Next, the expedition team entered the oasis.

Experiencing the environment in person, the surrounding scenery offered a completely different impression.

The coverage of vegetation and the activity of organisms were truly astonishing.

The flora and fauna here were almost indistinguishable from those on the continent of Latogea, yet completely different from the ecology on this Arctic ice sheet.

If one had to make a comparison—

It was as if someone had forcibly cut a piece of land from a temperate zone and wedged it here on this Arctic extreme.

"See!"

"This is indeed a miracle that only the gods could bestow!"

Seeing everything before him, Zeno, as always, exclaimed loudly, with a palpable excitement aimed at convincing the expedition team of the validity of his views.

But this time, no one responded to Zeno's exclamations.

Because at the same time, the explorers were equally excited by the discovery before their eyes, immediately rushing towards whatever piqued their interest.

Rather than conversing with this city-state inspector,

they focused more on this unique discovery in front of them.

Even with only slight differences in flora and fauna, and a habitable temperature, the members of the expedition knew very well what this implied.

On the level of life, humans are not all that special.

So, since these ordinary plants and animals could survive here normally, ordinary humans should also be able to live here just like them.

On the other hand, for this expedition,

such a discovery was undoubtedly exhilarating.

Even if they failed to reach their goal of the North Pole, bringing back information about this oasis to the civilized world would still be a major discovery in their exploration careers.

...

The members of the expedition were generally in high spirits.

However, among the crowd, only Ronald was rather wary of the oasis before him.

Even though the scenery in front of him appeared calm and peaceful, he still remembered the records he had seen in that book.

Several hundred years ago, that Entrote explorer clearly stated that there was something wrong with the air in this oasis.

Even for a regular person like him,

the severe cold outside that could take away body warmth and even life felt more comfortable than the air here.

Moreover, the Peak of Ling Guang should also be nearby.

But now, as Ronald looked around, he saw no mountain that could be called the Peak of Ling Guang.

What was going on?

What secrets were still hidden here?

With a rather subtle feeling, Ronald wandered around the oasis. Yet, the situation left him puzzled—even though he was in a place visited by the explorer hundreds of years ago, he didn't feel any air quality issues.

Could it really be a case of getting the place wrong?

From Entrote, heading north in a straight line to reach this ice-capped continent.

On such a simple route, could two groups have gotten the place wrong?

Wait…

Could it be that his physique, enhanced by spells, was too strong, so he simply overlooked the discomfort caused by the air?

The body-enhancing spell from the Divine Comedy, unless the effect was actively withdrawn, was a permanent enhancement in the true sense. Being accustomed to this feeling, he might indeed overlook some sensations of ordinary people.

Thinking this, Ronald looked around.

As it turned out, the expression of the expedition members remained unchanged, showing no signs of discomfort with the air here.

"Sir, have you noticed anything?"

Costate, constantly attentive to Ronald's condition, noticed his expression and immediately approached him:

"Forgive me, but there shouldn't be anything threatening around?"

"That's not certain yet. Here, give me the Absolute Sea Lantern." Ronald shook his head slightly at Costate, and then requested the Absolute Sea Lantern from her, simultaneously reducing the range of the protective glow.

As a result—everyone's expressions still didn't change.

The normal air also wasn't affected by the Absolute Sea Lantern.

Could it really be that the environment here was completely as benign as it looked?

Ronald's mind was a whirlpool of thoughts.

But he didn't forget to extend the protective range of the Absolute Sea Lantern once more, and then handed it back to Costate.

"Costate, I have some things to verify, so I'll head out for a look."

"Look after everyone here, and... carefully check whether this oasis has any connection to the Dust Beast that exists here."

Costate naturally responded in her usual manner.

"Sir, please rest assured."

"Costate will not disappoint you!"

Having made the decision,

Ronald acted quickly and decisively.

After a brief word with the other explorers, he paid no attention to Zeno's puzzled and guarded look, and muttered an incantation as he flew out of the oasis into the air.

Ronald's current thought was simple.

He trusted Costas's prowess to protect the members of the expedition.

As for his doubts about the oasis,

since he couldn't discern things directly, he would use indirect means to verify them.

In that Northern Enertifa Chronicles,

Ronald remembered very clearly that the explorer from hundreds of years ago, after leaving the oasis, continued east and found an abandoned campsite. If he too could find this location, then everything would make sense.

Moreover, taking advantage of this journey,

Ronald could continue searching for the whereabouts of the Dust Beast over a broader area, a choice with dual benefits.

"Beginning from the relationship between the entire earth and the sky, we will start constructing our cognition."

Reciting the incantation from Astronomy Master,

Ronald once again activated the most useful ability for searching terrain—[Star Chart].

The spell activated.

The terrain and topography of the Arctic ice sheet below immediately appeared in Ronald's mind.

On the boundless white land, many interesting and concealed terrains were actually hidden.

Due to the accumulation over the long years,

this thick ice sheet has places where it's at least a hundred meters at its thinnest, and at its thickest…

To put it simply, even when using the [Star Chart] spell to record terrain, there were places where Ronald couldn't detect the land buried beneath the ice sheet due to excessive ice thickness.

At the same time, between the ice layers,

intricate ice tunnels could be seen everywhere.

Though most of them weren't connected, just the naturally formed complexity could give one an illusion of being deliberately constructed.

This was much more interesting than an ice and snow park...

In the high sky,

Ronald took in all these geographical wonders.

While he marveled at it, he moved forward swiftly.

The Northern Enertifa Chronicles had a very clear record of the route, and Ronald's speed far surpassed that of the ordinary explorer of the past.

Under reasonable conditions, the best result quickly appeared.

Simply by proceeding in the correct direction,

After spending most of the day,

Ronald found the abandoned campsite recorded in the Northern Enertifa Chronicles in the right direction!

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