After confirming the stone fragment's locator marker properties, Lin Chen did not rush to try anything. He placed the wooden box on the bottom shelf, keeping it some distance from the other items, and let the fragment continue its natural evolution at a constant temperature. The daily analysis progress still advanced slowly, from 20% to 21%, then 22%, as if an independent schedule were running on its own.
The next afternoon, Krillin spread the old map across the stone table in the yard and weighed down its four corners with rocks. Wind blew in from the sea, lifting the map's edges slightly before the stones pressed them back down. His finger traced the fading thin line on the map before stopping at its end. "If the stone fragment is a locator marker, then it should point to somewhere on the map."
Lin Chen stood across from the stone table, looking at the end of the line. There were no symbols, circles, or marks there. The line simply faded and disappeared, as if the mapmaker had never finished drawing it. He took out the stone fragment and placed it over the end of the line. Its outline covered that faded section. At several points, its edges overlapped the line's direction, as though they were depicting the same location in different ways.
"We'll need to see the actual place to be certain, but the direction matches."
Krillin rolled up the map. "Tomorrow, I'll make a trip to the Dueling Arena and ask whether Fortuneteller Baba has any information about that direction. She knows more about the desert."
The next morning, Krillin went to the Dueling Arena alone. Lin Chen stayed at Kame House to complete his daily training. After finishing his run along the coastline, he practiced a set of basic movements