novelraw Chapter 436 - 228 Intelligence_3
Chapter 436 - 228 Intelligence_3
Alka hoped to gather more intelligence from the group.
"Does the fact that the crab was really delicious count?" Juanlu thought for a moment and answered awkwardly.
Obviously, not everyone had obtained useful information, especially since, among them, only Alka, Chadite, and Jason had prior experience with a Treasure Hunting Team.
Chadite thought for a moment and said, "Due to the language barrier, it’s too difficult to get any information from these people."
She had also tried to gather some information, but the language barrier made it incredibly difficult. The local inhabitants had almost never left this Island; even when outsiders came, no one had the patience to teach them a foreign language, and the locals clearly had no inclination to learn either.
Jason, hearing this, added, "Yes, I’ve noticed this issue as well. Those who can speak the Homeland Sea language are mostly Hunters, and even among them, only a small portion can."
If it weren’t for the language barrier, Jason could have gathered more information.
"Moreover, those Hunters who do speak the common language are very practiced in answering questions."
However, at this point, Chadite smiled and said, "Fortunately, Lucilia was with me, so I did manage to learn a few things."
"The Island’s residents actually have a regular trading fleet that arrives roughly every 30 to 50 day-nights."
"A day-night is their timekeeping method, which can be simply understood as a day, but each day’s duration varies, and the length of day-nights changes."
Upon hearing this, Simon, who was nearby, nodded.
They had spent a long time wandering around this small town during the day.
Today, the daylight period lasted for 18 hours, which was surprisingly shorter than the duration of the previous night.
Chadite continued, "The supplies they trade are mostly daily items not found on the Island. In return, they trade materials from the Island, particularly Spell Materials like bones and fur from hunted creatures. This Island has a large number of magical beasts. Are they a specialty of this Island? There are so many of them, she mused, not entirely certain."
Alka nodded and added, "The reason so many peculiar magical beasts appear on this Island is because of those activated ruins."
After all, as the team’s leader, he had met with the town’s leader earlier that day.
Just by looking at him, I could sense the danger he posed, Alka thought. His strength definitely surpasses the Second Stage.
He had communicated with the Island’s leadership, and they had been remarkably nonchalant in answering his questions. They knew Alka was visiting the Island for the first time.
"And 36 day-nights have passed since the last trading fleet’s arrival. It might not be long before the ships come again," Chadite finished, indicating that was all the information she had.
Alka then glanced at everyone. Meeting his gaze, they all shook their heads slightly, indicating they hadn’t obtained any useful information; anything they might have learned had already been mentioned by the previous two speakers.
"Alright then," Alka said, "let me share what I know."
"This Island is very dangerous, as you’re already aware. If you want to go exploring, do not go to those dangerous ruins that they’ve cordoned off."
"These ruins are patrolled and guarded. Whether they’re genuinely dangerous, however, is unknown."
"Also, don’t speak their language carelessly when you’re outside. It’s dangerous at night, so it’s best not to go out. That’s about it."
Then Alka moved on to important matters. "Once daylight comes, I’ll have the Sound of Dawn dock at the harbor behind the town. Regular arriving ships usually dock there."
"Now let’s talk about what we’ll do once daylight arrives."
Hearing this, Chadite smiled. "Mapmaking?"
"That’s right," Alka affirmed. "However, this Island is quite large, so we don’t necessarily have to map it all at once. We’ll find a guide to take us on a circuit through the relatively safer areas first, and then we’ll see."
Alka had experience with this; a map didn’t necessarily need to cover an entire island. Mapping just one region was also viable. It was just that completing a map of the entire Island allowed one to intuitively know where treasures might be, thus saving time.
"Then we’ll assign a team to stay in town, wait for us there, guard the ship, and gather more information."
As if worried the group wouldn’t understand, Alka pointed at the houses around them.
"See the number of houses here? It indicates that outsiders frequently visit this Island. In fact, a group just left the day before yesterday."
"Not to mention, there are even houses specifically prepared for larger individuals like Pororo."
This level of thoughtfulness also indirectly shows that a significant number of strangers visit the Island, Alka considered.
Moreover, to be honest, they had only just arrived in the Endless Sea and knew very little about it as a whole.
The problem, however, was that the ordinary inhabitants of this Island had also never left it. Even among the Hunters, very few had traveled extensively beyond the Island, though such individuals were not entirely unheard of. These few individuals were precisely the kind of people Alka and his team needed to find to learn more about the Endless Sea.
For them, information about the Endless Sea as a whole was infinitely more crucial than local intelligence about this small Island. These tasks would require dedicated personnel.
At the same time, this Island also needed to be mapped, because it genuinely contained relics. Although Alka didn’t know how much the islanders understood these relics, what they had observed at the ruin they recently left was telling. Many other relics had not yet been activated, and the locals seemed to fear doing so.
Ancient ruins that can be activated by special languages... It’s hard not to associate them with treasure. Since we’ve come all the way to this Island, we naturally have to do some proper treasure hunting. So, a map is essential.
Although their numbers weren’t large, they were sufficient to split into two teams and proceed on two fronts.
After Alka shared his thoughts, the group began their discussion.
They quietly waited for daylight to arrive.