"Shoo~! Shoo~!"
Maybe she was a little tired from flying, but when Fengzi saw Shizuka and Lin Feng standing together chatting, she let out a cheerful, spoiled little cry and fluttered over to Shizuka's side, happily playing and rubbing against her.
This clingy personality was the complete opposite of Xiao Hei's aloof, cold, strangers-keep-away attitude. Two extremes.
"Alright, alright, Fengzi—stop messing around. You're tickling me…~!"
Maybe darting through the clouds a few times earlier had made her extra excited, so she was even more enthusiastic than usual while playing with Shizuka.
Seeing the two playing so happily, Lin Feng couldn't help but smile.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, he hurried to the ship's railing and began carefully observing the surroundings.
After confirming what he needed, Lin Feng walked straight toward the mast at the center of the deck.
"Kaimujin, have the ship descend to sea level. Now."
Kaimujin was currently standing atop the mast inside the control tower, adjusting the Wind Ship's direction. Hearing Lin Feng from below, he looked down with a puzzled expression.
"Descend to sea level?"
"Why…?"
He didn't immediately follow the order, instead calling down with a question.
"Look at the clouds ahead—they're not moving at all. That means we're about to reach the equatorial Windless Zone."
"If I'm right, this Wind Ship travels by wind power, right? If we enter the Windless Zone unprepared, we'll fall straight out of the sky."
To make it convincing, Lin Feng laid out his reasoning directly.
In the original story, this exact scene had happened before.
During their journey back then, no one noticed this detail, and the Wind Ship ended up falling from the sky straight into the ocean.
Although everyone was fine afterward, now that Lin Feng remembered, there was no reason to let everyone take that risk again.
"The equatorial Windless Zone, huh…"
"Damn! I completely forgot about that! Pass the order—begin descent immediately!"
After Lin Feng's reminder, Kaimujin looked far ahead. The cloud layer indeed hung still in the sky, motionless.
And the sea ahead was unnaturally calm—like a polished mirror.
Combining their direction, travel time, and current position, it was clear they were very close to the Windless Zone.
If not for Lin Feng's warning, they might really have sailed straight in and taken a nasty fall.
"Lin Feng, I didn't expect you to know geography this well. You're amazing!"
Shizuka had been wondering why Lin Feng suddenly ran off without saying a word—turns out it was for this reason.
"It's nothing, really… I just happened to read it in a book once."
Lin Feng scratched his cheek, a little embarrassed by the praise.
To be honest, his knowledge of geography was half-baked at best.
The only reason he recognized the Windless Zone so quickly was because he'd been watching the clouds and the ripples on the sea.
But since they were already this close to the equator, it also meant that the Long'e Island mentioned by the Wind Elder must be nearby.
Sure enough, after the Wind Ship descended to sea level and traveled for some distance, a strangely shaped island appeared on the horizon.
It wasn't a large island, but at its center stood a volcano shaped like the sharp fangs of an evil dragon, rising straight into the clouds.
If you saw it at night, it would definitely look like a fire dragon sticking its head out of the sea, spewing flames.
"That's Long'e Island? It looks kind of scary…"
Suneo leaned on the railing, staring at the volcano-bearing island with mixed feelings.
If their enemies arrived first and set an ambush, wouldn't going there now be walking right into a trap?
Suneo's pessimism was, at times, extremely strong.
"Suneo! Pull yourself together! As heroes protecting the world, we can't be weak!"
"We're men who'll become saviors of the world!"
In complete contrast, Gian thumped his chest boldly, overflowing with heroic spirit as he set an example.
"Lin Feng… do you think the people of the Lan Tribe might have arrived before us…?"
Shizuka asked softly while hugging Fengzi.
"Hm, hard to say. Anyway, we'll take a look first. We'll know once we scout around."
Lin Feng smiled slightly—neither blindly confident like Gian, nor pessimistic like Suneo.
With his current strength, even if Ulanda found a stronger host body than Suneo's last time, Lin Feng was confident he could defeat him in a direct fight.
Warriors always counter mages.
But the one he worried about the most wasn't Ulanda, the shaman of the Lan Tribe.
It was the scientist—someone just like Doraemon, from the future.
Since they'd already come this far, all they could do now was take things step by step.
In any case, stopping them from resurrecting the Wind Monster Mafuoka was the top priority.
If a monster like that revived, the entire world would fall into disaster.
From what they could see, there were no signs of activity on Long'e Island. They might very well be the first ones to arrive.
Even so, they had to remain cautious.
After docking the Wind Ship along the shore, the people of the Wind Village formed search parties and entered Long'e Island.
Lin Feng and Doraemon's group also split into three exploration teams.
Gian and Suneo, the classic duo, naturally became one team.
Nobita and Doraemon teamed up as usual.
And the remaining two—Shizuka and Lin Feng—of course ended up together.
Before they set off, Doraemon handed out several signal flares.
If anyone discovered clues or encountered danger, they were to fire a flare into the sky.
That way, the others could rush to help immediately.
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