The System’s drop point wasn’t too far off.
Once Nana Shi steadied herself, the snow scene around her felt familiar enough to touch.
Only one thing felt strange...
“Is this really the Northland?” The world was white as bleached silk, yet the air’s warmth felt oddly normal.
Bundled in winter gear, the System tugged at her collar, heat pressing like a damp quilt. It was her first time feeling the Northland warmer than the continent.
This was seeing a ghost in daylight...
She flicked her scanner; 26 degrees blinked back, a number like a quiet ember.
The Northland runs in deep subzero for years on end. Why flip today?
If she hadn’t rechecked, she’d think her hardware had a demon in it.
Twenty-six isn’t hot, but at that breath, snow should melt like salt on ice.
Yet besides the muggy air, nothing else was different.
What had washed over this land?
“Host, the master told me to warn you.”
Even Yan Xiao had never seen warmth that left no mark on the world.
“There’s probably a real problem here.”
Nana Shi frowned; the feeling hit first, then she cut the thought clean.
“Let’s check Estis City first.”
She didn’t take Yan Xiao’s words to heart, but she tucked caution away like a hidden blade.
Nana headed for Estis without hiding, swagger loud as drums in empty snow.
Like she feared the Northland would miss her.
“Weird... truly weird...”
The System stared through her map scroll like fire through thin paper and still found nothing.
Northland scouts listen through beasts buried under snow, sound pulsing back like sonar in ice.
Now those burrowed beasts were gone, and even patrol soldiers had vanished.
Had the Northland grown so strong it needed no guard at all?
“Open the scanner. Check life pulses.”
Nana stopped. The System stumbled into her lower back, a soft thud in the hush.
“Ow... I already ran the life-pulse scanner.”
The emptiness pressed like cotton; no one was there.
She rubbed her nose, grumbling inside, then rebooted and obeyed.
“You’re using it wrong. My turn. Iron will find ’em.”
The Black Great Axe was in Nana’s hand like a shadow, and she slammed it into the snow.
Boom—!
Force sank into the drifts, muffled thunder rolling across the wide Northland like a canyon drum.
Snow at Nana’s feet cracked open; spiderweb fissures raced out from the Colossal Axe.
“W-what are you doing, Host?!”
Panic popped like sparks in dry straw.
“Less talk. Check your screen. Any idiots show up?”
The jab snapped the System awake. She yanked open the display.
Sure enough, a red dot flickered nearby, a life pulse weak as a dying ember.
“S-someone’s there...”
Without that quake, she might’ve missed it entirely.
“But why does hitting the ground reveal them? That makes no sense.”
“When humans face sudden shock, the heart kicks hard for a breath.”
Caught unprepared, most will jolt when a strike falls from nowhere.
Nana explained in a salt-flat calm, then stowed Heavens Sunder at her hip.
“Come on. Let’s see what’s going on.”
She wouldn’t wander blind all the way to Estis.
“Looks like a soldier...”
The System dug the figure from the snow, sweat beading like dew on pine.
“Host, she’s from Estis City!”
A weapon lay beside her, steel blue under slush.
Why would an Estis soldier be here?
They were still a long way off.
Nana approached, brow lifting.
A young woman lay there, fair features marred by gashes and a broad bloom of blood at her chest.
“Trouble.”
Nana sighed, then fished out an Amber Talisman and pressed it to the woman’s sternum.
Spirit Energy trickled from Nana, warm current under winter.
Wounds shrank visibly, knitting like frost retreating at sunrise.
“N-Nana Shi, City Lord?”
The woman startled to speech, naming her outright.
Nana blinked. “You know me?”
She kept low-key; aside from a few enemies, who’d remember?
“City Lord Nana... you jest. What soldier in the Northland doesn’t know you?”
Twice seeing the Ice Emperor and leaving alive—her name sticks like wet ink.
“Alright. Since we know each other, talk. Why’s there no guard today?”
Even if war started with those mark-bearers, the Ice Emperor should swat it aside.
“Ah... guard... Right. City Lord, please—help the Northland!”
Fatigue burned off; anxiety surged like brushfire.
“Her Majesty the Ice Emperor is missing! The entire Northland is in chaos!”
“Say what?”
Biyan Han vanished?
The shock rang long, a bell tolling for a year inside Nana.
Fate wasn’t just being cute.
First, Thousandwise shadowed her in Chronos City under the Ice Emperor’s orders.
Then mark-bearers flooded the Northland.
Now the Ice Emperor, ruler of this land, up and disappeared.
No way there’s no stink here.
After a brief exchange, Nana had the gist.
The Ice Emperor never returned after the United Council with Thousandwise.
Unaware, most Northlanders got blindsided by the surge of mark-bearers.
With Thousandwise absent as Lord of Estis City, the first defense fell with barely a fight.
“So you plan to leave the Northland and seek aid on the continent?”
Nana lifted her gaze and studied her.
“Mm-hmm.”
The soldier nodded like a pecking sparrow and wolfed down rations, breath hot like a forge.
“Luck smiled... gulp gulp... meeting you here, City Lord... gulp gulp...
Otherwise I’d die trying to reach the continent.”
“Emmm, quick question. How long since Estis fell?”
“Uh... just a day, I think.”
“Just a day?!”
The System gaped, eyes wide like lanterns.
“It’s at least ninety li from here to Estis. You ran it in one day? While wounded?”
“Eh? Is that so strange?”
Her honest confusion drifted like snow over stone.
“...”
Strange didn’t cover it. The System knew Northlanders had superhero stamina, but seeing it moved mountains.
“Are you monsters?”
The Northland soldier: “...”
“Rude. Can you not?”
Nana rapped the System’s head, a light tap like a spoon on porcelain.
“I just... got shocked!”
The System cupped her crown, small grievance puffing like steam.
She didn’t want to be the person who asks if folks are monsters.
But these people were wild.
“Well... City Lord, it’s fine. You’re not locals; it’s natural to find this incredible.”
The soldier wore a wry smile, dusted with weariness.
“City Lord Nana came all this way. You must be here for Her Majesty, right?”
“Yeah.”
She hadn’t expected Biyan Han to just vanish.
“Doesn’t matter. That one will come back sooner or later.”
“Uh? I...”
The soldier hadn’t expected that breeze of an answer.
“It’s fine. I know what you’re about to say. Lead on.”
Nana hauled her up without ceremony.
“I’ll stay in your land for a while. My city’s got caretakers. Lingering here won’t hurt.”
“B-but...”
“No buts. I’m already in your Northland as a guest, and you’re not welcoming me?
Even the ancient sticks ruling the Continental states don’t get that privilege.”
She pulled a face, annoyance flicking like a paper fan.
(Some Continental rulers snorted, cold as iron: “Heh. Who the hell wants this maniac as a guest?”)
“...”
“Then... this subordinate will lead the way.”
“There you go. That’s how neighbors keep trade friendly.”
“...”
