Leaving Planck's Sea Fortress, Ize set out on his journey alone, just as he had when he first arrived in Ionia.

The sky is already bright, the sun has not yet come out, and the sea is calm in the early morning, with a slight wave on the sea. Izawa faced the cool sea breeze and looked at the map carefully with the map in his hand, "Well, I can't tell where I am now." At this time, Ize had been away from the extinct volcano where Planck's sea fortress was located for some time, but there were still rocks under his feet, and there were no corals and marshes that were common on islands.

"Forget it." Izawa thought for a moment that it was a map from decades ago, put it away, and continued to walk forward barefoot.

Because the map didn't make much use, at first Izawa kept walking south along the zigzag coastline, so that at the southern end of the coastline was the port of Birgewater. Then Ize looked at the uneven coastline, some places protruded from the normal coast for more than ten miles, and thought about how many unjust roads he would have to take, Ize decided to turn to the inner island and walk in a straight line faster. Of course, Izawa didn't know that there were still a few places on the map that could be used to mark the route to the inner islands, and everything had to be explored by himself.

By the time Izawa had winded from the coastline to the inner islands, the sun had climbed high and it seemed to be noon. The environment of the inner island is not as barren as on the coast, but there are still steep ridges or steep slopes of small height. And on the island, the water that seems to be meandering out of the ground is densely covered with the ground as far as the eye can see, and the relative green is also lush.

Izawa was barefoot, walking in the ankle-high water. Looking at the dense stream-like water, constantly walking around the streams.

"The landscape here is a bit peculiar." Izawa had just walked through the streams, and found that they were all very shallow, but there were many, and there was no source in sight. "Normally, the sea and land come into contact and collide with each other to form islands, while the land shore zone is not likely to be affected by wind, waves and tides. In addition, the inland island is much higher than the coast, and the water does not swim upstream. So, where exactly do these currents come from? Izawa felt the cold water beneath his feet and continued to walk along the water in all directions, determined to find the source of the current.

Izawa followed the flow of water until the surrounding trees became more and more dense, and it seemed to become a forest. The ground under your feet is not a rough rock, but a damp and sparse soft soil. Various plants that are common on the corresponding islands are also revealed. But the source of the water is still far ahead. And Izawa, who had been following the current to explore the source, had unknowingly deviated from the original route without noticing.

Izawa looked up at the dark sky through the dense trees, and Izawa decided to rest in this dense forest on the island tonight, and must find the source of the water tomorrow.

As it gets late, the tide begins to rise, the waves get bigger and bigger, and from a distance there is a thunderous "rumbling" sound, Izawa up his ears to listen to the sound of the tide and judges his distance from the coastline, which is also one of the basic common sense that a qualified explorer should have. Slowly the tide receded, and the sea returned to calm. Izawa took out the bread in the package and ate it without a bite, and the sound of the "rumbling" waves in his ears turned into the sound of running water in the woods. In this quiet environment, it's easy to get cranky. Obviously, the same is true of Ize.

Izawa leaned against a tree, bread in his hand, no mouth, eyes staring at the ground in a daze. "Hey, I've been away from Ionia for four or five days before I know it, and I'm still alone." Surrounded by nothing but the sound of non-talking trees and gurgling water, Izawa suddenly felt a little lonely and a little sentimental.

"I don't know, my friends... Thinking of this, Ize suddenly sighed, "Perhaps, people don't treat you as a friend." Just like in Piltover. "Ever since Izawa was sensible, he had been in the messy home of the Great Inventor, and the Great Inventor had explicitly told Izawa that his parents had abandoned him. Let the young Izeh scream and scream, his little body running wildly through the streets of Piltover, hitting his head and bleeding, and shouting "Mommy, "Daddy" over and over again on a cold winter night. Until now, Izawa did not know the names of his parents. And the young Izeh still runs through the streets of Piltover day after day. Until one rainy night, Catherine, who was also young, appeared in front of Ize, and Izawa smiled at the thought of this.

Xiao Ize helplessly hid under the eaves and watched the pouring rain outside, the narrow eaves couldn't stop the heavy rain at all, Xiao Ize hugged his shoulders tightly, buried his head in the crook of his arm, helplessly let the heavy rain get wet.

It wasn't until little Izawa didn't feel the rain pouring on him that he looked up and saw a strange big girl standing in front of him with an umbrella.

"Woo," little Ize buried his head and cried again.

"Hey, dirty crybaby." As a child, Catherine was half a head taller than Ize.

"I'm not a crybaby." Little Izawa looked up timidly at the big girl in front of him.

"You are." As she spoke, Catherine leaned over and wiped the snot from Ize's face.

"Uhhhhh Izawa's small body seemed a little helpless, and no one had ever cared so much about him. Biting the corners of his mouth, tears appeared in his eyes again.

"Hey, don't cry." The young Catherine crossed her waist and looked at Ize viciously, and said angrily.

"Wow. It's scary... ”

Because little Ize wears a suit of clothes all year round and runs around Piltover to get dirty, the street dwellers who appear in Izawa will pull their children and point at Ize and laugh, "Look at that dirty little ghost." And little Ezawa has learned to ignore the eyes of others, and still looks for every nook and cranny of Piltover again and again. From that day on, Izze became Catherine's little henchman. And Catherine is also the only playmate of Ize's childhood, although she often pulls at Ize's ear and yells viciously, "Nasty." ”

Until the two of them slowly opened up, the former crybaby has grown into a handsome teenager, and is working hard to become a great adventurer who explores the whole continent. And Catherine, who has a temper as she was when she was a child, also turned into a great beauty, determined to become the sheriff of Piltover.

"You're going out again?" Catherine looked at Ezawa as if she was still looking at the crybaby of ten years ago.

"What's your business?" Ize finally didn't have to look up at Catherine anymore.

"Look for death!"

"Hahaha."

"Hey, Ize. Where are you going this time?" Catherine finally couldn't catch up with the crybaby when she was a child.

"Demacia." Izawa looked back at his eldest sister when he was a child with a smile, "Someone invited me to Demacia." ”

"How long will it take to be back?" Catherine looked at Ize.

"I'm not coming back." Izawa looked serious.

"Uhhh Catherine had a look of loss on her face.

"Hahaha, lied to you. I'll be back for the ceremony on the day you graduate. ”

"Die...

"Hahahaha..."

Thinking about it, Izawa's hand drooped, and the bread fell to the ground, and he was already asleep peacefully.

And in the distant Piltover , Catherine held Ize's broken technological glove after the battle and watched silently, "Izawa, aren't you coming back, my graduation ceremony is coming... ”

Return to the dense forest on Blue Flame Island where Izawa sits. There was a sudden commotion in the grass next to the big tree that Izawa was leaning on, and then a head poked out of the grass and looked left and right, and by the moonlight, it could be seen that it was a blue head. Then he suddenly jumped out of the grass, walked up to Izawa, picked up the bread at his feet, smelled it, and said in a childlike voice, "Well... No fishy smell. Izawa was still asleep, not noticing the creature in front of him. And the blue figure took a small lick of the bread with the fork-like thing in his hand, "Phew." After spitting a few times, I noticed Izea in front of me, staring carefully at the big blue eyes for a while, before going up and touching Ize's hair, and patting Ize's cheek, and our Ize, still hasn't woken up... In the unfamiliar dense forest of Blue Flame Island, an unknown species with an entire blue body is jumping in front of Izawa. Finally, it noticed the rucksack that Izewa was pressing under him, and as if it hadn't seen Izawa, it quickly picked it up with the fork in its hand and brought it to its mouth and bit it, "Phew." He spat a few more times and threw his hand aside.

Then, it seems to be eyeing Izawa...

The strange blue creature blinked at the "thing" in front of him (Izawa) that was much bigger than himself. The man then took the harpoon in his hand and carefully poked Izawa's arm, and suddenly jumped up and opened his mouth to bite Izawa.

“！！ Holy! ”

Izawa was awakened by a sharp pain, and then watched in horror as a blue, pointy toothed creature bit down on his arm.

"Holy, alien!" As he spoke, the light of his right hand flickered, and when he shook his hand, it was a wave of energy.

"Hey-ha."

Seeing that the blue creature was not hit at such a close distance, it jumped to the side with agility, and the fork in his hand pointed directly at Ize.

Through the not-so-transparent moonlight in the woods, Izawa finally managed to see the whole picture of the creature, which was humanoid but had fish fins on all its limbs, a sea-blue body and a white belly. At this time, he stood like a man with a harpoon. Izawa suddenly remembered the story of the Sea of Defenders told by Captain La, and was pleasantly surprised: "Fish-people! ”

The strange creature that Izawa called the Fish-Man clan looked at the creature that suddenly moved in front of him, and blinked wide-eyed. It was just like Izawa's thoughts, Izawa thought it was a wonderful creature that he had never seen before, and he also thought that Ize was a strange food that he had never seen before.

Izawa carefully raised his hands to show that he had no malicious intent, and slowly tried to approach it: "Can you, can you understand me?" ”

The strange creature jumped back vigilantly, still blinking and holding the harpoon with its big eyes, wondering if it could eat it.

Ize didn't have a chance to step forward, so he held on silently for a while, and the blue creature suddenly said, "You're so bored," and then turned around and ran quickly into the depths of the dense forest.

"It can talk!" Izawa was overjoyed, picked up his rucksack and turned to chase after him. "I'm so lucky to actually meet the Fish-People!"

"Hey, wait. I have no ill will. "My name is Ezreal, and I know you're a brave race. ”

"Stepping on the waves~."

The blue creature deftly shuttled through every river in the dense forest, and Ize secretly said that the river in the forest was too suitable for its movement, and it would soon be out of sight. Ize suddenly stopped and shouted, "I have food, do you want to eat it?" ”

"Smack."

The blue creature stopped in the water, turning its head and blinking at Izawa with wide eyes.

Izawa slowly took out a bag of dried fish from his rucksack and threw it over. The blue creature sniffed at a distance, then happily ran over and sat on the ground with a hug and gnawed.

"Whew." Izawa breathed a long sigh of relief, "I knew it was so easy. . . However, is this fishing with fish? ”

Taking advantage of the fact that the blue creature was eating, Ize finally approached it smoothly.

"Uhhh Izawa cleared his throat and carefully sat down next to it, for fear of startling it away. Stretching out his hands, he said sincerely, "My name is Ezreal, and you are an explorer. ”

The blue creature was busy munching on the dried fish, ignoring Ize. Izawa sat on the ground a little awkwardly. In the moonlight, two different species sat together in silence.

Finally, the blue creature patted its belly with satisfaction, looked at Ize with wide eyes, and said in a milky tone, "They all call me Fitz." ”

"Well, it's still a child." Izawa scratched his head helplessly. "As you just said, they are your people. Can you tell me where you live? "As an explorer, I'm always curious about the unknown.

Fitz's face suddenly showed a gloomy expression, "My people are all gone. It's been a long time since I've been back to where I live. ”

"Your people are gone?" Although Izawa is eager to understand this brave race, he can't be abrupt to get to the bottom of this kind of problem.

"Yes." Fitz sat on the ground, looking down at his snow-white belly, "It was an expedition I went out as usual, and I don't know how long I was out there." When I went back again, the city was in ruins, and my people had vanished as if they had never been in this world. I thought, maybe there was some strong enemy, or maybe I was abandoned. So I decided to come out and look for my people. ”

Izawa listened silently, feeling that Fitz had a similar experience to himself when he was a child, and silently patted Fitz on the shoulder, thinking of what the old captain once said to him, "Only if you are willing to look for it, you will definitely find it." ”

Fitz was comforted by Ize's mood and improved significantly, stepped forward and curiously pulled Ize's hair, and touched his cheek again, "Then we are not friends." ”

"Friends, of course." Izawa was afraid that one would bite it off if he didn't agree.

Fitz was still curious to touch Ize's body, and it took a lot of effort for Izawa to pull it off. He raised his face and looked at Fitz and said, "Fitz, I want to go and see where you live." Can you take me there? ”

"It's empty." Fitz broke free of Izawa and jumped to the ground, "But I'll take you if you want to, we're friends." ”

———————————————————————— Fitz led the way, leading Ize through the woods.

"Hey, hurry up." Fitz looked back at Ize.

"I, I'm already the fastest." Izawa gasped for breath.

Finally, after crossing the edge of the dense forest, we reached the potholes full of strange rocks. In front, there were faint bursts of "rumbling". Izawa followed Fiz closely, along with the streams that had continued from the forest.

Finally, the "rumble" sound was getting closer and closer, and Izawa also looked at the scene in front of him in shock.

"This... Is this a fault? Izawa, who followed Fitz, was sure that he was still on the island, but there was a huge crack in front of him, but it was even more amazing, the water here did not flow down to the deep canyon, but from the bottom to the top, and the water rolled upside down, as if there was an invisible mouth leading the water to the water, until it broke into a thin stream and flowed into the distance, and Ize finally understood the source of the water in the dense forest.

Izawa watched as the rolling waves fell in circles from the bottom to the top, roaring like thousands of horses. Izawa turned his head to look at Fitz: "This place, why does the water flow up?"

"Doesn't the water keep flowing up," Fitz looked at Izawa with an idiot's look.

"Uhhh Izawa sighed secretly, the child was not sensible, and could not be angry, and then asked, "Your home, right down here?" ”

"It's down here."

"So, how do we go down?" Izawa asked Fitz.

"How you come up, how you go down." Fitz said.

"What do you mean..."

Fitz raised the fork in his hand; "Jump..."

“。。。”

"Why don't you speak?"

"I'm a little dizzy, you let me calm down for a while" Izawa covered his forehead and looked at the roaring Grand Canyon, just the water vapor from the upside-down current was enough to blow people away.

"Oh." Fitz nodded, "Then I'll eat something to keep up my strength." As he spoke, he began to dig out Ize's bag.

Izawa glanced up at Fiz very weakly, and finally held back what he wanted to say, at this time he wanted to cry: Big brother, is this something that can be done by eating something?

"Are you alright?" Fitz asked Ize, holding the dried fish.

"Can't die, can you?"

"What is death?"

"It's nothing, let's go." Ize sighed secretly: Goodbye, beautiful Valoran Continent...

Fitz had reached the edge of the canyon and then flung his fork back, "Close your eyes, hold on to your fork, don't let go, it won't be long before you arrive." ”

"Okay." Izawa tightened his backpack.

"The tide has reversed!"

Fitz shouted and then turned over and jumped off the fault, leading Ize into the deep undersea mountain range.

Where to? Look for adventures! Izawa, who was holding the fork, only felt a strong force, and his body was lifted into the air, and Ize knew that he had been carried by Fiz and jumped deep into the crack. Feeling the sound of the wind in his ears, Ize firmly grasped the fork and closed his eyes. There was water, which wet the clothes, but surprisingly there was no sense of suffocation, that is to say, the large strait under the crack was not a confined space with seawater all over the body, and there was also air.

After about three minutes, maybe five, Izawa, with his eyes closed, could feel himself falling rapidly, his mind in a state of confusion, and he only knew how to hold on to the fork in his hand until his arms were overexerted and sore. People are like this, in extreme panic or instability, such as drowning, they will clutch to anything that can be grasped around them and not let go, and Ize at this time is also like this.

"Hey." Fitz shook his fork.

Motionless...

Fitz tugged forward with all his might.

Still not moving...

Fitz simply let go, watching Izawa kneel on the ground, his head buried in front of his chest and his eyes tightly closed, his hands clutching the fork and stretching forward, maintaining the previous action of being led down the strait by Fitz.

"Is this 'death'?" Fitz stepped forward and kicked him.

"Ahh Izawa screamed first, and Izawa shook his arm, which was in pain from exerting too much force, and looked at his surroundings. "I thought I would be swallowed by the sea in an instant."

It wasn't like Izawa would descend into a dark, damp underground cavern. Izawa stood up and saw that his position should be a huge square, with no damp dirt under his feet but hard stone slabs, and it didn't look like he was in a dim ocean floor, the whole square was illuminated by the faint light of sea blue, and the square seemed to be shrouded by an invisible barrier, and he could see huge narwhals and clusters of sea blue jellyfish swimming slowly. Ize gradually had an eyebrow in his heart, this undersea city should be carved out of the submarine mountains under the fault, as for what methods and materials are used to block the seawater, Ize has no way to know for the time being, and can only secretly admire the wisdom of the fish-man clan.

Fitz stood aside and watched Izawa carefully observe every building and corner of the square, and yawned a little boredly, because with that kind of exploration that could not be satisfied with a peaceful life, Fitz could not resist the temptation of thrills, so he did not miss this place much.

Izawa walked forward while writing and drawing with his notes, although the underwater city was empty, he could not let it be drowned in the unknown deep sea and the long stream of time.

At the end of the square, there are two huge statues, one male and one female, both in the shape of fishtails. The statue of the mermaid has long hair and a shawl, with the twisted face of a human woman, a natural smile on the face carved in stone, and a harp in her hand, as if playing. The male mermaid was dressed in armor, holding a fork similar to Fitz in his hand, holding a shield in his left hand, and his face carved in stone had resolute lines. The fly in the ointment is that both statues have their eyes closed.

"Fitz, these two statues, how long have they existed?" Izawa turned to Fiz behind him.

Fitz dragged his fork and walked slowly behind, looking listless, "I don't know, I've been here since I was born, it seems like a long time ago." ”

Izawa looked at the two statues, what kind of magic work did it take to portray them so lifelike. If it weren't for the closed eyes and the lack of verve, Izawa would never have believed that these were just two statues, like they had stood here for generations, guarding the fish-people. Izawa bowed slowly to the two stone statues and continued to walk forward.

"Fitz, why did your ancestors choose to live here" Although he knew that asking was equivalent to asking in vain, Izawa couldn't help but look at Fitz.

"I don't know." Really...

Izawa continued to walk along the square, the sea blue light above his head getting brighter and brighter, and various unknown sea creatures swam by in groups. After passing through an archway, Izawa saw buildings and paths in between. Ize became more and more puzzled, and more and more admired Fitz's ancestors, how much power it would take to build such a city at the bottom of the sea.

The light cast by the sun through the deep sea shines on the path at the foot of Izawa, and the algae-like plants on the side of the road emit a soft shimmer, and in such an underwater city, light is perhaps more precious than air.

"Fitz, this is where you live." Izawa looked up at the stone-stacked house, which did not feel shabby, but rather beautiful, with windows carved out of the room, decorated with red crystals, and decorated with decorative patterns.

"Yes." Fitz's expression dropped significantly, "When I come back, the people will all be gone." Fitz was already clearly crying, "Izza, I've been abandoned by my people!" People are like this, a sad thing and a sad person don't feel anything when they think about it, but if they really want to see it, they can't suppress their emotions. Thinking about it and seeing it are two very different things.

Ize hugged Fitz tightly, but didn't know how to comfort it, just said silently: "No, no... ”

Fitz was a child after all, and after crying for a while, he slowly calmed down and went back to chasing the frolicking fish. Izawa smiled and decided to take a look at the living conditions of the Fish-People, got up and pushed open a door and walked in.

The room is as simple as human furnishings, and there are no unusual daily necessities such as tables and chairs. Izawa turned and walked to Ling Yi's room again.

After turning many rooms one after another, a deep sadness finally appeared in Ize's eyes. In these rooms, more than eighty percent of the dishes are on the table, which has not yet been taken away, and the food in them has oxidized into a piece of crumbs. All the daily necessities are exactly as if someone is there, and they are placed in their proper place. And on the road, Izawa observed for a long time, and there was no trace of a fight, but no one walked for a long time. Importantly, every house here has a harpoon like Fitz's, standing quietly behind the door. Before Izawa arrived, he didn't know what kind of people the Fish-People were. When he arrived here, the undersea city of Anapos, looking at the empty city, Ize felt a little frightened, what was the reason for this, there was nothing unusual about the disappearance of such a large race. Izawa had come to the conclusion that he had never had time to take anything with him, and that the Fishmen were not going to migrate out of here on their own. But there is no sign of a fight, so could it be that the fish people will leave this place without any persecution? Izawa rubbed his head in pain: he didn't clean up after the meal, and his weapons were still in the house. What is the irresistible force that makes the fish-people disappear without leaving a trace without the slightest reaction?

"Hypnotic magic? I've never heard of hypnotic magic on such a large scale. A flying machine similar to Kutch's? However, to carry hundreds of people, even the great inventors are still working on it. Ezawa couldn't think of a reason, and glanced up at Fitz, still chasing the frolicking fish.

And the two statues in the square just as Ize stepped into Anapos had closed their eyes oozing a string of water, as if they were crying silently. The mermaid with the harp emitted a series of silent notes, slowly drifting towards Ize, and the male mermaid with a trident in his hand, the fork emitted a yellow-orange-orange light, shooting at Fiz who was playing in mid-air... And all this, Ize, who was frowning and contemplating intently, and Fitz, who was frolicking, were not aware of it.