Chapter 550: Searching for Dodo Island

This chapter is an additional update sponsored by the alliance leader "Glory's War Song," starting with one update, with twelve more to follow.

There are four islands around Black Horse Island.

Mangrove Island, Beach Island, Jagged Rock Island, and Seagull Island. Mangrove Island is Nami's hometown, home to many green caterpillars and mallards; Beach Island is planted with many fragrant coconut trees and their associated insect grass; Seagull Island also has a mangrove forest, though it remains undeveloped.

Jagged Rock Island, however, has always been overlooked.

Because the island is entirely composed of basalt columns, and it was mined once before, revealing no volcanic glass buried beneath, it was left completely abandoned.

Standing on the basalt columns of the island, Liszt carefully scanned the surroundings, then found the location guided by Acheronides, and once again rode Rainbow Whale Rosi, swimming towards that area. Diving to the seabed, he could see that the bottom of the island was mostly rock, with little mud.

Many corals were attached to the rocks, forming coral reefs.

Various fish and shrimp lived among the coral reefs.

Liszt activated his Magic Eye, and as Rosi swam, he continuously searched the seabed, hoping to find golden-lipped clams and maybe even a pleasant surprise.

Unfortunately.

While the sea seems endless, objects with magic power are rare, and the number of sea monsters is far fewer than the magical beasts on land.

So after swimming for half a day, he found no trace of magic power.

When he finally detected the feedback of magic power, he had entered the living area of the golden-lipped clams, not far from Jagged Rock Island. However, he was already far from the rocky seabed area, in a muddy zone, with a depth of about a hundred meters, where the intense water pressure made breathing difficult.

But Liszt, after all, has a strong physique. He and Rainbow Whale Rosi had tested it before; without protection, diving to four hundred meters was his limit. As for Rainbow Whale Rosi, according to Acheronides, Rosi can dive to a depth of one thousand five hundred meters, which is also Acheronides's diving limit.

Normally, Rosi swims within two hundred meters below the sea surface.

Wow, that’s a huge patch of golden-lipped clams. Too bad I’m not much of a fighter underwater, or I’d crack open a few more clams and grab some golden pearls for research." Liszt signaled Rose to swim around the periphery, not to invade the territory of the golden-lipped clams. "I’ll have Acheronides come back later to collect the golden pearls."

After watching for a bit, he saw the biggest clams were about the size of the one Acheronides brought back—like a washbasin. There were probably several hundred of them, distributed in a relatively small area.

No point sticking around to watch.

He gave Rose’s belly a pat, signaling her to move on. Instead of going back to Flower Town, they made their way to Black Horse Island. Once ashore, he told Rose to hang tight, then hopped on a horse and raced off to the mage tower. He gave the golden pearls to Cris to figure out what they’re made of.

After that, he headed back to Flower Town.

But as he reached the town’s shoreline, he spotted a few white things floating in the water—from afar, they looked like human skulls.

His eyes narrowed, and he quickly steered Rose towards the white floating objects.

Up close, he saw they weren’t skulls but something white, like fruit.

"Fruit?"

"Is this the drifting fruit the serpentine smoke task mentioned?" He quickly scooped up one of the fruits, finding it indeed the size of a human head and indeed a type of fruit, which immediately reminded him of a somewhat familiar fruit. "It seems, like the skull fruit the old tanner once mentioned?"

He called upon the serpentine smoke task.

The task had indeed been completed.

"Task completed, reward: drifting skull fruit."

"Exactly, these are skull fruits, the fruit of the skull tree. The old tanner told me that back when he was a kid on Dodo Island, the locals survived on skull fruits to keep from starving." Liszt had a good memory and still remembered the conversation from two years ago.

Right then, the serpentine smoke writing in front of him shifted.

"Quest: Does finding the skull fruit bring back any memories?"

"Hmm, interesting."

"Dodo Island's volcano?"

Liszt suddenly remembered Old Phil mentioning that Dodo Island was destroyed by a volcanic eruption, which wiped out a large number of skull trees, leaving the island's natives without a food source.

So, the natives made canoes from the trees and drifted away.

Back then, the author of 'Philip, Descendant of the Sun's Diary' was on the same canoe as Old Phil. Unfortunately, Philip himself accidentally fell into the water while fishing and drowned, leaving only a diary, which Old Phil kept as a memento and eventually ended up in Liszt's hands.

"It never occurred to me, but Dodo Island's volcano erupted just a few decades ago and might still be active!"

The Fire Drake has always needed a volcanic environment to thrive. Liszt had looked into many islands in the Sapphire Duchy, but none of the active volcanoes on those islands were ready to erupt. The few active volcanoes with eruption records were on distant large islands, which Liszt couldn't reach.

"Surprisingly, the smoke quest directly points to Dodo Island's volcano. Does this mean that the volcano is active, and it's likely that we can find magma from the crater?"

An active volcano doesn't always have magma. Most volcanoes only show magma during eruptions. Usually, the magma and high temperatures are hidden tens to hundreds of kilometers underground. It's uncertain whether we can see magma on Dodo Island's volcano, but it's at least an opportunity.

Besides, the island itself is valuable.

For many lords, a deserted island is just a burden with no value, but for Liszt, every inch of land can be utilized.

"I need to get ready and make time to search for Dodo Island."

...

Two magicians who applied for the position are waiting in the castle.

Their names are Garcia Truth and Randolph Truth. Both are ordinary magicians, older and with limited potential; otherwise, they wouldn't have chosen teaching as a profession.

Of course, the great magician Cris Truth is another reason they applied.

After all, the opportunity to exchange truths with a great magician is not something that comes often.

"By accepting the job, you've also agreed to Black Horse Island's management regulations. As long as you follow the rules, you're free to do as you like on the island. At the same time, there will be someone responsible for arranging your daily life, so you don't have to worry about trivial matters... I wish you a pleasant life on Black Horse Island."

"Thank you, Lord Viscount. Don't worry, we're both reputable magicians and won't break any rules."

After a brief reception, the two set off by boat to Black Horse Island.

Later, Liszt sent the servants to find Old Phil. Phil's tannery stayed in Flower Town; he'd lived there half his life and didn't want to move. Though he didn't adopt the footman Jesse, he married a middle-aged widow, and his life improved.

But his wife hadn't gotten pregnant, so the Children of the Sun's blood still had to come from Old Phil.

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

"Lord, I was young when I left Dodo Island and couldn't tell which way we were drifting. But I remember Philip saying Hot Spring Island, where he worked, is 800 kilometers south of Dodo Island," Old Phil replied.

Hot Spring Island is a day's sail west of Coral Island and belongs to a count.

So Dodo Island is roughly north of Hot Spring Island and Coral Island, but the exact spot is unclear.

Only knowing it's 800 kilometers away.

By boat, 800 kilometers takes about two and a half days; on Rosi, the Rainbow Whale, it's just ten hours.

Liszt thought: "It's not too far. I can ride Rosi, bring Acheronides, and search 800 kilometers north of Hot Spring Island... Acheronides knows navigation and won't get us lost."

Thinking of this, he dismissed Old Phil and went directly to the seaside villa to find Acheronides.

"Acheronides, I've received news that there is a Dodo Island 800 kilometers north of Hot Spring Island. I want to go find it with you. Can you navigate at sea?"

Acheronides set down 'The Unified Argument of Triangle Theory and Magic Circle Structure,' nodded, and said, "Yes, I've learned navigation and can use the stars. Plus, I remember sea routes, so we won't get lost."

"Right, you're a mermaid, a sea spirit, so you won't get lost," Liszt said. "Get ready, and the day after tomorrow, we'll search for Dodo Island together."