The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Chapter 550 : Searching for Dodo Island (Fifth update, 1/13 celebrating for Alliance Hierarch Glory's Battle Song)

This chapter is an additional update rewarded by the Alliance Hierarch "Glorious Battle Song", for now, one update with thirteen more to be filled in later.

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Surrounding Black Horse Island are four other islands.

Mangrove Island, Sandy Beach Island, Rocky Island, and Seagull Island. Mangrove Island is Nami's hometown, populated with many green caterpillars and green-headed ducks; Sandy Beach Island is full of fragrant coconut trees, and the cordyceps from the trees have also been transplanted here; Seagull Island also has a mangrove forest, but it has not yet been developed.

Rocky Island, however, has always been overlooked.

Because the island is entirely made up of basalt columns and it was once mined, revealing no volcanic glass buried underneath, it was completely abandoned.

Standing atop the basalt columns of the island, Liszt carefully determined his bearings, then, guided by Ach's directions, rode the Rainbow Whale Rose towards that area of the sea. Upon diving into the ocean depths, he could see that the island's base was all rock, with little silt.

Many corals clung to the rocks, forming coral reefs.

All kinds of fish and shrimp lived among the coral reefs.

Liszt, making use of the Eye of Magic, continued to search the seabed as he followed Rose's movements, hoping to find Golden-Lipped Clams and perhaps even encounter an unexpected surprise.

Unfortunately.

The ocean seemed infinitely vast, but objects radiating magic radiance were scarce, and even sea monsters were far fewer in number than magical beasts on land.

So, after swimming around for half a day, not a trace of magic radiance was found.

When he did detect a glimmer of magic radiance, he had entered the habitat of the Golden-Lipped Clams, not far from Rocky Island. However, he had moved away from the rocky reef area of the seabed into the silt area, where the water was about one hundred meters deep, and the pressure was considerable, making breathing difficult.

Nevertheless, Liszt's physique was strong. He and the Rainbow Whale had tested that without protection, they could dive to a depth of four hundred meters, which was barely their limit. As for the Rainbow Whale Rose, according to Ach, she could dive down to a depth of fifteen hundred meters, which was also Ach's limit.

Usually, Rose would swim within a range of two hundred meters below the surface.

"Indeed, there is a vast area of Golden-Lipped Clams. It's a pity I have little fighting power underwater; otherwise, I'd really like to open more clams and extract a batch of golden pearls for research," Liszt gestured to Rose to swim around the periphery, not to intrude into the territory of the Golden-Lipped Clams, "I'll have Ach catch the golden pearls later."

After observing for a while, he saw that the largest Golden-Lipped Clams were about the same size as the one Ach had brought back, the size of a washbasin. There were hundreds of them, and their distribution was not extensive.

There was no longer any value in continued observation.

He then patted Rose's belly to signal her to leave. They did not return to Fresh Flower Town but headed towards Black Horse Island. After reaching the shore, he signaled Rose to wait and quickly switched to a horse, galloping towards the Mage Tower. He gave the golden pearls to Chris for her to research their properties.

Only then did he return to Fresh Flower Town.

However, just as he reached the seaside of the little town, he suddenly noticed several white objects floating on the sea surface, which from a distance looked somewhat like human skulls.

His gaze sharpened as he quickly directed Rose toward the white floating objects.

Only upon getting closer did he see that these were not human skulls, but rather some kind of white fruit.

"Fruit?"

"Could these be the Drifting Fruit mentioned in the hint for the Smoke Mission?" He quickly scooped up one of the fruits and found it was indeed the size of a human head and definitely a fruit, which immediately reminded him of a type of fruit he had a vague memory of, "It seems, it resembles the Human Skull Fruit that Old Tanner once mentioned?"

He called for the Smoke Mission.

And indeed, the mission was already completed.

"Complete the mission, reward: Drifted Human Skull Fruit."

"Just as I thought, these are Human Skull Fruits, the fruits of the Human Skull Tree. Old Tanner had said that when he was a child living on Dodo Island, the island's natives relied on eating these fruits to stave off hunger," Liszt's memory was good, and he still remembered the conversation from two years ago.

At that moment, the Smoke Serpent Script before his eyes changed.

"Mission: Does the discovery of Human Skull Fruit remind you of a past memory, of the island destroyed by a volcanic eruption, Old Tanner can no longer remember the location of Dodo Island, but it should not be far from here, why not search for it. Reward: The volcano of Dodo Island."

"Hmm."

"The volcano on Dodo Island?"

Liszt suddenly recalled what Old Tanner Phil had mentioned. He said that Dodo Island was named after the volcanic eruption that destroyed a large number of Human Skull Trees, causing the indigenous people to lose their source of food.

Thus, the natives cut down trees to make canoes and subsequently drifted from place to place.

The author of "Philip, Scion of the Sun's Diary" had been on the same canoe as Old Tanner Phil. Unfortunately, Philip himself accidentally fell into the water while fishing and perished, leaving behind only his diary, which was collected by Old Tanner Phil as a keepsake and eventually ended up in the hands of Liszt.

"I never considered that the volcano on Dodo Island, which had erupted decades ago, might still be active and could erupt again!"

The Little Fire Dragon had always lacked a volcanic environment for growth. Liszt had inquired about many islands in the Duchy of Sapphire, but there were no active volcanoes ready to erupt. The few active volcanoes with a history of eruptions were all on distant, larger islands, and Liszt simply couldn't reach them.

"To think that the Smoke Mission directly rewarded me with the volcano on Dodo Island, could it mean that this volcano is active and that it's quite likely I could find magma from its crater?"

An active volcano doesn't necessarily indicate the presence of magma; basically, most volcanoes expose their magma only during an eruption. Usually, this magma and high temperature are hidden deep underground, tens to hundreds of kilometers below. Whether the volcano on Dodo Island has visible magma is uncertain, but at least there's a chance.

Even setting aside other factors, the island itself is valuable.

Deserted islands are seen by many landlords as burdens with no value for reclamation, but for Liszt, every inch of land can be utilized.

"I need to prepare, when I find some time, I will set out to search for Dodo Island."

...

Two magicians applying for a job were waiting in the castle.

Their names were Garcia Truth and Randolf Truth, both ordinary magicians, not young and with limited potential; otherwise, they wouldn't choose to be teachers as a profession.

Of course, the opportunity to interact with the Grand Magician Chris Truth was one of the reasons they applied.

After all, the chance to discuss truths with a grand magician doesn't come by often.

"Since you two have accepted the job offer, you have also accepted the regulations of Black Horse Island. As long as you don't violate the regulations, you have complete freedom on the territory. Someone will also take care of arranging your living necessities, so you don't have to worry about the details... I wish you a pleasant life on Black Horse Island."

"Thank you, Lord Viscount, rest assured, we are magicians with good records and won't violate the territory's prohibitions."

After a brief reception, the two set sail for Black Horse Island.

Liszt then had a servant call Old Tanner Phil. Phil's Tanners' Shop had not been relocated to the harbor town. He had lived in Fresh Flower Town for half his life and was not willing to move again. Though he had not adopted the manservant Jessie as his son, he had married a middle-aged widow and his life was looking up.

However, his wife had not become pregnant, and the blood of the Child of the Sun still needed to be obtained from Old Phil.

"Old Phil, how much do you remember about Dodo Island?"

"Lord Landlord, I was very young when I left Dodo Island. Drifting in a canoe, I could hardly distinguish any directions. However, I remember Philip mentioning that eight hundred kilometers south of Dodo Island was the island where he used to work, Hot Spring Island. I also drifted southward, eventually reaching Hot Spring Island," Old Tanner replied.

Hot Spring Island is located to the west of Coral Island, about a day's voyage away, and is the territory of an earl.

Therefore, the approximate location of Dodo Island is somewhere in the sea north of Hot Spring Island and Coral Island, but its exact position cannot be pinpointed.

Only known to be over eight hundred kilometers away.

It would take about two and a half days by boat to travel eight hundred kilometers; riding the Rainbow Whale Rose would take about ten hours.

Liszt calculated silently, "It's not too far, I can ride on Rose, bring Ach, and thoroughly search the sea territory eight hundred kilometers north of Hot Spring Island... Ach has already self-taught a lot of nautical knowledge and is able to determine directions, so we should not get lost."

With this thought, he sent Old Tanner away and went directly to the seaside villa to find Ach.

"Ach, I've received some news. Eight hundred kilometers north of Hot Spring Island there is a place called Dodo Island. I want to find it with you. Can you navigate at sea?"

Ach, setting down "The Unification of Triangular Theory and Magic Array Structures", nodded and said, "Yes, Ach has learned how to use a sailor's guide and can also use the stars for navigation. Plus, Ach naturally remembers sea routes and won't get lost aimlessly in the sea."
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"That's right, you are a Sea Serpent, a spirit of the ocean; naturally, you won't get lost," Liszt decided at once. "Then get ready, the day after tomorrow we'll go together to search for Dodo Island."