After bidding farewell to Gilliana, Alka quickly arrived at the base of the Sky Flower.
Seeing Alka, the surrounding priests nodded and didn't try to stop him.
After all, they were already acquaintances.
It wasn't until they were almost at the base of the Sky Flower that a priest stopped Alka and led him down.
Then they waited nearby.
A faint stream of pollen dripped from the giant flower.
The pollen transformed into petals in the air, and the figure of the flower fairy appeared among them.
The surrounding priests immediately bowed their heads in respect.
The flower fairy waved, then looked at Alka before them.
"So you're here so soon? Are you ready to leave?"
Alka nodded.
"Yes."
"Really? Then I hope you return soon. My people still need your help. Here's what you're looking for."
After a few teasings, the flower fairy held out her hand.
A seed-like energy object appeared in her hand.
"What is this?"
Alka asked, puzzled, as he looked at the object in his hand. He couldn't quite place it. It felt like divine essence, yet something else.
"A divine seed, but in this shattered world, there's no place for it to grow. So, this is just leftover energy and an empty shell."
After hearing the flower fairy's explanation, Alka remained bewildered.
He had no idea what this object was for, or how to use it.
It sounded quite powerful.
"This is what you need. If you insist on explaining its use, well... do you have a boat? You should, after all, this place has become the world of that massive sea god."
Arka nodded. "Yes."
"That's good. You can try planting it on your boat. Don't worry, you won't be disappointed."
Hearing this, Arka gently took the seed.
Holding it in his hand, Arka's sense of it became even more pronounced. This thing truly resembled a divine essence, a bit like a weakened divine essence.
Yet, it seemed to possess a certain substance.
Very strange.
He carefully removed the box from his pocket ring, placed the seed inside, and sealed it securely. He held it in his hand.
When Arka finished and looked up again, the flower fairy had vanished, leaving only a streak of petals on the ground.
"Master Arka, follow me."
The priest beside him stepped forward and said. Alka nodded and followed the priest.
On their way back, they soon encountered Sofia, who was shopping for supplies.
They arrived at the port together, where Juanlu had been waiting for a long time.
In addition to the supplies in their pockets and rings, they also carried large and small bags.
Most of them were food.
Although there should be some left on the Voice of Dawn, they had not returned to the Voice of Dawn for a long time, and the food might have spoiled.
The three of them boarded the Swallow and arrived at the camp.
Most of the camp had been dismantled and everything had been collected.
"So who should stay?" Lucilia asked, somewhat hesitantly, sitting on Alka's shoulder.
She hadn't yet decided which puppet girls to let stay.
Alka looked at her and asked, "How many have you decided?"
Lucille held up a finger as she spoke, "If I leave, Ling must stay. She's the most mature and stable, and can keep the others in check."
"Then leave one member of Team Five, one member of Team Seven, and one member of Team One."
Deputy leader, maintenance technician, sorcerer, and assassin?
That's a reasonable configuration.
Thinking about it, Alka suggested, "Let Lily stay too, and add another member of Team Nine."
"Why let Lily stay too?"
Lucille was puzzled.
"In case of an emergency, Lily is the only one who can enter my dreams. She must enter my dreamland in my royal court. If something unexpected happens, it won't be considered a loss of contact.
And if necessary, she can seek support from the royal court."
Hearing this, Luille nodded in understanding.
"Okay, that's it. I'll make the arrangements."
With that, he ran down to where the puppet girls were gathered.
Then Alka heard a noisy commotion coming from behind.
It wasn't about postponing, but rather that everyone wanted to stay. They thought it would be fun, heroic, and free.
But the spots were quickly chosen.
Alka looked at Zero, and a coin appeared in his hand. The front of the coin had his royal court symbol, and the back had their team symbol.
This served as proof of Alka's royal authority.
"Take this. If you have any problems, you can ask Gilliana or the Flower Fairy for help.
If all else fails, you can ask Lily Rumeng for help. Use this coin as your coordinates."
Low nodded.
The chosen teams quickly settled in the woods, waving goodbye to Alka and the others.
Alka and the others also boarded the Flying Swallow, heading straight for the edge of the Marsh Sea.
The call had been delivered.
The Voice of Dawn had been waiting outside for a long time.
…
"The estimated time is probably over a week," Sofia said, piloting the Flying Swallow.
At this moment, the Flying Swallow, powered by its propellers, raced across the water like a speedboat.
Splashes of water splattered from both sides.
Alka nodded. He was sitting on the boat, sorting through the materials in his hands, including the maps he had drawn.
The map in Alka's hand was a complete map of the Marsh Sea, though it lacked detail except for the Land of the Spirits.
It was a very old version, but he had seen general information about the area on it before, so it was sufficient.
Turn to the next page.
This was a detailed map of the Land of All Spirits. Since it covered the entire area, the light spots were clearly marked.
Arka frowned as he stared at the map.
He just stared at it.
He had been using the treasure hunt mode, but the light spots on the map hadn't changed.
He stared at it because he felt something was amiss with the map.
He hadn't felt that way before.
So what was wrong?
At the fourth stage of strength, all illusions and strange sensations couldn't be ignored.
This could be his spiritual power, or a premonition brought on by a highly intensified dream. Ignoring it could lead to fatal danger.
So, Arka had to find the source of the problem, no matter what it was.
A feeling of discomfort and irritation, like a layer of irritation, made Arka frown.
"You seem agitated. If you have any problems, speak up. If you don't want to, it's best to calm down.
Being upset doesn't solve anything," said Lucelia, who was sitting next to Alka, leaning on his lap, reading a book.
Alka took a deep breath and nodded.
The agitated feeling still lingered.
Calming down, Alka began to search for the thread of this feeling.
Slowly, his eyes grew dull, his energy shifting elsewhere.
Yes, yes, that feeling was finally coming out.
There was a sense of a barrier between them, a sense of relief that was about to be pierced, a desire to release. Almost there.
Alka took a deep breath, steadied himself, and began to mobilize this strange feeling.
He was hiding deeper, deeper within his soul.
Or rather... within his soul itself.
As his eyes opened, Alka took a deep breath and exhaled heavily, turning his gaze to the map in his hands.
A small red cross appeared on the map.
A symbol he had never seen before, a symbol Alka had imagined, actually appeared on the map.
Looking at the mark, Alka frowned.
The mark changed from a red cross to a red circle, rather than a glimmering dot.
Following Alka's thoughts, it became a cross within a red circle.
Finally, it returned to its original form, a small red cross.
Sure enough, it wasn't some weird system, but something far more hidden.
This red cross represented nothing else but the very target Alka and his companions had been searching for.
The cult member of the Nafas family.
Why had this person been marked?
This ability to mark something stems from a new ability Alka acquired as his strength increased.
The fourth stage seems to be a threshold for overall strength.
For example, the fourth stage is also known as the Staff Bearer.
The reason is obvious: only at this stage can one wield a treasure of the [Scepter] level.
Just like how one must reach the sixth stage to wield a treasure of the [Crown] level, and is also known as the Crown Bearer for the same reason.
Also, it seems that only at the fourth stage can one perfectly wield a treasure of the [Holy Grail] level.
The fourth stage offers a tremendous boost in strength.
This stems from a variety of factors.
If this person could be marked...
What about the puppet girls who stayed up there?
Alka pondered, looking at the map.
Several small stick figure images appeared on the map.
The stick figures overlapped, a tangled mess.
Arka immediately adjusted the display, transforming them into tiny green dots.
The dots remained where they had been.
That was fine.
This was getting interesting.
Then, Sofia and his group appeared on the map, including Arka himself.
They transformed into triangular blue dots, piling up and moving at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.
Looking at the map, Arka pondered.
What about Gilliana?
He began to experiment with whether people he wasn't so familiar with could be marked.
A green triangle appeared on the map, on the island in the Land of Fragrance.
Flowers... never mind.
Arka considered whether flower fairies could be marked, but decided against it.
After all, he's a god, so don't be too bold. Proper respect is essential.
Alka was primarily testing what kind of person he could mark on the map.
Then, various marks began to appear on the map: triangles, five-pointed stars, and all sorts of other shapes.
It was all just a test.
Eventually, Alka arrived at a rough standard.
Whether someone could be marked on the map depended on their understanding of the individual.
A certain level of knowledge was required to qualify for a mark. If they only knew a little, even the slightest bit, it wouldn't work.
Based on their knowledge of this cult member of the Nafas family, they shouldn't have been able to mark him.
Not yet at that level.
The only information they knew about this Nafas family member was a simple, vague appearance and name.
Beyond that, they knew nothing about his life or anything else. On the contrary, he learned more about the family he once belonged to, but that was useless. He needed to understand the person.
‐‐ Because Alka had experimented with some family members and individuals he knew on the Twin Islands, but it hadn't worked at all.
‐‐Alka now had a clear sense of whether a mark could be placed, even if the target wasn't necessarily on this map.
‐‐And the ability to place a mark on this cult member of the Nafas family wasn't due to Alka's intimate knowledge of him.
‐‐ Rather, it was a different, strange feeling.
‐‐Like a dream... I get it.
‐‐Alka suddenly remembered that Lily had previously placed a mark on this person's dream.
‐‐He could vaguely sense their direction, but only at a certain distance.
‐‐Alka, already in the dream, had allowed Lily to share the special sense brought by this mark.
‐‐So, if one doesn't know a person well enough, could one, under certain circumstances, place a location mark on them to deepen the sense and mark their location on the map? Alka was now very much leaning towards his own system, perhaps some kind of treasure.
‐‐But he found no trace of it within himself, only a feeling akin to instinct.
‐‐It felt like I could walk, I could crawl, I could punch.
‐‐After a moment of hesitation, Alka gave up.
‐‐Currently, his strength was only at the fourth stage. Once he was strong enough, he would naturally have more premonitions.
‐‐Thinking about it now would only cause him more trouble.
‐‐Looking at the red cross on the map, Alka smiled.
‐‐Next time I come.
‐‐We won't have to go through this again.
‐‐Besides, this guy's hiding skills were like a rat's.
‐‐He seriously suspected his treasure had some ability to conceal itself.
‐‐"Looks like you've figured it out?" Lucelia said from the side.
"Of course, thanks for the reminder."
"Hehe."
The Flying Swallow continued to cruise across the sea.
...
After less than a week of rapid sailing, they were almost at the emerald edge of the Marsh Sea.
The turquoise sea surface had appeared before them, finally no longer the dark green waters.
"Finally, we're there. This blue ocean is even more relaxing," Jason said with a smile.
The three marine creatures nearby echoed Jason's words with affirmative agreement.
They swam in the waters of the Marsh Sea, and the dark green hue always gave them a strange feeling.
It's like when brown soil suddenly changes to a brighter color, it's unpleasant.
The man piloting the ship, Alka, had a hint of fatigue on his face.
It wasn't just him; everyone on board felt the same way.
It wasn't physical fatigue, but rather mental fatigue, from the long, fast journey.
With so many people, the distance covered was limited, after all, the Feiyan was traveling at full speed.
Everyone took turns driving day and night, with virtually no rest.
Their range of movement was limited.
They were somewhat mentally exhausted.
Melodious music drifted in, and everyone smiled as they heard it.
Far A splash of water rose on the azure sea.
A sailboat surged out of the water.
That strange bird-headed figurehead was so familiar to everyone.
After so long, they were finally returning to their ship.
Returning to their home on the vast sea.
The Voice of Dawn also sailed in their direction, until it reached the edge of the emerald green vines.
The music grew passionate and cheerful.
"Speed up! Charge!" Alka said with a smile.
Hearing this, Simon's face was filled with smiles. The index finger of his treasure radiated a brilliant light and touched the propeller behind him.
A powerful push came from his back.
The few people standing on the propeller almost fell into the water.
The splashing water formed a curtain of water on both sides.
The entire ship cut through the sea like a sharp sword.
Under powerful power, it quickly reached the edge.
The propellers slowly slowed, then disintegrated.
The Swallow slowly came to a stop.
The bow of the Dawn's Voice faced the group, the entrance already open.
They slowly glided in, steering the Swallow.
The Ocean Trio had already leaped from the ship, leaping across the surface onto the long-missed deck.
The puppet girls also left, eager to board before they even arrived.
Tree-root ropes dangled from the ship, and everyone grabbed one and was pulled aboard.
Alka smiled and silently steered the boat in.
After securing the boat, they returned to the deck via the stairs.
The melodious singing echoed around them, reflecting the joy of the Dawn's Voice.
Amidst this melodious song, there was a beautiful voice.
Julia stood at the bow, strumming and singing a harp.
It seemed as if her previous fatigue had been dispelled.
The puppet girls formed a circle around them, dancing ecstatically to the music.
"Ah! This is so good!" Alka exclaimed, lying directly on the deck.
"We must celebrate tonight! I'm going to give it my all!"
Juanlu laughed heartily, rushing into the kitchen he hadn't seen for a long time.
Finally, he could show off his culinary skills in this perfectly equipped place.
The ship remained at sea.
Alka didn't rush the Dawn's Voice to sail.
He still had two valuable treasure chests on him.
He placed the chest containing the extremely precious orange divine essence into the ship's treasury. Carrying another box, he returned to the deck. He sat by the flower bed, looking at the flowers planted there.
These were the ones they had planted earlier.
Originally, they had planned to plant a large tree here, but they didn't have the right variety.
Thinking of this, Alka opened the box.
He looked at the faintly glowing seed inside.