Chapter 431: Twin Eyes Island Plot Commentary
0. Most of the leave requests were deleted, making the reading experience more comfortable. (The leave requests were screenshotted, and there are many comments; perhaps a video will be made in the future to reminisce about this unique and unforgettable writing journey.)
1. I corrected all the typos from segments 158-218 (as long as you guys pointed them out).
2. In section 190, a new character was added: “Back Elephant,” the second mate of Hu Li’s pirate group.
3. In section 191, a reader pointed out inappropriate language used by the protagonist.
The original text was—
The Dragon-man youth smiled and said, “We are the Human Race, citizens of the Empire; dealing with the Fishmen is indeed the path of righteousness! Of course, another important reason is the high price offered by Lord Hun Tong, which truly moved us.”
This was actually intentional.
It was the Dragon-man youth’s apparent “slip of the tongue,” but actually his “inner voice.”
4. A book friend pointed out that the first volume, “Beast Knight,” was missing section 6. After checking, the reason was found: I had revised the first volume before, taking into account readers’ opinions and my own reflections, and reduced some descriptions in the opening sections, making them less cumbersome. The amount of reduction was about one section. The title was forgotten to be edited, making it appear as if one section was missing. Now I have changed “Section 5” to “Section 5-6.”
5. In section 209, I modified two sets of ciphers for Hun Tong, using more meaningful sets of numbers, which are the group numbers of the official “Infinite Blood Core” book fan group and the steward penguin group.
6. In section 214, there was an error in the salary offered by Hun Tong to recruit Zong Ge, with an extra “ten thousand” character, which has been corrected.
7. A book friend mentioned: the depiction of the alchemy device during the melee battle appeared too frequently, creating a feeling of discomfort when reading. I am considering adding some descriptions somewhere in the earlier text to make it less abrupt. If there are any formal changes, I will make a separate announcement.
8. Today, the protagonist group officially leaves the island, and the plot concerning Twin Eyes Island is officially concluded. Here are some personal reflections: the grand melee on Twin Eyes Island required a lot of thought, involving many characters—pirates, mercenaries, businessmen, lords, Fishmen, Silver Level Lone Rangers, and so on.
Each of them has their own thoughts, unique abilities, styles of action, and then their limitations.
In this grand melee, each person had a performance unique to them, and it was these performances that allowed them to clash and influence each other.
Some ended up empty-handed, some made a silent fortune, some went from heaven to hell, and some fell into danger yet survived.
Until the end, the outcome for each character was unpredictable.
Even the protagonist team was no exception; they were involuntarily sucked into the vortex.
This is precisely the literary effect I wished to achieve—this melee demonstrates the unpredictability of fate, the cruel reality after the collision of reality and dreams, and the weakness and helplessness of an individual in the social game.
Even though the protagonist group had many tricks up their sleeve, they still walked on the edge of a cliff, nearly facing ruin.
This encounter also hints at the positioning of the protagonist group.
In the grand scheme of the world, they are still minor characters. A slight storm in their journey of fate could overturn them.
At the same time, it also indirectly described the main theme of the era—the Holy Bright Empire’s invasion of the Beast Race Continent.
Under this main theme, Twin Eyes Island, painstakingly managed by Hun Tong, was forced to transform into a transport island. The determination of the Fishmen to reclaim their homeland is commendable, but in reality, even if they could take it back, they couldn’t hold it.
Failure was inevitable.
In the tide of the era, both Hun Tong and the Fishman Tribe are just as weak.
It can also be seen that the current protagonist group isn’t eligible to step onto the stage of the era. A slight storm could doom them irrecoverably.
Going forward, how will this group gradually step onto the stage of the era?
How many storms will sweep them up, scatter them, torment them, turn them against each other, enlighten them, and make them shine?
Just thinking about it feels quite exciting.