Deva Path merely looked at Raki coldly without answering.
To him, a pack of wolves like this was hardly a threat. Giving Raki a brief glance to signal her to follow, he leaped forward and continued on his way.
Raki stared at the scattered corpses of the jungle wolves beneath the tree, her mind still reeling from the sight.
She vividly remembered being ten years old, secretly venturing into this area with her uncle and more than a dozen Shandian warriors to investigate Shandora. They had encountered these vicious wolves on the outskirts, and within just three minutes, their group had been forced to flee in panic, leaving four bodies behind. Her uncle had been left with a wolf-claw scar across his face that day.
Each of these jungle wolves was frighteningly strong, their individual combat power matching a full-grown Shandian warrior. When they attacked as a pack, they were even more terrifying.
Yet in the single hour she had spent sleeping, that cold-blooded man had slaughtered so many of them. Just how terrifying was his strength?
Raki took a deep breath and leaped forward to catch up. She understood all too well that against someone with such overwhelming power, she had no way to resist. All she could do was follow the chief's orders.
---
About half an hour later, Deva Path and Raki reached the edge of the basin where Shandora lay.
"Those ruins down there… are they Shandora?" Raki stared in shock.
The morning sun had just risen, casting its first rays upon Shandora. Even though only ruins remained, the ancient city still possessed an overwhelming sense of history, vastness, and weight.
"Yes," Deva Path nodded indifferently. He leaped from the branch and landed on the roof of a ruined building below. "We should get moving," he called back to Raki.
Snapping out of her daze, she pulled her gaze away and jumped down after him.
Since Rojen's main body had already explored Shandora, Deva Path was already familiar with its general layout. He quickly led Raki through the enormous ancient city.
"Familiarize yourself with the map quickly. Find the treasure locations," Deva Path's cold voice reached Raki's ears.
She didn't dare waste any time. Pulling the map from her clothes, she studied it carefully as they moved.
The Shandian map was unusual. Unlike an ordinary map, it was covered in crisscrossing lines and strange symbols that looked almost like bizarre insects. Deva Path occasionally glanced at it, but he couldn't make heads or tails of it.
Following beside him, Raki alternated between studying Shandora itself and comparing what she saw with the map, her expression shifting back and forth between certainty and doubt.
"How is it?" Deva Path asked as they drew closer to Rojen's group.
"According to the map left by our ancestors, the general layout of Shandora hasn't changed much. But since several hundred years have passed, I still need to verify the details," Raki answered quickly.
"Hmm." Deva Path nodded.
He understood. Searching for something in a specific area could sometimes be more complicated than pinpointing a general location across a vast region. A single mistake could mean missing the target entirely.
After a bit longer, realization gradually dawned in Raki's eyes. She was a genuine Shandian, after all, and this was her ancestral homeland. With the map as a guide, identifying the general locations came naturally to her.
Just then, they spotted Nether Soul and the others gathered around an extinguished campfire ahead.
"It's that man!" Raki immediately recognized Rojen, her eyes lighting up.
Deva Path stood silently beside her.
At the same time, Rojen, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground, opened his eyes. The strange rings in his eyes flashed briefly, making Raki's heart tremble.
"Welcome, Raki." Rojen stood up and approached her with a smile. "You can call me Rojen," he said, noticing she seemed at a loss for words. He then extended his right hand toward Deva Path. "Come back. I don't need you for now."
Deva Path nodded. He took a step forward, and his entire body rapidly twisted into a black vortex before disappearing into Rojen's hand.
Raki's eyes widened, her whole body trembling at the sight. "What was that?"
"You can think of it as a special ability," Rojen smiled. Seeing that she still hadn't recovered from the shock, he didn't press the matter and gave her time to process.
"He said… he was your clone." Raki suddenly remembered what Deva Path had told her the previous night, her eyes full of disbelief.
"That's right. He's one of my clones." Rojen nodded, then smoothly changed the subject. "We'll have to trouble you with what comes next."
Raki understood what he meant without needing any explanation. She took a deep breath and nodded. Compared to that cold, intimidating man, the smiling Rojen standing before her was much easier to accept.
"No problem. I've already finished studying the general map of Shandora, and I've found several locations where the treasures should be."
Raki's words made Rojen's eyes light up, his smile widening.
At that moment, Jason and the others began waking up with yawns. The more energetic ones immediately started shouting about being hungry and demanding breakfast.
"Stop whining. We're in the middle of nowhere. Where do you expect us to get breakfast? How about chewing on last night's leftover bones to fill your stomach?" Daz Bonez looked at them with obvious disgust.
Like a chain reaction, once one person woke up, the rest soon followed.
Trens was the first to notice Rojen, and he spotted Raki as well. "What's this? The little girl from the other day?" Trens walked over and asked curiously.
"Her name is Raki. She's here to help us find the treasures. After all, this is her people's homeland," Rojen explained with a smile.
Trens's eyes flickered, but he said nothing. He didn't believe for a second that the little girl had simply gone to sleep and somehow ended up here by chance. Still, he couldn't be bothered to ask. As far as Rojen was concerned, the veteran members of the crew trusted him completely.
Once everyone else woke up, they noticed Raki and exchanged glances, but nobody said anything. Even Chaporos, the noisy one, merely grumbled a few words under his breath.
"Everyone awake? Then let's set out. Once we finish the quest, we can get out of here sooner." Rojen clapped his hands and called out with a smile. He turned to Raki. "We'll be counting on you, Raki. Don't worry, we'll make sure you're safe."
His polite attitude eased much of Raki's remaining uneasiness.
"I understand."
The group soon set out, this time with Raki leading the way.
Raki had already memorized her ancestors' map. On the way here, she had compared it against Shandora's current terrain and mentally adjusted it to account for centuries of changes. She already had a clear idea of where the actual treasures were hidden.
"According to the map, our ancestors marked eight locations where the treasures of Shandora were left!"
"But after comparing it with Shandora as it is now, I've only been able to confirm four of them so far."
(End Of This Chapter)
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