Night fell, and the jungle was black as ink. They could not see the road ahead at all.
The two ate some dry rations and found a place to rest beneath a tree. Jiang Hao spread a blanket on the ground.
Afraid of revealing their tracks, they did not dare light a fire.
In the darkness, the two sat side by side.
"Jon, who do you think those people were?" Lara was naturally referring to the people who had killed the villagers with firearms.
Jiang Hao had actually already made a rough guess. They were most likely from Holy Trinity. It seemed those people had arrived on the island before them, likely having heard of Queen Himiko's deeds and intending to investigate by force in search of treasure.
After all, Holy Trinity's purpose was to study mysterious powers and Special Abilities. Their ultimate goal was immortality; the ability to control nature came second. Queen Himiko possessed the ability to reincarnate, and that was probably what Holy Trinity valued most.
"There's too little information to tell, but I suspect those people weren't shipwreck survivors. They seemed more like they came prepared, so I'll make a bold guess: they were probably a treasure-hunting group, and they brought international mercenaries with them. There are likely quite a few of them, so we need to be especially careful from here on out."
"You mean someone is after Queen Himiko's power?" Lara asked in surprise.
"There are many people in this world who crave power, and plenty of crazy people too. There are Japanese warship wrecks from World War II on the beach, so Professor Jones was right when he said Japan sent people to explore Yamatai Island during the war in hopes of obtaining Queen Himiko's power."
"The legend of Yamatai isn't some deeply