Under Argust's precise navigation, the ship slipped into a secluded cove. Hidden behind a barrier of high, black cliffs. The water here was calm. Shielded from the rough outer currents.
"This is as far as the ship goes." Jack announced. "Drop anchor!"
Once the anchor splashed into the water, the crew used their own means to reach the land. Some jumped or teleported straight away. Some used tools like ropes, boards, or in Leon's case... wings.
Jack stood on the deck. Waiting until every single member of the expedition had landed on the shore.
At his shoulder, Rune floated silently. Her small, mechanical body pulsed with a steady, cautious yellow glow. Warning him of the latent dangers ahead.
"Are we clear?" Jack asked.
"All clear, Captain." Bell called up in response.
Jack jumped to the shore and focused on his connection with the ghost ship. The Silent Mermaid was bound to his essence. With a silent command, he activated his power. Unsummoning the ship.
The Silent Mermaid shuddered. Its rotten hull, skeletal mast, and ripped black sails dissolved into ghostly mist. And then, it disappeared entirely. To anyone watching from the shore, the large ghost vessel had simply vanished into thin air.
"It still seems creepy, no matter how many times I see that." Leon commented.
"As long as it works, creepy is fine." Jack replied calmly as he looked at his surrounding.
Mirella had pulled out her leather-bound sketchbook and pencil. Her eyes were scanning the immediate tree line. She began drawing the topography with rapid, precise strokes.
Beside her, Chloe clutched her lightning kirin cub, Sparkle. The small, blue-furred beast was growling softly. Its single horn was crackling with static electricity.
"Sparkle doesn't like this place." Chloe whispered, patting the cub. "He says the air feels... wrong."
"He's right." Jack said. His eyes scanned the dense foliage. "The ambient energy here is unstable. Keep your weapons drawn."
Barnaby slung his lute to his back. His hand drew the [Crimson Torch Mace] he recently acquired instead.
The Meadow sisters, Serene and Autumn, checked their medical bags. Ensuring their anti-venoms and healing potions were easily accessible. They could use their mystic power to heal, but it didn't mean they completely abandoned medicines.
Little Aella walked near Reina with her voidfire revolver out. Her young face was excited. And a tiny flicker of dark purple void-fire danced on her fingertips.
They entered the jungle. Following Rune's guidance, who had glowed golden in color. Signifying that she was tracking a valuable object.
The transition from the beach to the jungle was immediate and oppressive. The trees were massive. Their trunks were twisted into unnatural, spiral shapes as if they had been wrung out like wet towels.
The leaves were not just various shades of green in color. Some were a deep red. While others had a yellowish orange color. They weren't as outlandish as the leaves in Purplesky Realm or in Battle Moon Realm. But they weren't as normal as regular forest either.
"Watch your step!" Jack warned. His eyes were darting to a massive fern.
The fern's leaves were lined with tiny, twitching eye-like patterns. As Jack approached, the 'eyes' seemed to blink in unison and turn to watch him.
He didn't hesitate. He drew a heavy hunting knife from his [Spatial Belt] and sliced the stem. Dark, thick fluid oozed from the cut. And the fern shuddered. Letting out a whistling sigh before wilting.
"Delightful." Leon muttered. Stepping over the dying plant.
They walked for about an hour. Cutting through the dense undergrowth. The jungle was incredibly loud. Yet, the bird calls or insect chirps were strangely unfamiliar in their ears.
Furthermore, they could hear metallic clicks, low-frequency hums, and the occasional wet, heavy thud of something large moving through the canopy.
Suddenly, a rustling sound echoed from the branches above.
"Hostiles?" Bell asked. Raising his [Buckler of Retribution].
"Wait!" Jack said.
A troop of creatures swung down from the turquoise-leaved trees. They looked like monkeys. But they had six limbs, no eyes, and their bodies were covered in a mixture of blue feathers and hard, chitinous plates.
They clustered on the branches ten meters above the group. Their eyeless heads were tilting left and right.
They didn't attack. Instead, they opened their mouths, which were lined with rows of needle-like teeth. And then, they began to emit a series of rhythmic, clicking noises.
"They're... they're navigating using echolocation." Baroness Artheim whispered. Fascinated. "Look at the chitinous plates on their chests. It seems that those plates act like acoustic resonators."
"Are they dangerous?" Don asked. A ball of tiny fire was already forming in his palm.
"Only if we provoke them." Jack said. He had used his [Eyes of Judgement] to check. "They are scavengers. Keep moving. Don't look them in the... well, don't look at them."
They walked past the troop of six-legged mutant-monkeys. The creatures watched them go. Their clicking sounds quickly faded into the background.
But the peace did not last long...
As they crossed a shallow, muddy stream, Rune's glow suddenly turned red. And then, the water suddenly erupted.
A massive creature lunged at Autumn, who was in the middle of the line. It was a beast the size of a bull. But its body was a grotesque fusion of an alligator and a scorpion.
It had an alligator's head and its skin was covered in thick, overlapping black scales. And instead of a normal tail, it had a massive, segmented stinger that dripped with a glowing green venom.
Its attack failed though.
It picked the wrong target. Autumn's [Earring of Danger Sense] had warned her before the attack reached her. And her [Quick Reflex] made her move away from the danger very quickly.
CRACK! The beast's jaws snapped shut. Hitting an empty air. However, the force of the snap were so loud that it sounded like a gunshot.
Before the beast could strike again, Jack was already moving. He leaped toward the beast. His steamrune shotgun was aimed point blank at the beast's eye.
BOOM! A black, smoking hole replaced the beast's right eye. Jack's bullet hit the target accurately.
The beast thrashed around. Letting out a wet, gurgling roar.
A bolt of blue lightning shot from Baroness Artheim's outstretched fingers. Striking the beast's flank. CRACK! The electricity surged through its wet hide. Causing its muscles to spasm violently.
At the same time, Leon launched a massive [Lightning Strike] that exploded against its side. Filling the air with the stench of burning scales and scorched flesh.
Despite the heavy damage, the gator-scorpion hybrid was incredibly resilient. Its segmented tail whipped forward with blinding speed. Aiming directly for Jack's head.
Jack snorted and struck the tail away with his accurate, point blank shotgun blast. BOOM!
At the same time, Reina delivered her power of sorcery. A thick, localized grey fog instantly enveloped the beast's head. It wasn't just a regular fog. It was infused with her illusion power.
The creature, blinded and disoriented, missed its next strikes. The stinger slammed into a thick tree trunk. Burying itself deep in the wood. The claw attack hit nothing.
Using the chance, Jack activated his [Chains of Vengeance]. Multiple dark, blazing chains erupted from his left bracer. Lashing and binding the beast's tail and back limbs.
Aella suddenly appeared in front of the beast as it opened its maw wide. BANG! She pulled the trigger of her voidfire revolver.
A blazing, purple and black voidfire bullet blasted the inside of the monster's mouth. Shredding the creature's throat and internal organs.
The gator-scorpion shuddered one last time. Its massive stinger tail went limp, before crashing into the wet ground.
Jack shot the beast's head a couple more times to ensure it was truly dead.
And then, he looked down at the carcass. The beast's anatomy was a mess of strange mutations. Its bone structure was unnaturally dense. And its muscle fibers were braided in a way that no natural creature's should be.
"They aren't wrong to call this place Strangebeast Island." Jack made a dry comment. "The mutations are truly strange. Not logical at all."
"Are you alright, Lil Sis?" Serene asked, helping her sister up.
"I'm fine." Autumn said. "My [Earring of Danger Sense] gave me enough warning. Fortunately."
"The danger in this island can't be underestimated." Jack said. He turned to the rest of the crew. "From this point on, we go into a high-alert stealth state. Move as silently as possible. Reina, use your illusion to hide us visually."
"You got it, Dear." Reina said.
She immediately reactivated her sorcery power. This time, she blanketed the whole crew with an invisibility illusion. Thin grey fog cloaked everyone in the group. They could see each other well enough, but outsider would find them visually... non-existent.
They pushed deeper into the jungle. The air grew warmer and more humid with every step. The ground slowly began to slope upward. Indicating they were climbing the foothills of the island's central mountain range.
As they walked, Jack noticed a faint, unnatural resonance in the air. It wasn't something he could see or hear physically. But his [Eyes of Judgement] noticed the change.
A small warning notification appeared in his view... [Unstable Spatial Energy Trace...]
Jack's eyes darkened. "It's either the Sacred Destination Sect was here..." He muttered to himself. "... or the island's secret involved a spatial crack."
He looked back at his crew. They were definitely top-notch transcendent beings. But a spatial rupture was not something they could fight with raw physical strength alone.
"Be careful!" Jack ordered in low voice. His voice carried an undeniable authority though. "I've just sensed unstable spatial energy trace nearby."