Chapter 224: The Strange Bone Rod

Summoning a stream of water, Xia Duo controlled it to wash over the surface of the bone rod at high speed. A moment later, a much cleaner bone rod, which now revealed its original pale color, appeared before him. "This is not a human bone!"

Xia Duo made this judgment immediately; humans do not have such long bones. The longest bone in a human should be the femur, or thigh bone.

But comparing it slightly, one could tell that a thigh bone is about the same length as a forearm, yet this bone was nearly as long as Xia Duo's entire arm!

With Xia Duo's knowledge, he could not yet determine which part of the body this bone came from, let alone what kind of creature it belonged to.

Judging solely by the leg bone of a humanoid creature, this creature must have been much taller than the hobgoblin Xia Duo had killed earlier!

Putting the bone away, Xia Duo prepared to have Captain Owen take it back to find someone to identify it; in any case, he had no use for this bone for the time being.

The possibility of mysterious creatures within the Territory made Xia Duo worry about the subsequent expansion.

Casually summoning a ball of Positive Energy to hover in mid-air, he looked over to where Jibu and the others were finishing their slaughter. There were no more than 30 Goblins in total, and most had already been paralyzed with fear on the ground.

The few who could still stand had long since been scared out of their wits. As long as the ones still capable of running were dealt with first, the rest was just a simple, repetitive task.

Soon, Jibu ran over, his voice filled with excitement, "My Lord, all the Goblins have been dealt with; none escaped!"

He had never cleared out Goblins as easily as he had today. Every other time, it required a long chase, and even then, it was hard to clear them out completely every time; it was common for a few Goblins to find a gap and escape.

"Alright, let's head back first. We have a busy day tomorrow!"

Xia Duo manipulated the ball of Positive Energy, sweeping it over each corpse to dispel the Negative Energy that had begun to emanate. With so many fresh corpses piled together, it was easy for unfavorable changes to occur.

Fortunately, there were no tall trees here to block the sunlight, and perhaps nothing would happen once the sun came out tomorrow, but Xia Duo remained cautious; it was just a single Spell, after all.

"Pack up! We're heading back!" Jibu shouted.

"Coming!" the other team members responded, gathering together one by one.

After Xia Duo had processed all the corpses and attached a ball of light to the tip of Jibu's Long Spear, he finally said:

"Let's go!"

On the other side, at the riverbank landing point.

The temporary squad leader, Ximeng, gripped his Long Spear, his palms already slick with cold sweat. He stared fixedly in the direction where Xia Duo and the team had left, his expression tense.

The sky had already darkened, but the Lord had not yet returned. Had something delayed him? Or had some accident occurred? Just as he was letting his imagination run wild, Ximeng suddenly rubbed his eyes. A light spot appeared in the bushes ahead, bobbing up and down. It didn't look like a torch, but rather like—Magic! "The Lord has returned!" Ximeng shouted loudly.

At this moment, a quick-witted team member immediately pulled a piece of firewood from the campfire and walked toward the bushes, calling out at the same time: "My Lord, My Lord, Qiaoqi is here to guide you!"

Other team members were also tempted, but Ximeng let out a sharp shout: "Don't move, stay alert! Qiaoqi, come back!"

He had been worrying about how to show his worth! Although Qiaoqi saw the light in the bushes getting closer, he dared not ignore Ximeng's order and could only retreat, feeling unwilling.

The sounds from their side were filtered through layers of bushes and shrubs, and by the time they reached Xia Duo, only muffled human voices remained.

However, seeing the campfire right before them, Xia Duo's group quickened their pace without needing an order. Xia Duo was fine; his 【Mage Armor】 was still active, so even brushing against the branches along the newly cleared path had no effect.

But the others were having a harder time, with someone occasionally letting out an exclamation as branches on either side struck their faces.

"Slow down, there are no monsters chasing you from behind!"

Hearing Xia Duo say this, the group slowed their pace. By then, they were already close to the landing point, and in the glow of the campfire, the members of Ximeng's squad, who were scattered around on guard, were clearly visible.

Ximeng had already walked over holding a torch, "My Lord, there were no incidents at the landing point, and all supplies have been moved off the ship."

"Mm." Xia Duo glanced at the few simple wooden crates piled on the planks. He noticed the planks were suspended, likely propped up by stones.

He nodded with satisfaction and ordered: "Everyone board the ship; we will rest on the ship tonight."

Walking at the rear, Xia Duo reorganized the 【Magic Alarm】 here to ensure it would last until tomorrow morning before returning to the ship.

Jibu and the others, who were bringing up the rear, retracted the gangplank after boarding.

Once on board, Xia Duo first set up a 【Magic Alarm】 on the ship before going to the captain's cabin. He opened his Spell Notes while chewing on bread and dried meat.

Using Knowledge to accompany a meal was truly a rare pleasure.

Before long, a knock sounded at the door. Xia Duo already knew who it was; he did not get up, but instead used an Unseen Servant to open the door for him.

"My Lord?" The person who arrived was indeed Captain Owen, whom Xia Duo had instructed to come after finishing dinner.

"Take a look at that bone and see if you can recognize what creature it is," Xia Duo said, pointing to the bone rod placed on a cabinet behind the door.

On the way back, he had already asked Jibu, but none of the veterans in that team could name the animal the bone belonged to. Now, only Captain Owen, the experienced old captain, remained.

If Owen didn't know either, he would have to send it to Savile Town to consult someone.

Owen turned to pick up the bone from the cabinet, gestured with it against his own body, and finally had to shake his head in defeat. He put the bone back and said apologetically:

"My Lord, old Owen doesn't know what creature this bone belongs to either, but I think the owner of this thing must have been a big fellow."

Xia Duo sighed. Fortunately, he hadn't expected an ordinary person to have much knowledge of bone identification, so he said: "Then take the bone back and give it to Lady Patti; have her send it to the Mage Tower to consult someone. Go and rest."

"Yes, My Lord," Owen replied and retreated.

If nothing went wrong, this matter would likely end up with Kaili; he just didn't know if he would be able to find someone to identify it!

The night passed without incident. The next day, Xia Duo woke up early, put away the 2 Magic Scrolls he had made the night before, took his personal belongings, and walked out of the captain's cabin.

A soldier on night watch immediately saluted, and when he reached the foredeck, two other soldiers on night watch were whispering to each other; they immediately fell silent upon seeing Xia Duo.

"No need to be nervous, go wake the others!"

At this moment, the sky was not yet fully bright, but these people shouldn't need more sleep than he, a Mage, did, Xia Duo ordered without hesitation.

Hearing the order, the soldier immediately returned to the cabin.

A moment later, a commotion came from inside the cabin, and by the time everyone reached the deck, Xia Duo was already checking the supplies on the shore.

Thanks to the 【Floating Arcanist】 for the 100 tip!! Going to explore the ruins tomorrow!! The map is the one pinned in the comment section, which can be seen on the app.

The web page doesn't even have a comment section~~ Thanks for everyone's support!!

(End of chapter)