By now, the walking corpse, whose upper half was flesh and blood, had been completely disassembled.
Alka was now completely certain that the constructs on this creature, including the tal plates on its skin, had grown out organically. They weren’t sewn on.
This ant many assumptions had to be overturned; perhaps there was no one on this island creating undead creatures after all.
Another possibility arose: sothing on this island had affected these corpses.
Taking a darker view, it was even possible that these bodies had been influenced by this force while they were still alive, still human. This influence caused so of their body parts to transform into tal and magical machinery.
For flesh and blood to sprout tal, and even constructs capable of moving like a living body...
Alka believed this couldn’t be achieved by a re Spell.
He strongly suspected it was the power of a Treasure.
Alka stood up. Magic Power surged from his hands, and two streams of clear water gushed forth. He washed away the filth on his body and the surrounding debris. Fortunately, he had Julia’s Shield to protect him from any potentially hidden negative Energy or bacteria.
Afterward, Alka turned to the others and said, "Stay alert. This island is very dangerous."
How could an island where flesh grows into tal and magical machinery possibly be safe?
And then there’s that mber of the Holy Machine Church trapped on this island... Who knows if these strange corpses are related to him?
If they are, we might have already been exposed.
Alka frowned, rembering their original reason for coming to this island.
"Let’s keep moving."
With that, they maintained their formation and continued deeper into the dense forest.
"tal growing from flesh... We haven’t even reached the Endless Sea and we’re already encountering things like this," Jason quipped as he passed the disassembled corpse. "Who knows what other absurdities await us there."
Hearing Jason, Pororo, who was at the front, couldn’t help but ask, "Is it really that exaggerated? The book didn’t seem to describe anything too outlandish."
Alka interjected, "The stories in that book are clearly fragnted and disjointed; the author omitted a great deal. What’s left are mostly experiences that ordinary people can accept. Besides, we never saw the ending, did we? It’s as if it was cut off midway."
Everyone nodded in agreent with Alka; they had all noticed this.
The accounts in the book often jumped significantly. For instance, the beginning described their arrival at the Endless Sea, but then it abruptly skipped to two or three years into their voyage. Then it would skip another year or two, with intervals between events ranging from at least six months to as long as three to five years. By the ti the account ended, they had supposedly been in the Endless Sea for twenty to thirty years.
Yet, the narrative concluded with them still sailing, and many of their accomplishnts and experiences were only briefly ntioned. In contrast, so unusual landscapes were described in ticulous detail. And the experiences that were detailed were mostly unique and captivating, the kind that would make readers yearn for them.
From this, it was clear the author had done so deliberately, tailoring the book for those still within the Divine Sea Region.
Pororo listened as the others chid in, finally nodding in understanding.
So, he was the only one who had taken that book entirely at face value.
Humans... they really do love to sche against each other.
Silver ripples continued to extend from Chadite’s feet, spreading outward.
After they had advanced a certain distance, Chadite began to lead them in a circular path around the island, rather than continuing straight. This allowed Chadite to survey the island more efficiently.
Chadite’s primary task was to survey the entire island and map its complete terrain for Alka’s reference. Only when the map was complete would they truly begin to explore the island.
This procedure was one they had developed over several explorations in the Holand Sea and had beco their team’s standard operating procedure. It all stemd from Alka’s keen instinct for finding Treasure.
Everyone suspected this instinct was a blessing from the Holy Mother, especially since Alka, a native of Ho Island, had twice received visions from Her. Alka, however, never confird this, only admitting it was possible.
Alka himself suspected his "golden touch" might indeed be a blessing from the Holy Mother.
They felt the ground beneath their feet grow steeper as they wound their way up to the cliff they had spotted earlier. Here, they found a huge scar on the land: a massive crater, as if ford by an explosion. It contained a large amount of wreckage, though the remains were all wooden and had long since rotted away.
Alka slid into the pit, examined the remnants for a mont, and then climbed back out.
"The timing of this impact mark and the tal residue suggests they’re from the sa period," Alka said after climbing out. "This is part of a ship, probably a side plank from the stern. Sohow, it ended up crashing here on the island."
Hearing Alka, Jason remarked in surprise, "A ship couldn’t have reached this spot from the sides or the back of the island, could it? It must have co from the front. Who, or what, could have pushed it all the way up here?"
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