Alka absentmindedly climbed out of the tunnel they had dug.
As they emerged from the cave,
The few people who had been wandering around immediately gathered around, their eyes filled with curiosity.
They were also very interested in the ruins.
"Alka, how was it? Did you find anything?"
"Some valuable items and some shocking information. Let them tell you the details."
Seeing Alka's absent-mindedness, Jason didn't interrupt her any further. He approached the people behind him and asked them about it.
The others listened quietly nearby.
From the occasional exclamation, Simon's eyes were red with excitement.
He had already heard from their descriptions that this was a civilization that was very adept at using constructs.
They had even integrated the use of constructs into their daily lives.
The arsenal had already demonstrated this to him.
He gripped the shovel in his hand, feeling it thirsty for more.
His blood was boiling.
After hearing these words, he couldn't wait to approach Alka, who was lost in thought.
Her eyes were red, and she stared at him, her face brimming with excitement.
Alka, lost in thought, turned to look at him, his face awash with confusion.
He couldn't help but glance at the others, questioning them.
'What's wrong with him?'
The others shook their heads helplessly and spread their hands.
All he could hear was Simon excitedly asking, "Boss, when are we going to do the next excavation? I love archaeology."
He waved his shovel, even holding it firmly against his hand to show his seriousness.
Looking at the excited Simon, Alka was speechless.
After a moment's silence, he said, "No rush. Let's go back. I need to organize all the information we've gathered today before deciding on our next move."
Simon nodded. Although excited, he wasn't too carried away.
Just keep digging.
They had already excavated this section of the ruins, while the rest had completely collapsed. A complete collapse in a museum like this would yield essentially no useful information.
After burying it, they began their journey back.
On the way, they saw white birds returning to their nests.
They walked quickly towards the town.
They crossed the town and returned to the ship.
Since learning some information from Baraz, they had remained on the ship.
From a harbor like this, they could better spot any strangers arriving on the island and formulate a better response strategy.
After all, unless there were malicious intent, no one would unknowingly explore another ship, especially one with people on board.
Back on board, after a quick cleanup, everyone went about their business as darkness fell.
Waiting for dinner.
After spending so many days on the Infinite Ocean, they had gradually become accustomed to this place.
They focused on their main tasks during the day, and spent half of the night doing their own work or resting.
After all, the nights were so long, and they were used to sleeping longer.
After feasting and drinking, Alka went alone to the captain's cabin.
He held the map in his hand.
This time, he ignored the golden light and tapped directly on the orange light. His first priority was to confirm whether it was the heart depicted on the mural.
[Heart of Vastva]
[Difficulty: Four-Part Power (Three Stages)]
[Notability: 126,000]
[Treasure Information: The city-state of Vastva, an ancient city, worships the ancient god of mystery, Four-Part, and is also known as the City of Change.
This is the Temple of Parstva, the heart of the city-state. The temple connects to the Council Hall deep underground; simply recite the temple's name to reach it.
All city affairs, major and minor, and festivals are held there, but only the four leaders of the Great Temple know that the heart of the city lies hidden beneath.
This treasure was forged by His Majesty Vastva, the founder of the city-state, after he slew the Hollow Demon and removed its heart. This treasure was forged with the power and assistance of the Four-Part God.
The scepter-level artifact, the Star of Creation, opened up this space, bringing peace and tranquility to the Vastva people. The influence of the artifact's energy also transformed the former humans into the Vastva people of today.
The information gleaned from the museum instantly expanded upon the details of the treasure hidden within this orange light.
Aside from the final, and crucial, question of how to obtain this artifact, the details were essentially perfect.
Alka had already determined that this was indeed a scepter-level artifact.
Orange light = scepter-level.
It seemed the previous prediction had been correct.
Furthermore, the expanded information about this treasure was sufficient for Alka to understand its secrets.
As depicted on the mural, this artifact transformed the normal humans of the time into the Vastva people of today.
It granted them strength and intelligence, and the Vastva people were exceptionally adept at utilizing space, even creating numerous space-related technologies. Alka seriously suspected that this artifact also granted them gifts related to space.
‐‐After all, this artifact was definitely related to space.
‐‐It clearly stated that this artifact opened up an alternate dimension large enough to fit an entire city-state.
‐‐ Considering that the island beneath their feet was only a quarter of the entire city-state, one could only imagine how vast the entire alternate dimension was.
‐‐No matter which of these two artifacts was displayed, their abilities would be outrageous enough.
‐‐And this might not even be the full extent of the artifact's power.
‐‐Because Alka seriously suspected that altering a person's appearance to grant even more bizarre powers might simply be a side effect.
‐‐After all, the bodies of people in this world clearly indicated that they were extremely susceptible to the influence of surrounding magic.
‐‐This was something Alka had known all along.
‐‐The Frost Bloodline, once known in the Home Sea, was due to the generations of people who possessed a Holy Grail-level artifact related to frost. Even the energy emanating from a Holy Grail-level artifact could, after just two generations, alter the entire family's bloodline to a certain degree.
And then there's Juanlu, the ship's most iconic figure, with his ability to devour food and quickly revitalize his body with the energy from it.
Doesn't that also stem from the bloodline of a former family? Though the family declined, the bloodline faded, and the artifact vanished long ago,
But the bloodline still lingers, occasionally resurfacing to strengthen future generations.
Scepter-level artifacts, capable of altering a race's appearance and granting even more dramatic changes, effectively transforming a human into another species, are understandable.
After all, humans, or rather, the humans of this world, are incredibly adaptable. Spending extended periods in an environment with unique energies will transform them accordingly.
Scepter-level artifacts also possess this power; he had no doubt about the energy intensity of scepter-level artifacts.
The Dark Realm had already proven this.
He seriously suspected that people like Lucilia, who seemed less than human, were likely also possessing more powerful treasures.
Thinking this way, the changes seen in Pororo, Julia, and even Matresa were too dramatic.
The Vastva people had possessed this treasure for generations, and yet their transformations hadn't been dramatic.
Could it be because their ancestors possessed even more advanced treasures?
For example, the [Crown-level].
This speculation was reasonable.
The [Grail-level] brought physical changes with minimal changes to appearance, granting some unique abilities, such as the ability to alter one's magical properties from birth.
The [Scepter-level] brought even greater physical enhancements, with some inhuman changes to appearance, such as ears, eyes, and skin, but still maintaining a human form. It also granted even greater power and talents, transforming them into immortals.
The [Crown-class] brings about a complete overhaul of the body structure. While retaining certain humanoid features, the appearance undergoes even more drastic changes. Examples include the hands, head, legs, and even the entire body. This also almost completely separates the species from humans, granting them new powers and talents.
These are Alka's guesses based on currently available information. The Grail-class is almost certain, the Scepter-class is almost halfway certain, and the Crown-class relies entirely on logical speculation.
Even if they're wrong, they're only halfway.
The world is becoming increasingly interesting, and Alka is increasingly interested in more and more treasures.
The power and secrets of these treasures may be beyond his imagination.
The feeling of gradually uncovering the world's secrets fascinates him.
He collected his thoughts and calmed his heart.
Alka stared at the information about the treasure, pondering how to obtain it.
Looking at a certain item on the information, he pondered for a moment, then reached out and touched the golden light.
[Location-Based Item]
[Difficulty: Hunter (Stage 2)]
[Popularity: 0]
[Treasure Information: Enshrined in the Great Temple of Vastva, the item represents the Four Gods, representing one quarter of their treasure.
The treasure is one of the highest-ranking Holy Grail items, symbolizing the "Winter Flower," which is placed in the Blue Temple in the north and is controlled by Winter, one of Vastva's four highest priests.
He is next to the corpse of the Winter Priest.] (Perfect)
It's actually perfect.
Arka had never imagined that this treasure, with its information so simple, could be so perfect.
The treasure is next to the corpse of the so-called Winter Priest, and the golden light is located at the temple's location.
And the corpse is obviously also in this temple.
The reason it was so perfect was that this treasure truly had no hidden mechanism; it was simply because the person who controlled it died there.
Once the body was found, the treasure would naturally be discovered. Just like the treasures Alka had easily found before, because they were accidental, there wasn't much information to learn.
All one needed to know was the golden light, its location, the specifics of Vastva, and the existence of four leading priests.
This naturally revealed all the information about the treasure.
The orange light was different, however, because it was deliberately hidden. Unless one found the key, the crucial information would remain undiscovered.
One reason Alka clicked on the golden light was that he might have discovered the key to the orange light's hidden treasure.
The orange-glowing treasure clearly states that only the leaders of the four great temples—the four priests, the highest echelons of the city-state—know of the [Star of Creation].
They, in turn, possess powerful Holy Grail-level treasures. Each one is unique, corresponding to one fourth of the four gods.
Let's put myself in their shoes.
Suppose I knew about this and wanted to protect and conceal this most important item for the entire city-state.
How would I go about doing this?
Considering what I already know,
To obtain this treasure, I must obtain the approval of the most powerful, or most influential, figure within each of the four city-states.
No one wants others to take this item at will, nor do they want to take it without their consent.
After all, this concerns the survival of the race.
Thinking about the difficulty of obtaining that treasure [Fourth Power]
It became clear.
It must require the simultaneous presence of the four most powerful priests to unlock and obtain this treasure.
So what could represent them? Undoubtedly, it would be this most powerful Holy Grail-level treasure.
It also clearly states that each item is controlled by a priest.
Think of the underground hall he and the others had entered, those four statues holding their hands high.
Fourth Power means that only by gathering these four treasures can the scepter-level treasure [Star of Creation] be retrieved.
Although this was just a conjecture, Alka found it plausible, but more information was needed to support it.
After all, without concrete evidence, the treasure information would not be expanded.
And more questions arose.
Once confirmed, obtaining this treasure would be even more difficult.
Because the former city-state had long since shattered, the place they now stood on was nothing more than a fragment.
And there was only one of the great temples on it.
In this chaotic sea, trying to gather everything was simply wishful thinking.
Because of the chaos, the entire sea was in flux. How could they possibly discover all the treasures?
Thinking of this, Alka leaned back in his chair and couldn't help but sigh.
The orange light was right before him, but his discovery seemed to indicate that he couldn't obtain it at all.
He collected his thoughts; it wasn't completely confirmed yet.
After all, the information about the orange light's treasure wasn't complete yet, and the final conditions for obtaining it were still unknown.
What if he was wrong?
After all, even he could guess the method of obtaining it; it couldn't be so straightforward.
Moreover, this method carries numerous unsafe risks.
For a treasure this connected to the core of an entire city, the fate of an entire race, no one needs to be too rigorous.
Thinking of this, Alka stopped worrying.
Since it had come this far, tomorrow's goal naturally lay on this golden light.
He was about to obtain another treasure.
Looking at the remaining blue and white dots, Alka raised his hand and clicked on them one by one.
With this museum exploration, a wealth of information unfolded before his eyes.
These blue dots also contained more expanded information, no longer offering vague explanations for a single item as before.
As more and more information about the treasure came into Alka's view, a certain thought within him grew more and more certain.
Decision made.
...
When Alka awoke from his sleep, the night sky outside was still filled with stars and giant planets. Because the night had stretched so long, everyone's sleep schedule had already become chaotic.
Alka had deliberately waited until everyone else's bubbles had cleared and woken up before waking up.
After a quick wash, he waited for the ding-dong signal for dinner.
He arrived at the dining room.
Everyone was already seated around the table, chatting.
When the meal was almost over, Alka knocked on the table.
Listen At the sound of knocking on the table, everyone turned their heads toward Alka.
The chatter died down, and silence fell.
It seemed Alka had something to say.
"Based on the current situation and the findings from our recent exploration, I have a proposal. I'd appreciate your feedback or approval."
After a pause, Alka spoke, "According to Baraz, I've decided that we should remain on this island for a long time, until we all reach the Nine Spirals.
This should be a watershed. At this stage, rapid growth in strength ceases. Many people will be stuck here forever, and this is a common limit.
In other words, at this stage, we also have a certain degree of self-preservation, and won't appear too weak."
After all, they had arrived at this small island, their first landing place since arriving in the Infinite Sea, and the small town on that island had only a few thousand people.
The problem was, within those few thousand people, there were several people in the third stage. Alka only knew that one of them was the mayor, and he hadn't noticed the others. There are only a few thousand of them. Once they reach Southern Cross Island, there will be even more powerful warriors. If they don't reach the Nine Spirals, they'll be even more easily detected.
Furthermore, if a conflict breaks out, they'll likely be more vulnerable to injury and failure.
This is far too dangerous.
Not to mention the treasure information Arka saw yesterday among the blue dots on the map.
So he continued, "And you should have discovered that this island's underground is filled with countless treasures. We can also excavate these ruins during this time. It's the best of both worlds."
He had an idea.
That was to clear the island completely, extinguishing all the bright spots except for the treasures at the third level of danger.
The treasures indicated in the treasure information were worth it.
These treasures would definitely enhance their combat effectiveness and even strengthen the Voice of Dawn.
Alka could use this time to perfect the Puppet Knights. The materials here are both good and plentiful.
After saying this, Alka looked at the crowd.
Waiting for their response.