Rokube on the ship was utterly dumbfounded. They never imagined that beyond that series of barren and frigid islands, there would be lush grazing lands, rich in water and grass! anwhile, the Ainu tribes on the ship cheered joyously, many of them shedding tears.
The Thousand Island Shell stared in a daze at the coast, at the holand she was once forced to leave, and those sights appearing repeatedly in dreams, imagining the tribe's thriving past… Afterwards, she sat at the prow, softly singing Ainu songs. Her singing was very soft, yet it made all the Ainu people listen in silence, and even close their eyes.
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