The conversation didn't end entirely smoothly.

We can only say that under Ronald's extremely patient explanation, Zeno reluctantly accepted his point of view.

Or rather—

This man still chose to hold onto his own ideas, but in order not to cause too much conflict, he opted for a more tactful way of interacting with the expedition members.

The next day.

The expedition team left the camp and continued forward.

While moving, Ronald recalled yesterday's conversation with Zeno and couldn't help but jokingly ask Giovanni:

"Giovanni, in your past adventures, have you ever encountered a situation like this?"

Ronald was originally just making small talk on the road.

But unexpectedly, Giovanni nodded!

"I've actually come across such a situation before."

"Back in Vinnie, I once went with companions to find a legendary ancient temple. After my companions and I left the city and entered the mountains, Vinnie's King sent his army following us, expanding into the wilderness and declaring it his territory."

"Even when we finally found the temple—that group of soldiers surrounded my companions and me in the temple and declared that everything within it belonged to Vinnie's King. We, the discoverers, weren't even allowed to research or document the writings."

"..."

Isn't that too real?

Listening to Giovanni recount his adventure experience.

As Ronald complained internally, he subconsciously looked back at Zeno and Shiva beside him.

Compared to what Giovanni encountered.

These two stubborn city-state inspectors might actually be unexpectedly easy to deal with?

"Giovanni, so what happened after you were trapped in the temple?"

"They'd gone that far, Vinnie's people certainly wouldn't just let you go easily. How did you eventually escape?"

Ronald continued to ask curiously.

The leader of the expedition then explained nostalgically:

"The final outcome was actually quite complicated."

"Being trapped in that temple, the situation was extremely dire. In such circumstances, one of my companions, in a panic, touched the location of a ritual artifact. That thing seemed to connect to some mechanism, causing an immediate structural collapse of the temple."

"The collapse eventually spread to the mountains themselves, and both our expedition and Vinnie's army barely escaped that ruin alive."

Upon saying this, Giovanni suddenly realized something.

Then, with a questioning look, he glanced at Ronald beside him:

"Come to think of it, it's quite strange."

"Normal mechanisms couldn't possibly cause such a massive landslide. Ronald, do you think it might actually have been a relic left by casters like you, which is why it caused such an exaggerated scene?"

Being asked this by Giovanni, Ronald also became curious.

So he confirmed some information:

"Where exactly was that place, and were there any other structures besides the temple surrounding it?"

"In the Alsort Mountains north of Vinnie. Starting from the town, even without considering search time, it would take about two weeks to reach the location of the ruins."

"Then I would say it's likely the handiwork of casters." Receiving this information, Ronald quickly made a judgment, "Even if they built the temple away from the city in the mountains, taking two weeks to exit the mountains is still too outrageous."

"A human settlement the size of a temple would normally need contact with the outside world, even with casters."

"So based on your answer, I can only say that it's highly likely to be a special outpost established by casters to control numbers."

"..."

And so the idle chatter passed as the journey continued.

And in such an atmosphere, the expedition team continued northward.

Thanks to the safety provided by the Absolute Sea Lantern, the team could still progress at a normal pace even in the Arctic ice cap environment.

However, on the third day after stepping onto this continent.

Another urgent issue appeared before them.

Up to this point, they had consumed a third of the supplies prepared before the expedition, but they were still far from their final goal.

If calculated based on the normal consumption rate of supplies...

They could indeed reach the planet's North Pole before exhausting resources.

But if they want to return safely...

Then the quantity of resources would definitely not be enough.

It was precisely due to this situation that two members of the expedition appeared noticeably uneasy while moving forward. Whenever the team took a break, Ronald could see the two looking back in the direction they came from.

For an expedition team.

This was definitely a very unfavorable situation.

Once such a situation appeared in a team, it was likely to ferment and spread. As an experienced explorer, Giovanni certainly couldn't let things develop unchecked.

So that night.

The simplest two proposals were put forth in front of everyone.

To ensure the safety of the expedition members, Giovanni suggested two safest choices—

First, they continue forward.

The team would turn back after reaching the North Pole, but this time the goal was not to return to the Ratojoa continent via the mountain summit road, but to use the effects of spatial shifts directly to re-enter this position on the Southern Hemisphere from where Zeno and his team had entered.

Second, regardless of whether they could reach the North Pole, the expedition must turn back before more than half of the resources were used.

This way, the supplies would ensure their safe return to Entrode.

Both choices had their pros and cons.

As the initiator of this expedition, Giovanni wanted to hear the views of the expedition members.

Before camping at night.

Nine people gathered around a bonfire. While having dinner, Giovanni shared his two simple ideas and then solicited opinions from others around him.

"Of course, this is just my humble opinion."

"If anyone has a better idea to offer, I am open to it."

Yavik, the Hunter, immediately spoke up:

"It's possible to replenish supplies."

"Water issues—this place is full of ice blocks, which we can boil and use safely."

"But as for food, I'm not too sure. The animals here are types I've never encountered before, so I'm unsure of the difficulty in capturing them and whether they're edible. Moreover, if someone gets injured during hunting, the consequences could be very dangerous."

While proposing this opinion, Yavik straightforwardly turned his gaze towards Ronald.

As someone who had just learned of the existence of the mystic side.

Yavik's idea was simple.

You casters with various abilities should be able to handle this problem, right?

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.