"The principles of the scientific method are something the Casters of this world had intuitively gone through instinctively," Wu said, pointing to a block of diagrams that he drew on the ground as Lera said and followed along, "It all start at the very beginning. We make an observation, and we ask a question." "Like the things with the Fuel Rock Granules, and like the Portal..." Lera nodded, recalling both their shared past and her very own past. "Then we throw out a potential mechanism or an explanation. We test for it, and if it's correct, it gives us what we need. If it's incorrect, then the explanation is probably something else. It's all pretty straightforward." Wu continued, and Lera threw her hand up. "They used to do this with the Portal! But then they stopped, and said speculations and theorizing was sufficient!" Lera said quickly. "That's the age-old wrestle between rationalism and empiricism..." Wu said, sitting down on the ground besides Lera, "Big words, apologies. Rationalists essentially try to reason and speculate how things might work, and use it to form their predictions. Empiricists used data instead. Their clashes become particularly prevalent when there is an absence of information. Like when we see the Fuel Rocks for the first time." "...Or when the Portal's just sitting there..." Lera nodded, noting down a few of the keywords, "So...how do we know what's right?" "That's the thing." Wu said, his hands outreached, "We never really know beforehand. We only know what's most likely to be correct, at this particular moment." "But what's the point of it all if all we have is-" "The point is that even if we are wrong, science gives us a way to get to what is more right." Wu said, "That's the brilliance of science. It's a never-ending journey, and it doesn't belong to anyone, nor does it stop at anyone. It's about being curious, asking the big questions, trying, experimenting, failing, learning, testing...all of that." "Right..." Lera nodded and channeled her attention into writing down all the things that Wu's quickly throwing out there. She doesn't quite understand everything in one go, but somehow, things felt rather simple and intuitive when Wu's explaining it. "That was the biggest takeaway from my Master's project." Wu shrugged, "among all the other things about the history, but you are basically me now! With this, you can become a Savior of this world too!" Lera looked at Wu, and she smiled lightly and shook her head, "No...I am not the Savior. You are." "Who knows?" Wu said, shrugging pointing a finger at Lera, "That's just a hypothesis right? We need to test it before knowing that it's right! HAHAHAH!" Lera wanted to protest out of instinct, but after taking in all that Wu said before, she knew this is a losing debate. Plus, he just wanted to annoy her. "It's pretty lively here..." Ver said, walking out from her tent and yawning as her hair flopped down by her shoulders. She looked like an adorable mess, but a faint glow came off her body like someone that's rejuvenated. Ever since Wu gave her the modified eyepatch, she has been sleeping much better, "What are you doing?" "Just telling Lera all my secrets." Wu chuckled as Lera stood up, "Unlike you superstitious lot, Casters work a lot more logically." "Wow, favoritism by the Fourth Savior," Ver said sarcastically before pouring out some freshwater from a Whirlpool Red, washing her face and quenching her thirst. It has now been a few weeks since they have moved here, and Wu had been splitting his time between gathering food, researching Fuel Rock Prime, teaching Lera about science, and practicing his gunmanship. "If there's a favorite, it's you." Lera said, "Wu hasn't given me anything, but he has given you the modified eye patch." Wu felt a shiver down his body, and he spun around to see Lera sticking her tongue out at him and walking away. So she wanted a gift too...Wu should have known better. As he thought about what sort of gift that Lera would want, the worried voice of hers suddenly cut through the air, and when the two of them turned around, Lera already had her Book of Casts drawn and the Wave flowing. "Somebody's here!" She said rapidly, and both Wu and Ver's expressions sunk. Kaire Jin, aka 'Big Girl', the drop out of the Sky Guardian Corp, and the leader of the so-called Anti-Wu Alliance watched on as the trios of chariots lifted off the ground. She wore her favorite set of Sky Guardian Corp uniform today, which is one with only a drop of coffee stain over her right breast. It landed right in between two dark blue lines and is always the easiest to spot out of the identical uniforms hanging in her wardrobe. As the vanguards of the alliance took off, lead by a group of three rather enthusiastic-looking fellas, she also hopped onto her own chariot with a pair of the miners piloting it. The bounty hunters aren't exactly the most punctual of people around, nor are they used to teamwork. There were those that had initially promised to come that were no-shows, or they came after a night out getting piss drunk, barely stumbling onto the designated chariots. Kaire Jin had totally expected this to happen, though more bumbling underlings and fodders are still better than less. The chariot ride will take a whole week and multiple Casts of the chariot to complete, and the vanguards are to head out and arrive at the destination the fastest to establish the positions of Wu and set up the main group for the attack. When Kaire threw out the ideas for the vanguard squads, the trio which consists of two bold guys and a redhead immediately volunteered. Other eager bounty hunters also put themselves forward, but after some staring contest, the trio that went ahead first was put in charge of the vanguards. Honestly, Kaire knew that all of this is going to be a mess. However, after gaining the intelligence of Wu's location, she couldn't afford to let him and the Fuel Rock Prime slip away again. "If you retrieve the Fuel Rock Prime, we will not only cross off all of the potential penalties but also give you a massive bonus!" The Inner Earth's manager said, "I hope this is ample motivation." It is ample motivation indeed. Kaire could already taste the sweet cocktail of the beach bars on the Western Continent, and she honestly couldn't wait any longer to retire early and get fat and lazy. However, before then, there is a job to do, and she intends to complete it no matter what. Those idiots at the vanguard are going to try to attack first, and they can do whatever they want with the Token, so long as they wear Wu and his forces down enough that she can come in and grab the Fuel Rock Prime with no resistance. "So go crazy...you animals..." Kaire murmured as one of the miners swallowed hard and slowly lifted her chariot off the ground. He just wanted to get this job done and go home, but this crazy woman next to him just kept on dragging him into trouble... He should have never looked at the board of bounties all those days ago... The vanguard group consists of Darl, Tom Bom, Jiyu Satoru, and a few bounty hunters from another group of bounty hunters. What was supposed to be a cooperative relationship turned into competition almost the moment they entered into the Endless Woods. The trio had been obscuring their appearances with special Facial Distortion Casts ever since they were booted out from the Sonne Palace, and this is their last chance to atone for their failures. Thus, they were more serious than ever. As their chariot and a total of three other chariot from other groups kept on flying over the treetops in formation, Tom Bom became the one to fire the first shot. With a fireball flying through the air, the projectile exploded right in front of one other chariot as the other two immediately swerved around in a pincer maneuver with the Casters from the other groups launching their own attacks back towards the Inverted Questions. "HAHAHA! COME AND GET IT!" Tom Bom laughed as he tore his shirt wide open, exposing the layers of muscle over his abdomen as the dark piercings all over his face glowed red. Then, countless little red orbs were released from his body, filling the entire airspace right in front of them like mines. "SHIT!" The pilots from one of the chariot cursed and tried to pull up and away, but many of the tiny red orbs had already attached to their chariot. As Tom Bom, the One-Trick Bomber, snapped his finger, that chariot exploded into a ball of flames before chunks of flesh rained down on the forest below. The other chariot had the Caster immediately surround it with a shield, but that was when Jiyu Satoru reached out a hand and blasted a massive ball of venom that covered the entirety of the shield. Swerving their own chariot to reposition above their opponent, Darl then jumped down as the wind aided his movements and helped him kicked it down towards the ground. Blinded by the ball of venom and disoriented by Darl's hit, the second chariot slammed through rows of trees as it bounced over the ground, killing the other bounty hunters with the impact. "So long, suckers~" Tom Bom said, pointing his finger down and sending all of those mines down into the woods. A series of explosions rocked the earth and swallowed this part of the forest in flames, cooking everything within it alive. Leaving behind the scenes of destruction as a warning, the trio of the Inverted Questions then headed all the way North based on Kaire's instructions, ready to take charge of their own destiny for once. With the chariot running at full speed and the three of them rotating to supply it with the Wave, they were able to cover the journey in just two days. As the ocean slowly came into viewfrom beyond the horizon, they dropped from the air and took a day to recover from the effort. Far out in the distance, they could already see the unnatural clearing in the forests left behind by Wu and Ver, though they did manage to hide it well as the trees naturally tended to become more scattered the closer it gets to the cliffside. With their body somewhat replenished and refreshed after the non-stop journey, Darl, Tom Bom, and Jiyu Satoru, the trio that started it all, now prepared to end this fight once and for all. "Let's get this party started," Jiyu said with his cracked lips curving up as he powered up and manifested the serpent in his right arm. Then, he broke through the perimeter Cast set up by Lera and walked straight through. "Let's blow them up today, for good." Tom Bom said, clashing his fists into one another as tiny explosive crackles went off in between. "I feel a third presence, boss." Darl said when suddenly, a dark purple whirlpool formed underneath his feet.