The line dividing the sky crossed again.
The curtain of darkness tore, revealing a blazing sun.
Simon, gathering something by the fire, immediately pulled out his orb as he felt the dawn.
"18 hours..."
This time, the night and the next day were exactly the same.
You could even say it happened within a second, which is quite disturbing.
"Coincidence? Or is it inevitable?"
Simon muttered something under his breath and put the orb away again.
They had only been here a few days and couldn't be sure.
At that moment, as dawn broke, everyone still in the room came out and gathered around the fire.
Alka looked at everyone and said, "Then let's split into two teams, following the same division we made last night."
Jason, Juanlu, Lucelia, Zero, and One remained in the small town.
Lucelia was the only one who spoke both languages, and Jason was the primary intelligence gatherer.
The rest of the group naturally joined Alka in exploring the surrounding area, helping Sofia survey the surroundings so she could accurately map the terrain.
For a typical treasure hunt, intelligence is obviously far more important than a map.
But for their team, intelligence and maps were no less important.
In fact, the map even trumped intelligence.
Yesterday, Alka asked the islanders if they had a map.
They said they did, but the problem was that their map was… how can you describe it? A sketch, merely marking dangerous areas and leaving everything else unmarked.
Even the outline of the island was drawn rather carelessly and with very low accuracy.
Simply put, only the person who drew it could understand how to use it; it was like built-in encryption.
If it hadn't been used for a long time, he might not even have been able to read it.
It couldn't even be used as a map, which was somewhat surprising for a city that had been located on this island for years.
But Alka had no choice but to draw it herself.
Nevertheless, this rough map could still be of some help, for example, in determining which areas should be mapped first.
Then they all set out together.
Following Alka, they arrived at the harbor outside the city.
Although the city gates were located inland, they were three kilometers from the harbor.
Luckily, they had built a small path.
Along this path, they saw two groups of hunters patrolling the area.
Besides them, fishermen dragging their gear along the path.
Hunting, farming, fishing.
This showed that the city had plenty of food sources, so they clearly didn't have to worry about food.
Yesterday, there were indeed no malnourished or hungry people in the city.
They headed to the harbor.
The harbor, as Shiraishi had described, was small. Despite its size, it held two large ships, about 40 meters long, and numerous small fishing boats.
Both vessels were towed ashore; they were obviously the city's ships.
Arca arrived at the harbor and gave a short shout. A boat was approaching from the distance.
If Arca hadn't warned Dawn Sound with her harmonica, it would have risen from the seabed right in front of them.
They moored Dawn Sound in the harbor.
"Okay, I'll leave the rest to you," Arca said, looking at Jason and the others.
"Don't worry."
With that, the two teams said their goodbyes. Alka and the others headed straight out of the city, but he didn't leave right away. Instead, he circled the city wall and came to where they had entered.
And indeed, they saw Bai Shi, who had led them here yesterday, patrolling the city walls with a squad of hunters.
"Guys, what's going on?" Bai Shi asked Alka and the others.
Judging by their movements, it was clear they had arrived before him.
Hearing this, Alka smiled and said, "We don't know much about this island, and you said it was dangerous, so we'd like to find a guide. Could you first show us around the island and tell us about any forbidden or dangerous places?"
Having said this, Alka added, "Of course, we'll pay."
Hearing Alka's words, Bai Shi nodded understandingly.
He was familiar with this matter. Five of the ten visitors arriving on the island required a guide, and four of the remaining five sought one later.
The last one died on the way.
Although it was an exaggeration, that was the rumor circulating among the hunters.
After thinking for a moment, he said, "Okay, then I'll be your guide."
"You?" Alka was a little surprised.
Isn't that the patrol commander? And he himself is a hooligan.
Will that count as abandoning his post?
"Why? Am I incompetent? I grew up on this island too. Don't worry, I've been a guide several times before."
Shiraishi said this with a smile, dispelling Alka's concerns.
Well, after all, you're dealing with a rather powerful man. He wouldn't mind if he or anyone else objected.
Then he said, "Actually, guarding the gates is..."
"How boring. If a wild beast really did rush to the gates, our city would be doomed."
Alka nodded in agreement, saying, "Of course, I'd be delighted."
Hearing Alka's agreement, Bai Shi smiled, called over one of his comrades, and spoke to him briefly. Then he shouldered his bow and arrows, picked up several quivers, and approached.
"Let's go. Do you want to explore anything? This island is huge, and don't expect to explore it all in a day."
Hearing this, Alka nodded, then waved his hand, and a palm-sized golden sail appeared in his hand.
"One golden sail until you can circumnavigate the island. Is that enough?"
Looking at the golden sail in Alka's hand, Bai Shi took it with a smile and said, "Of course, that's enough. I must say, you foreigners are quite generous."
He put it in his pocket.
"Is your ultimate goal to explore the entire island?"
Alka nodded.
Understanding Alka's intention, Bai Shi said bluntly, "Three days. If you want to explore the entire island, it will take three days. After the last day, you'll need to pay another gold coin for the sail. Is that okay?"
"No problem."
Although he didn't know the exact value of these currencies on the island, the price was acceptable to Alka.
Besides, if Bai Shi were to act as a guide, it would be much more convenient than Alka had imagined.
After all, he was the leader.
It would also better convey to the city's leadership that Alka and his crew had no ill intentions.
Seeing Alka nod, Bai Shi pulled out the rough map Alka had seen yesterday.
No, are we really going to use this map?
Seeing the expression in their eyes, Bai Shi became slightly embarrassed and said, "Although this map is a little cruder than those you foreigners use, it's quite sufficient for us on this island."
He had also seen the maps these strangers used, and compared to them, theirs truly could be called graffiti.
But what could they do? After all, this was just a small town with a population of only a few thousand.
Seeing Bai Shi's slightly embarrassed expression, Alka nodded without saying anything else.
He then placed the map in front of the group and gestured, "If you want to explore the entire island in three days, you must follow my instructions. Otherwise, it will take longer and be dangerous."
"Let's start from here, in that bay you came to yesterday. It's safer there."
Seeing everyone agree, he led them in that direction.
He then led Alka and the others along a winding path, different from the one they'd taken yesterday.
The first place they arrived at was ruins they'd never seen before, but judging by the stonework and the patterns on it, it was likely they belonged to the same faction as the ruins they'd seen yesterday.
Apparently, that was why Bai Shi had brought them here.
"These ruins will definitely interest outsiders like you."
"If you're interested, you can go and see. This one has activated." Everyone gathered around the ruins, but apparently couldn't understand anything without Lucelia. However, this time, their main goal was to map the area, so a quick glance was enough.
Alka asked curiously, "It activated. What happened after it activated?"
"After it activated, the vegetation on the island became even more lush," he said, gesturing around the area. The vegetation around the ruins was indeed more lush than elsewhere, and the ruins themselves were also nestled in a dense forest.
"This place used to be very deserted."
After saying this, he saw that the crowd showed little interest and continued leading them through this desolate place.
If they were allowed to roam freely, without restrictions, they could explore the entire island in a single day.
However, with their current mode of travel, this was clearly impossible.
And they also saw that the area they had bypassed was truly dangerous.
Soon, they took a different route and returned to the bay where they had landed.
Traces of their landing were still visible on the beach, scattered here and there; they hadn't hidden them.
"According to the older generation, there was no bay here hundreds of years ago. Someone simply activated the ruins here and blew everything up."
Hearing this, Alka and the others turned and looked at him in surprise.
There were no traces of anything like that in the bay. "Could the ruins explode?"
"Of course," Bai Shi nodded.
This indirectly suggests that some of these ruins are indeed dangerous.
After a quick glance around, he led the group forward.
As they walked, he took out the powder he had seen yesterday and sprinkled it on everyone.
Tossing it, he explained, "This dust disgusts some of the surrounding magical beasts. If we continue forward, the number of magical beasts will increase, and pointless battles will become very painful."
In the end, they encountered almost no magical beasts along the way. Bai Shi, using his experience, led Alka and the others through the territory of almost every magical beast.
Furthermore, he had no idea how strong Alka and the others were, so it was best to avoid a fight.
Causeway.
After walking just a few steps, Alka noticed ruins nearby, but Bai Shi didn't stop.
"Would you like to go take a look?" Matlisa asked weakly, somewhat curiously.
Hearing this, Bai Shi, who was walking ahead, turned and glanced, then casually remarked, "This is an exposed section of the city wall. The ruins of this wall actually encircle the island, although most of it is buried underground. Nothing special."
As they walked, he continued, "This island must have once been a huge city, speaking the same language as us. They could be considered our ancestors."
It's a shame there aren't any concrete records or traditions, otherwise we wouldn't have to endure these damned ruins.
I'm sure you all know how extensive the ruins of a city-state can be. How can all these exposed ruins be useful? Most of them look like this: just piles of rotten stones.
"Some ruins contain strange objects that can be activated using certain languages. Be careful, but not too careful."
He acted as a sort of guide, leading Alka and the others around the island.
He introduced the ruins and dangerous areas, as if describing a picturesque place. As they walked and talked, he pointed to a spot nearby and said, "We need to make another detour. Ahead are ruins that activated several years ago. Although they were eventually sealed, they affected the surrounding area, making it very dangerous."
Not all ruins are useful if sealed.
"And the scoundrel who activated that ruin still wanders the city with a broken leg."
At this point, his tone was still slightly angry.
Without waiting for Arka and the others to ask curiously, he continued, "After the ruins were activated, the surrounding stones seemed to come to life, attacking everything in sight." He had already stopped, and everyone followed his gaze to see the living stone he was talking about.
It looked like a humanoid stone giant, composed of countless large and small stones, ranging from 2 to 4 meters in height.
The lower half of its body resembled rolling gravel, while its upper body formed a stone head and jagged fists.
Debris drifted aimlessly around the ruins.
Bai Shi gathered his magical power in his hand, formed a ball of water, and threw it with all his might.
The ball slid past, accurately hitting the nearest stone figure.
The stone figure, watching Bai Shi attack it, angrily advanced toward him.
Its movements were slow, similar to those of an ordinary person jogging.
Bai Shi simply stood there, hands on his hips.
He said casually, "Don't be afraid." Just watch."
The approaching stone figure raised its stone fist and was about to strike Bai Shi, but immediately shattered into pieces scattered across the ground.
Only then did Bai Shi explain, "They can only move within the circle surrounding the ruins. If they venture outside, they will be destroyed, just like now."
"And their stone heads clearly aren't capable of understanding the difference between inside and outside."
Then everyone saw another pile of stones form around the ruins, forming a new stone giant.
"But there's no way to kill all the stone monsters around the ruins. Their number is fixed. Kill one, and another will appear," Bai Shi said helplessly, then kicked away the scattered stones in front of him.
For the same reason, the mystery of the ruins couldn't be solved.
Julia's voice echoed in the ears of everyone present, "These are all stone elementals." "There must be some kind of magical artifact or magical system activated in the ruins, causing all the surrounding magical power to shift toward the element of earth, which is why all this is happening."
She spoke, acutely aware of the change in the atmosphere around the ruins.
Everyone nodded. Bai Shi didn't understand what they were saying, but he ignored them. After all, Julia was speaking the language of the white crocodile, which isn't a common language in the Home Sea.
They walked, stopping and starting again, occasionally listening to Bai Shi's explanations.
Along the way, they also killed several unsuspecting victims.
After walking for over ten hours, they finally returned to the city.
"Let's continue tomorrow. Meet me at the gate," Bai Shi waved, smiling.
They chatted along the way and got to know each other quite well.
Alka was convinced that Bai Shi was a real chatterbox.
He had a strong desire to express himself.
He basically chatted all day, like a tour guide.
But it clearly did them good.
"He said it was getting dark. How did he sense that?" Simon was puzzled.
Upon hearing this, Alka said, "The white birds have returned to their nests, which means night is coming."
The city clearly had no timekeeping equipment, and the chaotic cycle of day and night was clearly not a problem that a timekeeping device could solve.
The townspeople's decision about whether to preserve day or night depends entirely on the species of birds living on the island.
These palm-sized birds with pure white feathers return to their nests, announcing the coming of night.
"Really? I think we should watch."
"I'll go after those birds later," Simon said after a moment's thought.
He studied here day and night.
They then arrived at the corner of town where they had rented a house the previous day.
Upon arrival, they saw Juanlu cooking dinner on his portable kettle.
Seeing Alka and the others returning, he smiled and said, "I thought it would get dark soon, and you'd be back by then."
Lucilia also left the room.
"Where's Jason?" Alka asked, glancing over.
"Today he met a hunter who was traveling and went out for a drink," Juanlu explained.
Alka nodded.
Even though it was dangerous at night, it was still night outside, so the town was still safe.
Everyone went to rest.
Pororo also began telling Lucilia and Juanlu about some of his experiences today.
They were both very curious to learn more about this city, especially the ruins that could be activated.
"Once you finish drawing the map, you'll have to take me for a walk," Lucilia said.
Xadaiti approached Alka and asked, "Do you want to draw it yourself? Or will you wait until we explore the entire island?"
Alka thought for a moment and said, "Let's start by drawing the places we visited today. Don't go into too much detail. In a few days, when we've explored the entire island, we'll draw a map."
"Well?" he asked, looking at Sofia.
After all, Sofia always strove for perfection when drawing a full map. He figured creating a partial map would be something similar.
Sofia nodded. "No problem. I'll give it to you after dinner. Just sketch it out in general."
For a study map of part of the island, she wasn't too demanding of herself.
Jason returned just before dinner. He smelled faintly of alcohol, but he seemed in good condition.
Judging by his smile, the information he'd collected was clearly useful.
After dinner, Sofia finished her first draft and handed it to Alka.
"Look."
Alka took the map.
The drawing was indeed crude, consisting only of simple lines, but when she blinked, light flickered within it.
Dense white dots.
A few flickering blue lights.
And a single point of light she'd never seen before.
An orange beam of light.
Very noticeable.